Hello Heimdall although this is not stricty a myst question Nanouk suggested you may be able to help me.my systems graphic card is not recognised by the myst4 requirements,and it turns out i needed to up date my bios in order to use a different card (from Nvidea for example) anyhow,the bios update from MSI LIVE UPDATE,who made my system (VIA VT8237R plus Chipset)failed,and even though i made a floppy disc back-up of the original bios,i cannot get anything to load,from either the floppy or the original windowsXPsp2 set-up disc. all that happens is: when i turn on,the computer makes a long bleep,the floppy disc reader starts operating and the cooling fan runs but there is no input to the monitor and i cannot get the bios set-up screen to appear.here is a link to the page that contains the info for my system.click here

Moved Reply:

Well, this is exactly why I recommend AGAINST using an "automatic and easy" on-line driver and BIOS updating service, from ANY motherboard manufacturer!

In general, I recommend downloading and manually installing updates. I've seen too many disasters when these on-line services are used, particularly for BIOS updates. MSI also recognizes the likelihood of problems – you probably noticed that they put a bunch of weasel words and disclaimers on their Live Update Online pages.

You may or may not be SOL. If you've got a quality motherboard and a good BIOS, there may be hope. If not....

One of the first things to try is clearing your CMOS ROM. However, motherboards from different manufacturers with identical chipsets behave differently. This means that a VIA VT8237 Plus chipset on one board doesn't behave the same as that chipset on a different board.

So, I'll need the exact model number of your PC or motherboard (including revision number, if any) to be able to tell you how to clear your CMOS ROM, or to make further recommendations. Also, what files do you have on your floppy disk BIOS backup, and is the disk bootable?

Heimdall
Semper ubi sub ubi

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Heimdall G,

Moved Reply:

Hi Heimdall,Thankyou for replying-we all hopefully learn from our mistakes,i will not be doing it in future. the motherboard model is MS7211v4.x Micro-ATX mainboard.the serial number 601-7211-060B606149846.the floppy disc back-up was created by me during the update,as it is part of the update sequence,so it only contains the bios settings and should be bootable-unfortunately the laptop i am using now does not have a floppy disc reader so i cannot verify that. The manual that i have for the system tells me that i can clear CMOS by shorting two pins numbers 2and3 while system is off, but i have not touched this without more info on what i am doing

Moved Reply:

The situation is looking better!

Your motherboard's manual is available on-line here. The manual indicates that the board has a "Boot-Block BIOS", which allows rescuing the BIOS after a failed update attempt. The Boot-Block part of the BIOS should not be changed during a BIOS update (see below) and contains enough information to start up from a specially-prepared floppy disk and write the required code to the BIOS.

However, this is true only if your motherboard's BIOS Flash Jumper is in place. This jumper is on JWP1, shown on the page 1 sketch in the manual and described on page 8. (It's next to the BIOS chip and PCI slot #2.)

Open your PC's case and take a look at the board. If there's a jumper across JWP1's pins, the Boot-Block area can not be overwritten by a BIOS update, and should (no guarantees!) allow you to save your motherboard!

Your motherboard can have either of two types of BIOS, Award or AMI, and the method of accessing the Boot-Block part of the BIOS differs between the two. So, I need to know whether your motherboard has an Award or an AMI BIOS.
-- When you boot up, have you noticed which type of BIOS is named on the first screen you see?
-- If not, look at the BIOS chip itself, which is located at the corner of the motherboard next to the PCI slots. (See the manual page 1 sketch.) You should see either the Award or AMI name on the chip.
-- If there's no name, I can probably determine which BIOS you have from the files on your floppy disk BIOS backup.

Find a PC with a floppy disk drive, then post what files you have on your floppy disk BIOS backup. You'll need access to a PC with a floppy disk drive in any event, because the backup floppy very likely doesn't have all the necessary files on it and/or isn't bootable.

Moved Reply:

Hello Heimdall, The only thing on the bios chip is a number,but when i used to boot up it came up as awardBIOS,and that is also written on the screen-shot on the bios setup page in my manual.Also on my motherboard there is indeed a jumper across JWP1's pin,the only difference is it is called JCLR1 on my board instead of JBAT2,as written in the manual,but it is in the same place.(between the battery and PWR-FAN connector on page 1).I also remember when doing the update,on the flash screen on my computer there was a green area at the top of the screen,and this was called the boot block area and the green colour meant that this was skipped during the update,along with a green area at the bottom of the screen,but the writing on this is too small to read on the update instructions that i printed off from the MSI site before i started the update.One more thing if it is of any use knowing my board has 3 PCI slots and 1 AGP slot instead of the two shown in the photo,this probably means my board is the PM8M3-VH PCBversion4 BIOSversion3.xx only

Moved Reply:

So, it's an Award BIOS.

Since the procedure for doing a Boot-Block recovery with an Award BIOS is more complex than with an AMI BIOS, I really do need to know what files you have on your BIOS backup floppy disk! This includes any hidden files, and the file names you give me must be complete (for example, awdfl535.exe, not just awdfl535).

Also, you should copy the non-hidden files on the backup floppy to another disk, to be very certain that you don't lose them. If the original backup disk becomes unusable for any reason and you don't have a copy of these files, you are indeed SOL.

Moved Reply:

Heimdall someone from work is going to see what is on the floppy disc tonight and will tell me tomorrow he is also going to see if he can create a new bootable BIOS setup disc from the MSI website,which may be a great help in sorting this out

Moved Reply:

Hopefully, your friend will use this MSI procedure to "create a new bootable BIOS setup disc."

Moved Reply:

Thankyou for the link Heimdall,i will ensure i pass it on to him,tomorrow though hopefully he will find the page himself.when i gave him the floppy i also gave him paper copies of everything i could print off from the MSI website

Moved Reply:

Hello Heimdall just keeping you informed. unfortunately my friend did not write down the contents of the floppy nor did he create a bootable one so he is remedying that tonight. will post results tomorrow evening. BTW i owe you an apology for not starting this problem in a new thread-i am rather new at this forum business so am still learning the ropes

Moved Reply:

We have gotten a bit "off topic", but an apology isn't necessary!

If you'll create a new topic (aka "Discussion") in this Forum, I'll move the BIOS related posts in this topic to the new one. To create a new topic:
-- a. Click on the New tab, then on Discussion in the resulting drop-down menu.
-- b. Type a title in the Subject: box.
-- c. Copy the text from your post of Sat July 14 2007 11:41, above, to the Message: box.
-- d. Click on Post Now.

I'll then move the remainder of the BIOS-related posts from this topic to the new one, and we'll continue on in the new topic.

Heimdall
Semper ubi sub ubi

Hello Heimdall. here is the info my friend took off the floppy. AWD BOOT.ram 512kb rom. AWD FLH 49KB App.CHECKDSK 1?KB MS DOS BATCH. CHOICE 11KB App.FD KERNEL LSM 45KB SYS. FDXMS 5KB SYS. KERNEL 45KB SYS. KERNEL 16? 42KB SYS. README 2KB. TDSK 25KB App. the question marks mean i cannot read his writing

After decoding your friend's notes as much as possible, I'm fairly certain that what you have is a bootable floppy with the Award flash utility (AWD FLH) and BIOS file (AWD BOOT.ram) on it. That takes care of steps 1 and 2 in MSI's Award BIOS recovery procedure. MS DOS BATCH should be the autoexec.bat file from step 3.

Note that I'm not *completely* certain, however, since vital filename extensions - like the ".exe" in "Awdflh.exe", for example - don't show up in his notes. Your friend may have Windows Explorer set to "Hide extensions for known file types", which setting is accessed via Tools > Folder Options... > View.

Also note that Boot-Block code does not support PCI video cards and some video chipsets integrated on the motherboard that act like PCI cards. This means that the BIOS writing program will be run without anything on the screen. I don't know if your video chipset is one of the "no display" kind, but it may be.

The MSI procedure is:

BIOS Recovery Feature For Award BIOS
1. Make a bootable floopy [sic] disk.
2. Copy the Award flash utility & BIOS file to the said floppy disk.
3. Create an autoexec.bat with "awdfl535 biosfilename" in the content e.g. awadfl535 a619mj21.bin.
4. Boot up system with the said floppy (it will take less than 2 minutes before screen comes out)
5. Re-flash the BIOS & reboot.

Your BIOS backup floppy appears to be the result of steps 1, 2, and 3. In any event, I'd say that it's worth trying steps 4 and 5:
-- a. Place the BIOS backup floppy in the drive.
-- b. Power up the PC. You may not see anything on the screen, but the floppy drive light should show that the floppy is being accessed. This may go on for what seems like a long time.
-- c. Wait. DO NOT do anything to the PC, just watch it.
----- 1. The process may take longer than the 2 minutes mentioned in the MSI procedure.
----- 2. The floppy should initially be accessed, then a pause of as long as 1-2 minutes while the BIOS code is being written and confirmed, then more accessing.
-- d. If a screen "comes out", follow the instructions displayed to re-flash the BIOS.
----- 1. If you don't see anything on the screen after about 5 minutes and the floppy drive has stopped being accessed, press the Esc key. This should result in a short period of accessing, maybe only a few blinks of the drive light.
----- 2. Wait. After there has been no accessing for about 30 seconds, remove the floppy disk from the drive.
-- e. Power down the PC, wait about 10 seconds, then power it up again without the floppy in the drive. If it boots, that's wonderful!

If the PC doesn't boot:
-- a. Power down the PC.
----- 1. Unplug the power cord from the wall socket to be certain that all power is removed from the machine.
-- b. Open the case, and locate JCLR1 (clear CMOS pins) on the motherboard.
----- 1. There should be a jumper across pins 1 and 2. This is the normal-operation position.
----- 2. Pin 1 may be identified by its number printed next to it in very tiny type. If not, take careful note of the original position of the jumper!
-- c. Gently pull the jumper straight up (NOT to the side, or you could bend the pins), then gently push it completely down on pins 2 and 3. Make certain that both ends of the jumper are on a pin.
-- d. Wait about 30 seconds while the CMOS ROM is being cleared. (BTW, that's ROM, not RAM as the on-line version of the manual states.)
-- e. Gently pull the jumper straight up, then gently push it completely down on pins 1 and 2 (original position). Make certain that both ends of the jumper are on a pin.
-- f. Repeat the backup floppy BIOS re-flashing procedure, as above.

Post back with what happened.

Well Heimdall i have tried both ways and neither appears to have been successful.although it does appear the floppy is being accessed,even after ten minutes nothing else happens and i still have nothing on the monitor.pressing illicits no response from the floppy drive,not even in the form of blinking lights. i powered off the computer and cleared the CMOS with pins 2+3, put back connector on pins1+2 and tried again without success. the only difference now is:if i turn on without a floppy in i get one long high pitch "bleep"followed by two short high pitch "bleeps",and then two or three short tones similar to those you get from a dial up connection when it tries to connect to the internet.with a floppy in i do not get the short tones,but i still have no response from my computer.i'm beginning to believe that i have a dead mother-board

Check to be certain that your monitor cable is connected properly at both ends, and that your monitor is plugged into a live electrical outlet and is turned on.

Your motherboard (BIOS) may not be dead. Rather, it sounds like the BIOS backup floppy doesn't have the correct files on it, and it may not be properly bootable.

If you can post a complete file list for the floppy, each filename with its extension (as for example Abc.exe, Def.sys, Ghi.bin, etc.), I can tell you for certain if the disk is correct. What you got from your friend is a good try, but unfortunately not sufficient.

If the BIOS backup floppy isn't correct, I can give you a step-by-step description of how to prepare one that is. Disk preparation will require a PC with Win XP and full Administrator privileges, a floppy drive, a couple of floppy disks (not including your BIOS backup disk), a connection to the Internet, and about an hour of time.

So there's one last way to go before declaring your motherboard dead. Do you want to try it?

Heimdall i would do anything to get my computer running again but hopefully without having to take to a repair shop,because i cannot afford to pay for that so let's go for it.the problem at the moment is i do not have access to another computer with a floppy drive,i only have a laptop.time i have plenty of as i have broke up from work for our annual summer holidays.also not being at work means i cannot get the floppy read to get the full details from it including extentions,though there is something i can try if my ex wife will agree to me using our teenage son's system.if that happens then i can read the disc there and also create the new one, so if you are willing to continue with this then i am extremely grateful for both your time and assistance. PS would it be better to assume that the backup i have is incorrect and start from scratch? i do have enough floppies.

And in case of necessity (privacy), tell Heimdall if you know (or not) how to use the Private Messaging (pm) option.

OK, I'll post the procedure. Wait for it....

Is your monitor cable connected properly at both ends, and is your monitor plugged into a live electrical outlet and turned on? Sometimes, cables get accidentally knocked loose and switches get turned the wrong way.

Heimdall
Semper ubi sub ubi

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Heimdall G,

Yes Heimdall my cables are all correctly fitted

Maybe he could test his monitor with another computer to make 100% sure it is ok.