Bios Flash Update
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Bios Flash Update |
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This BIOS Flash Update SoftPaq contains utilities and images that can be used to restore or upgrade the system BIOS on Hewlett-Packard business desktops. Several methods for changing the BIOS version on your computer may be chosen. Included are the various ways to perform the update. Each folder provided has self-contained files to perform the BIOS update and any unwanted folders may be deleted.
Utilities and appropriate BIOS images are contained in each of the directories as follows:
DOS Flash - DOS utility that can be used locally or with a Preboot eXecution Environment (PXE) management application to update or restore the system BIOS.
HPQFlash - Windows-based utility to locally update or restore the system BIOS on individual PCs through the Windows environment. No backup will be made of the current system BIOS.
ROMPaq CD - Creates a bootable ROMPaq CD that can be used to locally restore or upgrade the system BIOS. No backup will be made of the current system BIOS.
ROMPaq Diskette - Creates a bootable 1.44 ROMPaq diskette that can be used to locally restore or upgrade the system BIOS. A backup of the current system BIOS image is copied onto the ROMPaq diskette during the update process. If desired, this backup BIOS image on the ROMPaq diskette can be used to restore the system BIOS to its original version.
This Softpaq can also be used with the following methods of updating the system BIOS:
System Software Manager (SSM) - Use this SoftPaq with System Software Manager (SSM) to update the system BIOS on target PCs on a network. Place this SoftPaq in your SSM Filestore folder then update the database. SSM is a free utility provided by Hewlett-Packard Company. For information on SSM, see http://www.compaq.com/im/change/ssmwp.html
HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS) - Use this Softpaq with HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS) and Altiris Notification Server to remotely target, distribute, and update the system BIOS on network PCs. Place this SoftPaq in your HPCMS Filestore folder then update the database. HPCMS is a free management application provided by Altiris and Hewlett-Packard Company. For information on HPCMS, see http://www.hp.com/go/EasyDeploy
NOTE: A SoftPaq is available on the web that contains additional BIOS Utilities to support Hewlett-Packard Company products. This SoftPaq will be shown when searching for software support of products in the category ROMPaqs/BIOS and Firmware.
HPQFlash.exe is a utility which is designed to flash the System BIOS within a Windows environment. To display the available options for this utility enter [Path]\HPQFlash -?. If the system has a Setup password enabled, then HPQFlash will prompt for the password to be entered before completing the flash process. For more information, view ReadMe.txt or HPQFlash.txt, both located in the HPQFlash folder. If you wish to update your BIOS using HPQFlash, click the link below. If prompted with a File Download dialog box, please select "Open" or "Run from current location".
This program creates a ROMPaq CD that can be used to locally restore or upgrade the system BIOS. This feature requires that a system is available with CD burning software and a compatible CD-R\RW drive installed. For more information on the ROMPaq CD, view the ReadMe.txt in the ROMPaq CD folder. If you wish to build a ROMPaq CD, click the link below. If prompted with a File Download dialog box, please select "Open" or "Run from current location".
This program creates a ROMPaq 1.44 diskette that can be used to locally restore or upgrade the system BIOS. A backup of the current system BIOS will be copied onto the ROMPaq diskette during the flash process. If desired, the system can be re-flashed from the saved BIOS. For more information on the ROMPaq diskette, view the ReadMe.txt in the ROMPaq Disk folder. If you wish to build a ROMPaq Diskette, click the Launch ROMPaq Diskette Creation link below. If prompted with a File Download dialog box, please select "Open" or "Run from current location". If you receive an error, click the View Contents of ROMPaq Diskette Folder and execute ROMPaq.BAT manually to build the ROMPaq Diskette.
HPQFlash.exe is a utility which is designed to flash the system BIOS within a Windows environment and can be run from USB flash media device, including HP Drive Key and M-Systems DiskOnKey®. To display the available options for this utility enter [Path]\HPQFlash -?. If the system has a Setup password enabled, then HPQFlash will prompt for the password to be entered before completing the flash process. To run HPQFlash from USB flash media device, copy HPQFlash.exe and ROM.cab to a properly formatted flash media device. HPQFlash can then be executed from its location on the flash media device. For more information, view ReadMe.txt or HPQFlash.txt, both located in the HPQFlash folder. To view the contents of the HPQFlash folder, click the View HPQFlash Contents link below.
DOS Flash (flshlite.exe, flsh.cpu) is the DOS compatible version of the ROMPaq system BIOS flash utility that can be used from DOS bootable flash media device. Flsh.cpu is the required driver for flshlite.exe. Assign Password (assignpw.exe) can be used with DOS Flash if a Setup Password has been previously set on the target system. To flash the system BIOS from a USB flash media device, you will need to copy the contents of the DOS Flash folder to a bootable USB flash media device. To see a more complete description of the DOS flash utilities, view Flshlite.txt located in the DOS Flash folder. To view more information on making a DOS bootable flash media device, view DOSFM.txt in the DOS Flash folder.
Use this SoftPaq with System Software Manager (SSM) to update the system BIOS on target PCs on a network. Place this SoftPaq in your SSM Filestore folder then update the database. SSM is a free utility provided by Hewlett-Packard Company. For information on SSM, see http://www.compaq.com/im/change/ssmwp.html
Use this Softpaq with HP Client Manager Software (HPCMS) and Altiris Notification Server to remotely target, distribute, and update the system BIOS on network PCs. Place this SoftPaq in your HPCMS Filestore folder then update the database. HPCMS is a free managment application provided by Altiris and Hewlett-Packard Company. For more information, see http://www.hp.com/go/EasyDeploy
To assist the system administrator with flashing the system BIOS and setting the Setup Password, the several utilities have been developed. DOS Flash (flshlite.exe, flsh.cpu) is the DOS compatible version of the ROMPaq system BIOS flash utility. DOS Flash is a scaled down version of ROMPaq that is compatible with the limited DOS memory available and the DOS extended environment that may exist while running Altiris eXpress. Flsh.cpu is the driver for flshlite.exe. Assign Password (asign_pw.exe) can be used with DOS Flash if a Setup password has been previously set on the target system. To see a more complete description on the network BIOS flashing utilities, view the Flshlite.txt located in the DOS Flash folder. To view contents of the DOS Flash folder, click the link below.
If your system does not have a Floppy Diskette Drive you have multiple alternatives to update your BIOS locally. If the target system has a CD-ROM drive and you would like to build a ROMPaq CD that can be used to update and\or restore the BIOS, see the ROMPaq CD BIOS Flashing section of this file. If you prefer to update the BIOS in the Windows environment and\or no CD-ROM is available on the target system, see the Windows BIOS Flashing section of this file. If you have a USB flash media device that you would like to use to update the BIOS on the target system, see the USB Flash Media BIOS Flashing in Wndows or USB Flash Media BIOS Flashing in DOS sections of this file.
Most Hewlett-Packard desktop systems include 64 KB of write-protected boot block ROM that provides a way to recover from a failed flashing of the system BIOS ROM. If the BIOS ROM fails the flash check, the boot block code provides the minimum amount of support necessary to allow booting the sytem from the diskette drive and\or the CD-ROM drive and reflashing the system ROM with a ROMPaq diskette or ROMPaq CD. Note that if a Setup password has been set in the system the boot block will prompt for this password by illuminating the caps lock keyboard LED and displaying a message if video support is available. Most systems require that a PS/2 keyboard be used during the bootblock operation. If you wish to view information about building a ROMPaq Diskette, see the ROMPaq Diskette BIOS Flashing section of this file. If you wish to view more information about building a ROMPaq CD, see the ROMPaq CD BIOS Flashing section of this file.
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