I put in a request for mod, but thought I'd have a go myself. I'm getting a bit stuck, here's why. I've got my favourite BIOS for the DFI NF4, it's an award BIOS version 704-2bta, so I use cbrom and add Iasus.bin and this is how it looks: Code: ******** 704-2bta.bin BIOS component ******** No. Item-Name Original-Size Compressed-Size Original-File-Name ================================================================================ 0. System BIOS 20000h(128.00K) 132DBh(76.71K) 704-2BT.BIN 1. XGROUP CODE 0F7D0h(61.95K) 0A6FFh(41.75K) awardext.rom 2. CPU micro code 02000h(8.00K) 00390h(0.89K) CPUCODE.BIN 3. ACPI table 061C9h(24.45K) 0204Ch(8.07K) ACPITBL.BIN 4. YGROUP ROM 0B0C0h(44.19K) 04C3Dh(19.06K) awardeyt.rom 5. GROUP ROM[ 0] 07BF0h(30.98K) 03351h(12.83K) _EN_CODE.BIN 6. SETUP0 021B0h(8.42K) 00EC4h(3.69K) _ITEM.BIN 7. OEM0 CODE 0C2B0h(48.67K) 00A11h(2.52K) BSMICODE.ROM 8. PCI ROM[A] 0C000h(48.00K) 064EDh(25.23K) NVRAID.ROM 9. PCI ROM 0D800h(54.00K) 07088h(28.13K) NVPXES.NIC 10. PCI ROM[C] 0F000h(60.00K) 07469h(29.10K) 5216.bin 11. LOGO BitMap 4B30Ch(300.76K) 059D5h(22.46K) LPLOGO.BMP 12. OEM1 CODE 00090h(0.14K) 000AFh(0.17K) MemSetup.rom 13. OEM2 CODE 17BC8h(94.95K) 09B76h(38.87K) MemTest.rom 14. OEM3 CODE 14668h(81.60K) 0827Fh(32.62K) CPUTEST.rom 15. GV3 037C1h(13.94K) 0101Fh(4.03K) AGESACPU.ROM 16. ISA ROM[1] 00400h(1.00K) 00335h(0.80K) Iasus.bin Total compress code space = 5C000h(368.00K) Total compressed code size = 56BC4h(346.94K) Remain compress code space = 0543Ch(21.06K) *** NVMM 4.052.0805/20/05 ►♥ * Start Offset => 0, End Offset => 4b00 *** Great I see Iasus.rom is there, item 16. When I flash this modded BIOS and restart the pc there is an error message saying I have a checksum error. I can ignore it (press F1)and continue, then Vista boots and activates, hooray! But, the BIOS is bad and hasn't loaded NvRaid, so my RAID disks are absent. If I restart and try to get into setup (press delete) then it hangs at the NvRaid detection message and I can't get into setup. So I'm a bit dissapointed at failure. I do have a BIOS for this board already been modded here, so I decide to look inside and see if I can help myself to any tips, here is this BIOS: Code: ******** 0406bta.bin BIOS component ******** No. Item-Name Original-Size Compressed-Size Original-File-Name ================================================================================ 0. System BIOS 20000h(128.00K) 134D6h(77.21K) 0406BTA.BIN 1. XGROUP CODE 0F830h(62.05K) 0A758h(41.84K) awardext.rom 2. CPU micro code 02000h(8.00K) 00390h(0.89K) CPUCODE.BIN 3. YGROUP ROM 0B0B0h(44.17K) 04C21h(19.03K) awardeyt.rom 4. GROUP ROM[ 0] 07B90h(30.89K) 0336Bh(12.85K) _EN_CODE.BIN 5. SETUP0 021C0h(8.44K) 00ED2h(3.71K) _ITEM.BIN 6. OEM0 CODE 0C2B0h(48.67K) 00A11h(2.52K) BSMICODE.ROM 7. LOGO BitMap 4B30Ch(300.76K) 059D5h(22.46K) LPLOGO.BMP 8. GV3 0475Dh(17.84K) 01216h(4.52K) AGESACPU.ROM 9. ACPI table 0633Bh(24.81K) 021DCh(8.46K) acpitbl.bin 10. OEM1 CODE 00090h(0.14K) 000AFh(0.17K) MemSetup.rom 11. OEM2 CODE 179B8h(94.43K) 09E67h(39.60K) MemTest.rom 12. OEM3 CODE 14668h(81.60K) 0827Fh(32.62K) CpuTest.rom 13. PCI ROM[A] 0C000h(48.00K) 06FFDh(28.00K) NvRaid.rom 14. PCI ROM 0E800h(58.00K) 07773h(29.86K) NvPxes.nic 15. PCI ROM[C] 0F000h(60.00K) 074FFh(29.25K) 5403.bin 16. EPA LOGO 021B4h(8.43K) 00264h(0.60K) XBios.epa Total compress code space = 5C000h(368.00K) Total compressed code size = 5865Ch(353.59K) Remain compress code space = 039A4h(14.41K) *** NVMM 4.054.0811/09/05 ◄♥ * Start Offset => 0, End Offset => 4b00 *** Now in this BIOS there is no Iasus.bin, yet Vista is activated, so I think the asus royalty code must be contained somewhere else, inside another file. If I knew which one I could sap it into 704-2bta. I have also tried the ISA1, 2 and 3 methods and still it makes a bad BIOS hanging at NvRaid. Can anyone give me a clue to get my prefered BIOS working? I have tried swapping a few files from 0406bta to 704-2bta but I'm stuck. I do have a BIOS saviour, so the bad BIOS I made doesn't cause me any problem. What should I try next?
Ok I've fixed it now, found I needed to a add a SLIC to the ACPI table. If you were thinking of replying to help me there is no need now, I made a good BIOS and Vista is activated.
Just for my interests. At Isa mod: Have you tried to load the setup defaults to fix the raid issue? Or to clear cmos? Did you use the latest cbrom 1.82? Anyway you did it well. You have done your own mod! Yen
Yes I used cbrom 1.82, and cleared cmos, loaded defaults before and after flashing - this is the procedure on the Lanparty, as I guess you know from the question! I think this is why the 0406 BIOS already posted here had been modded by SLIC table into ACPI and not the Isa method, probably didn't work for that one either. Was a good thing for me to look and see what had been done. Having a DFI I got used to trying different BIOS when I first built the pc, but now I settled on one that gives me best speed and stability, I wanted to keep it with an OEM mod. I got all the info I needed from this site, great work from you guys.
i used andy's tool with the 02+02 option to mod my 704-2bta. i can upload it if anyone still needs it.
I can make one if you get me a link to the factory bios you desire..... or make a request in the request forum..