Gateway FX 6800-01e BIOS Update from Gateway Unsupported

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In the Device Manager, is there any Yellow marks?

Do you have the newest Intel Chipset Software Driver installed?

The Ubuntu setup on the drive should not affect the drive being detected by the system.
Instead, the drive just won't be assigned a drive letter even though you should be able to see it using the Computer Management Console.

When you used the front bay, did you insert the drive while Windows is running or did you Boot the system with the drive in the bay?

As for the backplain connectors to the front bay, a way to test to see if they might be defective would be to unplug one of the backplane connectors from the motherboard, then make sure you have an available SATA power connector and a spare SATA cable. Connect both the cables to the drive, then plug the other end of the SATA cable to the same connector from which you disconnected the backplane cable to the front bay. Make sure the drive is not going to short out against anything, then boot your system and see if the drive shows up in the Computer Management Console.

If this works, then either the SATA Backplane connector or the backplane cables may be defective.

Should all else fail, then this would lead me to believe that the drive may be defective or there may be some other problem.

If the drive does work, then if you have room in the top drive cage, you could install the Seagate drive there as you won't need to be bothered with using the backplanes.


- Other than what I have outlined here, I can't think of anything else which may be causing the problem you are having with your drive.

Good Luck

 
There are no yellow marks in Device Manager.

I do have the Intel Chipset Driver installed, but it was the one of off the Gateway site. I updated with the link that you gave, although I'm not certain how to check to see if it successfully updated. The installer did say that the update was successful, but it didn't restart or have any instructions once I manually restarted as the "read me" file said that it would. It also didn't affect my problem. How can I locate the driver version in Vista?

I inserted the drive in the front bay and booted, and I also attempted to do it with windows running. It is not recognized either way. I can't tell if the drive spins up or not while in the front bay due to the ambient noise.

The drive functions when attached to another SATA cable, and other devices work when plugged into the same motherboard port as the backplain connectors.

I saw one of your earlier posts mentioning poor airflow around the hd area in this case, and I agree with that. I had wanted to install a hd cooler in the empty upper slot near my main drive. Unfortunately, it looks like that bay may be the only one available for another drive without going to an external enclosure.

I suppose that from a hardware perspective, it must be the SATA cable/backplain connector combo that runs from the front bays to the motherboard. The fact that neither of the bays function however led me to believe that there might be a software issue.
 
Well, I suppose you could remove the entire back plate containing the driveplane from the drive cage. This would leave the back of the drive cage open and connect the drive directly without the need for the drive plain.

The only problem with this is you would not be able to Hot Swap any drives any more.

-

With the back plate off the drive cage, this would also enable you to visually check out the connectors and see how they compare to the connectors on the drive. Maybe there is a mismatch between the two?

As to the drivers, you don't need to worry cause it's a complete package which will install the correct drivers for your system.

At least you were able to ascertain that the drive does work.
 
Someone above mentioned if anyone's Gateway FX6800-01e came with the ATI HD4850 1GB card. To my surprise, mine did. I took it out to replace with two NVIDIA cards, then noticed 1024mb on the label. To be sure, I re-installed it and sure enough in system properties it was 1024mb dedicated video memory. My Gateway box definitely says 512mb :)

Also, if you want the supposedly max memory of 12gb, I got mine here...

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001MWRUZ8

$90 for (3) 2gb sticks = 6gb

Be sure to add (2) to your cart for the total 12gb = $180!!!

I believe this is cheaper than Crucial or any local retailer. Also it's the highest speed compatible memory (PC3-12800), and name-brand OCZ. Take care!
 
Hey I have one after the flash anyone noticethe multiplier was missing in the bios settings? Mine is gone now but no errors with my update
 
Just sent you a reply :)

I hope that someone can find the motherboard manual for this system or at least figure out the pinouts and jumpers.
 
First of all i would like to thanks you Renegade_warrior for all the help provided we the FX6800. I have it myself. 1st month the motherboard blew up lol. I had about 4 bluescreen per day. Send it back got a new 1. I have the awesome vista home premieu 64 bit os (kidding not awesome). I followed what you said for upgrading the bios and it worked perfectly for me!

Dont know if it happens to you guys but, i get a lot of crashes while playing games. I turned on the hidden admin and still get crashes. The screen turn black and no sounds or annoying sounds coming out. If im lucky it will come back by itself but, most of the time i need to reboot the computer. I play counter-strike (i know that game isnt compatible with vista) and i recently bought The last remnant and that 1 is compatible with vista and it doesnt the same thing.

I installed XP on my desktop but cant find the driver for our motherboard and the only thing the online service is telling me is that im out of warranty lol.

Thx again Renegade
 
Try running the Windows 7 RC

I'm Running Vista-64 Ultimate and Windows 7 Ultimate-64 (RC) Dual booting.

So far, Windows 7 is running great and I've got most of my programs installed in Win7. No problems so far what so ever.

I even installed the XP Mode on which I run NeatWorks which includes MS SQL Server.
 
Im waiting until the release of win7 i gonna buy the ultimate edition or what ever needed lol. I gonna need to install it on a few computers. So there is no need for me to install the beta right now lol. As i said i flashed the bios and its working fine now didnt got any trouble yesterday with counter-strike source! I will try my other games later today! :) Right now im looking over internet to find out which memory ill buy! I know you said which 1 you've got but i like reading a lot on what i buy. What i didnt do for my desktop because if i knew they were ACER now i wouldnt bought it because i had a lot of problem with acer in the past (no customer service).
 
Customer service is just about non-existent and what little they do provide, it's like they don't know their Head from their Arse! They can't even be bothered to update the drivers on their website.

As for Windows 7, I'm running the Release candidate and it appears Rock Solid.

The way I look at it is this is giving me the experience I need to be prepared for when Windows 7 gets released as I'll no doubt be working on Windows 7 systems and doing installations for others.

This way, I'll know what to expect and I'll have found all the little shortcuts to doing stuff that you otherwise might not be aware of.

As for memory, I'll eventually upgrade my my system to 24 GB and I'll do a bit more research before purchasing. I'll also be building a new system next year and I'll go with the best I can get for what ever parts I need.
 
For Vista, I got them from their respective sites.

Audio - RealTek website
HDMI Audio - RealTek website
The X-Fi MB - I used what came with the system
Intel Chipset - The lastest driver is available from Softpedia.com - the Drivers tab - right column
Intel Matrix Storage Manager - Intel
Video Card - http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/Pages/index.aspx (ATI Website)

All other drivers are installed by the system.

-

For Windows 7 the system installs all the correct drivers without the need to hunt them down.
The Intel Matrix Storage Manager is the only one you have to download and install separately.

If you want the Catalyst drivers, then you'll need to download and install them manually

As for the Creative X-Fi MB, it won't install in Windows 7 as for some reason it can't detect the chipset and Creative hasn't released a Windows 7 version of X-Fi MB yet. Even their X-Fi beta drivers won't work for this one yet.
 
Thank you very much for that fast reply lol. I didnt know its gonna be that simple to install all the stuff lol.

I ordered my ram yesterday 12gig ddr3 ocz.
 
Hey fx 6800 owners. I, as well, bought a fx 6800-01e and have been pleased with the product so far. I was wondering if anyone who has been successful in installing all the drivers for xp would post links to the driver downloads. Thanks!
 
ATI Catalyst 9.5 is out now and this fixes an issue in Windows 7.

In previous version, the Catalyst Control Center would not work, but this has been fixed in v9.5

-

Also, for those of you who would prefer to run a 64-Bit version of FireFox in Windows 7 (64-Bit), here is the Mozilla Download page for FireFox 64-Bit versions.

Code: 
http://wiki.mozilla-x86-64.com/Firefox:Download
- Had to use the Code tags to prevent part of the Url from turning into a smilie.
 
Not sure if this was answered, But download the files and open a command prompt in administrator mode then run the file flash.bat - upgrade will install
 
There is a bit more to upgrading the BIOS than just running the flash.bat in Administrator mode with the FX6800 systems or you'll end up with errors or other problems.

-

First off make sure your system is clean, you can run MalwareByte's Anti-Malware, then SpyBot-Search & Destroy 1.6.2 (without the tea timer). Both of these programs should clear out most any parasites you MIGHT have on your system.

- Updating BIOS

The most important thing is to login to windows using an Administrator account and to disable UAC (user account control).

After that, temporarily disable your Anti-Virus and any other resident protection programs.

The Bios Zip file - make sure all the files are extracted to the same directory such as C:\BIOS or some such.

Close any programs which may be running.

Start > Run

Browse to the folder where you extracted the files from the BIOS zip file and select Flash.bat

- NOTE: If you can't see the file extensions, then you need to do this:

Control Panel > Folder Options > View tab > Scroll down to Hidden files and folders

- Select "Show hidden files and folders"

- The next two items should be selected also.

You should be able to see the file extensions now.

Click OK and the BIOS should update successfully.

The UAC is what causes most of the problems with the BIOS update. But other programs can interfere too.


Once you have successfully updated the BIOS, then you can re-enable the UAC and you should be all set.
 
Sorry 'bout that.

Here Are The Two Methods For Updating Your BIOS

-

All the files you extracted from the Zipfile need to be in the same directory, especially the driver files or it won't work.
(preferably in directory off the Root of the drive such as C:\Update or some such)

Next, not knowing if you have the original or the fixed version, using Notepad or your favorite text editor, open the file flash.bat

The only line you should see in the file is AFUWIN.EXE 842P161G.ROM /p /b /x /L2 /REBOOT

-

To be on the safe side, disconnect your system from your network or broadband modem to isolate it.

Then disable your Anti-Virus program and make sure nothing else is running in the background.
(This is to make sure that nothing interferes with the Flashing of your BIOS) as a Corrupt BIOS will ruin the system.

Then select Start > Run and browse to the folder where the files are and select flash.bat - then hit Open.

It should work.

DO NOT Touch anything until it finishes.

-

The other method would be to run AFUWIN.EXE in Windows Mode.

Same as before, all the files will need to be in the same directory.

Make sure your system is disconnected, the Anti-Virus is disabled, then
select Start > Run and browse to the folder where the files are and select AFUWIN.EXE Then hit - Open

You will see a Dialog Window pop up with three tabs, Select the Setup tab.

Under Block Options, you'll want to select the following.

- Program All Blocks
- Boot Block

Under CMOS Options Select - Load ROM File's Optimal

Under Miscellaneous Select

- Do Not Check ROM ID
- Restart After Programming

Next Click Open and select the ROM file - 842P161G.ROM

Click the Flash button and let it do it's job.

DO NOT Touch anything until it finishes.

- I hope this helps
Click to expand...


Thx for this post Renegade_Warrior !! I am Resolve the problem whit de BIOS upgrade!!

 
I too, would like to give my thanks to Renegade_Warrior. I have a fx 6800-11 that uses the same mobo and I was baffled about how to do the bios update until I saw this thread. I just wonder what gateway was thinking when they disabled the turboboost function in the first place...
 
absolutely. Turn off the uac and use the flash.bat file no checksum no driver error. No problem. This computer has acted like absolute garbage from the beginning. Geek squad has been completely useless. But the day I found this forum and flashed this new bios It has acted like an entirely new computer. Thanks Renegade your a lifesaver. I am more excited today than I was the day I bought this silly piece. I was getting bluecreens and my bluetooth mouse and keyboard have never worked right on this computer. just one thing after the next. Now it actually acts like its gonna be worth it after all. Minus the 200 geeksquad rip.
 
I have to thank you renegade. You've been very helpfull to every one :). And I have one quick question. I'm planning on switching off my mobo for one that isn't from gateway. (probably ASUS Rampage II GENE, cheap and amazing) but heard on other threads that the cpu fan doesn't fit on other borads, is this true??
 
Does anyone Know if this update will work for the acer m7720 since it comes with the (as i hear) same motherboard as the fx6800?
Or does there exist some kind of a cracked or unoffciall bios update that unlocks all the features on the motherboard?
The bios vers that comes with this computer REEEAAAAHEELY sucks.. No support no manuals, no anything
 
As far as I can tell fro what I've found online, it seems to be the same motherboard.

Acer uses this MB for their Acer brand and their Gateway and Packard Bell brands.

The only real way to find out would be to open the case and compare the motherboard with pictures found online of the FX6800 motherboard.

As for MB model number, it seems that Acer may have used different model designations for the USA and the European Motherboards.

But from what I have found and read online, it does appear to be the same.

Please verify against the pictures for 100% certainty as I've not had the chance to examine an m7720 for verification yet.
 
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