dulu wrote on 2021-04-25, 18:17:

Abit ST6, which will be in my hands in a few days, posts "bios rom checksum error" and asks for a floppy disk. I do not have a d […]
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Abit ST6, which will be in my hands in a few days, posts "bios rom checksum error" and asks for a floppy disk. I do not have a drive or a floppy disk. My (rather stupid) idea:

- boot up another working system (ie, Asus A7N8X) and log in to the windows
- remove bios chip when computer is on (!*)
- insert bios chip from ST6
- try to flash ST6 bios in windows, then immediately turn off pc and remove chip

*Aside from it's rather dangerous, the first thing I need to know is if the rom is only read during bootup? If so, such an operation could be successful. All I would have to do is use a windows utility that doesn't give me bad checksum errors.

This concept is not new and is most often referred to by the term "hot flashing" . It can work, as long as the board used to do the flashing shadows its BIOS into RAM and is able to support flashing the specific model of chip being flashed .

Doing this carries risks, mainly due to the chance of manipulation error .

I regularly hot flash EEPROMs using UniFlash 1.40. It just works.👌

Hotflashing is a valid option, I did it for years on tens if not hundreds of boards. Only fried one once, and that was when I inserted the EEPROM the wrong way round. You can do that just as easily after flashing with a proper EEPROM flasher.

Uniflash is generally the tool for the job, but it doesn't work on boards with 'clever' BIOS stuff. Asus boards tend to be a pain, so not at all sure the A78N8X would be a good programmer board. You're better off with a simple mid-range board that doesn't try too hard.

That said, I bought a TL866-II two years back and haven't looked back. Yes, hot flashing works fine if you have a board that supports Uniflash, but simply using a programmer is much, much easier.

Currently i have more options:
- Biostar M7NCG
- Medion2000/MD-5000 (probably MSI rebrand)
- Gigabyte P4 Titan/GA-8ITXE (probably bad idea cause of "dual bios" feature)

edit: i tried to run uniflash on my biostar and made bios backup. Where can i find bios for ST6? abit website seems to be shutted down partially.

dulu wrote on 2021-04-25, 22:17:

Currently i have more options: - Biostar M7NCG - Medion2000/MD-5000 (probably MSI rebrand) - Gigabyte P4 Titan/GA-8ITXE (probabl […]
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Currently i have more options:
- Biostar M7NCG
- Medion2000/MD-5000 (probably MSI rebrand)
- Gigabyte P4 Titan/GA-8ITXE (probably bad idea cause of "dual bios" feature)

edit: i tried to run uniflash on my biostar and made bios backup. Where can i find bios for ST6? abit website seems to be shutted down partially.

This seems to be a mirrored copy of their old FTP .
ftp://91.121.194.115/pub/download/bios/st6/

It might be worth checking that the RAM on the Abit is OK. I have a computer where, if the command rate is changed from 2T to 1T, the same kind of checksum error appears. The BIOS itself is fine, but the RAM can't hold the calculated checksum accurately.

If you do try reflashing, make a backup of the old BIOS anyway even if it is corrupt. Just in case.

I use one of these for BIOS chip flashing.. good little tool to have on hand. I think I picked it up for less than $5 from either Ebay or Aliexpress.

Mobo turned out to be 100% working, seller had a damaged CPU or misaligned jumpers. It's nice to have a working and well-kept ST6 for $ 11 😀