[RESOLVED] How do I access DOS on A7A133?

I'm wanting to update the Bios on this A7A133 board so I can upgrade from this Athlon 1.4 Thunderbird to a decent XP processor...maybe an XP 2600 or higher. I have downloaded the latest Bios to floppy...set Bios to boot from floppy...but I can't seem to find where to re-start in DOS. The option isn't in the shut down menu...isn't in the selection on the safe mode screen...isn't in the programs list. I tried shutting down...restart with floppy in drive...no go. The Asus site says that I need to be in DOS...not in windows command line.

The Asus site says to press 'alt' & 'f2' at post but that doesn't work either....I'm stumped??

This system is running fine as it is....I was just wanting to get a little better processor upgrade.

Boot up with a Win98 or WinME Startup floppy to get into DOS. You can get one here:

Bootdisks

Thanks, SS...I was really scratching my head over that...maybe I didn't understand what the Asus site was telling me....I hardly ever need or have to use DOS...it still is needed, isn't it.

Did the BIOS upgrade say you can go all the way up to an XP 2600? Sounds like a pretty big jump to me...

I know that it can go up to XP 2500...I wasn't sure if it can go any higher....I'm still needing to figure that part out so I don't get one that is out of range of the board.

Okay..I went to the bootdisk site and I downloaded the DOS 5.0 to a floppy....turned off 'puter...put floppy in...turned on...still won't boot up to DOS.

Therre were so many to choose from....which one should I use? BTW...I have XP Pro on the board ( using it now).

I generally use a Windows ME one. Download it, and then run the .exe file in Windows and it will create a bootable floppy for you.

Okay...dumb me...I didn't download it to windows first, I just downloaded it to the floppy and tried to use the floppy. "If at first you really screw things up...")...Ha.!!

One

If that BIOS update doesn't go much higher than the 2500 it'll already allow, buy an Athlon XP-M (mobile) 2400 or 2500. The M series was for laptops and has an unlocked multiplier, so that you can clock an M series CPU up to about a 3000. I get the Ms whenever I can, for that reason. It would be easier if the BIOS update would do it in the firmware, but...:)

You do realize that you can buy a MB & CPU for what an old socket A Athlon XP 2600 would cost.;)

Also your atlon 1400 does not run at 1.4 GHZ, it can only run at 1.4 GHZ if your system buss is at 200 but your MB buss is only 133.:eek:

So your processor runs slower about 931 MHZ if you have the B core 200 FSB, if you have the C core 266 FSB then it runs at 700 MHZ.

So if you put in an Athlon XP 2600 2gHZ at 333 FSB and run it at 133, the Athlon XP 2600 will run at 799 MHZ.

This may be slower than the processor you have, it is more advanced and may perform better, but not much.:eek:

lgbpop...the Asus support site says that with version 1012, which I need, the board can handle up to XP 2600 and the M-types. I'm just not having any luck with the update process. I now have a floppy that boots to DOS....but then what? I also have the Bios update on another floppy...so how do I do this? Am I supposed to boot to DOS and then switch floppy's? At this point, I'm confused...this is probably elementary to ya'll but it's got me chasing floppy's all over the place..:confused: I could sure use some "hand-holding" here.:o

Here is the Asus site that explains several ways to do the update...it's got me all confused at this point.
http://support.asus.com/technicaldoc...Language=en-us

I do like the idea of getting an M type processor and doing some o/c'ing. My own rig is o/c'ed from 2000Mhz to 2650Mhz.

OK, first I recommend putting AFLASH.EXE on 2 floppies and only on one put the update, then Mark the other as save. You first want to save a copy of your present BIOS just in case.

Boot to your boot disk and when you get to the A;\> prompt, switch to your save floppy.
[type in] AFLASH.exe and hit enter

The Flash Memory Writer Utility will open up

http://support.asus.com/images/aflash1.gif

Now follow the instructions at the asus website.

Yes, the A7 series have to use the Aflash in order to update the bios. Been down that road.

Now when you are ready to do the flash, switch to the floppy that has the update on it.

Train...I tried this right before I came back here and saw your response: I put the flash utility on the boot floppy...booted up and got to the screen where it gives me the 2 choices" 1.save current Bios to file ( which I did...called it 'old bios'...but where, exactly is it saved to?) and 2. "please enter file name for new Bios". This is where I got stuck...again. I tried copying the name of at the top and just changed the version number....no go. What name do I need to type there?

But...I will just follow your advice....update & Aflash.exe on one floppy...update on floppy by itself...and the boot floppy.

Wish me luck...!!

When you save, give it your own name but do not forget the extention either[ .XXX ], save it to the floppy you are working with.


Yes, by saving it like that, I have been able to salvage a bad flash. Now I make certain the correct update is gotten MYSELF!

DO NOT forget to take notes. Like file names, steps, etc.

Train...need some clarification: on the floppy that has the AFLASH.exe and the newer bios version...is the info supposed to be un-zipped?

What extension? something like this: oldbios.exe?

Yes.