XFX 680i LT Bios

[Bio-Hazard]

It's nice to see that you guys got the Bios up on your web site..............:grin: Now for a few small suggestion/comments about what you might think about doing in the future.

1. Post the most current bios update from nVidia, the version you have posted is P03, 1 version behind and the most current version (P04) has some fairly important fixes (at least to me).

Improves S3 resume functionality
USB flash key functionality improvements
Overclocking and memory improvements
WHQL related HPET fixes

2. How about posting them another format other than a .EXE format that requires a "FLOPPY" drive to write the files to. Using a "FLOPPY" disk to flash your Bios is so old fashioned and out of date, I haven't owned a "FLOPPY" drive in years and do not intend on buying one just to flash my MoBo Bios. At least your compitition offers the Bios in "FLOPPY" and ISO for burning a boot CD, which is almost up to date. Flashing from a USB flash drive would be the fastest and best method IMHO.

So there you guys have it, now I have to spend all my time to open up your file and try to extract the Bios just to update my new board.

Rant over.

[werty316]

Here the is raw "bin" bios file for those who don't have a floppy drive.

[Bio-Hazard]

But I'm looking for the latest P04 version if you have any idea of where to find that one.

[werty316]

I am not sure if all 680i LT BIOS are universal but this is the P04 BIOS for eVGA's 680i LT board.

You could give this a try but I think it would be better for XFX to release an official P04.

[Bio-Hazard]

I tried the EVGA version already, Award flash has a board # check in the program that stops you from flashing bois from other vendors. Sort of strange IMHO as all the reff boards are exactly the same. I suppose I could edit that out of the bios myself, but I see no real reason to take the risk at this point in time.

[xfxsupport]

Ask and you shall receive:


ftp://xfxsupport.com/public/BIOS/721N9P04.zip


XFX Support

[Bio-Hazard]

Thanks, I got that earlier today, but it's still the floppy only version..............:(
Now to go out and strip out a junk PC for it's floppy and slave it to mine just to flash the bios. Also need to find a floppy power adapter as well, boy what a pain in the butt. It wouldn't be all that bad, but my case doesn't even have a place to mount the silly floppy drive......................:ahhhhh:

[werty316]

I could have sworn XFX Support already posted the P04 BIOS earlier in both bin and ISO format... :confused:

[Bio-Hazard]

Not that I've seen, EVGA does, but I've only seen the one type on XFX's web site.

And extracting them and putting them on a boot CD doesn't work either, I kept getting out of memory issues trying it that way.........:(

[werty316]

The post was something like both P03, and P04 were made into one ISO file and you either go to the P03 or P04 directory for the according BIOS update and then you would run an autoexec file to update the BIOS.

I am 100% that I did see it though; either that or I was halucenating.

[Bio-Hazard]

Well, I got the board flashed with P04, I took the extracted bin file, combined it with the Awdflash that came on the EVGA CD ISO and used the HP USB boot disk program to make a bootabe USB flash disk...........;) Now I'm all set for any and all bios updates. I even took it a small step farther and created a little batch file to automaticly do everything for me. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but it's a million times better than having a crap floppy hanging out of my box...............:)

[officermartinez]

Well I just set up a ticket on this very issue. I'm not at all happy with the way XFX is trying to force THOUSANDS of computer owners who do NOT own a floppy drive. What I do own is a CD ROM and an AIT memory card reader that hooks up directly to one of my USB headers on my motherboard. Bio Hazard, is it possible for me flash my BIOS to the latest P04 version like you, with the hardware that I currently have listed above? I have a few spare 512mb SD cards laying around that I don't even use anymore.

[Bio-Hazard]

I'm not sure if your board will boot to a flash card or not, but you can chech it out to see if the card is seen from inside the bios by mounting a card in windows and then booting into the system bios. Go to the system boot selection section ((advanced Bios Features) and then down to Hard Dist Boot Priority and hit enter. If the bios sees the SD card, it will be listed there and you'll need to set it to the first priority. Then it's just a matter of making a boot card and placing the flash program and bios on it.

I'll upload the files that you need to have to make a boot disk and the bios files.

[Miles]

Hey BioHazard,

How did you extract the .bin file from the .exe without a floppy? I may be in a similar situation with the XFX 680i SLI that I am getting ready to review, I have a bootable flash drive and haven't used a floppy drive in some time.

TIA!:icon_tiphat:

[Bio-Hazard]

I ended up having to cheat and I used a customers old PII that I was working on at the time, I get a lot of those out here where I live. Post the Bios that you want to use and I'll find a rig that I can extract it on and post the files back on here............;) None of the standard tricks that I know work on the silly XFX floppy file.............:(

[Miles]

You are Da Man! It will be one of these two; both are from XFX's site, one is NVIDIA's and the other XFX's...Is the flash utility also included in the .exe?

[Bio-Hazard]

Here ya go..............:icon_tiphat: The Bios as well as the Flash utility are in the zip.

[Miles]

Thanks again my friend!

[Bio-Hazard]

Your welcome, anything to lend a hand...........;)

[namicus]

Please excuse my inexperience, but I've read this thread three times and am still unsure exactly how to flash my bios without using a floppy. Could someone be so kind as to give succinct instructions right from the beginning?

Also, is the P04 update necessary if I updated my computer with the C2D errata fix mentiond in THIS (http://theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=40567)article? Are the two related in any way? I was having BSOD almost once a week and they seem to have stopped now after this update.

One last question. Is there a way to tell within windows what BIOS version you're running?

Thanks for your time.

[Bio-Hazard]

Download and run CPUz:

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Then click on the mainboard tab and about halfway down is the Bios section and that will tell you exactly what version of the bios you are running.

Here's a nice how-to on USB flash drive Bios and firmware flashing.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1200939

[annaconda]

You are Da Man! It will be one of these two; both are from XFX's site, one is NVIDIA's and the other XFX's...Is the flash utility also included in the .exe?

Are these BIOS for 680i Sli Motherboard, if not can some one please upload for 680i Sli BIOS. I don;t have floppy.

thanx.

[namicus]

Thanks for the links Bio-Hazard. I'll be away for the weekend so I won't have a chance to try this out until next week, especially since I'll have to go buy a usb card.

Just for clarification - in the link I went to, Blue Falcon states:

"AFUD408.EXE - The BIOS update utility for my motherboard
A7350NMS.134 - The actual BIOS update file for my motherboard. In your case this might end in .BIN or .ROM. In my case it ends in 134 because it's BIOS version 1.34 and.... well.... that's how MSI named the file.

So now I'm going to update the BIOS on my motherboard using the commands specific to the flash utility I'm using. My command:

AFUD408.EXE A7350NMS.134 /P /B /C

Starts the AMI BIOS Update utility and tells it to program the BIOS on my board with the data in the file A7350NMS.134, and afterwards to clear the CMOS settings. (I'll have to re-enter them when I reboot after the BIOS update)."


I assume the "bios update utility" for my motherboard (the 680i LT) is the one you posted earlier in this thread - SP27213.zip? After I create the bootable usb key, I'll only need the SP27213.zip and p04.zip files to flash the bios, right?

Blue Falcon mentioned his own personal command he'd write (which I quoted above) Do I also have to enter a command or will the bios update self install? If it won't self install, what was the command you typed in, since we have the same board it should work for me.

Sorry for the wordiness, I just don't want to fry my board and am trying to be as descriptive as possible.



For the XFX support group to answer:

How difficult would it be for me to get a bootable cd to flash the bios? Would you have to send it or is there a way I can burn it on my own with files you supply?

[Bio-Hazard]

Nero can make a bootable CD and in theory all you would have to do is add the bios file and flash program. Then all you would have to do is boot to the CD and manually run the flash program.

Right now I know that you can open a support ticket and they will send you a ISO file that you can burn and make a bootable flash CD.

[supfoo214]

Would somebody be nice enough to post up the extracted BIOS file for the 650i Ultra? I've created a USB bootup disk that works but my computer won't boot up the exe provided by the XFX BIOS file. What command should I type at the start up page to start the BIOS updating process? Thanks!

[namicus]

I've created the bootable usb and have changed the boot priority to the usb drive. I get a c: prompt and don't know what to do from there.

Do I type "dir" to see the P04 files I unzipped to the usb (721Np04.bin, AWDFLASH.exe and p04flash.bat) and then type:

AWDFLASH.exe p04flash.bat?

Where I'm confused is where it says in the TUTORIAL (http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1200939) that Blue Falcon's command specific to his system is "AFUD408.EXE A7350NMS.134 /P /B /C"

I'm confused by the "/P /B /C" What do I type?? Does it matter I have a "c" prompt instead of his "a" prompt?

Never mind. I simply typed in AWDFLASH.exe p04flash.bat and hit enter and now my bios is flashed! Thanks for your help.

[Bio-Hazard]

Would somebody be nice enough to post up the extracted BIOS file for the 650i Ultra? I've created a USB bootup disk that works but my computer won't boot up the exe provided by the XFX BIOS file. What command should I type at the start up page to start the BIOS updating process? Thanks!
I'd post them again but my system with the floppy is down right now, but you can do a search and you'll find it in one of the 650i threads. I posted it there some time ago.

[supfoo214]

Thanks Bio-Hazard! But it seems that XFX just came out with an official ISO version on their FTP. That BIOS update fixed many things.

[Bio-Hazard]

Ya, XFX has slowly been adding ISO's to their site, but I'd still like to see expanded standalong files. I'd much rather boot to a flash drive and update from their, much much faster than either a CD or floppy, after all, this the 21st century............:)