Upgrade bios for MSI 7677 H61i-e35 (B3) mini-itx motherboard
Here are the steps as best I can recall:
First download the Windows98SE image (Win98SE_bootdisk.iso) from
http://www.allbootdisks.com/download/98.html
Second download the bios update .exe (in my case
msi_bios_upgrade_7677v63.zip) and unzip it
# unzip msi_bios_upgrade_7677v63.zip
Then you must be root to do all this.
1) Use gparted to format usb stick -- msdos partition table + partition
(cylinder alignment) with fat32 file system + set partition boot and lba
flag
2) install syslinux $ syslinux -s -i /dev/sdb1 (assuming usb partition
is /dev/sdb1 -- make sure)
3) mount usb $ mount /dev/sdb1 /mnt/usb
4) copy files:
$ cp /usr/share/syslinux/memdisk /mnt/usb
$ cp /[path]/Win98SE_bootdisk.iso /mnt/usb
$ cp /[path]/E7677v63.exe /mnt/usb
5) create the syslinux.cfg file (plain text file) and save to
/mnt/usb/syslinux.cfg
DEFAULT floppy_iso
LABEL floppy_iso
LINUX memdisk
INITRD Win98SE_bootdisk.iso
APPEND iso
-- unmount the usb stick $ umount /mnt/usb
6) (possibly unnecessary) set bios boot order to USB HDD as first entry
In AMI setup M-Flash screen, save the current bios to the usb (as a
precaution)
(interestingly, M-Flash offered to upgrade the bios using the bios I
had just saved)
7) boot the usb stick, choose without cdrom support from usb boot menu
you will see the DOS A:/ prompt, enter C:
C:/E7677v63 (this will run the bios upgrade program, E7677v63.EXE,
but use the one for your mobo)
Do not remove the USB stick or power off the computer. There will be
several restarts and the process goes on.
After it was all done, there was a message indicating success. Then I
dismantled computer and changed the cpu.
Next boot gave a notice "processor changed, enter setup" or similar, so
I entered "restore defaults"
In conclusion, a working DOS usb boot stick seems to be the key, and it
was recommended to use the Windows 98 SE version in one MSI guide.
However, for MSI owners, the lack of help and conflicting/confusing
messages from MSI imply that one should proceed with great caution.
Now I am having trouble booting my Slackware OS, probably due to
changing from IDE to AHCI, but maybe due to the bios upgrade or putting
sata plugs in the wrong order. However, the upgraded processor is
working and I think getting the OS to boot will be less trouble than
figuring out the bios upgrade.
Thanks for everyone's comments.
On 04/07/2018 08:08 AM, Eric Auer wrote:
> Hi Kevin,
>
> the point was that if you have a modern BIOS, it will
> just look for a data file on a FAT-formatted USB stick
> and then update *itself* - You do NOT have to boot any
> DOS from the stick to do that. Of course you can exit
> the setup of FreeDOS 1.0 or 1.2 or skip entering it.
>
> Trying to follow the "flashing BIOS" instructions for
> cases when you had to use old DOS executables as flash
> tool might be a waste of effort with more modern BIOS.
>
> Please check whether your BIOS really wants to run a
> DOS exe file for anything. More likely, it does not.
> If your BIOS just needs a data file, then you do NOT
> have to install any DOS on the stick at all. Simply
> make sure that the stick is FAT formatted and not
> NTFS or ExFAT formatted, then copy your BIOS data
> to the stick and let the BIOS do the rest at boot.
>
> Cheers, Eric
>
> PS: You could use GPARTED to check and modify which
> filesystem your stick uses, with user-friendly GUI.
> Just make sure to write the stick, not OTHER disks.
>
> PPS: IF you find out that you really want to run DOS
> executables, you can install a boot floppy image on
> a stick instead of using entire DOS distro images.
>
>
>
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