[Freedos-user] BIOS
Hi, I was wondering whether one of the reasons why old computers fail is that the BIOS gets corrupted over time because it is stored in rewritable media. Many of the old computers that I'v tried to reuse seem to have problems in keyboard, floppy and CD operation, which, I believe, are directly related to the BIOS. If that is so, then perhaps flashing the BIOS might fix this kind of problem. Marcos -- Marcos Fávero Florence de Barros Campinas, Brazil -- Download BIRT iHub F-Type - The Free Enterprise-Grade BIRT Server from Actuate! Instantly Supercharge Your Business Reports and Dashboards with Interactivity, Sharing, Native Excel Exports, App Integration more Get technology previously reserved for billion-dollar corporations, FREE http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=164703151iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] BIOS
In my (limited) experience, old computers tend to be unuseable because of a leaking onboard battery that corrodes the copper lines on the PCB around it (often that's where the keyboard controller is, which translates as 'non working keyboard'). regards, Mateusz On 12/14/2014 01:26 PM, Marcos Favero Florence de Barros wrote: Hi, I was wondering whether one of the reasons why old computers fail is that the BIOS gets corrupted over time because it is stored in rewritable media. Many of the old computers that I'v tried to reuse seem to have problems in keyboard, floppy and CD operation, which, I believe, are directly related to the BIOS. If that is so, then perhaps flashing the BIOS might fix this kind of problem. Marcos -- Download BIRT iHub F-Type - The Free Enterprise-Grade BIRT Server from Actuate! Instantly Supercharge Your Business Reports and Dashboards with Interactivity, Sharing, Native Excel Exports, App Integration more Get technology previously reserved for billion-dollar corporations, FREE http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=164703151iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] BIOS
On Sun, Dec 14, 2014 at 7:26 AM, Marcos Favero Florence de Barros fav...@mpcnet.com.br wrote: I was wondering whether one of the reasons why old computers fail is that the BIOS gets corrupted over time because it is stored in rewritable media. It is, but what actually rewrites that media? In general, it's non-volatile memory, and written to only by a BIOS update operation that reflashes the NVRAM. Many of the old computers that I'v tried to reuse seem to have problems in keyboard, floppy and CD operation, which, I believe, are directly related to the BIOS. If that is so, then perhaps flashing the BIOS might fix this kind of problem. I've owned an assortment of hardware over the decades. My hardware issues have never involved a corrupted BIOS. The biggest culprit has been a power supply failure, which can take the motherboard with it. I've also had an assortment of hard drives go bad. I have seldom had a problem that reflashing the BIOS cured. On the occasions I have reflashed a BIOS, it was to correct an issue with the BIOS that was resolved by a manufacturer update, and I was upgrading to a new version. The existing BIOS did not simply degrade over time. Marcos __ Dennis https://plus.google.com/u/0/105128793974319004519 -- Download BIRT iHub F-Type - The Free Enterprise-Grade BIRT Server from Actuate! Instantly Supercharge Your Business Reports and Dashboards with Interactivity, Sharing, Native Excel Exports, App Integration more Get technology previously reserved for billion-dollar corporations, FREE http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=164703151iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] BIOS
Marcos Favero Florence de Barros composed on 2014-12-14 10:26 (UTC-0200): I was wondering whether one of the reasons why old computers fail is that the BIOS gets corrupted over time because it is stored in rewritable media. Many of the old computers that I'v tried to reuse seem to have problems in keyboard, floppy and CD operation, which, I believe, are directly related to the BIOS. Might depend on how old is old. A huge number of motherboards and power supplies made starting shortly after the turn of the century and for the following half decade or so were made using capacitors that don't last[1]. Before total failure occurs, all kinds of wierd things can happen or not as their defects begin manifesting. If that is so, then perhaps flashing the BIOS might fix this kind of problem. Unlikely, but possibly. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague -- The wise are known for their understanding, and pleasant words are persuasive. Proverbs 16:21 (New Living Translation) Team OS/2 ** Reg. Linux User #211409 ** a11y rocks! Felix Miata *** http://fm.no-ip.com/ -- Download BIRT iHub F-Type - The Free Enterprise-Grade BIRT Server from Actuate! Instantly Supercharge Your Business Reports and Dashboards with Interactivity, Sharing, Native Excel Exports, App Integration more Get technology previously reserved for billion-dollar corporations, FREE http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=164703151iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] BIOS
On 12/14/2014 4:26 AM, Marcos Favero Florence de Barros wrote: Hi, I was wondering whether one of the reasons why old computers fail is that the BIOS gets corrupted over time because it is stored in rewritable media. BIOS is for quite a wile in a FlashROM type of memory, which is only re-writeable in a special write mode, which is only done very rarely, when in fact you are flashing the BIOS. And it is very unlikely that this will get corrupted easily. You might confuse this withe the CMOS RAM, which is used by the BIOS to hold (and easier change/write to) user changable values. But even then, this isn't likely to get corrupt, unless you have some rogue programs that are accessing it constantly. If you have external peripherals fail as you mentioned, it is rather due to possibly bad settings (the least likely but not impossible option) or IMHO more likely, to connectors or peripheral circuitry going bad... Ralf --- This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. http://www.avast.com -- Download BIRT iHub F-Type - The Free Enterprise-Grade BIRT Server from Actuate! Instantly Supercharge Your Business Reports and Dashboards with Interactivity, Sharing, Native Excel Exports, App Integration more Get technology previously reserved for billion-dollar corporations, FREE http://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/clk?id=164703151iu=/4140/ostg.clktrk ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
