Although this is an old thread it still rates very high in Google, so I wanted to put this here as it is more likely to help others. ASUS should have put this in the manual rather than hidden it on the utility disc somewhere. Actually, I never found the information on the utility disc anyway - it seems ASUS would like to keep this secret. BTW, any information you found about HOTKEY reboot BIOS recovery is bogus. Lack of any information on which keys to press shows even ASUS don't know how to do it ;-)
So on with the show...
First a few important facts
Q. What is Crash Free BIOS? (CFB)
A. CFB is a way for your PC to boot after an attempted flash of the BIOS has failed. Many people seem confused about how this works - if the BIOS is bad how can the system boot? Well...
Code:
a. CFB is a small protected area of the BIOS chip memory that is reserved
for when flash attempt goes bad. This protected area is *not* updated
by a regular flashing of the BIOS.
b. The CFB protected area *can* be flashed, too - but if that goes
wrong then CFB won't help you in the future.
c. CFB can handle simple PCI graphics cards, simple keyboard,
floppy drive A (FAT or FAT12), and simple IDE CD ROM access
to an ISO 9660 (8.3) CD. If your DVD drive can read CDs without
needing OS driver switching (that is not as stupid a comment as you think)
then that too is supported for ISO9660 (8.3) discs)
CFB DOES NOT SUPPORT SATA CD/DVD ROM DRIVES.
For the purpose of this tutorial CD/DVD ROM includes
CD-R/RW and DVD-R/+R/RW drives.
d. CFB is stored on the same chip as the normal bios -
this means that if your BIOS chip has failed for some reason other
than a bad flash then it will not work. Though it is worth having
a go just in case.
e. *** IMPORTANT *** - CFB does not support that uber fast PCI-E
or AGP graphics card - so get that into your head before saying the
following method does not work. YOU NEED A PCI / ISA (yep ISA) /
or VLB graphics card. As CFB compatible boards don't have ISA or VLB
you will need a PCI graphics card - NOT PCI Express!!!!
Whilst you are at it, beg an IDE CD/DVD ROM drive, too - you'll need it.
I'm going to say this one more time for John K - who still does not understand PCI Express is not PCI!! Please chant with me - 'I promise to beg/borrow/buy a PCI graphics card before attempting to recover my BIOS.'
Ok - on to the the fix.
0. If you have no idea how to disassemble/reassemble a PC then stop right here, fetch a friend that does, or be prepared to kiss your expensive Motherboard and other electronics goodbye.
Still reading - good.
1. Turn everything off - ensure the standby power is also off by unplugging the power and pressing the soft-on power switch a few times to discharge the board. You should use a ESD Wriststrap in this situation. If you are sure the standby power is off (by flicking the switch on the PSU to 0 ) then you can leave the power lead in and discharge yourself on the PC Chassis. Again, if you don't know what this means then get someone who does!
Still reading - then I shall assume you know what you are doing.
2. Disconnect ALL devices from the motherboard except an IDE CD ROM drive. That means disconnecting all the Hard Drives. If your CD ROM/DVD drive(s) are SATA then you *MUST* disconnect those and replace them with an IDE CD/DVD ROM drive. Some motherboards require the CD/DVD ROM drive to be on IDE 0/0 in CS mode (black connector on device, blue connector on board) or MASTER on IDE 0 when using a standard IDE cable.
DO NOT DISCONNECT Motherboard POWER or CPU fan connectors!!!! You still need to be able to switch on the PC to fix it (John, I hope you are reading this).
3. Disconnect ALL the devices from the PC backplate - Monitor, speakers, leads, keyboard, mice, USB deskfan, furry dice - EVERYTHING!!!
4. Remove any PCI-E graphics cards and put in the PCI graphics card you promised to get earlier in the tutorial. Those of you using SLI or (or X-FIRE on some boards) may need to insert an SLI bridge terminator - I leave you to look up that in the manual. (M2N32-SLI does not have this issue).
5. By now you should have a very basic PC that ONLY has a PCI graphics card and an IDE CD ROM drive attached. You can plug a monitor into the graphics card (VGA analogue hee hee) and attach your keyboard now. A PS/2 keyboard is best as USB types may not function with all CFB versions.
BTW: If any of you have disconnected the power from the motherboard when disconnecting other devices then you please answer the question, 'How the heck am I going to turn this thing on now?' When you have answered this question move on to 6...
6. Turn on the PC and open the CD/DVD ROM drive door and put in the Motherboard utility disc that came with your PC; you know the one - the one you cannot find right now ;-) After retrieving it from behind the sofa put it in the CD/DVD ROM drive close the door and TURN OFF YOUR PC!!
7. Wait 1 minute - I mean it, buddy.
8. Turn on the PC and watch the screen. You should get output similar to the following.
Code:
Bad BIOS checksum. Starting BIOS recovery...
Checking for floppy...
Floppy not found!
Checking CD-ROM...
CD-ROM found.
Reading file "*****.ROM". Completed.
Start flashing...
9. When the BIOS has finished flashing (hopefully successfully) then your PC should spring back to life when you next start it.
10. Go into the BIOS using the DEL or other key sequence that works on your board and check the BIOS has indeed flashed correctly.
11. Turn off the PC, disconnect the mains cable, and plug all the devices back in the way they were before - you did make notes on what goes where, yes? (The Leg bone's connected to the ankle bone)
12. If you feel the need then upgrade the BIOS (see gotchas below)
13. Turn on and enjoy your PC's return from the grave.
Some Gotchas
1. The version of the BIOS flashed from the MB utility disc will most likely be older than the version you want. It may even be older than the version supplied when you bought the board. As a result the processor or other bits of the system may not work 100% until you update it. It's your choice on what you want to do about this issue.
2. BIOS Flash chips are NOT the same type of electronics that you have in a Flash Drive (USB Key) in that they *
can only be flashed a small number of times*. That 'small number' may be as low as 10 or as high as 10,000.
USB Keys, on the other hand, can be reused millions of times. If you regularly flash your bios then the latest failure may simply be because you have reflashed the chip too many times - if so you will need to buy another chip online or get one shipped from ASUS. However, ASUS usually does *not* socket the BIOS and so you will need to know how to de/solder to replace the chip. No trolling if you your board does have a socketed BIOS chip - you are simply lucky as ASUS policy was to provide CFB as a way of saving on the price of flash chip sockets whenever possible. As a way to prevent damaging the replacement BIOS I recommend that you buy a socket from your nearest Radio Shack/Maplins and solder that to to board and buy a pre-flashed compatible socketable BIOS chip from one of the many available online. BEWARE - some pre-flashed BIOS chips contain only the BIOS and not the CFB component. This is the only time you should flash the CFB yourself.
I hope my tutorial helped some of you - I learned all this the hard way, but that is no reason you should, too.
Oh, and please support
ilovemotorsport.com when it comes online at the end of the August.
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