P4R800-VM motherboard - keyboard problem
in [Asus]
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From: steve.chambers on 20 Oct 2005 16:06 I need help! My PC has an ASUS P4R800-VM motherboard. Ever since I bought it it's been having big problems when it is rebooted - it often either completly crashes when trying to detect the USB devices or the PS/2 keyboard doesn't work in Windows XP home. After a bit of scouring the Internet I think I've tracked it down to a problem with the BIOS pre version 1005 - the version 1005 update has the comment "Remove bug PS2 Keyboard sometimes locked up by itself after booting into Windows." Bingo! Sounds simple - all I need to do is upgrade the BIOS to the latest version (1007). But when I tried this either through Windows (ASUSUpdate v6.07.01) or booting from DOS (AFUDOS v1.19), it doesn't work. It says "The model of the BIOS image doesn't match the BIOS ROM currently present." The BIOS ROM Type is PMC 49FL004T LPC, the model is "P4R800-VM(P4R800-VM-NEC)" and the version is 1001.012. For an example BIOS Image the model is P4R800-VM(P4R800-VM) and the version is 1007.003. Could it be the "-NEC" in my computer's BIOS that is causing the problem??? I've also tried the "download BIOS from the Internet" option and I get the message "Sorry, there's no proper BIOS images on the server!". This happens with all versions of the BIOS I've tried including earlier ones. Can anyone help??? I feel like I'm frustratingly close to fixing my computer but can't get any further than this...
From: Paul on 20 Oct 2005 21:01 In article <1129838797.795378.270050(a)g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com>, steve.chambers(a)gmail.com wrote: > I need help! > > My PC has an ASUS P4R800-VM motherboard. Ever since I bought it it's > been having big problems when it is rebooted - it often either > completly crashes when trying to detect the USB devices or the PS/2 > keyboard doesn't work in Windows XP home. > > After a bit of scouring the Internet I think I've tracked it down to a > problem with the BIOS pre version 1005 - the version 1005 update has > the comment "Remove bug PS2 Keyboard sometimes locked up by itself > after booting into Windows." Bingo! Sounds simple - all I need to do is > upgrade the BIOS to the latest version (1007). But when I tried this > either through Windows (ASUSUpdate v6.07.01) or booting from DOS > (AFUDOS v1.19), it doesn't work. > > It says "The model of the BIOS image doesn't match the BIOS ROM > currently present." The BIOS ROM Type is PMC 49FL004T LPC, the model is > "P4R800-VM(P4R800-VM-NEC)" and the version is 1001.012. For an example > BIOS Image the model is P4R800-VM(P4R800-VM) and the version is > 1007.003. Could it be the "-NEC" in my computer's BIOS that is causing > the problem??? > > I've also tried the "download BIOS from the Internet" option and I get > the message "Sorry, there's no proper BIOS images on the server!". This > happens with all versions of the BIOS I've tried including earlier > ones. > > Can anyone help??? I feel like I'm frustratingly close to fixing my > computer but can't get any further than this... AFUDOS has some command line arguments. Asus may have disabled these, so you'll nave to test them. In particular, /n looks promising, as it can disable the ROM ID check. (I've looked with a hex editor, at the copies of AFUDOS on my computer, and I cannot see this help text in the file - if these options actually still exist, they are well hidden.) http://www.ami.com/support/doc/AMIBIOS8_Flash_Recovery_Whitepaper_v10.pdf "afuXXX /i<ROM filename> [/o<save ROM filename>] [/n] [/p[b][n][c]] [/r<registry_path>] [/s] [/k] [/q] [/h] /n - don't check ROM ID /pbnc (/p followed by up to three options) - b - Program Boot Block n - Program NVRAM c - Destroy System CMOS /r - registry path to store result of operation (Windows version) /k - Program non-critical block only /s - leave signature in BIOS /q - silent execution /h - print help " Your board is likely to be an OEM version of the retail product by the same name. You would have to be very certain the boards are identical, before "force flashing" the Asus BIOS. You may find, for example, if you were to screw up the flash, that the product is no longer covered under warranty, for that failure. (Check the warranty terms.) The flash command would look like this. Running the AFUDOS program interactively first, and making a backup copy of the current file, would be useful if you find this command doesn't work properly. Don't shut off the computer or reboot if this command does not appear to have worked properly! Both the archived file and the new file should have the same size, so having the archived file in hand is a good check. AFUDOS /iP4R800.ROM /n /pbnc There are some other ways to experiment. One is to go to badflash.com and get a new flash chip. Have it programmed with the retail Asus flash image. Unplug the old EEPROM and plug in the new EEPROM. If it doesn't boot, simply go back to the old EEPROM chip. If the product from badflash doesn't come with a EEPROM puller, you can get a tool from Radio Shack for pulling socketed PLCC chips. (This assumes the EEPROM is not soldered to the motherboard.) A second toy useful for flashing, is a "BIOS Savior" (ioss.com.tw). That product is an adapter that plugs into the flash EEPROM socket. You take the original EEPROM and plug it into a socket on the BIOS Savior. The end result, is the computer gets two flash chips, and a switch selects between them. Boot the computer into MSDOS, with the good chip. Flip the selector switch, then use AFUDOS to program the blank chip. Shut down and unplug. Clear the CMOS (usually with CLRTC jumper). Start the computer again using the new BIOS image. At that point, you have the switchable option to use your NEC BIOS image, or the Asus retail image. If your OEM board needs warranty work, simply remove the BIOS Savior and put the original chip back. A BIOS Savior should cost about $25. A flash chip programmed by badflash.com costs about $25. (A blank flash chip is worth about $3, so most of the money is for flashing the image.) You could try the EZFlash option, but the last time I tried surgery on an Asus BIOS, the code module inside the flash chip that drives EZFlash, was identical to the downloadable tool (which in this case is AFUDOS). Still, EZFlash is worth a shot if the MSDOS boot + AFUDOS is not working out. Good luck (and hope you have a spare computer for emergencies), Paul
From: Mercury on 21 Oct 2005 00:47 If its an NEC machine, you could try their web site for an update. A friend had an NEC laptop with an odd issue and much to my surprise I managed to find a bios that fixed the problem - probably another asus OEM board ...:) <steve.chambers(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:1129838797.795378.270050(a)g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com... >I need help! > > My PC has an ASUS P4R800-VM motherboard. Ever since I bought it it's > been having big problems when it is rebooted - it often either > completly crashes when trying to detect the USB devices or the PS/2 > keyboard doesn't work in Windows XP home. > > After a bit of scouring the Internet I think I've tracked it down to a > problem with the BIOS pre version 1005 - the version 1005 update has > the comment "Remove bug PS2 Keyboard sometimes locked up by itself > after booting into Windows." Bingo! Sounds simple - all I need to do is > upgrade the BIOS to the latest version (1007). But when I tried this > either through Windows (ASUSUpdate v6.07.01) or booting from DOS > (AFUDOS v1.19), it doesn't work. > > It says "The model of the BIOS image doesn't match the BIOS ROM > currently present." The BIOS ROM Type is PMC 49FL004T LPC, the model is > "P4R800-VM(P4R800-VM-NEC)" and the version is 1001.012. For an example > BIOS Image the model is P4R800-VM(P4R800-VM) and the version is > 1007.003. Could it be the "-NEC" in my computer's BIOS that is causing > the problem??? > > I've also tried the "download BIOS from the Internet" option and I get > the message "Sorry, there's no proper BIOS images on the server!". This > happens with all versions of the BIOS I've tried including earlier > ones. > > Can anyone help??? I feel like I'm frustratingly close to fixing my > computer but can't get any further than this... >
From: steve.chambers on 21 Oct 2005 12:45 Brilliant!!! Thanks very much Paul, this is exactly the info I was looking for. Will probably try this tomorrow when I've got a clear head. Just a couple of points in your email I'm not quite sure about though. What is the command for running AFUDOS "interactively"? Do you mean as in to test out whether the flashing would work without actually performing it?? (I guess it doesn't mean this but it's the only thing I can think of). Also why did you recommend using the /pbnc command? I'm a bit scared of this as as I understand it it will overwrite the boot sectore and possibly make the whole bios useless (especially since I'm in the UK so don't think it would be very easy to get hold of a BIOS saviour or flash chip. Is this right? I know it's a "crash free bios" but I'm guessing this means crash free UNLESS you overwrite the boot sector. Also not sure about what destroying the System CMOS means but am guessing it would go hand in hand with overwriting the boot sector? Wouldn't it be better to try it without this option first and then if that works try overwriting the boot sector afterwards? Or is the old boot sector not likely to be compatible with the rest of the new BIOS? As you can tell I'm a bit confused!! Sorry, will stop waffling now. Again, cheers for the help & pointing me in the right direction to hopefully having a fully working PC soon.....
From: steve.chambers on 21 Oct 2005 13:16
Thanks for the advice Mercury. It's actually a PackardBell PC (think it's an iMedia) but I tried looking and couldn't find any ASUS updates on their site. I just tried running the Motherboard Identification Utility (found link in the white paper Paul mentioned) and it gave the following: AMIBIOS Motherboard Manufacturer Identification Version 1.4 (01/12/2004) Copyright 2003 American Megatrends, Inc. This file has recorded information useful in identifying the manufacturer of this motherboard. The information is listed below: ALERT: This BIOS has been identified as NEC BIOS! Please contact NEC for motherboard support ... http://www.nec.com NO STANDARD AMIBIOS IDENTIFICATION STRING DETECTED. PLEASE DO NOT CONTACT AMI TECH SUPPORT CONCERNING THIS PRODUCT. For more information on upgrading your BIOS go to http://www.ami.com/support/bios.cfm?refer=mbid ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SMBIOS info: Manufacturer : ASUSTek Computer INC. Product Name : P4R800-VM Version : 1.02 Serial Number: MB-1234567890 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AMIDIAG Suite tests and diagnoses every hardware subsystem on your PC! A professional tool for developers, manufacturers and technicians. Go to www.amidiag.com for more information on AMIDiag. |