Bios Problem

My husband was trying to install a 200 Gig hard drive on his computer with Windows XP and I guess the mother board couldn't acknowledge the whole 200 so it only used 127. He wanted to use Partition Magic to get the rest of the 200 back and when he did now his computer is telling him there is something wrong with the bios. This is the error it gives:

Award Bootlock Bios v.1.0

Bios Rom Checksum error
Detection Floppy Drive A media...
Insert System Disk and press enter

Only the A drive is working and when he puts a disk inside it asks for:

AWDFLASH.EXE

What I need to know is if there is a way to fix the bios, what files do I need, and where do I get them from. Or is it a lost cause - i.e. the motherboard is dead so he has to get a new one?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

127 GB was the old limit for XP prior to SP1 & 2.

It might be a motherboard limit but that is doubtful.

Anyway your board wants a BIOS flash.

You need to exactly ID the board. Do you know the manufacturer and model?

Was it a manufactured computer? e.g. Dell; HP; IBM; etc.

Or was it custom built?

You need to find the exact make and model of the computer or motherboard then you can find the proper AWDFLASH.EXE which will be a BIOS flash utility to upgrade the BIOS.

Lacking any documentation or exterior ID you will need to open the computer and look for a label on the motherboard.

The motherboard is an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe

another problem is the fact that the AWDFLASH.EXE is like 5 1/2 MB's which means it is useless on a floppy disk (which is the only thing working on the computer).

Here is the latest BIOS and Flash Utility for that board. It all fits on a floppy.

There should be a READ ME in the download with exact instructions to creat the floppy and flash.

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...N8X-E%20Deluxe

Description Awdflash BIOS update tool V8.24B
File Size 22.22 (KBytes)

Version 1013 2004/11/19update
Description A7N8X-E Deluxe BIOS 1013
Patch new Samsung DDR400 DRAM to fix enter WinXP problem
Fixed Speech IC detect abnormal for CPU overclocking
Support new CPUs. Please refer to our website at: http://www.asus.com.tw/support/cpusu...pusupport.aspx
File Size 396.79 (KBytes)

We didn't see a READ ME anyplace, but I downloaded the files and when I put the AWDFLASH.EXE in the floppy drive it went to the first screen, but wouldn't go any further. At the bottom of the screen it says:

Message: Source file not found!

and no matter what I pushed - nothing happened. Is there a plan B?

AWDFLASH BIOS Upgrade Procedure A7N8X and A7N8X Deluxe series

Use Built-in BIOS Refresh Procedure

http://support.asus.com/technicaldoc...Language=en-us

Ok, that would work, but the Bios is gone which means the keyboard doesn't work (another reason it didn't do anything when I was hitting the keys). The only thing that works is the A drive. We can't get the computer at a DOS prompt. With an unformatted disk it just says that it can't find AWDFLASH.EXE and then says replace the disk and press enter. I guess it's a lost cause.

Thanks for your help anyway.

You could try to clear the CMOS. Unfortunately I cannot get the manual to download in order to search for jumpers but you could at least remove the motherboard battery for a few minutes to clear the CMOS. Also have the computer unplugged. Replace the battery after a few minutes and try to boot.

http://support.asus.com/download/dow...Language=en-us

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?im...8xMl9sLmpwZw==

Also read this re: ESD:

ESD - What can I do to avoid damage

On further review of those pictures:

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?im...8xM19sLmpwZw==

That blue jumper next to the battery might be a CMOS jumper (especially if it is labeled JBAT)

If so while the battery is removed move the blue sleeve from 1&2 to 2&3 and wait a few minutes before returning it to 1&2; replace the battery; replug into the main and try to boot.

My husband already tried to clear the CMOS - he's done it a couple of times now and we still keep getting the same error. Is there a plan C???? lol