# Foxconn BIOS flashing problem



## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

I have a Foxconn 865A01-PE-6EKRS mobo and P4 3.0GHz CPU. It recently started blue screening when I used my printer, then occasionally at other random times. Afterwards Windows would report that it thought my BIOS did not match the CPU. I visited Foxconn site and got a much newer BIOS which they recommended for the board, and the tools to update.

At around the same time I had my system SATA HDD go kaput and replaced it with a brand new one and a clean installation of Windows XP Pro SP2 with minimal other software at the moment. The problem continues. Scans for viruses and spyware are done regularly but there was no trace of malware I could find.

When I ran the system up with the DOS flash utility, it backed up my old BIOS correctly but then would not write the new one. Itr reports that "The program file's BIOS-string does not match with your system". I have made sure that the jumper to prevent BIOS wiriting is correctly set on the board, and that the "BIOS protect" feature is switched OFF in the BIOS. Everything is as Foxconn recommends. Their Windows "Super Update" utility which is installed as part of the system is likewise useless. It simply refuses to connect to the internet despite there being no problem with browsing or e-mails and no setup area exists as far as I can see.

Support is non-existent! Foxconn response to a full page of system details in their own form listing everything including my inside leg measurement was an automated response requesting the details of the BIOS which were at the top of the original request! I'm still waiting after over 2 weeks and a number of e-mails quoting the case number. Not impressed at all!!!

I would be very gratefup if anyone can suggest what is wrong here?


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

If the bios update says it is not correct, I would not try and flash the bios with it.
Next as I understand your problem, your system gives you a bsod when you use your printer. Is that correct?
The bios file I found says it supports three different boards and it does NOT say it addresses printer or stability issues. 
How does your printer connect to your system? Is it usb or is it connected through LPT1?


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

Hi there CRJ, thanks for taking the time to help.

I stopped trying to flash the BIOS as soon as I saw the message, but it is strange as I got the file from Foxconn's site and it was a match for my exact mobo family and model as found by their own software. It was named 23GXP269.bin. There was another one available named 23RF1P86.bin which I think I could try just to see if it is a correct match. Presumably if it is not then it will refuse to flash as before. Although that first file was the only one reported as a match by the Foxconn search utility.

The printer is a USB Brother HL-2030 which had given no problems before. It became unstable overnight, don't know if anything else was changed at the same time I am afraid. I first thought that it was that which was at fault, but then when Windows suggested the BIOS needed updating a few times after restarting I checked and found that the current BIOS is reported as:

BIOS Date: 09/07/04
BIOS Type: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
BIOS ID: 09/07/2004-Springdale-6A79AFKAC

09/07/2004 seemed old to me so the idea seemed sound, and when the latest file was dated 2006 I felt sure it would be an improvement.

Do you think that the other file may be the correct one and may help, or is the problem more likely to be in another area completely?


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

Unless the bios update addresses a problem you have, it is not recommended to flash it.
Does your printer connect to the mb usb directly or through a hub? Have you tried another usb port to connect it to?


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

I do have a 4 way hub which I use for other temporary things but I connect the printer to its own port directly on the back of the machine. I will try it in another socket and report back.

You seem to be thinking that the USB setup may be involved, which would not surprise me if it was true. I have had problems with USB ports before. I have a memory card reader on the front of the machine which has 2 additional USB ports in it. There are sockets on the mobo for this. This would be very useful to use for me as my case has no front ports in it. When I have set these up in the past they work themselves, but screw up the drive letter assignments. For example they reported my system drive as F and I could not change it back to C. While this didn't stop Windows from loading and everything from running it was darned inconvenient and frustrating. I have these disconnected and uninstalled at the moment.

I think I should maybe look into the USB setup a little more closely, perhaps that is involved in this problem.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

I have just checked the USB drivers on update. The generic USB hub, all of the USB root hubs, and USB printing support were all fine, but the 82801E universal host controllers took on updated drivers. I wonder if this will make a difference.

I posted this before trying the printer just in case anything untoward happens so I will post again after testing with the newer USB controller drivers in place.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

No go! This was in a different socket and with the newer drivers.

It blue screened again. The message was the usual sort of thing:

PAGE_FAULT_IN_ NONPAGED_AREA
*** STOP: 0x00000050 ( 0x80DDD99F, 0x00000000, 0x80DDD99F, 0x00000000 )

Any other suggestions from anyone?


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## pshnfry (Sep 18, 2005)

googled your error message, found this:

Stop 0x00000050 or PAGE_FAULT_IN_NONPAGED_AREA

The Stop 0x50 message indicates that requested data was not in memory. The system generates an exception error when using a reference to an invalid system memory address. Defective memory (including main memory, L2 RAM cache, video RAM) or incompatible software (including remote control and antivirus software) might cause Stop 0x50 messages.

Possible Resolutions:

* If you added new hardware recently, remove and replace the hardware to determine if it is causing or contributing to the problem. Run diagnostics software supplied by the hardware manufacturer to determine if the component has failed.
* Stop 0x50 messages can also occur after installing faulty drivers or system services. If the file name is listed, you need to disable, remove, or roll back that driver. If not, disable the recently installed service or application to determine if this resolves the error. If this does not resolve the problem, contact the hardware manufacturer for updates. Using updated drivers and software is especially important for network interface cards, video adapters, backup programs, multimedia applications, antivirus scanners, and CD mastering tools. If an updated driver is not available, attempt to use a driver from a similar device in the same family. For example, if printing to a Model 1100C printer causes Stop 0x50 errors, using a printer driver meant for a Model 1100A or Model 1000 might temporarily resolve the problem.

Microsoft KB articles:
STOP 0x00000050 PrtSeqRd deferencing null device object
STOP 0x50 Error starting Windows after connecting a scanner

Hope this helps.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

Just had the problem occur again, this time as STOP 0x0000008E. It quoted win32k.sys as the problem file. Searching on the web makes it obvious that this seems to be a known issue which may have something to do with IRQL allocations.

I did come across someone recommending removing the PCI setup. When the machine reboots it would be reinstalled and IRQs would be reallocated hopefully removing any conflicts. Any info from you guys here on this?


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## pshnfry (Sep 18, 2005)

Go to device manager and view resources by connection. Look for devices sharing interrupts. Some pci devices play nicer with sharing than others. I've noted on boards with 5 pci slots and agp slots that the agp, pci1 and pci5 can be shared. You can power down the pc and move cards into other slots with this in mind, not saying don't use pci1 and pci5, but try moving devices currently sharing interrupts to one of the other slots.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

Thanks for the advice, that is something I will try.

In the meantime I have found something else. As I said, I found suggestions that it involved memory too. I downloaded M$ Memtest and have been running that for a while. At first it bombed out after a couple of minutes of work reporting an Exception and locking up. So I did the obvious and checked a card at a time. I have 2x512MB DIMMs. They both seemed to pass with no problems. I then put them in together again and the problem did not reappear! I am hoping that I am one of the 25% of people that M$ reckons solve their problems by simply refitting the memory. Even with a third 256MB card in there as well the system seems to be stable.

I then ran the extended test and after a number of hours running through a number of passes of the tests it had only picked up one error. That is one too many but may be acceptable compared to how things were.

This isn't going to solve everything but may explain why the problem became more acute recently.

Thanks for keeping pace with me on this one, it is appreciated. I will check out the IRQs and get back in a day or two, work is sending me on a sea voyage in an oversized bathtub for a while! To infinity and beyond......


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

I have just had a little time to check out the interrupt situation.

2 x USB UIniversal Host Controllers and my NVidia GeForce 5700LE graphics card share IRQ 16.

The UltraATA Storage Controller, another USB Universal Host Controller and my Intel Pro/1000 Network controller share IRQ 18.

IRQ 19 is used by another USB Host Controller alone. 

IRQ 23 is used by an Enhanced USB2 Controller alone.

Am I right in thinking that if I could locate either of the USB ports on IRQ 19 or 23, the fact that the port and its IRQ are only then in use by the printer could prevent the conflict? If this is so, how can I locate which are the corresponding ports? And then, is there likely to be a conflict with anything else I might plug into the original problem ports?


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## crjdriver (Jan 2, 2001)

Probably not. IRQs in xp and win2k are handled by acpi and almost never cause a problem. 
When you "See" a device on a certain irq, that does not mean that it always uses that irq. IRQs are allocated on a dynamic basis by the os.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

Hi guys. Sorry to have to resurrect this thread but the problem is still not solved and is becoming more infuriating by the day!

Since the last post here I have had no luck in getting any response from Foxconn re the BIOS update but I now don't think this is the problem. I also had my brand new Seagate SATA2 drive causing problems and giving a host of bad sectors, which Seagate instantly agreed to replace when I sent them the log files from their Seatools software. But the suppliers of the drive lost it and it took weeks to find it again. A new replacement drive is now back with me, along with another one I bought in the meantime to get the system up and running. So I'm now running 1 newish SATA drive which had a working windows system on it, and a completely new one which has never been formatted.

So, a couple of weeks ago I managed somehow to get Windows reinstalled on that second SATA drive I bought while I waited for the first to return. It still had the original BSOD error on printing and at occasional other times, but at least the system was usable. When the second drive appeared back I put it in place as a data drive but no go! The system would not touch it. Attempting to format it simply caused an instant switch off, not even a BSOD, just a mechanical click and everything dead. The power LED was still on and the switch could not restore the system, PSU lockup. It was necessary to remove and replace the mains plug before the system would come up again.

I got severely fed up with this and eventually bit the bullet and bought another mobo to remove that as a source of problem. The new one is an AsRock P4i65G so as to stay compatible with my current CPU, replacing the original Foxconn 865A01-PE-6EKRS. I have run it with all extra hardware such as USB ports and card readers removed, so I now have only mouse, keyboard, floppy, CD, 2 x HDDs, and 1 x 512MB DIMM rather than the 2 I normally use. The problems are the same with either DIMM used separately.

Everything is recognised correctly in the new mobo's BIOS but I cannot get Windows to open. I reach the first Windows screen, black with the Win logo and the progress bar, and it now immediately blue screens with a STOP error of 0x7B. If I boot from the WinXP Pro CD and try to access things from the Recovery Panel, I cannot do anything useful. chkdsk reports that "The volume appears to have one or more unrecoverable problems" in both cases.

Trying to reformat is no help. It either drops out immediately it tries, or it completes the format then drops out as soon as it reaches 100%. The chkdsk report stays the same whichever way it happens. I have used fixmbr and fixboot but they make no difference.

I am out of ideas other than throwing the whole pile of crap away and starting again with a complete new system, but that is not really a sensible option and I would have learned nothing.

Has anyone out there any ideas as to where the problem could now lie and what I can do to solve it, no matter how draconian this might be?

Thanks.


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## Frank4d (Sep 10, 2006)

I would try the HD manufacturer's zero fill utility before trying to format it again. Also Memtest86 to make sure your RAM is good.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

I have run a version of memtest, (not sure if it was 86), which was a download from MS. On running it overnight it looped through the full test procedures 8 times. 1 error was reported in all of that time. That's 1 too many I agree, but with the problems I have had in the system I was loathe to assume it was actually the memory that caused it. Of course you guys may tell me that that really means the memory has to be considered duff!

Each individual DIMM then went through the full test procedure alone a number of times without any further errors turning up.

I will try the 0 fill utility on the HDDs, thanks for that.


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## pshnfry (Sep 18, 2005)

Did you re-install windows and drivers (or repair install and drivers) after fitting the new mobo? And fully patch through ms update?

Do the hard drives have jumpers for sata2/sata1? If no documentation check model numbers against manufacturers site. And if they have a molex and a sata power plug - only one should be plugged in!

Does the bios have a setting for sata ide mode? (as distinct from raid).

All of these are important but not mentioned in your (detailed) post.

From posts to date you have eliminated many things, but possibly introduced other factors. Stick with what you have, keep it basic as you are, and eliminate what is left.

Check temperatures, excessive heat can do funny things.

What video card are you running? Could that be swapped out?

What psu are you running, check here to ensure yours is rated high enough:
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp
And check all required power is plugged in - 20 or 24 pin main, 4 pin cpu square, video molex if needed, etc.

Cheers.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

Thanks for the detailed advice again pshnfry. A couple of answers which I can give at the moment.

Windows and drivers have not been reinstalled since the new mobo. I have not been able to get into Windows since I fitted it! And I cannot get the system to allow me to format the HDDs to be able to reinstall. I get the same problems if I boot from the WinXP CD and try to sort things out.

"Serial ATA drives are designed for easy installation with no jumpers, terminators, or other settings. It is not necessary to set any jumpers on this drive for proper operation. The jumper block adjacent to the signal connector is for factory use only." - so says Seagate! And there is only the SATA power plug to fit, no Molex.

Don't know about the BIOS, I will check this evening. Everything in there to do with the HDDs was set to Auto. They are both identified by the BIOS individually or together apparently correctly.

Reported CPU temperatures stay around 46C and mobo is significantly below this. I fitted a new heatsink/fan with Arctic Silver V when I put in the mobo, (it seemed a silly saving to not do so).

Video card is NVidia FX5700LE, that's 8 x AGP and it ran without apparent problems before, although it could conceivably have been involved in the original problem?

PSU is a Q-Tec Dual Fan Gold 400W aftermarket job. Replacing it was another line I was thinking of taking to rule it out.

I have rechecked connections on the mobo and they are all in place.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I wil repost when I have more info.


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## AlbertB (Nov 24, 2002)

Progress! At last things have moved on in a good way.

Thanks to the reporting of the diagnostic Seatools utility which they offer for download, Seagate have asked for the HDD back for replacement - again. And in desparation I replaced the PSU with a new 550W one. This seemed at first to make no difference. When I tried to do anything with the drives the system just closed down as before. But then, when I booted from the Windows CD and tried to get my original Windows system disc to reformat, (that's the partner to the one going back for replacement), it decided to offer to repair Windows for me! I had tried to do this unsuccessfully on more than one occasion but now it just seemed to happen by itself.

After what looked suspiciously like a complete reinstallation of Windows without formatting the HDD first, it came up and running. The new mobo drivers could be installed and the system stabilised. I have even got full use of the Brother printer which kicked off this whole sorry story and the USB ports seem to be much more reliable than before. The data partition is fine too.

It isn't over yet, there is the problem of getting the replacement drive partitioned and formatted, but I think that this should be easier now that I know the capabilities of the Seagate utility if Windows doesn't like the job. I will let you know when this is completed and mark this thread as resolved. (Mind you, the last replacement HDD took a few weeks to arrive so don't hold your breath!)

Thanks again to all who helped.

Albert.


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