First build BIOS & Drivers Questions

[Charlie W]

This is a post I made on the Abit Forums so far without any replies. Can anyone where help?



This is my first build, it works or did work. I did not have any connections for the sysfan or pwrfan that are on the motherboard with this PSU that came with case. I took the computer to a local shop to have them look to see why there were not any connections for the sysfan & pwrfan. The guy looked it over and asked if I'd tried to turn it on. I told him no. So he hooked up a moniter,keyboard & mouse. It powered up all fans running. It recognized all drives & memory. He set up the BIOS. I told him I thought I was going to have to flash the BIOS to BIOS 17. I was told this in a post last month. I think it was titled sg-80 (what memory).

Anyway a couple days later with my stupid brain, I copied system files, bios & flash. I copied the system files from a laptop that is running Windows 98. I put the floppy in this computer it copied the files and I then realized that these system files were Windows 98. I did not take the jumper off the CMOS or go any farther.

I am going to use XP Pro on this computer. I have XP ordered, should be here in less than a week. Did I mess up the BIOS and will it hurt the board with the sysfan and pwrfan connections not being unconnected ? All the fans run. I guess they are getting their power from the ATX power or the ATX 12 V connectors. I guess I can add extra fans to these connections that are not connected. They are 3 pin. If so,where can I find fans with 3 pins?

One more thing when I turn on the computer it will start to post & then come up with an error message that says wrong system disk or something like that. The guy at the shop had it set to boot from floppy so I guess that is what the error is. I paused it in the post one time and wrote what was said on the screen. It said:

Phoenix - Award Bios v 6.00PG
Main processor Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4 CPU 3.20 GHz (200x16.0)
Memory Testing: 1015808K OK + 32M shared memory
CPU Brand name: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 3.20GHz
C1E BIOS Supported
EM64T CPU
HyperThreading Technology CPU Detected (Hyper-Threading) Enabled

The C1E bios , EM64T and Enabled hyperthreading are in like a really bright highlighted white.

Which bios do I have the V6.00PG or the C1E ?

I am disabled and have been buying parts for this computer since May of this year. All have to wait for now is for XP to arrive. The Abit CD with drivers & utilities says on it SIS-1.70M. I do not know if these are outdated or not. I got an email from SIS about some driver being updated. Should I install these drivers from the CD or download drivers from Abit website?

One more thing about CPU drivers. Intel says it is CRITICAL to download the INF Utility before any other drivers. They then say this is for Intel chipsets. Do I need to download this for the SIS chipset ? This board has SIS 661FX/964 chipset.

Thanks much for help.

I was told by Seagate to use XP to setup my hard drive, even though I have the Seagate disc utility cd with Seatools Online, DiscWizard.

One thought I had after I posted on Abit site , is that did the system files from 98 copy to my hard drive or did they go to the chipset its self. If they were copied to the hard drive they will be gone when I setup the hard drive with XP and all should be well ?



Abit SG-80, Pentium 4 , 541 3.20 GHz , 800MHz FSB, Hyper-Threading , Execute Bit Disable , Pulse Width Modulation , EM64T, CPU. 1 GB Ultra PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory. Seagate Barracuda 160 GB SATA Hard Drive. LiteOn Super Allwrite DL DVD/CD Burner , Sony 3.5 Floppy. Ultra Grid Case, two 120 MM Intake & Exhaust fans, side panel for CPU & VGA cooling. 500 Watt Ultra V series PSU.
No operating system installed yet. Have XP Pro ordered.

[tempus]

The XP installation routine will allow you to setup your hard drive . At one point it asks to format the drive in NTFS.
Use the SIS drivers you have on CD and you can update later once the computer is up and running.
you will need to change the boot order to cd rom first to install xp.
You need to make sure the cpu fan is connected. There are 3 pin fans available.
AS far as the BIOS is concerned you just need a win 98 boot disk with the flash program and the new BIOS file to flash the BIOS to the new revision. But why will you need to change the BIOS? The latest BIOS for your board is v 1.8. On the initial screen when the computer posts you should see the BIOS revision. You probably have the initial release.
If it works with the current one maybe just leave it.:)

[Charlie W]

Thanks much for the reply. I was told I would need to flash bios to 16 or 17 for my cpu & hard drive to work right, by one of the Abit elite. I guess if the machine recognized the cpu & drive on the first POST, the bios I have would work ?

So I can flash the bios with a floppy with Windows 98 system files ? XP sytem files are not any different ? I thought I'd really messed up.

Yes, all my fans work.

What setup should I use in windows setup, fat32 or ntfs ?

I have something in bios boot order that says LS120. What is this ?

Thanks again for the help.

[tempus]

go to bootdisk.com and download the bootdisk that is made for flashing a BIOS. It only contains those files that are needed, nothing more. You will still need to put the flash program and flash file onto the floppy.
If the CPU and harddrive are recognized then flashing the BIOS may not be necessary.

Use NTFS for win XP.

An LS120 is like a high capacity floppy which you don't have.

[Charlie W]

Thanks much for the help. I feel alot better now as I thought I'd really messed up my bios.

I am very disappointed with the Abit forum , this time. I have posted questions there in the past couple of months and had many replies to what I'd asked. If I ever decide to build another computer I am going to do alot of research on the motherboard. I bought this Abit SG-80 on a spur of the moment type thing from Tiger Direct. The only support I got from Abit was on their forum & that is how they suggest you get help. Yes, they do have a tech support phone line, its about like getting a call through to the White House.

Anyway thanks much again.:)

[tempus]

Good luck with your computer and if you encounter more problems just post back and someone will help.

[Charlie W]

Thanks, and I will come back if i have more questions or problems.

[Charlie W]

Abit has responed to my post in Abit forums. They are back in good standing with me.