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Reply 20 of 54, by 9646gt

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Here is what I just tried, I formatted a floppy with format a: /s to make it bootable. I dropped phlash.exe version 4.0 release 1.57 on the disk as well as the p4hs20up.bin and ran from command prompt phlash p4hs20up.bin and it now says file open failed on platfrom.bin

I tried renaming the opti8020.bin or what ever it was to play from.bin (original file copied from a 450isa flash upgrade diskette image) and then it complains "failed to locate signature bytes in platform.bin"

Reply 21 of 54, by bjwil1991

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Try extracting the p4hs20.exe file and placing those files onto a diskette, then run install.exe. What did you flash the BIOS with previously?

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Reply 22 of 54, by 9646gt

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I have also tried extracting the p4hs20.exe file and I copied all those files to disk and booted it earlier. It says it can only flash a previous Micro Firmware BIOS. My BIOS appears to have never been flashed as it is the oldest revision I have found in the change logs. I must be missing something simple.

Reply 23 of 54, by bjwil1991

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Do you have 4.03 on your system? I also suggest an EEPROM programming tool (USB) to program the BIOS chip. Select Intel P28F001BX-T DIP-32 for the chip prior to burning the BIOS onto the chip.

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Reply 24 of 54, by 9646gt

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I do have 4.03 and splash screen says pb450m PNP release x1.4. I would like to keep the tool as a last resort as I have already spent enough on hardware this month 🤣. Has anyone at all been successful flashing from DOS and what steps did you take to build the floppy?

Reply 25 of 54, by bjwil1991

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Try this version of Phlash: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1rybnfSVbxel … 6mR6T3iB6PErD9L

Also, download the original BIOS just in case: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1QHJh0qAGsA9 … oLtGcCLZwYGXGFi

Change the filename for the Micro Firmware to P4HS20.BIN and the original to PB450ISA.BIN

Last edited by bjwil1991 on 2019-01-17, 22:00. Edited 1 time in total.

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Reply 26 of 54, by 9646gt

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I'll give that a try as soon as I can. Do I just put both .bin files and the phlash file on a floppy formatted with a: /s? And just run phflash.exe p4hs20.bin from a clean command prompt correct? Sorry for all the trouble and I really appreciate all your help!

Reply 27 of 54, by bjwil1991

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Yes. Make sure it's a 1.44MB floppy disk.

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Reply 29 of 54, by 9646gt

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ahtoh wrote:

I used a program from recovery disk to flash this bios.

How did you modify the recovery disk, and did you have to set the recovery jumper on the motherboard to do so? I know I seem hell bent on getting this done, but I need to update to fix a bug with no sound effects in Doom and might as well go with the best BIOS that was released for this board.

Reply 30 of 54, by ahtoh

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no need to change any jumpers
take pb450.exe from here http://files.mpoli.fi/unpacked/hardware/rom/o … er/pb450rd.exe/
create the recovery disk
replace the bin file with whatever you want to flash
boot off the disk and flash

Reply 32 of 54, by 9646gt

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Finally! Trying to flash it from the version of phlash that bjwil1991 suggested ended up just bricking the bios. So I made a recovery disk and replaced the oldbios.bin with the p4hs20.bin and renamed it to oldbios.bin and moved the boot block jumper (J17) to 1-2 and booted and it forced the flash and all is well! I lose some nostalgia by losing the Packard Bell Logo but I am sure this is probably a much better Bios than the original!

Reply 33 of 54, by 9646gt

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Spoke too soon...from a cold boot I get the following beep sequence.... 1-4-2-1 Every now and again it might boot. When it gives the POST error I can hit the reset button and it seems to boot. I even recovery flashed the stock 4.05 firmware and still does it. This is using an ISA riser board if that matters.

Reply 35 of 54, by 9646gt

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Yup it is moved back. If I hit the rest button the computer restarts and boots windows normally and the RAM check passes and system clock is holding the correct time. Weird.

I see where 1-4-2-1 can indicate an error on the Isa bus. I did remove the sound card while moving jumpers during this process. But, I have it installed again and sound works fine in windows. There are no other cards installed. I should probably say that I have now put the standard 4.05 firmware on here and still experiencing the error.

Reply 36 of 54, by bjwil1991

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Did you check to see if the LDEV bypass jumper is set accordingly as well?

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Reply 38 of 54, by 9646gt

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Reseated the ISA riser and sound card. Installed a 486dx2 66mhz and verified all jumpers seem to be correct. Removed power plug and CMOS battery (which is new) for several minutes. Booted perfectly multiple times from cold boots

As soon as I sat overnight I get the POST error again and have to hit reset to get it to boot or turn it off and let it set a few seconds and sometimes it boots. When I does this weird post, I noticed it takes about 20 or so seconds longer for the screen to turn on and show the bootup process. When it's acting normal, it shows the same portion of Post screen in the first 3-4 seconds.

Reply 39 of 54, by bjwil1991

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Flash the older version and see what happens. Do you have any Level 2 cache installed as well and are you using an external battery? Sometimes, the BIOS is picky when it comes to an external battery being used instead of the one on the board, such as the CR1225.

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