I'm pretty much out of ideas about what the crap is wrong with my computer, and I've narrowed it down to either a faulty mobo or I'm an idiot. I thought I'd post and see if it isn't the former I'll try to detail the symptoms as well as possible.
I'm trying to update the bios from the version on the CD included, which is 0201. I installed the ASUSUpdater program that was on the CD and tried using it to update to version 0609. It seemed to work well except when I hit the WindowsXP loading screen (the one with the bar under the logo before the login screen) it would freeze and reboot my system.
The only solution at this point was to use the ASUS CD and flash the bios using ASUS EZ Flash2 back to the original 0201 version.
Then I tried using the ASUSUpdater for version 0307, had the exact same problem and had to use the exact same solution. Only this time for whatever wacko reason when I tried flashing back to 0201 it gave me an error msg saying it could not read the file from the CD.
I'd like to mention here that the ONLY way to update the bios from 0201 was to use the ASUSUpdater through Windows. Anytime I'd try doing it with EZ Flash 2 it would not even detect the bios versions on whatever format, be it CD or USB drive.
Now then, after updating to version 0307 as I was saying earlier, I couldn't use the ASUS CD or the CD I created to flash back to 0201. No matter what I tried it told me it could not read the file. So at this point I went out and bought a USB drive (also would like to mention that my A: drive must of went bad, the system detects it fine and says it's working, but anytime I'd put a disk in it wouldn't read it).
My mobo detected the USB drive just fine, so I used it to try every version bios for my mobo that's available: 0307, 0609, 0704, 0903, and 1102. Other than 0704 which it said was the wrong file size (1MB instead of 512k like the rest) I had the same problem. Would get to the Windows loading screen and reboot. This was all done while the bios was using 0307.
So using the USB drive I flashed back 0201 and now my system boots just fine. The file on the ASUS CD was fine, I actually copied it directly to the USB drive. But for some reason it wouldn't read off the CD, both the one I created and the ASUS. All 3 had the exact same file, but would only read off the USB drive. Neither of my optical drives would work.
I've updated bios' on my other computers and never had this much trouble. I'm really thinking I'm doing something wrong and am just glad that at this point I still have a working computer, however I'd like to know if maybe I have a bad mobo, although I don't see how since it works just fine with 0201.
Oh and one other thing, I noticed that the ASUSUpdater warns that EZ Flash should not be used to flash the bios if using a version prior to 0307. EZ Flash is what's in the bios, seems odd that I "shouldn't" use that but whatever. I couldn't anyway since EZ Flash wouldn't detect the newer bios versions on the available media.
I hope I described all that correctly, sorry if I rambled or if anything isn't clear.
System specs:
ASUS M2N-SLI deluxe
nVidia nForce 570 SLI
AMD X2 4000+
nVidia GeForce 7900GT
G.Skill DDR2 PC2-6400 1GBx2
Windows XP SP2
I'm trying to update the bios from the version on the CD included, which is 0201. I installed the ASUSUpdater program that was on the CD and tried using it to update to version 0609. It seemed to work well except when I hit the WindowsXP loading screen (the one with the bar under the logo before the login screen) it would freeze and reboot my system.
The only solution at this point was to use the ASUS CD and flash the bios using ASUS EZ Flash2 back to the original 0201 version.
Then I tried using the ASUSUpdater for version 0307, had the exact same problem and had to use the exact same solution. Only this time for whatever wacko reason when I tried flashing back to 0201 it gave me an error msg saying it could not read the file from the CD.
I'd like to mention here that the ONLY way to update the bios from 0201 was to use the ASUSUpdater through Windows. Anytime I'd try doing it with EZ Flash 2 it would not even detect the bios versions on whatever format, be it CD or USB drive.
Now then, after updating to version 0307 as I was saying earlier, I couldn't use the ASUS CD or the CD I created to flash back to 0201. No matter what I tried it told me it could not read the file. So at this point I went out and bought a USB drive (also would like to mention that my A: drive must of went bad, the system detects it fine and says it's working, but anytime I'd put a disk in it wouldn't read it).
My mobo detected the USB drive just fine, so I used it to try every version bios for my mobo that's available: 0307, 0609, 0704, 0903, and 1102. Other than 0704 which it said was the wrong file size (1MB instead of 512k like the rest) I had the same problem. Would get to the Windows loading screen and reboot. This was all done while the bios was using 0307.
So using the USB drive I flashed back 0201 and now my system boots just fine. The file on the ASUS CD was fine, I actually copied it directly to the USB drive. But for some reason it wouldn't read off the CD, both the one I created and the ASUS. All 3 had the exact same file, but would only read off the USB drive. Neither of my optical drives would work.
I've updated bios' on my other computers and never had this much trouble. I'm really thinking I'm doing something wrong and am just glad that at this point I still have a working computer, however I'd like to know if maybe I have a bad mobo, although I don't see how since it works just fine with 0201.
Oh and one other thing, I noticed that the ASUSUpdater warns that EZ Flash should not be used to flash the bios if using a version prior to 0307. EZ Flash is what's in the bios, seems odd that I "shouldn't" use that but whatever. I couldn't anyway since EZ Flash wouldn't detect the newer bios versions on the available media.
I hope I described all that correctly, sorry if I rambled or if anything isn't clear.
System specs:
ASUS M2N-SLI deluxe
nVidia nForce 570 SLI
AMD X2 4000+
nVidia GeForce 7900GT
G.Skill DDR2 PC2-6400 1GBx2
Windows XP SP2