Bios Update?

Trent5281 · 08-15-2008, 09:14 AM

Hi there. I was after some advice on my bios. I'm in the bios all the time but I've never had to update one before. The reason Im looking to upgrade mine is because Steam is driving me mad, I can play half life 2 no probs but when ever I go to play death match(online) it lets me play for a minute or two & then it says hl2.exe has stopped responding & stops working. I have tried loads of things to rectify this,upgrading GPU drivers,updateing direct X,turning off DEP & user control,purging the game cache files,defraging the game files,talking to the computer nicely,swearing at the computer,runnings the program as administrator,adding steam.exe to my firewalls exceptions list,turning off my firewall,turning off anit virus..........& so on.Veering off of the bios issue a little the only other thing I can think of & have been advised to try is updateing my bios. As I have never done this before & decided to contact ASUS as after looking on there website I couldn't work out which bios I needed.

Now my current mobo is an Asus M2N-MX SE & after checking my bios info using asus update(Which wont update ive tried)it tells me the model is M2N-MX & the bios version is 0201 chipset says MCP61.I have a Athlon 4800 64 x 2 dual core processor to & my GPU is 9800GTX+.

When I phoned Asus I asked the lady there which bios I needed,she asked me for my current bios version so i told her it was 0201 & she told me that was the right version for my PC.I then said well why on the website when I type in my details does it come up that I can use 0308,0403,0406 & 0501.I then went on to say can i use 0501,she said does it say support all OS's next to it which it did so she said yes you can use it.I got the feeling she didnt really know as one minute she was telling me I had the right one & then after asking the question she said I can update to 0501.Please can someone tell me which one I can use for sure?If you need more info off of me just ask.

I suppose I went the long winded way round I should of just said can someone tell me what bios I should be using,doh!

**Pharaohz** · 08-15-2008, 10:29 AM

I see no reason at all that this could be your bios. But more important, if you dont know how to update your bios, dont. You need to check two things before you even think about doing a bios update. First, do you have dual bios? Dual bios keeps a back up of the working bios in a second chip so if you mess up the first one, it will load the bios from the back up. OR secondly, is your bios chip(s) soldered onto the motherboard or are they in lil black or brown bios brackets? If they are in brackets the will allow you to remove the chip if a replacement is needed.

Now if you dont have either of these and you dont know how to updated your bios I highly suggest you dont even try. If your bios chip is soldered on and you mess up or if the downloaded new bios has even just one corrupted file, you will kill your mobo. Once toasted by a bad bios update a board that has soldered on bios is trash and can never be fixed.

As for bios versions, you need to check further into them. As each one updates a specific thing. But I can still see no reason how a bios update would fix your problem. I would say its hardware related. I have had games (AvG) that never did like the hardware in my 2.4 P4 system. It would install but never run. And like you I tried everything but had to finally say forget it.

In any event. Let some techs chime in here. Good luck with what ever you decide

Trent5281 · 08-15-2008, 10:48 AM

Its just an aspect that I have to learn at some point.I've practically rebuilt my computer but the bios remains a mystery to me.I was told from steam that I need to make sure I have the latest bios.I have no clue as to whether if its dual or not or if its soldered.

Ive tried to check into the bios versions like you said but they don't make it very easy.According to the Asus website any of those versions I mentioned would be fine as it says supports all OS's & new CPU's.It doensn't really give you a great deal of info on what does what.

I thought upgrading your bios would be as simple as installing some software. I've even tried using the bios updating software that comes with your mobo drivers disc but it can never connect to net.I've tried on all 3 of the settings.

Oh what to do........

Thanks for reply.

zippie666 · 08-15-2008, 03:59 PM

With (modern) Asus mobo's it's pretty easy to do, boot your pc and go into your bios with a usb stick with the latest version of the bios for exactly your mobo (not anything else or 1 letter difference!) and than you can go to tools => ez-flash or something alike.

Make sure your power doesn't go out while updating it or anything else that could go wrong because you lose your warranty and you can throw it away!

Trent5281 · 08-16-2008, 07:49 AM

Oh ok,I do have a 2GB micro usb stick but its one of those where you have to type a password in to excess the data.Would that be a problem loading the bios from a password protected usb?Im guessing it would be as I cant see a place in the bios to type in password.
I just phoned my local computer shop to see whether they'd upgrade my bios for me & they said they wouldn't.Its not a job they want to do because of the risk of damaging the mobo.Im thinking now maybe I shouldnt update it as the general feedback im getting is its quite a risky job.
I will give it some thought & do some more research.I mean is it really gonna fix this problem with half life 2 deathmatch?I cant see it being bios related but steam say make sure you have the latest bios.I wander if everyone else running vista has the same problem when trying to play death match.
So yeah zippie666 do you think it will hinder the operation if I use my password protected usb stick?

Trent5281 · 08-16-2008, 07:53 AM

Oh yeah also Im going to be building my dream machine in a couple of weeks, its going to be just for games. Im going to buy the Asus Striker II Extreme Nvidia 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 Waterblock Motherboard - Socket 775 mobo.
My question is when you buy a new motherboard does it already come with the bios installed?Or do I have to install the bios?
Thanks for replys by the way.

08-15-2008, 09:14 AM	#1 (permalink)
Trent5281 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: U.K Posts: 94 OS: Vista Ultimate 32 Bit	Bios Update? Hi there. I was after some advice on my bios. I'm in the bios all the time but I've never had to update one before. The reason Im looking to upgrade mine is because Steam is driving me mad, I can play half life 2 no probs but when ever I go to play death match(online) it lets me play for a minute or two & then it says hl2.exe has stopped responding & stops working. I have tried loads of things to rectify this,upgrading GPU drivers,updateing direct X,turning off DEP & user control,purging the game cache files,defraging the game files,talking to the computer nicely,swearing at the computer,runnings the program as administrator,adding steam.exe to my firewalls exceptions list,turning off my firewall,turning off anit virus..........& so on.Veering off of the bios issue a little the only other thing I can think of & have been advised to try is updateing my bios. As I have never done this before & decided to contact ASUS as after looking on there website I couldn't work out which bios I needed. Now my current mobo is an Asus M2N-MX SE & after checking my bios info using asus update(Which wont update ive tried)it tells me the model is M2N-MX & the bios version is 0201 chipset says MCP61.I have a Athlon 4800 64 x 2 dual core processor to & my GPU is 9800GTX+. When I phoned Asus I asked the lady there which bios I needed,she asked me for my current bios version so i told her it was 0201 & she told me that was the right version for my PC.I then said well why on the website when I type in my details does it come up that I can use 0308,0403,0406 & 0501.I then went on to say can i use 0501,she said does it say support all OS's next to it which it did so she said yes you can use it.I got the feeling she didnt really know as one minute she was telling me I had the right one & then after asking the question she said I can update to 0501.Please can someone tell me which one I can use for sure?If you need more info off of me just ask. I suppose I went the long winded way round I should of just said can someone tell me what bios I should be using,doh!

08-15-2008, 10:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
Pharaohz TSF Enthusiast Join Date: May 2008 Location: USA Posts: 645 OS: Windows XP Home My System	Re: Bios Update? I see no reason at all that this could be your bios. But more important, if you dont know how to update your bios, dont. You need to check two things before you even think about doing a bios update. First, do you have dual bios? Dual bios keeps a back up of the working bios in a second chip so if you mess up the first one, it will load the bios from the back up. OR secondly, is your bios chip(s) soldered onto the motherboard or are they in lil black or brown bios brackets? If they are in brackets the will allow you to remove the chip if a replacement is needed. Now if you dont have either of these and you dont know how to updated your bios I highly suggest you dont even try. If your bios chip is soldered on and you mess up or if the downloaded new bios has even just one corrupted file, you will kill your mobo. Once toasted by a bad bios update a board that has soldered on bios is trash and can never be fixed. As for bios versions, you need to check further into them. As each one updates a specific thing. But I can still see no reason how a bios update would fix your problem. I would say its hardware related. I have had games (AvG) that never did like the hardware in my 2.4 P4 system. It would install but never run. And like you I tried everything but had to finally say forget it. In any event. Let some techs chime in here. Good luck with what ever you decide __________________ I am the way, the truth and the life.No one comes to the father, Except through me. John 14:6 Wrench: "When they make an SLI that's not buggy we'll let you know" OMG: "Noooooppeeee! we build pc's.. we don't manufacture mobo's"

08-15-2008, 10:48 AM	#3 (permalink)
Trent5281 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: U.K Posts: 94 OS: Vista Ultimate 32 Bit	Re: Bios Update? Its just an aspect that I have to learn at some point.I've practically rebuilt my computer but the bios remains a mystery to me.I was told from steam that I need to make sure I have the latest bios.I have no clue as to whether if its dual or not or if its soldered. Ive tried to check into the bios versions like you said but they don't make it very easy.According to the Asus website any of those versions I mentioned would be fine as it says supports all OS's & new CPU's.It doensn't really give you a great deal of info on what does what. I thought upgrading your bios would be as simple as installing some software. I've even tried using the bios updating software that comes with your mobo drivers disc but it can never connect to net.I've tried on all 3 of the settings. Oh what to do........ Thanks for reply.

08-15-2008, 03:59 PM	#4 (permalink)
zippie666 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Belgium/Europe Posts: 20 OS: Windows XP SP2	Re: Bios Update? With (modern) Asus mobo's it's pretty easy to do, boot your pc and go into your bios with a usb stick with the latest version of the bios for exactly your mobo (not anything else or 1 letter difference!) and than you can go to tools => ez-flash or something alike. Make sure your power doesn't go out while updating it or anything else that could go wrong because you lose your warranty and you can throw it away!

08-16-2008, 07:49 AM	#5 (permalink)
Trent5281 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: U.K Posts: 94 OS: Vista Ultimate 32 Bit	Re: Bios Update? Oh ok,I do have a 2GB micro usb stick but its one of those where you have to type a password in to excess the data.Would that be a problem loading the bios from a password protected usb?Im guessing it would be as I cant see a place in the bios to type in password. I just phoned my local computer shop to see whether they'd upgrade my bios for me & they said they wouldn't.Its not a job they want to do because of the risk of damaging the mobo.Im thinking now maybe I shouldnt update it as the general feedback im getting is its quite a risky job. I will give it some thought & do some more research.I mean is it really gonna fix this problem with half life 2 deathmatch?I cant see it being bios related but steam say make sure you have the latest bios.I wander if everyone else running vista has the same problem when trying to play death match. So yeah zippie666 do you think it will hinder the operation if I use my password protected usb stick?

08-16-2008, 07:53 AM	#6 (permalink)
Trent5281 Registered User Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: U.K Posts: 94 OS: Vista Ultimate 32 Bit	Re: Bios Update? Oh yeah also Im going to be building my dream machine in a couple of weeks, its going to be just for games. Im going to buy the Asus Striker II Extreme Nvidia 790i Ultra SLI DDR3 Waterblock Motherboard - Socket 775 mobo. My question is when you buy a new motherboard does it already come with the bios installed?Or do I have to install the bios? Thanks for replys by the way.