# A7N8X-LA bios HELP!



## sycolic (Nov 20, 2003)

Does anyone know how to access the hidden bios setting for this board (btw its a HP a320n computer) or have a stock ASUS bios flash for this MB so I can overflash HPs pos custom bios? I want to upgrade to a new processor but I cant cuz I have absolutely no access to motherboard settings like clock speed, FSB speed etc. et all..... perfect eg is I have a Athalon XP 2800+ in it right now running at 2.08ghz which even according to the processor info can run a 2.20ghz that alone is a big. Please if anyone can help I would greately appreciate it. Like a bios flash, or someway to image the original bios (so if I decide to flash a different MB bios I can atleast go back after MUCK it) or a bios editor or something that gets me to the point where I can unlock the bios or just get rid of it totally. thanks anyone


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## clintfan (Sep 4, 2003)

OK well you probably already know all this, but...



> I have absolutely no access to motherboard settings


The HP manual doesn't list BIOS in the index. In 2 or 3 places in the manual they tell you to "run the BIOS setup tool", but they never tell you how to do that, and it isn't in the web FAQ's either. For shame!

In the BIOS update readme on the HP website I found out you can enter the BIOS Setup tool by holding F1 during POST.



> Does anyone know how to access the hidden bios setting for this board


I doubt there are any "hidden" settings other than what's already shown by the tool you get from F1. BIOS tools tend to be pretty flat, there's no way to pass them special access codes and such, so what you get is what you see.

The HP motherboard specs also say it is an AMIBIOS, so you may find some resources over at the American Megatrends website, http://www.amibios.com.



> a bios editor or something that gets me to the point where I can unlock the bios or just get rid of it totally.


You can't run a computer without a BIOS, so getting rid of it is out of the question.

But if you're interested, HP has released a _new_ BIOS v3.14 _very_ recently, on 26 Sept. 2003.



> Like a bios flash...


This BIOS update package contains the 314.ROM file which is the actual BIOS updae image. It also contains an AFUWIN tool which undoubtedly does the actual flashing, plus .SYS and .DLL files which likely support that tool. These would run together under Windows to perform the BIOS update. When you run an included INSTALLER.EXE file, it asks if you want to update the BIOS. 



> or someway to image the original bios (so if I decide to flash a different MB bios I can atleast go back after MUCK it)


Without actually running the INSTALL all the way through, I can't tell whether these Windows-based tools let you "image the original bios" as you said, but my guess is they don't bother to provide that.

The windows updater uses AFUWIN to do the install, as I said. It appears than no DOS-based install tool is supplied. It would probably be AFUDOS, which does have the capability to "image the BIOS" as you said, saving the current BIOS to a boot floppy. 

*Warning: it could be extremely dangerous* to try using any BIOS tool on your mobo without having that tool blessed by HP. If it does anything bad, it could render your mobo unusable. And Asus probably won't talk to you about this since your mobo is an OEM model. You'd be buying a new PC or sending the mobo for repairs.

It might be harmless to try AFUDOS to _read_ the old BIOS, but again I'm not really sure. You sound ready to use a BIOS editor, so you might be one who wants to try AFUDOS to read the old. You can download AFUDOS.zip from the Asus website under the downloads for another mobo BIOS, like the P4C800-E Deluxe... all versions of AFUDOS seem to be the same right now. Then...

1. Create a DOS boot floppy. 
2. Unzip AFUDOS onto that floppy. 
3. Boot from the floppy. 
4. Then run this command from the A: prompt, 
"afudos.exe /oA320NOLD.ROM" 
without the quotes, with a blank between the .exe and the /o, but with no blank between the /o and the filename. If it works, the current BIOS will be copied to the floppy as file "a320nold.rom". It takes about 30 seconds. 


If you decide to apply the HP update, bring up Windows on your PC. Then use the HP instructions... except I think you probably need to double-click the Install.exe file _before_ you can do what HP says, "Double-click the BIOS update icon". They don't seem to mention that but it's my guess this is how it works.

If you've never done a BIOS update under Windows, it's pretty cool.

Hope this helps,

-clintfan


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## sycolic (Nov 20, 2003)

yeah been down this road allready. Know how to get into the bios screen via F1 but as I said there is basically absolutely nothing I can do in there, I have no options for timing, bus speed, clock speed etc. Eg the Athalon XP 2800+ processor I have is running at 2.08ghz when in fact by the processors info it actually will run at 2.20ghz (which is what I want to do) also lets say I put in a new processor like a 3000+? since there is absolutely no jumper settings how am I supposed to setup the processor to work at the proper clock settings? get where Im going with this. There is a ton of options that most OEM companies hide from the 'std' consumer but I feel they should atleast support the 'highend tech' users also with info and support too (just good buisness practice) I mean heck I cant even get a manual for this motherboard even. I guess Im stuck in having to go and buy a MB that actually supports what I want and put it in a brand new computer that is just a month old. (and that is just pathetic :upset: )


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## clintfan (Sep 4, 2003)

Yes it sounds like this mobo is not for the OC market, rather the consumer market where they don't want to let the consumer do anything out of the ordinary, just walk the line. If every mobo were designed with the same range of abilities, companies woundn't need to offer so many different models.

-clintfan


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