After much careful thought i decided to update my bios (AsusP5N-E SLI) from version 0608 to latest version 0901 using the Asus EZ flash utility,i now get a message on post that says (unknown cpu detected,bios update is required to unleash its full power)i then have options of pressing F1 to continue or DEL to enter setup.apart from the hassle of hitting F1 to start up (which didnt bother me) A week later i now get a windows message; 'The system has recovered from a serious error' .I have had this computer for 3years and have not attempted to do any kind of upgrade as its my first.i have no idea why i felt confident enough to even try to update the bios and wish i never bothered i have really learnt a lesson. its 2weeks now and asus still haven't responded to my tec support request .I have tried to put the bios back to version 0608 but get the message; (downgraded rom file was not suitable for the system) however it did let me downgrade to version 0803! which is now my current bios,i have absolutely no idea what damage Ive done or how to fix it,despite untold hours searching for info on the net.pleeeeeaaase help to put me out of my self inflicted misery and save what was once a good/reliable computer.

yours desperately

Robbie

Attached Files

sysinfo 2.log (8.3 KB, 3 views)

After much careful thought i decided to update my bios (AsusP5N-E SLI) from version 0608 to latest version 0901 using the Asus EZ flash utility,i now get a message on post that says (unknown cpu detected,bios update is required to unleash its full power)i then have options of pressing F1 to continue or DEL to enter setup.apart from the hassle of hitting F1 to start up (which didnt bother me) A week later i now get a windows message; 'The system has recovered from a serious error' .I have had this computer for 3years and have not attempted to do any kind of upgrade as its my first.i have no idea why i felt confident enough to even try to update the bios and wish i never bothered i have really learnt a lesson. its 2weeks now and asus still haven't responded to my tec support request .I have tried to put the bios back to version 0608 but get the message; (downgraded rom file was not suitable for the system) however it did let me downgrade to version 0803! which is now my current bios,i have absolutely no idea what damage Ive done or how to fix it,despite untold hours searching for info on the net.pleeeeeaaase help to put me out of my self inflicted misery and save what was once a good/reliable computer.

desperately
Robbie

so this bios your running now is older than the one that run stable?so this old bios is unstable? do you get the same errors? can you no download the one that was stable and use ezflash to upgrade it?

There are various bios updates between 0608 and 0901 to try. is 0803 unstable? did you enter bios and configure the machine?

Hello Robbieg1 Welcome to PCHF

I would first like to mention that messing with the BIOS is an activity that can cause completely irreversible effects to your computer. So take my advice knowing there is a chance (however unlikely) that you can ruin your motherboard permanently.

You never want to update a BIOS unless you experience a hardware problem that is very specifically listed as being fixed in a BIOS revision. And when you do, you only want to choose the BIOS revision that your problem is fixed in. I still wouldn't recommend just automatically updating to the latest release. For example, if you have an AMD cpu that is clocked at 2.4 ghz but you only get 2.0 ghz, then you read a BIOS revision unlocked a capped CPU clock rate of 2.0 ghz for AMD CPUs. That is a time you would update a BIOS.

I have an ASUS motherboard which I ran into a very similar problem to yours. I updated my BIOS, but experienced worse problems with the new revision than I had before, so I decided to revert. I found that there is a switch that you can use with the DOS based version of their BIOS utility. Follow the instructions to run the utility in DOS. When you use the DOS command to update the BIOS, add /F to the end of the command, and it should force the flash utility to overwrite the BIOS and ignore what version you are installing.

I can't remember the command specifically but say it is normally...

ezflash.exe <filename.bios>

then just type

ezflash.exe <filename.bios> /F

and it should ignore what version you are installing.

I hope that helps!

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thanks for response.no my first stable bios was 0608 went to 0901 which gave me the unknown cpu msg.couldnt go back to 0608 as i got the 'downgraded rom file was not suitable for the system msg,so i tried 0803 which it flashed with no problem, but still gives me the unknown cpu msg on post. hope that makes sense

oh and i didnt configure anything i just used the EZ flash 2 utility.what was i ment to configure?

It does make sense . There might be a setting in pc you update cpuid see if thats enabled 0803 is the newest bios version with a cpu fix the newer one was for ram compatibility only

Hello robi,please could you not double post.Thankyou.

I have merged your threads.

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It is all in the hardware..........................................
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PCHF Rules Scan Computer for Driver Updates Pre-Work

hi Wadd, yes m8 its not something i ever want to do again!i had a problem and the asus update keep poping up so....one thing led to another,and the rest is history.
I dont no how to use the dos as this was the first time i had even used the bios,i have found my user guide and support cd.i tried the recovering the bios from the support cd..no luck.could you explain in very simple step by step terms how to use the DOS version please i dont want to make any more mistakes

its update cpu microcode your looking for I think in Bios. As I said before there is only 1 bios newer than the one you have now and the newer one does not have a fix for new cpus anyway so this one should see your cpu

Bare in mind the bios update by default resets the setting to failsafes so some settings might not be correct

This is a boiled down version of what's in your manual. I'm praying you have a floppy drive cause it is by far the easiest to do that way...

Start by creating a bootable floppy disk in Windows XP

1. Insert a floppy disk, go to my computer, right click on the A drive, click Format, select Quick Format and Create MS-Dos startup disk.
2. After it is done, copy the AWDFLASH.exe utility from your ASUS support CD to your floppy disk.
3. Copy the version of the BIOS you want to revert to, to the floppy disk and rename it to P5NESLI.BIN
4. Make sure your BIOS is set to boot from floppy. If not, reboot the computer and hit whatever key you hit to get into BIOS and find the setting to change the boot priority. Set it to boot from floppy first.
5. Reboot the computer with the floppy inserted and it should boot to your floppy disk and give you a DOS prompt.
6. At the prompt, type AWDFLASH.exe /F and it will take you into the utility. Follow the steps and with the /F switch it should ignore what version you have.

If you don't have a floppy drive, I can't say I know an easy way to make a bootable CD for you. If it were me I'd make a Bart's PE CD and include the AWDFLASH.exe and BIOS file with the CD. Instructions for creating a Bart's CD are on his website - Bart's Preinstalled Environment (BartPE) bootable live windows CD/DVD You have to make sure when you are creating the CD, you include those files before you finish creating the CD.

If you go the Bart's PE route, once you are done making the CD, boot to the CD and follow steps4, 5, and 6. For step 5, once you are in Bart's PE, open a command prompt and follow that step.

I do understand, my Bart's PE suggestion may be rather complicated for you. I have never ventured to find another way to make a bootable DOS cd, and after researching a bit, unless you have a cd burning application that has a built in tool to create a bootable CD, I can't find an easier method for you.

I'll try to give you as much help as I can. I'm just really hoping you have a floppy drive installed

Hope that helps!

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