Re: [Freedos-user] Bootable FreeDOS CD for BIOS flashing
Wow! That flashrom thing had gone under my radar. I see that my motherboard is OK (MSI MS-7255 - P4M890M, including southbridge VIA VT8237A) but can't find the BIOS chip as supported hardware. Very interesting, thank you very much. However, as dealing with flashrom would be off-topic here, I'm emailing to you off-list. Best regards El mié, 10 nov 2021 a las 14:34, Ivan Ivanov () escribió: > If you need a reliable flashing environment right now, you can use any > bootable USB Linux with a flashrom opensource flashing tool - which > could be installed as easily as a simple "sudo apt-get install > flashrom" command (for Linux Mint). And then, if your board supports > the internal flashing mode (most likely, if your board old enough) - > then using a flashrom you can install a new BIOS image without using > the external hardware programmer. > > > I'm going to purchase an up-to-date flashed BIOS chip as a backup > anyway. That's cheaper (about €10) > > This is a waste of money. €10 for a single chip? For this money, you > can buy from China (i.e. AliExpress) like 30 chips with a free > shipping, and - using a green pcb USB CH341A programmer (which is dirt > cheap like €2), which is supported by this opensource flashrom tool, > you can install any BIOS image on this BIOS chip. Also, since you're > doing it by yourself, it will be more guaranteed that BIOS won't have > a malware like BadBIOS (although not 100% - if you want a better > protection, switch to opensource BIOS like coreboot). Don't forget a > DIP8 / PLCC remover, to safely extract a BIOS chip from a socket, or a > SOIC8 test clip to attach to a chip if you are flashing a laptop. I've > left enough breadcrumbs for you to explore, but if anything is unclear > - please drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to help. > > ср, 10 нояб. 2021 г. в 16:20, Betibeteka Beranduetxea < > artxita...@gmail.com>: > > > > Hi, thanks for your reply. > > > > I understood. I will explore that way. > > > > That "drivers could interfere with the flashing process" is new to me. > Of course in the past -when floppies were still a common thing- I have > always upgraded my BIOSes via win98 boot floppy. I already installed > FreeDOS 1.3 RC4 on an old, spare IDE disk, and I'm able to read an USB > stick. So I was thinking about to copy the update and flash utility to the > hard disk, then restart so USB isn't needed, then proceed with the > flashing. That could be an easy way to update as many different machines as > needed. But after reading your answer, I get this could be "bad". Am I > right? Could not needed modules (except, say, keyboard and IDE) be unloaded > before flashing? Would that be "safe" enough? I guess that even the > "floppy" image will have to load some drivers... > > > > I'm going to purchase an up-to-date flashed BIOS chip as a backup > anyway. That's cheaper (about €10) than to purchase a 10 floppy box (about > €35 here) and it will be nice to have it as a backup. But, having that > backup, I would like to do some tests... > > > > Thank you again > > > > El mié, 10 nov 2021 a las 1:49, E. Auer () escribió: > >> > >> > >> Hi! I think for BIOS flashing, a good way would be to start > >> with a minimal boot floppy image, you can find that online > >> for FreeDOS. Or use one with more apps on it and remove > >> some of them to make space. Then, you mount or open the > >> image with a free tool (depends on the OS, in Linux you > >> can use mtools as user or actually mount the image if you > >> are admin, as well as using any of various other methods) > >> to add the BIOS flash tool and BIOS file to it. > >> > >> Next, you use the boot floppy image to make a CD or DVD > >> bootable in emulation mode. Most BIOS variants support > >> booting from 1.2, 1.44 and 2.88 MB floppy images and a > >> variety of CD/DVD writing tools let you specify an image > >> if you select that you want to make a bootable CD/DVD. > >> > >> The advantage is that you will not need any CD/DVD drivers > >> which could interfere with the BIOS flash process, or any > >> other drivers apart from those that the flash too might be > >> needing. And of course keyboard drivers, if you like. For > >> many cases, you can use the small MKEYB to cover popular > >> layouts without needing additional data files. > >> > >> The disadvantage is that the booted DOS "floppy" will be > >> read-only and that it will not have access to the rest of > >> the CD unless you also put the CD drivers on the "floppy". > >> > >> You could probably also work with MEMDISK and a Linux > >> style boot menu instead of the pure BIOS floppy image > >> boot method. This will allow compressed floppy images > >> and writing, but of course any changes will be lost as > >> soon as you reboot the PC, because the floppy image is > >> never updated by MEMDISK. Changes only exist in RAM. > >> > >> Also, MEMDISK again is a bit like a driver, so it can > >> interfere with your flash tool. > >> > >> Of course, the best way would be to
Re: [Freedos-user] Bootable FreeDOS CD for BIOS flashing
If you need a reliable flashing environment right now, you can use any bootable USB Linux with a flashrom opensource flashing tool - which could be installed as easily as a simple "sudo apt-get install flashrom" command (for Linux Mint). And then, if your board supports the internal flashing mode (most likely, if your board old enough) - then using a flashrom you can install a new BIOS image without using the external hardware programmer. > I'm going to purchase an up-to-date flashed BIOS chip as a backup anyway. > That's cheaper (about €10) This is a waste of money. €10 for a single chip? For this money, you can buy from China (i.e. AliExpress) like 30 chips with a free shipping, and - using a green pcb USB CH341A programmer (which is dirt cheap like €2), which is supported by this opensource flashrom tool, you can install any BIOS image on this BIOS chip. Also, since you're doing it by yourself, it will be more guaranteed that BIOS won't have a malware like BadBIOS (although not 100% - if you want a better protection, switch to opensource BIOS like coreboot). Don't forget a DIP8 / PLCC remover, to safely extract a BIOS chip from a socket, or a SOIC8 test clip to attach to a chip if you are flashing a laptop. I've left enough breadcrumbs for you to explore, but if anything is unclear - please drop me an e-mail and I'll be happy to help. ср, 10 нояб. 2021 г. в 16:20, Betibeteka Beranduetxea : > > Hi, thanks for your reply. > > I understood. I will explore that way. > > That "drivers could interfere with the flashing process" is new to me. Of > course in the past -when floppies were still a common thing- I have always > upgraded my BIOSes via win98 boot floppy. I already installed FreeDOS 1.3 RC4 > on an old, spare IDE disk, and I'm able to read an USB stick. So I was > thinking about to copy the update and flash utility to the hard disk, then > restart so USB isn't needed, then proceed with the flashing. That could be an > easy way to update as many different machines as needed. But after reading > your answer, I get this could be "bad". Am I right? Could not needed modules > (except, say, keyboard and IDE) be unloaded before flashing? Would that be > "safe" enough? I guess that even the "floppy" image will have to load some > drivers... > > I'm going to purchase an up-to-date flashed BIOS chip as a backup anyway. > That's cheaper (about €10) than to purchase a 10 floppy box (about €35 here) > and it will be nice to have it as a backup. But, having that backup, I would > like to do some tests... > > Thank you again > > El mié, 10 nov 2021 a las 1:49, E. Auer () escribió: >> >> >> Hi! I think for BIOS flashing, a good way would be to start >> with a minimal boot floppy image, you can find that online >> for FreeDOS. Or use one with more apps on it and remove >> some of them to make space. Then, you mount or open the >> image with a free tool (depends on the OS, in Linux you >> can use mtools as user or actually mount the image if you >> are admin, as well as using any of various other methods) >> to add the BIOS flash tool and BIOS file to it. >> >> Next, you use the boot floppy image to make a CD or DVD >> bootable in emulation mode. Most BIOS variants support >> booting from 1.2, 1.44 and 2.88 MB floppy images and a >> variety of CD/DVD writing tools let you specify an image >> if you select that you want to make a bootable CD/DVD. >> >> The advantage is that you will not need any CD/DVD drivers >> which could interfere with the BIOS flash process, or any >> other drivers apart from those that the flash too might be >> needing. And of course keyboard drivers, if you like. For >> many cases, you can use the small MKEYB to cover popular >> layouts without needing additional data files. >> >> The disadvantage is that the booted DOS "floppy" will be >> read-only and that it will not have access to the rest of >> the CD unless you also put the CD drivers on the "floppy". >> >> You could probably also work with MEMDISK and a Linux >> style boot menu instead of the pure BIOS floppy image >> boot method. This will allow compressed floppy images >> and writing, but of course any changes will be lost as >> soon as you reboot the PC, because the floppy image is >> never updated by MEMDISK. Changes only exist in RAM. >> >> Also, MEMDISK again is a bit like a driver, so it can >> interfere with your flash tool. >> >> Of course, the best way would be to have a BIOS which >> supports loading a BIOS file from any connected drive's >> root directory, including USB sticks, without having to >> boot anything from those, but a BIOS which is too old to >> boot from USB will also be too old to have that feature. >> >> Regards, Eric >> >> >> >> ___ >> Freedos-user mailing list >> Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net >> https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user > > ___ > Freedos-user mailing list >
Re: [Freedos-user] Bootable FreeDOS CD for BIOS flashing
Hi, thanks for your reply. I understood. I will explore that way. That "drivers could interfere with the flashing process" is new to me. Of course in the past -when floppies were still a common thing- I have always upgraded my BIOSes via win98 boot floppy. I already installed FreeDOS 1.3 RC4 on an old, spare IDE disk, and I'm able to read an USB stick. So I was thinking about to copy the update and flash utility to the hard disk, then restart so USB isn't needed, then proceed with the flashing. That could be an easy way to update as many different machines as needed. But after reading your answer, I get this could be "bad". Am I right? Could not needed modules (except, say, keyboard and IDE) be unloaded before flashing? Would that be "safe" enough? I guess that even the "floppy" image will have to load some drivers... I'm going to purchase an up-to-date flashed BIOS chip as a backup anyway. That's cheaper (about €10) than to purchase a 10 floppy box (about €35 here) and it will be nice to have it as a backup. But, having that backup, I would like to do some tests... Thank you again El mié, 10 nov 2021 a las 1:49, E. Auer () escribió: > > Hi! I think for BIOS flashing, a good way would be to start > with a minimal boot floppy image, you can find that online > for FreeDOS. Or use one with more apps on it and remove > some of them to make space. Then, you mount or open the > image with a free tool (depends on the OS, in Linux you > can use mtools as user or actually mount the image if you > are admin, as well as using any of various other methods) > to add the BIOS flash tool and BIOS file to it. > > Next, you use the boot floppy image to make a CD or DVD > bootable in emulation mode. Most BIOS variants support > booting from 1.2, 1.44 and 2.88 MB floppy images and a > variety of CD/DVD writing tools let you specify an image > if you select that you want to make a bootable CD/DVD. > > The advantage is that you will not need any CD/DVD drivers > which could interfere with the BIOS flash process, or any > other drivers apart from those that the flash too might be > needing. And of course keyboard drivers, if you like. For > many cases, you can use the small MKEYB to cover popular > layouts without needing additional data files. > > The disadvantage is that the booted DOS "floppy" will be > read-only and that it will not have access to the rest of > the CD unless you also put the CD drivers on the "floppy". > > You could probably also work with MEMDISK and a Linux > style boot menu instead of the pure BIOS floppy image > boot method. This will allow compressed floppy images > and writing, but of course any changes will be lost as > soon as you reboot the PC, because the floppy image is > never updated by MEMDISK. Changes only exist in RAM. > > Also, MEMDISK again is a bit like a driver, so it can > interfere with your flash tool. > > Of course, the best way would be to have a BIOS which > supports loading a BIOS file from any connected drive's > root directory, including USB sticks, without having to > boot anything from those, but a BIOS which is too old to > boot from USB will also be too old to have that feature. > > Regards, Eric > > > > ___ > Freedos-user mailing list > Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net > https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user > ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
Re: [Freedos-user] Bootable FreeDOS CD for BIOS flashing
Hi! I think for BIOS flashing, a good way would be to start with a minimal boot floppy image, you can find that online for FreeDOS. Or use one with more apps on it and remove some of them to make space. Then, you mount or open the image with a free tool (depends on the OS, in Linux you can use mtools as user or actually mount the image if you are admin, as well as using any of various other methods) to add the BIOS flash tool and BIOS file to it. Next, you use the boot floppy image to make a CD or DVD bootable in emulation mode. Most BIOS variants support booting from 1.2, 1.44 and 2.88 MB floppy images and a variety of CD/DVD writing tools let you specify an image if you select that you want to make a bootable CD/DVD. The advantage is that you will not need any CD/DVD drivers which could interfere with the BIOS flash process, or any other drivers apart from those that the flash too might be needing. And of course keyboard drivers, if you like. For many cases, you can use the small MKEYB to cover popular layouts without needing additional data files. The disadvantage is that the booted DOS "floppy" will be read-only and that it will not have access to the rest of the CD unless you also put the CD drivers on the "floppy". You could probably also work with MEMDISK and a Linux style boot menu instead of the pure BIOS floppy image boot method. This will allow compressed floppy images and writing, but of course any changes will be lost as soon as you reboot the PC, because the floppy image is never updated by MEMDISK. Changes only exist in RAM. Also, MEMDISK again is a bit like a driver, so it can interfere with your flash tool. Of course, the best way would be to have a BIOS which supports loading a BIOS file from any connected drive's root directory, including USB sticks, without having to boot anything from those, but a BIOS which is too old to boot from USB will also be too old to have that feature. Regards, Eric ___ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
