Can't find a K8NGM2-H bios

I'm trying to flash my BIOS and unfortunately I cannot find a BIOS for this board.

Here's what I found so far.

A lot of people are saying the H (basically means RoHS compliant) and the K8NGM2-FID/ IL/ L use the same bios. However when I went to live update on MSI site the updater couldn't find anything for my mobo. I really don't want to screw up my BIOS...

I could really use some help here.

[edit on 21-8-2010 by DaMod]

First things first, why do you want to flash your computer's BIOS?

Have to ask the same thing as ArMap, especially since the latest BIOS for that board was released June 6th of '07

Anyway, here it is:
www.msi-computer.co.jp...

The "newest" is the one at the top of the page .... with previous versions on down the page

reply to post by 12m8keall2c

reply to post by ArMaP


Well, I just got a socket 939 dual core to drop in the motherboard. All the information I found suggests that the entire K8NGM2 series can run the A64 x2. I was told though that my board would need a bios update in order to support it.

I went to that link and everything is in Japanese! I can probably figure it out but my bios won't be in Japanese will it?

[edit on 23-8-2010 by DaMod]

No. The BIOS will work properly, it's just the .jp website that's in Japanese.

Latest version at the top, older versions on down the page.

Here's a link to which CPUs the board can be used with:
www.msi.com...

reply to post by 12m8keall2c


I have a confession. I've done a lot of things with computers and have gained quite a bit of knowledge. I have never flashed a bios, so needless to say I am terrified to do it...

Here are the specs on the machine before you give any further advice.

MSI K8Ngm2-h Motherboard with a AMD A64 4000+ 2.4 ghz CPU
3 gigs DDR400
Nvidia GeForce 8800 512 DDR3 PCI-E x16
WD 500gb Sata HD High RPM (not sure but I know it is higher than 7200)
DvD Burner
etc..

P.S. On a side note I also wanted to overclock the A64x2 about 200mhz (have a nice cooling system for it don't worry). I looked in my bios options and I can't mess with the FSB or the multiplier (which is actually why I want to update my bios, then maybe I can OC or have some oc options. I know the 4200+ can run stable at 2.4ghz) however it does let me mess with my voltage.. not sure why it would have one and not the other....

[edit on 23-8-2010 by DaMod]

Updating your BIOS is not really that big of deal. I have done it too many times to count. Just make sure you have the right version for your MOBO. I am not sure if your MOBO has an installer but I would think it does or the flash is a .exe that once executed will run and then reboot and you are done. Gone are the days of using a floppy to do it.

But with the MOBO being as old and it is and with the last update on the MSI website I would stick to that and not push my luck trying another update. It might work but really what more is it giving you?

reply to post by Vodo34861


I'm hoping it helps add to the overclock ability more than anything. (That I actually know how to do).

The current bios version lets me change my CPU voltage but not the FSB frequency nor the multiplier.

Are you 100% sure it is a K8NGM2-H?? All I am finding when looking for that is garbage. MSI doesn't know it and Newegg doesn't know it. My MOBO which is a 939 like yours still shows up on the Asus website as well as newegg. Double check the label on the MOBO.

reply to post by Vodo34861


Yes I'm sure it's -H which basically only means RoHS Compliant.

These are the only variants I can find to that

K8NGM2-FID/ IL/ L


Do you have a DVI port, 1394(firewire) or Gig NIC? Any of these all 3 or 2 or none? Which would mean you have a 10/100 NIC.

Let me know. Thx

I guess also can you tell me what version of the bios you are running?

[edit on 23-8-2010 by Vodo34861]

reply to post by Vodo34861


None that I know of. I know the on board video uses a standard run of the mill VGA. The on board NIC is 10/100 as far as I know. No fire wire.

I'm using version 1.1.... or at least I'm almost certain that I am.

I'm at work, so I can't look up information I don't know off the top of my head

Here you have the translated version of that site that 12m8keall2c posted.

I downloaded the file and they have a Word document explaining everything.

I suggest you download that zip file, print the document and follow the instructions.

When compared with other K8NGM2 boards, this file has a different reference, so you should confirm first the version you already have installed to know which is the correct update.

The BIOS update programs have the possibility of making a backup of the BIOS that's on your computer before replacing it, so it's a good idea to do that.

Although it can be a destructive operation on older computers (if there was a power failure the BIOS would be left in a non-working state, and the BIOS chip was usually soldered on the board, so it meant a board replacement), I have done that some times without problems, and during one of them I had a problem, but the system, apparently, reverted to the original BIOS and I could repeat the procedure. It was as Asus motherboard that is still working after 7 years.

PS: From that Japanese page it looks like the over-clocking capability was added on version 3.5.

reply to post by ArMaP


And my question is answered. Thank you so much.

---------------------

And thanks to everyone for all the help I do appreciate it!

If you have any question, just ask.

Well ArMap, I did some searching and found a video on how to flash a MSI Bios. I don't know if it is the same process for mine. (I hope so)



Is this procedure correct?

On a side note: So what are the odds that my computer will just stop working?

Should I just flash 3.5 since it has the features I want or should I go ahead and just do 3.7?

Will my Mobo automatically revert if it can't use the bios?

If the utility doesn't have a way to back up the bios (which it doesn't seem to) is there another way I can do it?

Can I use a bootable cd / dvd or just a flash drive?

Will it matter that I am running windows 7?

Does it matter if the flash drive is formatted NTFS or Fat?

Wow this is driving me crazy...

[edit on 24-8-2010 by DaMod]

Is this procedure correct?

I don't know, it depends on the board model and version.

On a side note: So what are the odds that my computer will just stop working?

I don't know personally any case like that, and I know several people that have several computers and do that with some frequency.

Should I just flash 3.5 since it has the features I want or should I go ahead and just do 3.7?

Considering that you are doing it for the added features and not to correct a specific problem I think you can use the 3.7, if that's the correct choice.

Will my Mobo automatically revert if it can't use the bios?

I don't know if it's automatic or not, but from what I have seen, even if the BIOS update fails, there are methods to recover it to a working state, so don't worry.

If the utility doesn't have a way to back up the bios (which it doesn't seem to) is there another way I can do it?

From what I have seen on the MSI forums, yes.

Can I use a bootable cd / dvd or just a flash drive?

Will it matter that I am running windows 7?

From their explanation, I think any method works, but you need to boot in MS-DOS.

Does it matter if the flash drive is formatted NTFS or Fat?

As it has to be booted in MS-DOS it must be FAT, and even FAT32 may not work in older MS-DOS versions.

Wow this is driving me crazy...

This is the easy part.


First thing, identify the motherboard model and version.

This is what they say on the Word documents:

a. Open your case and look for the MS-XXXX number on the motherboard between the PCI slots, also check the version number that is written there as well. (Some motherboards are named like K8N Diamond; make sure you have the right version number)
b. Boot up your system & take a look at the top left screen during POST, you should see something like “W7100NMS V1.1 021705” This means the board is MS-7100 with BIOS version 1.1

Only after knowing that can you be sure about what BIOS file you should download.

reply to post by ArMaP


if this is the easy part then what is the hard part? lol

Thanks for all the help oh ATS guru of old!

---

P.S. In case anyone reads this needing the information contained above I found a site that shows how to make a USB - Dos Boot Disk.

Flash dos boot disk

Further note: Tried it, it works.

Now if I could only figure out how to backup my old bios and what to do if something goes wrong.

[edit on 25-8-2010 by DaMod]

After digging a bit more (for a long time) I found an image of my motherboard.

It wasn't easy!

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/c298dd0b43d7.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by DaMod


OK, that photo shows the model name and version (MS-7207 VER:2.0), so it means you can use the BIOS files from this page, as you can see that the files are all named "7207vXX".

Now, to be completely sure, can you confirm that the BIOS is from AMI?