[SOLVED] What does this mean - Update chipset driver before BIOS Update?

Sep 26, 2018
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While referring MSI motherboards I came across this recommendation for BIOS Update on its AM4 boards. e.g. this link

It says
MSI strongly recommend to update AMD chipset driver 18.10xxxxxxx or latest version before update BIOS

What does this step mean and how is it relevant. BIOS update is generally done from within BIOS and is independent of the OS.

Where do I update chipset drivers when I am in BIOS setup or what does this recommendation actually mean?
Thanks.
 
Solution
Generally, you don't install chipset drivers until AFTER you have installed the OS. I would recommend that you download the latest specified chipset drivers onto a USB drive or CD/DVD. Then AFTER you have updated the BIOS and installed the OS, then install the chipset drivers you downloaded, then apply any needed Windows updates.


Your motherboard is based on a certain AMD chipset. This chipset, being board-level requires drivers in addition to the BIOS. This includes drivers for on-board audio, and networking, among other things. They are simply recommending that thesedrivers be at a certain update level BEFORE you update the BIOS. These chipset drivers can be updated from within windows. You can find the chipset drivers on MSI's website for your motherboard, usually under "Support".
 
Sep 26, 2018
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Thanks for the replies. I think may be I should have been more explicit in my post. What if it's a brand new PC with just the hardware and say the BIOS version is V10 and I want to upgrade to latest V12 just for example, even before installing any OS. Is this recommendation still applicable in that case?

There's no Windows or any OS loaded at that point. Then is it a bad idea to update BIOS first because MSI suggest that update chipset drivers first?

What if the board then comes with say v12 out of the factory for which this recommendation exists? I find that this recommendation reflects only for certain BIOS versions and not all.
Thanks and regards.
 
Generally, you don't install chipset drivers until AFTER you have installed the OS. I would recommend that you download the latest specified chipset drivers onto a USB drive or CD/DVD. Then AFTER you have updated the BIOS and installed the OS, then install the chipset drivers you downloaded, then apply any needed Windows updates.
 
Solution
Obviously, if no OS is installed, then you can't update chipset drivers.
You install chipset drivers after OS has been installed.


 
Jan 30, 2019
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I'm having the what I think is the same issue as the OP in this thread. I'm finishing a new build, MSI A320m Gaming Pro, Ryzen 2200g, and I can't install Win10 because I need to update my BIOS to 7a39v1H, which adds support for the Radeon Vega equipped 2200G, and I can't update the BIOS until I update Chipset drivers for the motherboard, and I have to update the chipset drivers from Windows.......... Hopefully you see where I'm going with this.
Is my only option to slave the hard drive into another pc and install windows from there, then reinstall in the new pc and do all the updating? If so, that presents another problem because I'm installing to an NVMe M.2 drive, and my other pc doesn't have an NVMe socket.

 
Jan 30, 2019
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Hmm, I was hoping it was that simple, but apparently not. I downloaded the proper update. I assumed that the most recent was what I needed, but you were indeed right. When I go into Mflash with the USB drive installed, and select the update, it comes up with "BIOS ROM seems corrupted. Please check ROM file integrality before update".

Thanks for the quick response.
 
Jan 30, 2019
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Downloaded version 7A39v1F from https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/A320M-GAMING-PRO
Formatted in FAT32, extracted from zip to the thumb drive, put into every usb port on the new pc, refreshed each time so that mFlash would see it, selected it, and same result. Think I'm just going to drop it off at a shop and pay them to have it running for me later.

edit: I'm wondering if it could be something is stupid as a bad thumb drive. The one I'm using is the same one that I tried to install windows from and had no luck with. It was brand new until I took it out of the package a few hours ago.
 
Jan 30, 2019
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Update: After multiple attempts to update the bios and much hair-pulling and headaches, I found to really simple, stupid issues. The first issue led to the second.
1st fault was in the chair-to-keyboard interface. A replacement to the aforementioned interface discovered a faulty ram stick. Removed ram stick and started on just the one stick, and all was right in the world. PC booted and ran like a dream. Replaced bad stick and over a month later, still running relatively problem free. Will post a query on the new problem in a related thread. Thanks for the help.