ASUS P5W DH - Problems + Fixes Thread

[dddan]

Bummer!
- all the best luck!

PREP:
- rename selected BIOS file to "P5WDH.ROM" and copy to clean floppy
- if no floppy, then copy to flashdrive with BIOS file renamed to "P5WDH.ROM"
- (never personally tested CD-ROM method)
- use PS/2 keyboard, if available

PROCESS:
- power off system
- unplug all external USB, eSATA, LAN, RS-232, etc.
- remove cards, except graphics
- clear BIOS (jumper, 10sec)
- insert floppy with renamed "P5WDH.ROM"
- if no floppy, connect flashdrive with renamed "P5WDH.ROM"
- (not sure if process will access CD-ROM drive...)
- note: use only floppy or flashdrive, not both
- power up system and hold "ALT-F2"
- recovery screen should appear and begin to seach for "P5WDH.ROM" file (see attached pic)

If the "ALT-F2" screen does not appear in reasonable time, (few minutes), then a replacement
BIOS chip will have to be ordered from ASUS. (if USA, 510-739-3777, ask for BIOS department)
- cost is $1 USD, with expedite shipping extra
- old BIOS chip must be sent back to ASUS, or $20 USD will apply
- some shops have replacement BIOS chips or ability to re-write BIOS chips
- BADFLASH.com is another alternative: http://www.badflash.com/

ASUS AFUDOS:
http://support.asus.com/technicaldoc...Language=en-us

- if you are technically savvy, HOT-FLASH, but thats another discussion
- part number below, about $2.73 USD

WINBOND PART: W39V080FA (PLCC 32)
8mbit, 3.3vdc, 1Mx8bits

Yea, if you know someone else with this board, hotflash the chip. It's really not hard aslong as you're careful taking out the chip without damage.

Thanks guys - in fact, thanks to everyone who has replied and tried to help me.

I'd really be up for hotflashing, except my only other system (which does happen to have a PLCC32 chip) has it soldered to the board, so it isn't gonna happen.

I'm going to try a couple of the local PC stores, see if they can reprogram the chip for me. If not, I've found a UK-based supplier who can ship me a replacement flashed with the revision of my choice in a couple of days. (It's a bummer having your system out of action for any length of time, isn't it?)

Anyway - to the poster who asked if they can run the 1333FSB chips on this board - I can answer quite categorically YES, it is certainly supported in rev. 2205. I was running the E6850 quite happily with 4x1GB sticks of Geil PC-6400 until the BIOS mishap (I'll never use Asus Update ever again - Asus should be shot for releasing such shoddy code!) Only thing I had to do was set the RAM to 833MHz and up the voltage by 0.5V when I added in the extra two sticks and it worked fine. (Strangely enough, I didn't need to touch the voltage at all until I added the extra two sticks, but I guess that's just another of the board's quirks).

One question - I'm using the onboard sound, and 2205 kept disabling this in bios everytime I rebooted (hence why I tried to flash to 2206). Does anyone know if this bug is definitely fixed in rev. 2206? Does the onboard sound stay enabled, or is it just the same and I can stick with 2205, which ran fine except for helpfully (ahem!) disabling the onboard audio?