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From: faustrol on 4 Dec 2009 18:17
Hello,

I want to know what is the bios chip of the P5Q Premium

From: Paul on 4 Dec 2009 20:09
faustrol wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I want to know what is the bios chip of the P5Q Premium
>

The info is in your manual, in the motherboard outline drawing.

The BIOS chip is next to the TPM header. It is an 8 pin DIP
(an SPI serial EEPROM). I can't tell if it is socketed or
is soldered to the motherboard. If it is soldered, it will
be hard to remove, especially with that big heatsink with
the word "EPU" written on it, right next to the 8 pin DIP.

http://pc.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/2008/0613/asus02.jpg

The programming header for that SPI chip, is *not* documented
in your Asus user manual. The header is located next to the
white colored PANEL header. It looks to be a 2x4 connector with
one pin missing. That means there is a total of 7 pins on the
connector. You would need an SPI programmer, and that could be
how Asus programs them. When I priced an SPI programmer,
it was priced at $150.00 . It only makes sense to buy one,
if you're running a small PC shop. Such a programmer likely
runs at high speed, so good cable properties would be important
to the programmer working properly.

This is a picture of another motherboard. The SPI programming
header, is usually near the SPI serial EEPROM.

http://www.mcumall.com/forum/uploaded/praz/2008830111723_onboard%20spi.jpg

Try contacting Asus Tech Support and see if they will
accept the motherboard and reprogram it for you.

Paul
From: Faustroll on 5 Dec 2009 08:54
On Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:09:35 -0500, Paul <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote:

>faustrol wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
>> I want to know what is the bios chip of the P5Q Premium
>>
>
>The info is in your manual, in the motherboard outline drawing.
>
thank you

I found the manual screenshot of the asus ez flash 2 utility

Flash type : MXIC 25L1605A

From: Paul on 5 Dec 2009 20:09
Faustroll wrote:
> On Fri, 04 Dec 2009 20:09:35 -0500, Paul <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote:
>
>> faustrol wrote:
>>> Hello,
>>>
>>> I want to know what is the bios chip of the P5Q Premium
>>>
>> The info is in your manual, in the motherboard outline drawing.
>>
> thank you
>
> I found the manual screenshot of the asus ez flash 2 utility
>
> Flash type : MXIC 25L1605A
>

The comments I made, were with respect to recovering the motherboard,
if the BIOS update fails.

You're right. Normally you use programs like EZ Flash to update
a BIOS. But if the power fails in the middle of the BIOS update,
or the update programs crashes, the results can be a non-functional
or "bricked" motherboard.

To recover a motherboard with SPI flash chip, the options would be

1) Buy a new chip from badflash.com . I don't know if they handle
SPI chips. And the chip has to be socketed, in order to buy a
new one and plug it in. If the original chip is soldered to
the motherboard, then (3) is more practical.

2) Program the original chip via the 7 pin header. The one programmer
I've seen so far, was not intended for home users, so may not
have a good set of instructions with it. In any case, if the
price is $150.00 for one, it is hardly worth it.

3) If your BIOS flash update fails on an SPI based motherboard,
contact Asus tech support and see if they'll reprogram it for you.

The advantage of the previous generation of BIOS chip, the socketed
square PLCC chip, is it could easily be removed and a replacement
purchased from badflash.com or one of the many other BIOS replacement
companies. The first boards with SPI, had the SPI chip soldered to
the motherboard, which in my opinion is a stupid thing to do. As
long as the motherboard manufacturers insist on updating the
boot block of their flash chips, they shouldn't be soldering
the chip to the motherboard.

HTH,
Paul
From: tanstafl on 7 Dec 2009 05:47
On Sat, 05 Dec 2009 20:09:50 -0500, Paul <nospam(a)needed.com> wrote:


>,,,, The first boards with SPI, had the SPI chip soldered to
>the motherboard, which in my opinion is a stupid thing to do. As
>long as the motherboard manufacturers insist on updating the
>boot block of their flash chips, they shouldn't be soldering
>the chip to the motherboard.
>
>HTH,
> Paul

I'd upgrade that opinion slightly :-) No one should consider the
purchase of any board with the brain dead design of a soldered BIOS
chip - period.
----
Pete Gebel pfgebel(deletethis)@crisperiodcom
Have the best day possible - all things considered
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