Re: [flashrom] ASUS

[Chris]

Right, I think it is just a question of labelling. The file I am trying 
to flash the BIOS with is for the ASUS motherboard designated "P5L- VM - 
1394" whereas I have motherboard designated                           
"P5L- VM - 1394 (V-P5945G)". Is there a way to turn off the checking 
mechanism if I am certain I have the correct replacement BIOS ROM file?
Thanks in advance.

On 10/21/2011 06:08 PM, Idwer Vollering wrote:
> Can you use reply-to-all or reply to [e-mail]? Thanks.
>
> 2011/10/21 mindzeebeez:
> > I definitely have the correct BIOS upgrade for my system, but normal BIOS
> > updaters reject it because of the appendage on my motherboard system spec.
> > Please, does flashrom check for compatibility of the new BIOS ROM file before installing?
>
> The ASUS updater most likely does some DMI table checking and demands
> to stop continuing when the file contents don't match one or more of
> the DMI entries.
>
> Only when specific code is needed to disable a erase/write protection
> does flashrom perform a PCI ID/DMI table check:
> http://flashrom.org/Board_Enable
>
> flashrom does not look at file contents, it only compares the chip
> size to the file size and quits when those do not match.
> > I am using the latest version of flashrom (not the developer's version)
> > freely available on your webpages.
> >
> > Chris Hudson BA(Hons.)
> >
> > On 21 Oct, 2011,at 12:16 PM, Idwer Vollering  wrote:
> >
> > Hi, my comment(s) are inline:
> >
> > 2011/10/21 Chris
> > > By the way I have contacted ASUS about the problem, but no answer.
> > > I would be only too willing to make a donation to the project if we can
> > > get this sorted out!
> > >
> > > -------- Original Message --------
> > > Subject: error message: flashrom
> > > Date: Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:34:52 +0100
> > > From: Chris
> > > To: [e-mail]
> > >
> > > Hi,
> > > Please help me, I get the message below when I try and flash the bios
> > > with flashrom.
> > >
> > > I have the new ROM file on my desktop waiting to install. It may have a
> > > compatibility issue because although it is the correct one, it is for
> > > motherboard ASUS P5L-VM-1394 and I have the P5L-VM-1394 (V-P5945G).
> > > Which is why the built in system BIOS updater wouldn't work
> > >
> > > I also tried AFUDOS (didn't have motherboard DVD) and the proprietory
> > > ASUS updater ((which runs in Windows partition)- same problem re: new
> > > BIOS "compatibility").
> > >
> > > Thanks in advance for any assistance!
> > >
> > > Chris Hudson
> > > Calibrating delay loop.. OK.
> > >
> > > WARNING! You may be running flashrom on an unsupported laptop. We could
> > > not detect this for sure because your vendor has not setup the SMBIOS
> > > tables correctly.
> >
> > This happens when a board's DMI table is incomplete, flashrom looks
> > for the chassis type in that table ("Desktop", for example, is a valid
> > type).
> >
> > Unfortunately you haven't mentioned which version of flashrom you are
> > using, but when you use the latest code [1] you should be able to run
> > flashrom like this: flashrom -V -w<new_bios_file.extension>  -p
> > internal:this_is_not_a_laptop
> > > You can enforce execution by adding
> > > '-p internal:laptop=force_I_want_a_brick' to the command line, but
> > > please read the following warning if you are not sure.
> > >
> > > Laptops, notebooks and netbooks are difficult to support and we
> > > recommend to use the vendor flashing utility. The embedded controller
> > > (EC) in these machines often interacts badly with flashing.
> > > See http://www.flashrom.org/Laptops for details.
> > >
> > > If flash is shared with the EC, erase is guaranteed to brick your laptop
> > > and write may brick your laptop.
> > > Read and probe may irritate your EC and cause fan failure, backlight
> > > failure and sudden poweroff.
> > > You have been warned.
> > > ========================================================================
> > >
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> > > [e-mail]
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