Being on BIOS F2 is almost certainly your problem as that is the original BIOS version. Latest version is F5. Not sure why you think it can't be updated or why it would be "hardware locked" because in 35 years of doing this I've never heard of such a thing. Have you tried to update it and if so, what method did you try to use? If you tried to do it using a desktop update utility, that is likely your problem. Those should always be avoided. Updates should be done using the BIOS flash utility or on boards that have BIOS flashback or a similar technology, that.
It's also possible that you simply didn't follow the correct procedure, like in some cases needing to unpack and rename the BIOS file or it will simply not allow you to even try to update on some boards.
But, if you're not interested in getting both cards working, then I guess it doesn't much matter anyhow. Even so, having the latest BIOS version might (And often is) be important for a variety of OTHER reasons.