- What the BIOS Is and What It Does
- When a BIOS Update Is Necessary
- How BIOS Updates Are Performed
- Where BIOS Updates Come From
- Precautions to Take Before Updating a BIOS
- How to Recover from a Failed BIOS Update Procedure
- Plug-and-Play BIOS
- Other BIOS Troubleshooting Tips
- Soft BIOS CPU Speed and Multiplier Settings
- Determining Which BIOS You Have
- Determining the Motherboard Manufacturer for BIOS Upgrades
- Accessing the BIOS Setup Programs
- How the BIOS Reports Errors
- Microid Research Beep Codes
- Other BIOS and Motherboard Manufacturers' Beep and POST Codes
- Reading BIOS Error Codes
- BIOS Configuration Worksheet
Where BIOS Updates Come From
The best (and cheapest) place to get a BIOS update is from your motherboard or system vendor. Most major system manufacturers offer free BIOS updates for their systems with flash BIOS chips on their Web sites. For generic systems with motherboards from various producers, see the section "Determining Which BIOS You Have," later in this chapter.
A second source for BIOS updates is from one of the following companies:
For systems that originally used the Phoenix BIOS, contact Micro Firmware (http://www.firmware.com or 800-767-5465). Micro Firmware typically supplies updated Phoenix flash BIOS code on disk for systems they support. See the Web site for the current list of supported systems and motherboards.
For systems that originally used the Award, AMI, MR BIOS, or Phoenix BIOS (including systems not supported by Micro Firmware), contact Unicore Software (http://www.unicore.com or 800-800-BIOS). Unicore might supply the update on disk or as a replacement MR BIOS chip. Contact these vendors for details and prices, which vary by system.