gHacks technology news » bios http://www.ghacks.net A technology blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Sun, 08 Nov 2009 22:45:07 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.5 en hourly 1 Things To Do When Your Motherboard OnBoard Lan Dies http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/18/things-to-do-when-your-motherboard-onboard-lan-dies/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/18/things-to-do-when-your-motherboard-onboard-lan-dies/#comments Sat, 18 Apr 2009 14:42:16 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/18/things-to-do-when-your-motherboard-onboard-lan-dies/ motherboard lanThe onboard LAN of my Gigabyte ep35-ds4 motherboard died just a few hours ago. Was surfing the Internet and suddenly connection errors showed up. That’s bad as the onboard LAN is located on the motherboard of the computer system. It could be that not only the LAN died but also other components. Now what can you do if your motherboard’s onboard LAN dies?

First thing was to check the installed hardware in the Windows Control Panel. If you operate a different operating system you need to find and access the equivalent there. The LAN was not listed there anymore. That was bad. It could have been a driver problem so the next step was to check for hardware that was not installed yet. The LAN was not found there either.

Next step was to reboot the computer and check in the Bios. While doing that I verified that the LAN led was still on. The BIOS showed zero LAN configuration options. I knew that there were some before which gave me the confirmation that something was seriously wrong. Next step CMOS reset. This is done by setting a jumper on the motherboard. The LAN options did not show up then either. I could have tried installing a new BIOS but this sounded awfully risky with dead components on the motherboard.

You got two options basically at this point. The fast option is to add a new PCI LAN card and install it on the computer system. Good LAN cards should provide better performance than onboard LAN. That’s what I did. The other option is to contact the manufacturer of the motherboard and wait for an answer. Can take some days, usual result is a replacement or repair which can take weeks or even months. Not a good option if you need to be online most of the day.

To put everything in a list:

  • Check if the operating system lists the onboard component.
  • Check if it can be found by scanning for hardware.
  • Check if the lights are on (if it has lights)
  • Shutdown the computer and see if everything is connected properly
  • Check the Bios for the onboard component
  • Reset the Bios
  • Replace the Nic or replace the motherboard or contact support.

Do you have any additional tips on how to cope with a dead onboard LAN?

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/18/things-to-do-when-your-motherboard-onboard-lan-dies/feed/ 5 Bios Update Made Easy http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/17/bios-update-made-easy/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/17/bios-update-made-easy/#comments Sun, 17 Aug 2008 09:52:55 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=6229 Many users shy away from updating the computer bios of their motherboard probably because of the fear of damaging the motherboard irreparably. Methods have evolved in the last years and it is easier and safer to update the bios than it was five years ago.

The following article explains an easy and straightforward way of updating the computer bios. The main question that everyone should ask himself before updating the BIOS is if it is beneficiary to update the Bios. The article takes a look at finding that out as well. The phrase “never change a running system” has some truth to it but it is still a good idea to check for new Bios versions every now and then.

It does make sense to check for Bios updates before upgrading computer components. New Bios versions can add support for faster processors, computer memory, lower temperaturs and even add new features.

Step 1: Identifying the Bios

Probably the most important step in the Bios updating process is to identify the current motherboard and Bios version properly. The easiest way would be to check a receipt or motherboard manual if one was provided with the computer. If that’s long gone you can try software like cpu-z to find out about your motherboard and Bios.

bios update

The Mainboard tab contains the information about the motherboard and Bios. Important are the motherboard manufacturer, the motherboard model and the Bios version.

Cpu-Z supports many motherboards but not all. If your motherboard cannot be identified you need to check the post screen during boot. That’s the first screen that is being displayed. Hit the pause key after the computer memory is shown and you should find information about the computer Bios as well.

Step 2: Checking for Bios Updates

With the information gathered in step 1 it is now possible to visit the manufacturer’s website and see if new Bios versions are available. The computer manufacturer above is Gigabyte and the motherboard is the EP35-ds4. A good start would be to enter the name of the manufacturer followed by the motherboard model into a search engine.

That usually leads straight to the page dedicated to the motherboard model. The Bios version shown in the screenshot above was F2, a check on the Gigabyte EP35-DS4 website shows that the latest Bios version is F5. Most manufacturers display information about changes and additions that have been introduced with each new Bios version. In this case support for the Update CPU ID Intel Yorkfield QX9770 CPU has been added as well as a fix for an ICH9R RAID issue.

After identifying the Bios updates it would now be time to make a decision if the update would be useful. In the case of the above Bios it would be useful if the ICH9R Raid was used in the current configuration or if the user had plans to build in the Intel Yorkfield QX9770 CPU.

Step 3: Updating the Bios

Step 3 is the actual update process. Every motherboard manufacturer has his own way and software to update the Bios. Methods range from booting to DOS, to updates directly in Windows to updates in the Bios itself.

In the case of the Gigabyte Bios the Bios was provided with a Dos executable and a batch file. A boot disk would have to be created and the files placed on it. Other manufacturers are offering applications that update the Bios from within Windows which is more comfortable obviously.

The best way is to search the manufacturer’s website for information on how to apply the Bios update. It’s always a good idea to backup the old Bios before applying the new one. That option is usually offered in the software that updates the Bios.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/08/17/bios-update-made-easy/feed/ 1 Reveal or Reset the Bios Passwords http://www.ghacks.net/2008/06/07/reveal-or-reset-the-bios-passwords/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/06/07/reveal-or-reset-the-bios-passwords/#comments Sat, 07 Jun 2008 14:33:47 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=4897 Password protecting the Bios is considered a weak protection, something that professionals can find out or reset in no time. Besides the obvious possibilities to set a jumper or remove the bios battery to reset the bios password it is also possible to reveal or reset the bios password by using a software like CmosPwd which is available for Windows, DOS and Linux.

Most users will probably run the application in Windows. To do that they need to access the command line and install a driver that gives “direct port I/O access for specified ports to user-mode process (ring 3) using Ke386SetIoAccessMap and Ke386IoSetAccessProcess kernel functions.” The driver is located in the Windows directory of the software package after unzipping it to the computer.

The command ioperm.exe -i is used to install the driver which can be uninstalled with ioperm.exe -u after the bios password has been revealed. Once the driver is installed the bios password can be revealed with the command Cmospwd_win.exe which displays a list similar to the one below.

cmos password

The application requests the password for all known bioses. Only one hit will be found obviously which in the case of my bios was test in the Award 6.0 line. Reseting the bios can be initiated in DOS with the command cmospwd /k. Please note that the cmospwd.exe file is located in the DOS directory of the application. It can also be reset with the cmospwd_win /k in Windows.

Most notebooks store the bios password in an eeprom which can only be retrieved with an eeprom reader.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/06/07/reveal-or-reset-the-bios-passwords/feed/ 7 Goodbye BIOS Here Comes UEFI http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/06/goodbye-bios-here-comes-uefi/ http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/06/goodbye-bios-here-comes-uefi/#comments Wed, 06 Feb 2008 10:06:51 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/06/goodbye-bios-here-comes-uefi/ UEFI which is an acronym for Unified Extensible Firmware Interface which will eventually replace the 20+ year old Bios. The new standard is backed by everyone so to speak including Intel, AMD, Microsoft, IBM, American Megatrends, Phoenix Technologies and Apple.

Support will be added to Windows Vista with Service Pack 1 and is already available for Microsoft Windows Server 2008 and first motherboards supporting UEFI are already available on the market (MSI P35 Neo3). One of the main differences between BIOS and UEFI is the way applications are coded. Assembler was used if functions or applications had to be coded for the BIOS while a higher level language code will be used to program the UEFI.

The memory footprint is about 10 times smaller as well. The main benefits for customers are a better presentation and (probably) motherboards that are more stable. When will the transition be complete ? Insiders suggest that it might take between two or three years.


The UEFI specification defines a new model for the interface between personal-computer operating systems and platform firmware. The interface consists of data tables that contain platform-related information, plus boot and runtime service calls that are available to the operating system and its loader. Together, these provide a standard environment for booting an operating system and running pre-boot applications.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2008/02/06/goodbye-bios-here-comes-uefi/feed/ 6 Find out the which BIOS is installed in your PC http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/10/find-out-the-which-bios-is-installed-in-your-pc/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/10/find-out-the-which-bios-is-installed-in-your-pc/#comments Wed, 10 Oct 2007 09:25:57 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/10/find-out-the-which-bios-is-installed-in-your-pc/ A friend of mine was recently asking me if I knew how to find out which BIOS was installed in his computer. He wanted to know for two reasons. The first was that he could not remember and was not able to figure out on his own. He did want to buy a better CPU and had to know which were supported by his motherboard and BIOS.

The second reason was related. He wanted to check if a BIOS upgrade was available to see if an update to a newer version would add support for faster CPUs.

Finding out which BIOS is installed in a computer is not complicated at all. You could pay attention to the boot sequence but a far better and easier way is to use a software that ships with Windows anyway.

system bios

To find out you simply have to type ‘msinfo32′ in a command prompt. Once you know which BIOS is installed you can search for updates on the Internet. If you can remember the motherboard manufacturer and version it would be even easier of course, but if you can’t remember this is your best choice.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2007/10/10/find-out-the-which-bios-is-installed-in-your-pc/feed/ 6 Find out your bios password http://www.ghacks.net/2007/01/03/find-out-your-bios-password/ http://www.ghacks.net/2007/01/03/find-out-your-bios-password/#comments Wed, 03 Jan 2007 16:01:05 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/2007/01/03/find-out-your-bios-password/ The bios can be protected with a password to prevent others from accessing its settings. You have to enter the password to be able to access it, if you can’t provide the correct one the access gets denied. The following method describes a way to recover the password if you forgot it or bought a used computer with a bios password.

CmosPwd is a free program that is able to display information about the bios once it is executed. You do need to create a bootable disk to be able to execute the program in dos mode. To create a bootable disk in windows right-click the disk drive and select format from the list of options. It is important that you enable the option Create an MS-DOS startup disk.

Once the disk is created copy the contents from the dos folder of cmospwd to the disk and restart the computer. You will have to remove all hard drives from the system if you do not automatically boot from disk drive. Type cmospwd.exe in the command line and the password should appear. Ignore the information about the other bios manufacturers and take a look at the one your computer is using.

Another possible method would be to start the computer in safe mode with command prompt which could work as well. You still need to access the files somewhere so make sure that the hard drive is accessible.

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]]> http://www.ghacks.net/2007/01/03/find-out-your-bios-password/feed/ 10 How to bypass your bios password http://www.ghacks.net/2006/02/27/how-to-bypass-your-bios-password/ http://www.ghacks.net/2006/02/27/how-to-bypass-your-bios-password/#comments Mon, 27 Feb 2006 14:02:16 +0000 Martin http://www.ghacks.net/?p=336 how to bypass your bios password" explains in detail various methods that bypass the bios password. So, if you are in need, take a look and try the available methods.]]> A bios password prevents access to the bios for unauthorised users. Sometimes this password gets forgotten and you face the difficulty to find a way to enter your bios again. The article “how to bypass your bios password” explains in detail various methods that bypass the bios password. So, if you are in need, take a look and try the available methods.

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