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  #1  
Old 10-28-2002, 03:13 PM
Last Last is offline
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Join Date: May 2000
Location: South Africa
Posts: 485
Default A7V333 Owners BEWARE!

To all the fellow owners of the Asus A7V333 mobo out there, please reas the following.

When updating from Bios version 1009 or under to a higher BIOS , do not, repeat DO NOT attemt to flash the bios using the bios update utility that came with your board. If you have a higher bios that 1009, and you are not a computer hardware engineer, also do not use the utility. It is flawed and you will have a 50% chance of corrupting your bios chip beyond repair. Asus is not officially admiting this but their main service centre in TW is aware of it.Their official intenational user forum for this board at http://www.asusnetq.com.tw/inside.asp is also filling up with owners of dead mother boards.

If you want to update your bios, the best course of action is to take it to your nearest computer shop and ask them to do it for you, making them responsible for the replacement of the chip should it fail, and saving you $25 and a month's downtime.

Expert users who want to flash the bios themselves must do so using the traditional methods or the normal DOS based flash routine described in the manual, but these routes have also had problems, although to a lesser degree.

The mobo itself is great, but this is a serious threat to the uninformed user.If you have already killed your bios chip on your A7V333, here is the official response from Asus Taiwan :

Quote:
Dear customer:

Thanks for choosing ASUSTeK.
Please clear cmos first, if motherboard still can't boot, you can do as following to reflash your BIOS:
a. Find a good computer.
b.Use a pure floppy disk, use the dos command "Format a:/s " to create a bootup disk, copy the aflash.exe and the bios file to this disk.
c. Shut down the good compute and raise the bios chip on the motherboard, then just put the pins touched on the socket.
d. Power on the good computer and enter DOS, Change the raised bios chip from your have problems computer.
e. Load the aflash.exe and flash the bios.
NOTE: Be careful do not make the pins of your bios broken. YOU can also contact the local reseller to help you to do this things if you
can not do it.
Otherwise, please contact your local reseller to buy a new BIOS chip.

Sorry for your any inconvenience and if there still any problem, please feel free inform us.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">And if you need a new bios chip, here is the response from Asus USA

Quote:
To obtain a new BIOS, simply send us a letter with your name, address, and
telephone number. List which BIOS you would like (and for reference, what
board you have, it's revision number, and your current BIOS revision).
Enclose a check made out to ASUS Technology Inc for $25USD. This will cover
the cost of the BIOS chip, the flashing, and shipping via USPS Priority
Mail. Credit cards are not accepted. Rush orders will reflect the difference
in shipping costs. Orders from users outside of US are no longer accepted.
The address is ATTN: Bios Dept., 7100 Intermodal Dr., Suite A Louisville, KY
40258, USA.
<font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">Thank and good luck!
Peter

PS>Anyone living in the States willing to donate a new bios chip to a poor South African? [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
I am willing to trade in kind [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
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Old 10-28-2002, 04:32 PM
marcusb marcusb is offline
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Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Victoria, Australia
Posts: 1,040
Default Re: A7V333 Owners BEWARE!

I thought all the new (ie. last year or two) boards had a dual BIOS so the second bios kicks in and can bring a basically machine up so you can flash the main bios again. This was to protect against some viruses that were toasting bios chips.

I might be wrong, maybe the new boards don't support this feature.

Cheers,
Marcus
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  #3  
Old 10-28-2002, 08:35 PM
Last Last is offline
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Join Date: May 2000
Location: South Africa
Posts: 485
Default Re: A7V333 Owners BEWARE!

Nosuch luck here.The local Asus seller here wanted to rip me off for $100+ for a new bios chip untill I ponted the US site out to them ($25 incl shipping), after which they said they would be unable to replace the bios for less than the $100 after which I told them to get stuffed as I had spent the equivalent of $5000 there this year and if they cant do this for me then I'll just do it myself and mind you why stop there, I'll just buy everything direct from now on, for $5000 I could have flown to Singapore, taken a weeks holiday an bought twice the amount of stuff I have so far, after which I felt reasonably confident in cancelling my orders for a new AMD XP 2400 , a whack of RAM , a few hardrives and two new 17' monitors I wanted for Christmas , the money for which I will now in all probability spend on a trip to the UK to see you know who and do the deal for you know what after which these little things will all be put back in the place where they belong in the box under the bottom of the bottom of the pile under the bed in the guestroom , so no, no dual bios for me thank you, I will begrudgingly use my old GA7DX+ to finish up the last projects while I take up Roy on his offer to do the business in the states for me and even though I cannot do squat about the IRQ settings on it I have it rock solid because I have been toying with ProToools for what well um 4 years now and I can find my way around a GA7 even though the manual was translated directly from Idiot to a sot of English that not even a hip hop enthusiast could understand I will get the job done in the end and pray that in time manufacturers of computer hardware takes a step back from this mad dash for product and make something that is worthwhile caring for and as I am typing this I glance over at my very first PC a meager slot 370 celeron sitting on the desk opposite after 5 years + still the most solid and reliable computer I have ever owned, including the G3's, G4's, Pentiums and AMD's and so let me finish this record breaking sentence by bidding you a good day and informing friend and foe alike that I, Peter deVries, shall spend the next two hours happily playing solitaire on my beloved celeron 200 , which is, as far as stability is concerned, the only REAL computer I own, as it has, unlike these other machines, a distinctive edge over a russian dishwasher [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]
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