[flashrom] ASUS

[Idwer Vollering]

Can you use reply-to-all or reply to flashrom at flashrom.org? Thanks.

2011/10/21 mindzeebeez <mindzeebeez at mac.com>:
> I definitely have the correct BIOS upgrade for my system, but normal BIOS
> updateers reject it because of the appendage on my motherboard system spec.
> Does flashrom check for compatibility 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 <vidwer at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Hi, my comment(s) are inline:
>
> 2011/10/21 Chris <mindzeebeez at me.com>
>>
>> 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 <mindzeebeez at me.com>
>> To: flashrom at flashrom.org
>>
>> 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
>
> [1]: http://flashrom.org/Downloads
>
>>
>> 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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>