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April 5th, 2004 08:00
FlashBIOS update for Linux
hi,
I have an Optiplex Gn+ 200MHz with a 13GB Western Digital drive, the BIOS is . I went to download the FlashBIOS update from Dell's download section. I dl'd both unpacked and zipped versions, when i boot from floppy on the gentoo box, I get an error msg, stating "NTLDR is missing press any key to restart". The gentoo install from CD went completely fine, Ive also tried PhoenixBIOS website which is down( www.firmware.com).
I installed gentoo from CD, the install detected the HD fine, when i boot up without the CD, i get an error msg, Primary hard drive 1 not found, and under the lanDESK service agent, it says "primary hard disk 0 failure", the drive is brand new, and ontrack shows all sectors on the disk are ok. This is what leads me to believe its a BIOS issue.
Any recommendations or an alternative to fix this?
Thanks Much!
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Majestic
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9.4K Posts
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April 5th, 2004 11:00
A couple of things.... first try another download of the bootable floppy version of BIOS upgrade A12, but do it on a Windows/DOS machine if possible. Once the file is downloaded to your hard drive then run the file and you will be prompted into creating a bootable DOS BIOS upgrade floppy. Once the floppy is made then leave the floppy in the drive and reboot the machine. The BIOS upgrade will then run and flash the BIOS.
Secondly, even with the latest BIOS upgrade there was no support added for Linux. I suspect what your machine is suffering from is the change of the operating system has a conflict with the NVRAM or may have even corrupted it. The result of a corrupted NVRAM is the machine's inabilty to detect the installed hardware. By clearing the NVRAM you will force the computer to update the NVRAM with a fresh inventory of the attached hardware. This is useful in resolving boot problems like you are experiencing. The link below will explain how to clear your NVRAM:
http://support.dell.com/us/en/kb/document.asp?dn=1019731
drakul
3 Posts
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April 5th, 2004 16:00
Thank for the reply Majestic, I tried booting again from A12, no luck. Resetting NVR did make some changes, and it seems, BIOS did detect the HDD, but the settings are all wrong. It sees the drive as an 8GB, Cylinders 1024, Sectors 16, Heads 255, Pre -1, LZ 1024. When going into usr mode, the max number of Cylinders allowed is 9999. The drive has 16383 Cylinders.
This must mean that I have to upgrade the BIOS, as this version wasnt even programmed for drives this size? Unfortunately I do not know of any alternative site to download Phoenix BIOS, as firmware.com is still down...
Thanks Much.
Majestic
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9.4K Posts
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April 5th, 2004 19:00
Reference the BIOS upgrade try using another DOS formated floppy disk and be sure to use the BIOS upgrade file found here. This file will create it's own bootable BIOS upgrade floppy disk and must be run from your hard drive.
Regarding the hard drive, now that the BIOS recognizes the drive can you access it with the operating system after the machine is booted up? If the hard drive is working like it should with the operating system then you are probably experiencing a limitation with the BIOS in how it reports the hard drive size. Most people around here don't find that a problem as long as the drive works.
As for using a non-Dell BIOS I would use caution. With the Dimension line a non-Dell BIOS can create more problems than they solve on some models. Flashing back to the Dell version is very difficult if not impossible. I don't know if the same is true for the Optiplex line, but thought I would mention it.
drakul
3 Posts
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April 6th, 2004 02:00
EDIT: forgot to mention even though BIOS recognizes the device(or partially recognizes it), I still cannot pass POST.
I have tried both drivers(BGn_a112.exe and Gn_a12.exe) hoping that one would have a different package contained in it, unfortunately, both versions of the BIOS updater require NTLDR, and all partitions on this drive contain Gentoo Linux, there are no MS partitions and there is no free space on the disk, so I cannot use the floppy at all it seems. bummer. I checked www.firmware.com (PhoenixBIOS official site), site is still down, and technical support unfortunately is as helpful as the 404 error I get when hitting the site.
What I am going to do is put in a second drive, install windows, upgrade the BIOS with the driver you specified, and swap the Linux drive back in the machine, this seems to be the only possible solution at this moment.
Thanks
Message Edited by drakul on 04-05-2004 10:50 PM