I've been busy updating my system this A.M.

[Keith]

I've just spent the last few hours updating drivers and firmware on my system. Something I had been putting off for ages.

I flash updated my BIOS from version A01 to A03, and my two DVD drives' (ROM and burner) firmware, updated my sound drivers, installed a new Intel Chipset Support Utility, a new Intel network adapter program and drivers for my Intel Pro/100 card, installed a Intel Processor ID Utility that give me details about my CPU.

I was also going to update my ULTRA ATA Storage Controller device but there doesn't seem to be one at Intel for the chipset my system has anymore. I can't use the newer Intel Application Accelerator because it doesn't support my old chipset.

After much reading and rebooting everything is fine and running smoothly. No major glitches or disasters to report.


So my system will be a little better prepared for Caesar IV now.

[prof786]

those stats look quite impressive from here.
hope my inspiron 6000 can hold the bang from caesar IV.

[wodinoneeye]

And after all the updates has there been any noticeable change ????

[Keith]

And after all the updates has there been any noticeable change ????

My system seems to boot up a little quicker. I haven't noticed any huge changes or just haven't spotted any yet.

The BIOS flash update was reportedly to fix some problems:

The following changes have been made to BIOS rev A02 to create A03:

1. Updated CPU microcode to support latest CPUs.
2. Fixed possible issue with the auto-power-on WEEKDAYS function of Setup.
3. Improved password handling in the BIOS update program.
4. Improved USB booting operations for USB devices.
5. Eliminated extra error messages and improved interrupt handling
for Serial ATA drives.
6. Correct key interpretation in the Boot Sequence menu.
7. Fixed IRQ routing table for Linux issues involving NICs and SATA drives.
8. Insure a successful PXE boot results in diag LED pattern GGGG instead of
GGGY.
9. Fixed issue in CDROM boot support that shows up when booting an ISOLINUX
distribution on a system with only RAID HDs.
10. Updated code to support additional Option ROMs.

And that was just from version A02 to A03, I went from A01 to A03.

Most were basic "fixes" to problems with the older drivers and firmware.

The flash update to the Samsung SD-616T CD drive was a small fix so that the "The Thing" game, which I do have, can run from it without clashing with SecuROM.

The Intel Proset update was a new control panel software and driver update for my LAN card.

Everything seems stable and is functioning normally.

[wodinoneeye]

My system seems to boot up a little quicker. I haven't noticed any huge changes or just haven't spotted any yet.

....

Everything seems stable and is functioning normally.



If it all still runs then its good. Its usually why I am leery of some fixes like that -- if you zap your system then you have to reload every thing (OS/Apps/data/patches) and had to (if you were smart) save all your data
ahead of time.....

[Keith]

If it all still runs then its good. Its usually why I am leery of some fixes like that -- if you zap your system then you have to reload every thing (OS/Apps/data/patches) and had to (if you were smart) save all your data
ahead of time.....

Well, I made a point of reading and reading the instructions before I did anything. ;)

Many of the updates from Dell support were simple self-extractor exe files while others had to be downloaded to a bootable floppy and then the system was reset with the floppy in the driver to run the updater file. The ones from Intel were just simple self-extractors.