Can't update bios on Asus A8N-VM CSM

[Steerpike]

I have found a new version of the bios for this mobo, which supposedly fixes the poor S-Video quality. I was able to download the new bios, but I cannot apply it.

When I try to run the Asus update utility, I get an error
"Asus Biosinfo.dll
NT Service Registry Error. Please reboot NT and run again".

On ok, I then get the installer splash screen, with 'AsusUpdate 6.10.02 for microsoft windows platform' at the top, and a second error message
"Warning
Setup program detect no ASUS motherboard. Installation will be aborted now".

Sometimes, I get a hard lock up on first lauch and have to hit reset button.

I don't have a floppy drive in the system, so I can't easily flash the bios the old fashioned way (I could borrow a floppy drive from another system, I guess). I could also burn a boot CD-Rom with a floppy image ... but I'm hopeful there is some solution here.

I've googled all evening and found no solutions, although I did find that several other users have experienced this problem.

Has anyone found a solution to this?

[gplasky]

In the BIOS do you have the choice of an ALT-F2? This will run a BIOS update that's built into the BIOS. You may be able to put the actual update file on the C: drive or a CD.

Gerry

[JUC]

i would just borrow a floppy...much less hassle and less of a chance of things going wrong IMHO

[Steerpike]

Yeah, I think that's what I'll do. I can certainly rip a floppy from one of my several systems, but I've also borrowed a USB floppy from the office. I'm guessing that - since this is a 'modern' bios - it will recognize the USB drive at the bios level.

I went into the boot menu last night, and did not see a USB drive listed as a possible boot source, but then ... if I recall correctly ... the bios will only show such devices if they are plugged in at the time of boot (the ability to 'hot connect' devices is not present in the BIOS). I'll try that tonight.

[gplasky]

Make sure you enable legagcy USB devices in the BIOS. I have an older ASUS board and I had the ALT-F2 option. Nice thing is that runs the updater program and you can just supply a path to where the update file is. Mine was in C:\ so it was relatively painless to do.

Gerry

[AboveUnrefined]

You're missing a dll library that was probably included on some sort of dumb chipset application that was on the CD that came with the motherboard... if you can't get the USB floppy to work or just want to have a go at it try installing the junk that's on the CD that came with your motherboard. You can also try digging through the files for the relative dlls and put it in the system32 directory then just run the program...

It is safest to go hardcore floppy via floppy controller though...

[Steerpike]

Thanks for the suggestion ... I've already installed pretty much everything from the CD that looks remotely appropriate. I did not install Asus Cool n'Quiet (which sounds like it might clash with AMD's Cool n'Quiet!) but otherwise, pretty much everything I can think of got installed.

Anyway, I plugged in the external USB Floppy drive, which was detected on boot, and created a floppy with the AFUDOS utility, and flashed without a problem.

Further, the latest bios actually fixed my 'S-Video display' issue!

[lovingHDTV]

Originally Posted by Steerpike

Further, the latest bios actually fixed my 'S-Video display' issue!

This is good to hear, it would really suck to go through all that effort and it not even address the original issue

[Steerpike]

I did read, over on the Asus forum, that the latest bios (0902) has problems such as, failure to detect USB drives, etc ... so I'm sure I will have fun ahead dealing with these issues! I don't believe this is an official release ... I need to look out for a formal version.