BIOS P10 is probably the most challenging BIOS upgrade so far. BIOS P10 adds ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) support, as well as dual monitor (video card) support. Intel has also added support for full screen 256-color logos during startup -- now all we need is a utility to make these images! (The current utility only supports 16-color logos).

Note: If you're currently using Windows 95, I do not recommend upgrading to BIOS P10. Windows 95 does not include support for ACPI or dual monitors, and you are likely to encounter more problems than anything else.

In addition to the instructions I have listed below, you may also want to reference Intel's suggestions.

There are two approaches to this BIOS upgrade:

• The first is to upgrade your BIOS only, and force Windows 98 to redetect the motherboard resources. This allows you to keep all of your hardware and software settings, and will take less time. However, stability is not guaranteed as my success rate with this process has been about 50%. It is largely dependent on your hardware configuration (video card, sound card, LS-120, etc.).

• The second method is to upgrade the BIOS followed by a clean install of Windows 98. In my opinion, this is the preferred method. It will take longer, and you'll probably spend the day reinstalling all of your hardware. However, I've experienced fewer problems using this method.

I want to upgrade the BIOS only -- Doing a clean install is too painful!

I want to upgrade the BIOS -- and while doing a clean install is like having teeth pulled, I'll do it anyway!

Show me the new features!
 
 

BIOS Upgrade Only Instructions:

I highly suggest you backup your system before performing this upgrade. At a minimum, I suggest backing up the registry using a program like Norton Rescue Disk or Windows Regedit. If for some reason you can't get the upgrade to work, you'll be able to restore your old settings.
 

1. Create the BIOS update disk

Make sure the files are placed on a DOS boot disk, and NOT a Windows boot disk. The BIOS upgrade will not function properly on a Windows boot disk. Intel includes the mk_bootz utility to create a DOS boot disk as part of the BIOS upgrade file. I suggest that you have BIOS disks for P10 as well as your previous BIOS version, just in case you need to switch back.

2. Copy the Windows 98 setup files to your hard drive

While the Windows 98 boot disk has been revamped to include CD-ROM drivers, Microsoft has still not perfected the boot sequence. There is a chance that Windows 98 will ask you for your Windows 98 CD-ROM before the CD-ROM drivers are loaded. Does anyone else see a Catch-22 here?

Luckily, there is an easy way around all of this. Copy the \WIN98 and the \DRIVERS directory from your Windows 98 CD-ROM to your hard drive. When Windows prompts you for the CD-ROM, browse to the location of the setup files on your hard drive.

3. Remove all devices from the Device Manager

Open up the device manager and remove all the devices from your system. This will make it easier for Win98 to detect the new motherboard resources with fewer conflicts. I suggest that you remove your mouse last, as this task will be more difficult once you've removed mouse support. Also, deleting the entry under System Devices for Plug and Play BIOS will eliminate most of the devices in your system. Once you've done this, go ahead and shut down your computer.

4. Upgrade your BIOS to P10
 

Upgrade the BIOS on your computer using the following procedure:

1. Insert the BIOS disk and boot your machine.

2. Upgrade the BIOS using the iFlash utility.

3. Once the BIOS image has been loaded, turn off your machine.

4. Reset the configuration jumper (J8B7) to pins 2-3 (CONFIG).

5. Restart your computer and enter the BIOS setup by pressing F2 during the boot.

6. In the BIOS setup, press F9 to load the system defaults. Press F10 to save and exit. The BIOS should prompt you to shutdown your machine and reset the configuration jumper.

7. Turn off your machine, and reset the configuration jumper to pins 1-2 (NORMAL).

*NOTE: Check the CPU speed setting in the BIOS. Occasionally I've noticed this gets reset to a lower setting. If it does, go back to step 4.

8. Enter the BIOS setup again by pressing F2. From the Advanced menu, set "Reset Configuration Data" to "Yes," then save and exit by pressing F10. This will clear the writeable area of the BIOS that Win95/98 stores PnP configuration data in.

9. Reboot your computer, and enter the setup utility one last time. Make all of your custom settings to the BIOS now.
 


Now the fun begins....

5. Start Windows 98
 

When Windows 98 starts, it will begin the hardware detection sequence. If Windows 98 asks you for the CD-ROM but is unable to read from your CD-ROM drive, simply browse to the \WIN98 and/or \DRIVERS directory that you copied earlier. Every time Windows asks you to restart the computer, go ahead and do so. It will likely take about 3 reboot cycles before all of the drivers are installed.
6. Resolve the initial conflicts
 
If your computer is anything like mine, you will have several yellow (!) in the Device Manager. On my machine, Windows reported that my video card was not set up properly and to try updating the drivers. At this point, if it asks you to update your video drivers, just cancel. Open up the device manager and look for the yellow (!).

Since you deleted all of the system devices before the BIOS upgrade, your hardware conflicts should be to a minimum. However, you may see dual entries for some devices, such as the keyboard. In this case, the device with the yellow (!) is the device that you want to keep in your system. So, if you have two keyboard entries in the device manager, delete the one without the yellow (!).

Another common problem is with the Direct Memory Access Controller and EISA Direct Memory Access Controller under System Devices. The DMA controller for BIOS P10 should be the EISA Direct Memory Access Controller, so delete the Direct Memory Access Controller if you have one.
 
 

7. Disable unused ports to free up IRQs
 
Under BIOS 10, the serial and parallel ports cannot be disabled at the BIOS level. So, to free up system resources, you'll need to disable them through the device manager. To do so, check the box labeled Disable in this hardware profile under the general tab of the device properties window. Once the device is disabled, Windows 98 will place a red X over the device. If you use a sound card that is equipped with an IDE port, I suggest that you disable it as well if you do not use it.


 
 
 

8. Reconfigure the ACPI PCI settings
 
Here is the key step to this upgrade on most computers. In the device manager, open up the System Devices branch and select the PCI Bus. Under IRQ Steering, uncheck the box marked Get IRQ table using ACPI BIOS and check the box marked Get IRQ table from Protected Mode PCIBIOS 2.1 call. Once you've made these changes, click on OK. Windows will ask you to reboot the computer; go ahead and do so.
 




 
Windows 98 will go through another hardware detection cycle. Make sure to restart Windows every time the system asks you to. You will likely see the system detect some unknown devices, IRQ holders for PCI steering, and motherboard resources. On my system, Windows 98 also detected my monitor and the Creative Sound Blaster AWE MPU401 Emulation.
 
Once the detection process has completed, reopen the device manager and reset the settings for the PCI Bus IRQ Steering to the defaults. You can either click on the Set Defaults button shown above, or check the following boxes:
 
Use IRQ Steering
Get IRQ table using ACPI BIOS
Get IRQ table using MS Specification table
Get IRQ table from Real Mode PCIBIOS 2.1 call
9. Resolve any remaining conflicts
 
This last step is going to be highly dependent on your personal configuration. However, the major conflicts should be resolved by this point. Take care of any remaining yellow (!) by using the device manager's recommendations. For reference, you should have the following entries under System Devices:
 
ACPI Generic EIO Bus
ACPI System Button
Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) BIOS
Composite Power Source
EISA direct memory access controller
Intel 82371AB PCI to ISA bridge (ISA mode)
Intel 82371AB Power Management Controller
Intel 82443LX/EX Pentium(r) II Processor to AGP controller
Intel 82443LX/EX Pentium(r) II Processor to PCI bridge
IO read data port for ISA plug and play enumerator
Motherboard resources
Numeric data processor
PCI Bus
Programmable interrupt controller
SCI IRQ used by ACPI bus
System board
System CMOS/real time clock
System speaker
System timer


If you have problems getting your computer to shut down properly or if your computer displays the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" screen, delete the entries for the Composite Power Source and Intel 82371AB Power Management Controller. Run the Add New Hardware wizard from the Control Panel and Windows should redetect these devices. This resolves 90% of power down problems.

That should take care of it. If you have any remaining conflicts or problems, contact me and I'll help you out as best I can.

Show me the new features!
 
 

1. Prepare your yourself

I highly suggest you backup your system before performing this upgrade. At a minimum, I suggest backing up the registry using a program like Norton Rescue Disk or Windows Regedit. If for some reason you can't get the upgrade to work, you'll be able to restore your old settings.

Make sure you have all of the necessary files before you start the process. There is nothing worse than getting halfway though the process and then realizing that you forgot to download a file or don't have the current drivers for your hardware. Also make sure to copy down your internet and dial-up networking settings. There is nothing more frustrating than realizing you don't have the phone number or DNS address for your ISP!
 

2. Make sure you have a Windows 98 startup disk

Windows 98 should have created a startup disk during your initial install. If you didn't create a startup disk, or formatted it, dog ate it, etc., you can create one by opening the Add/Remove Programs wizard from Control Panel and clicking on the startup disk tab.

Reboot your system from the floppy. Double check that you can access your CD-ROM and that all of your important data has been removed from your hard drive. Format your hard drive (you don't need to copy the system files):

format c:

If you don't want to reformat your hard drive, exit Windows 98 and restart the computer into MS-DOS mode. Once you're in DOS, delete the C:\Windows directory. I also suggest that you delete the C:\Program Files directory, however, since many programs install themselves and store data into this directory, make sure that you aren't deleting something that you are trying to save. This won't be as "clean" as the method described above, but it will work. You're likely to retain some garbage files from all the programs you've installed and later uninstalled. Funny how uninstall doesn't get rid of everything.

 
3. Upgrade your BIOS to P10
 

Upgrade the BIOS on your computer using the following procedure:

1. Insert the BIOS disk and boot your machine.

2. Upgrade the BIOS using the iFlash utility.

3. Once the BIOS image has been loaded, turn off your machine.

4. Reset the configuration jumper (J8B7) to pins 2-3 (CONFIG).

5. Restart your computer and enter the BIOS setup by pressing F2 during the boot.

6. In the BIOS setup, press F9 to load the system defaults. Press F10 to save and exit. The BIOS should prompt you to shutdown your machine and reset the configuration jumper.

7. Turn off your machine, and reset the configuration jumper to pins 1-2 (NORMAL).

*NOTE: Check the CPU speed setting in the BIOS. Occasionally I've noticed this gets reset to a lower setting. If it does, go back to step 4.

8. Enter the BIOS setup again by pressing F2. From the Advanced menu, set "Reset Configuration Data" to "Yes," then save and exit by pressing F10. This will clear the writeable area of the BIOS that Win95/98 stores PnP configuration data in.

9. Reboot your computer, and enter the setup utility one last time. Make all of your custom settings to the BIOS now. I suggest that you make sure Plug and Play OS is set to "Yes" and Power Management is enabled.
 


Now the fun begins....
 

4. Install Windows 98
 

Boot your system using the Windows 98 startup disk. When you run the setup program, I suggest you use the command:

setup /p j

This will force Windows 98 to enable ACPI support. For more information, check out this page on Microsoft's developer's site. I've had success both with and without the "/p j", but it's been less of a challenge with the "/p j" switch.

If your computer is anything like mine, the installation will not be flawless. On my computer, at the end of the installation, Windows reported that my video card was not properly configured and that I should update the drivers. If Windows asks you to update your video drivers, tell it no at this point. There are a few other things you should do first.
 


5.  Disable unused ports to free up IRQs

 
Under BIOS 10, the serial and parallel ports cannot be disabled at the BIOS level. So, to free up system resources, you'll need to disable them through the device manager. To do so, check the box labeled Disable in this hardware profile under the general tab of the device properties window. Once the device is disabled, Windows 98 will place a red X over the device. If you use a sound card that is equipped with an IDE port, I suggest that you disable it as well if you do not use it.


 
 
 

6. Reconfigure the ACPI PCI settings
 
Here is the key step to this upgrade on most computers. In the device manager, open up the System Devices branch and select the PCI Bus. Under IRQ Steering, uncheck the box marked Get IRQ table using ACPI BIOS and check the box marked Get IRQ table from Protected Mode PCIBIOS 2.1 call. Once you've made these changes, click on OK. Windows will ask you to reboot the computer; go ahead and do so.
 




 
Windows 98 will go through another hardware detection cycle. Make sure to restart Windows every time the system asks you to. You will likely see the system detect some unknown devices, IRQ holders for PCI steering, and motherboard resources. On my system, Windows 98 also detected my monitor and the Creative Sound Blaster AWE MPU401 Emulation.
 
Once the detection process has completed, reopen the device manager and reset the settings for the PCI Bus IRQ Steering to the defaults. You can either click on the Set Defaults button shown above, or check the following boxes:
 
Use IRQ Steering
Get IRQ table using ACPI BIOS
Get IRQ table using MS Specification table
Get IRQ table from Real Mode PCIBIOS 2.1 call
7. Resolve any remaining conflicts
 
This last step is going to be highly dependent on your personal configuration. However, the major conflicts should be resolved by this point. Take care of any remaining yellow (!) by using the device manager's recommendations.

If you have problems getting your computer to shut down properly or if your computer displays the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" screen, delete the entries for the Composite Power Source and Intel 82371AB Power Management Controller. Run the Add New Hardware wizard from the Control Panel and Windows should redetect these devices. This resolves 90% of power down problems.

That should do it. If you have any additional problems, let me know and I will see what I can do for you.
 


Show me the new features!
 
 

• 256-color full-screen POST logos

BIOS P10 adds support for 256-color full-screen POST logos. Unfortunately, Intel has yet to release a utility that you can use to create these images. There are currently two utilities available for making POST logos:

SPLSHUTL.EXE  --  Used for making 16-color full screen logos

LOGO UTL.EXE   -- Used for making 16-color logos of any size

The clrlogo utility is virtually useless with BIOS P10. It seems that Intel can't add a new option to their BIOS without breaking an existing one. Any BIOS image that is displayed will be displayed full screen. If you use an image created with clrlogo, the logo will be in the position defined when the .usr file was created, but you will no longer see the BIOS POST screen.

If you want to display the POST screen during the boot sequence, pressing ESC for about 1 second will switch the screen from the logo to the POST data screen. Check out my User Bitmap page for more details.

Additionally, there are new options in the Setup Boot menu:

Boot-time Diagnostic Screen -- This forces the BIOS to display the POST data rather than the logo

QuickBoot Mode -- This isn't a new option, but it was moved to this menu. This allows you to skip some of the BIOS POST tests and shorten your boot time.

Scan User Flash Area  -- This BIOS option has been present since the initial release of the BIOS, but seems to be pretty ineffective. The idea is to allow the user to tell the BIOS whether or not it should look for a user image to display during the POST sequence. However, the logo is displayed on my system regardless of this setting.
 
 

• New Power Management Options
 
There are some new power management options available in Windows 98 due to the implementation of ACPI:



In addition to the settings to power off your monitor and hard drives, Windows 98 can also put your system into standby automatically. Set the System standby delay as you see fit. In the advanced options, you can also redefine what happens when the power button is pressed on your computer. You can set this to either Standby or Shutdown.

When your computer is put into standby, whether it is through the shutdown menu or automatically through the power management settings shown above, you will have to push the power button on your computer to bring it out of standby.
 
 

• Dual monitor/video card support
 
New options have been added to the BIOS to allow you to choose which video card will be used as the primary display if you have more than one video card in your system.

That should do it. If this process doesn't work for you or you have problems that I haven't addressed above, please write me and let me know. I'm trying to keep this site as up to date as possible and your input is appreciated.
 

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