As some of you will know, I've been having problems with the new SATA hard
disk.

So I tried to upgrade the BIOS of my Asus K8 SE Deluxe motherboard. I used
the flash update tool and everything appeared to work perfectly - but now my
PC doesn't work at all.

It resets either during boot or at login or shortly after boot. This happens
constantly. Safe mode is the only cure.

I solved my SATA problem by reverting to my old IDE drive and this
invariably gave me a stable machine - until I did this BIOS update. Now no
mater which drive I try to use (SATA or IDE) I get constant resets. I tried
removing all mention of RAID/SATA/Promise from Control Panel but the problem
persists.

I can't even restore the BIOS to its old settings (I saved an image before
updating it) since the PC resets before I have time to do this.

Now I have an unusable PC.

Help!

Bobby

Show quote Hide quote http://www.badflash.com

-- Bob Day

Show quote Hide quote Ah so these are the motherboard details! When you say the flashing appeared
to work perfectly, how do you know - did a message pop up saying so? The
only Asus boards I've flashed have been using a Win98SE system formatted
disk and a progress bar was shown. At the end I've always reset the BIOS by
doing the shorting the jumper trick for a few minutes (have a read of the
manual) - that's essential, have you done that?

If the machines a new build, what are the PSU details (make/model and power
rating)? FYI often OS's will need to be reinstalled after a BIOS flash -
especially if it involved a disk controller, that's why its always best to
do the job when the drive is still empty.

Paul

Show quote Hide quote Oh and there's a downloadable manual for your board here:
http://www.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/sock754/k8v_se_dx/e1491_k8v_se_deluxe.pdf
It contains good news - please read it *all* and lots will be made clearer
(especially the part about BIOS recovery - for peace of mind).

Paul

Paul - The BIOS software does have a facility for recovering a corrupt
BIOS - but my BIOS is not corrupt. My PC boots OK - well, OK for 2 minutes
before it resets. So the repair facility does not work for me.

I think that something went wrong with my BIOS upgrade since neither my new
nor old hard drives now work correctly (I'm getting constant resets and BSDs
using either drive). So I plan to reload my old BIOS.

Bobby

Show quoteHide quote

So which is it - both your first and second paragraph cant be correct -
either there was a problem with flashing the BIOS (corruption) or there
wasn't? If your not sure, then what makes you think that reloading your old
BIOS (or for that matter flashing it originally) will fix it? After all its
not as if an original motherboard BIOS would fail to detect SATA HDDs
altogether (the problem you claimed to experience). A quick test of whether
the problem is hardware or software related would be whether its stable
booting off a Win XP MS-DOS start-up floppy disk - do you know how to make
one of these and how to setup the machine to boot from it?

If you want to progress this issue, the answers to my questions (including
those at the bottom of the email) will be needed. If you don't know the
details or how to find them, perhaps the best bet is to take it to a
computer shop for them to repair it before your efforts damage it. Flashing
a BIOS is not something to be undertaken unless you really know what your
doing (assuming that's what's required and from what I've read its not).  If
you want to cooperate then the reply should be BELOW the relevant post in
this case, as when the thread was started the original respondents replied
with bottom posts. It just makes things unduly difficult if you choose to
top post when everyone else is bottom posting because people have to scroll
to both the top and bottom of the email to figure out what's going on. Now,
are you going to answer my questions?

Paul

Show quoteHide quote

There wasn't.The upgrade went perfectly (according to the upgrade program
which even verifies the BIOS installation).

Because I thought something weird might have happened during the upgrade.
But I did reload the original BIOS and I am still having problems. So that
didn't fix it.

The original mobo would have detected the SATA drive if I had configured the
BIOS correctly.

No I don't know how to create this. I do know how to get the machine to boot
from a floppy. But the machine appears to be fine in DOS mode (I was messing
around with the recovery console for 10 minutes and the machine was OK).

I have now. I did this first thing this evening. It made no difference.

It was a new (home made) build about three months ago. And it worked
*perfectly* until I messed about with my new SATA drive.

550W no-name PSU.

I can't do a clean install on either HD (SATA or PATA drives) without the
thing resetting.

I'm at a complete loss.

Show quote Hide quote Not likely to fix anything going back to the previous version if the
original flash to the new version went well (and you mentioned the upgrade
verified the installation). It's clear that the BIOS version has nothing to
do with this and had the question been asked before you attempted to flash
it in the first place I would have advised against it.
That's what I suspected. So have you read the manual or had someone explain
it to you? That would go a long way towards you understanding things better.
OK, no need to do the DOS boot test then but in future its just the same as
formatting a floppy disk but there's a  "tickbox option" in XP which reads
"create an MS-DOS startup disk" this will copy across the required files.
Note: I would advise against using one of these disks for BIOS flashing
though because it loads various extras unlike (for example) a Windows 98
boot disk.

Given that the machine is stable in a non-windows environment your challenge
will be to find exactly which part of the Windows XP installation on the
fresh SATA disk causes instability. Perhaps the point at which it
spontaneously reboots will give you a clue.
OK fair enough - at least that's ruled out as a possible cause now. After
all the settings were erased using this process do you know what to set them
to (or what each one is all about? If, like most people, some of them have
you baffled then there's this excellent reference here which explains BIOS
options: http://www.rojakpot.com/default.aspx?location=1
Ok that would imply that all of the hardware is up to the task then. In
terms of "messing about" with hardware, I advise you to read up on what it
is that you intend to do *before* you do it, you could also attend some
computer hardware courses. That way your actions will be informed and you
wont end up wasting your time (so much) not to mention reducing the chances
of damaging anything e.g. Anti static precautions and the golden rule of
checking all peripherals are disconnected from the motherboard (particularly
USB devices) before flashing BIOS's etc.
Since you've mentioned the system was working perfectly before the new drive
came along and the PSU is still nearly new, its unlikely to be a
contributing factor, although I must say I've never seen a "no-name" PSU
(and I used to work as a computer tech), its just that some are more
reputable and reliable than others.
At what point does it reset and does it consistently occur at exactly the
same spot irrespective of how long the machine has been running? Have you
reviewed what the manual contains about Windows installation. Finally, have
you got hold of newer SATA controller drivers from the Asus website for your
motherboard?

That would be a few things I'd try, along with checking ALL the BIOS
settings (according to that reference website I posted a link to above).
After that, if there's no developments, I suggest you take it to a computer
shop for attention. Am I right that you can no longer even install XP on the
original IDE HDD while the SATA one is out of the machine/unplugged fully
(even after rechecking the BIOS settings) without it rebooting?

Paul

It didn't.

I was advised (on this newsgroup) to upgrade the BIOS to make it recognise
the SATA drive.

It reboots at different stages.

I agree.

I agree.

No. It resets at different stages during installation and also different
stages when I try to boot Windows.

Yes.

Asus does not provide the VIA driver. You have to get this from the VIA
website - which I did.

I will try a different graphics card this evening and recheck my BIOS
settings. The behaviour makes me think that it could be an escoteric BIOS
setting (something to do with voltage or timing). But I don't know what
these should be for my system (DDR 3200 RAM, Athlon 3000+ CPU).

Cheaper the buy a new mobo (£50).

I haven't tried that since I wanted at least one working drive when I got my
system working. Which I haven't. So I'll try that this evening.

Thanks for trying to help.

<snip>
Show quoteHide quoteIn this case all the BIOS settings will need to be rechecked to make sure
everything is running at default speeds, voltages and frequencies (that may
mean a bit of research first with regards to the CPU and memory settings).
Additionally, it would help if you attempt the install with a minimum
configuration - i.e. just one memory module, a VGA card, one HDD, floppy
drive and CDROM or DVD drive plugged in. Any built in functions on the
motherboard can be turned off prior to commencing the install e.g. audio and
LAN. Once its working OK in a minimal configuration, then each item can be
progressively reenabled/installed noting which brings instability back.
I'm not familiar with this board but according to the Asus website here
there's more than just VIA 4 in ones available and individual SATA drivers
(of different types) are listed - are they not applicable?
http://www.asus.it/support/download/item.aspx?ModelName=K8V%20SE%20Deluxe&Type=All
Are you sure that the SATA controller isn't a Promise brand one (and the VIA
chip is for IDE controller)?
The internet is your friend - you could also try asking the shop that sold
you the gear what the settings should be. Generally BIOS default settings
are very conservative and least likely to cause instability so would be a
good starting place.

Or you could take it back to the shop you got it all from and explain the
problem - they may be willing to configure it for less.
That would narrow it down to whether its a SATA related issue or more
general.

Show quoteHide quote

Bobby, I hate to be a pessemist, but at the rate you are going I suggest you box
everything up and take it to a proffesional before you really fry something....

Bobby wrote:

Show quoteHide quote

On Mon, 28 Mar 2005 22:56:02 +0100, "Bobby"
<bo***@europe.com> wrote:

The odds of a bad flash using an update tool are MUCH higher
than just using the traditional update from a DOS boot
floppy.  For this reason I suggest never to flash any other
way.  Just because it works once or on another board doesn't
mean it's guaranteed to work that "next" time.

Did you enter bios and load setup defaults?  Try clearing
CMOS too.  You're lucky it boots at all, but did you save a
copy of the original bios?  It would be better to reflash
the known-good version you were using first to get system
back to state it was in first, before trying some other
method to flash the bios which (can't even be known to work
regardless of flash method, yet).


Whatever drive you installed XP on, you should leave that
drive as boot drive and in same IDE and/or SATA position as
it started out, until you get this resolved.


What do you mean you can't restore it?
If you saved the bios and/or have another copy of it (for
example, downloaded from manufacturer) simply boot to DOS
floppy and reflash the known good bios, then load BIOS
defaults in the bios menus and/or clear cmos, finally making
any changes you needed per your specific parts, like raising
the FSB per CPU if applicable, etc.

Hi Kony. Thanks for trying to help.

I now think that the flash was bad - in spite of appearing to work. See my
latest post ("SATA saga") for the latest position.

I saved my original BIOS on my SATA hard drive - which I now can't access. I
now plan to download a fresh copy of the BIOS from the Asus website.

I've now done both.

It may as well not since it stays up for max. 2-5 minutes. It even resets
sitting at the log-in screen.

The BIOS has a built-in recovey utility (Asus EZ Flash) which restores the
BIOS to its original state (I presume) by loading an image off the CD.

I have now restored the original BIOS and using the original HD (the IDE
one) I still get constant resets.

Don't know what this last bit means. I've tried everything that I can think
of. If the BIOS is OK then could it have upset something when I flashed it?

I'm getting desparate.

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