Could do with some help please Bios Qflash fail/Bootable USB fail

[Clout]

Hi,

Firstly I don't know if this is the correct place to put this thread so sorry but any help would seriously be greatful.

Ok so basically I have a GA-M61VME-S2 rev 1.0 (old i know) and I am looking to upgrade the bios from F2 (I found @BIOS said I had F2, I don't want to use @Bios though and I also having problems connecting the pc to the internet atm, was hoping I could fix it after W7 loaded) gradually to F11C.

I tried the F8 QFlash Option, I choose my USB and select the file, it does the first scan and says Check Error.

I then made a bootable USB hoping to auto flash the mobo if the F8 failed again, set the USB to the first thing to load.  When I got to the screen for my USB boot it said the flash was write protected.

I am really stuck now, has anyone seen/knows how to get around this? I need to upgrade the bios because I getting a Code 5 error when inserting my Windows 7 Disc.  Hoping the upgrade would maybe allow the disc to be read? I have been told to possibly flat install W7 (don't know how yet I will google it) but would be nice to know I could get the bios up to scratch incase of any future problems?

So any suggestions/advice would be appreciated.

[Dark Mantis]

If you have a problem with your BIOS and cannot use a USB drive to fix it try booting from your original motherboard cd. This should work  and reset the BIOS.

[absic]

Hi there,

Have you checked through this FAQ: http://forum.giga-byte.co.uk/index.php/topic,2441.0.html which might help a bit.

Don't try to update BIOS in large steps I would suggest going from F2 - F4, then F4 - F6.

If you are still having problems after looking through the FAQ let us know and one of us will try and guide you through the process.

[Clout]

Wow that was quick response from both of you, thanks

As far as the upgrading slowly I found that just in time before I tried to go F2 to F11c, I just tried F3 & F5 versions to see if one would work with no luck

I selected set optimal settings in bios (something I found was mentioned to do prior flashing to decrease failure and brick the board) but for some reason after that the machine wouldnt load past the Windows loading bit then it would restart. I am just reformating the machine now with XP SP2 then I am going to try it again.

Should any USB formatted in FAT32 work? I thinking of trying it again on my USB that doesnt have the bootable files. 

thanks again guys i have spent a lot of hours on this (all of today so far and a few hours last night )

[absic]

Hi the smaller the USB Drive the better 2 - 4 GB is usually fine.

When you download the BIOS file from Gigabyte you need to extract the contents which is usually 3 files, copy these three files directly onto the USB driver (Don't put them into a folder) and then you should find it easier.

[Clout]

Ok so I reformatted the pc now and its back to the fresh install.

I noticed on my disc I actually had to go into the folders on the disc that I got with my mobo as when i put the disc in it comes up with information but no actually installs.

I installed as many things as I could and just tried to QFlash again, it failed again "BIOS  ID check error"

Any thoughts where i go from here?

thanks again for offering your help guys

[absic]

Are you downloading the correct BIOS for your motherboard (there are 2 revisions and it's easy to make a mistake) Download the BIOS from here: http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=2381&dl=1#bios

When you download the BIOS file it comes as a 7Zip folder. Sorry if you know how to do this but.....
You need to make sure you extract the files from the folder. To do this double click the 7Zip icon and a window will come up and ask you if you want to run it click yes it will then ask where you want to save the files. I save to my desktop so they are easy to find.

When you have extracted the files you will find that there are 3 of them, you only need the one labelled "m61vmes2.f3" (the.f3 in the file name  is the BIOS version so it might be .f4 , .f5 etc.) the autoexec and Flash895 files can be ignored.

Just copy the "m61vmes2.f3" file to your USB drive and try using QFlash again. Does it work this time?

[Dark Mantis]

Yes as absic has said if you get a BIOS Checksum Error it is because the file is not the correct one for the board.

[Clout]

OMG i feel like such a spazz...

Ok so i tried it again and failed, then i tried unzipping it with 7zip instead of my usual winzip and it failed again.

Then i sat there for 10 mins thinking that there is no way the mobo was flashed wrong previously and that message would only come up if it was the wrong bios for the board.

Sure enough I doule check the board to the box i have, the box said the GA and the board said GA but the numbers after it were different...i have no idea how i missed it, i have 7 pc's for when I used to use them in bulk to preform my old job so no wonder I had the wrong box :S

I am sory for wasting your time,  however it was only after you made me think about the 7zip thing that made me think the simplist route is the most logical.

Thanks again lol!

[absic]

Easy done and pleased you have been able to get it sorted.

As you say, sometimes you have to take a step back and look at the problem from a different angle to find the solution.