A friend brought this PC to me. Upon boot this screen appears.

Award BootBlock BIOS v1.0
Copyright (c) 2000, Award Software, Inc.

BIOS ROM checksum error

Detecting IDE ATAPI device ...
Found CDROM, try to boot from it ...Fail

Detecting floppy drive A media...
INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND PRESS ENTER

The first thing I tried was taking the CMOS battery out for awhile. Put it back in and still the same. Then I reset the CMOS using the jumper settings. Still nothing. So I did some research on the error and it pretty much boils down to flashing the bios. I decided to chat with an HP technician online and he told me that I have to take it to a service center which is impossible in my remote area. Is there a work around? I've never flashed a bios but I'm not afraid to try. Where would I get the .bin file for the mobo which is Asus A8N-LA Socket: 939 and detailed information on how to do the flash? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Any bios upgrades would be on the HP support page for that model but it probably doesn't need to be flashed. The battery may just be dead. Replace it, or at least check its voltage with a DC meter.

Then boot up and enter cmos/bios setup. Set date, time, etc. Make sure both IDE controllers are enabled. Make sure the hard drive is properly identified--usually as AUTO.

It's not finding a hard drive in the boot sequence. So either it's not identifed properly, its controller isn't enabled, it's not in the boot sequence or the drive isn't there or isn't connected. Of course you can open the case to verify if it's there and connected.

I guess I should cover all the bases. If this error message occured after a bios upgrade then just entering cmos/bios setup and configuring everything should work out.

If you can't get into cmos/bios setup after a bios upgrade attempt, it's likely the upgrade went wrong at some point and you should attempt it again.

If an upgrade wasn't attempted I think the battery is most likely at fault.

Here's the support page for your model:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...

It shows a bios upgrade but it's one of those live updates which they say must be done from windows. I downloaded the file and ran it. It extracts to a folder in c:\windows\temp. The bios update file itself is 311.rom. There's also a file named flasher.exe which should install the update.

If you still get the checksum error after attempting what I've recommended above and feel you need to do the upgrade anyway you may be able to do it in dos from a floppy bootdisk.

To upgrade from dos all you normally need is the flasher and the update file. The flasher file in the download may only work within windows. You might want to download the flasher from http://www.uniflash.org/ and use that.

If that's the route you want to go I can probably set up a floppy image file with the necessary files and email it.

But please, first check the battery and see if you can get it straightened out by configuring the cmos.

Others will probably post in, maybe with better ideas. I'll check back tomorrow.

sorry I didn't mention earlier that I did try another battery that I know works. It didn't make any difference. I've been told that the bios is corrupt hence the "bootblock". This is as far as the boot process goes. I can't enter the cmos/bios settings. I know alot about computer but the bios is one gray area for me. If I install a floppy drive on this computer and boot to a bootdisk, is there any utilities on the bootdisk that I can use to check for errors? Thanks for your quick replies.

Not as it is now. There's the problem where the the hard drive isn't showing on the posting screen or the boot sequence. Assuming it's there, is good and connected then you'll need to go into cmos to set it up.

I guess in your situation the only thing to do is try the bios update. The live update isn't workable since it's not booting into windows. I've never tried stripping out the bios update file and then using a dos flasher but it ought to work.

What I could do is send you an image file with the 98 system files and the uniflash flasher and the 311.rom file. You could create the floppy disk and temporarily install a floppy drive (I guess it doesn't have one now?) or use the disk to create a bootable cd, although I've never done it that way.

That would be great if you could email me the file and I'll install the floppy drive and try it. Thanks

OK, I'll send it tomorrow.

I sent an email through computing.net's convoluted new screening process. Assuming you get it OK, email me back so I can get your address and send the file.

I'm very new to computing.net. How do I email you my email address? I haven't received anything.

You used to be able to click on the name and if they'd entered their address then you'd directly send them an email. Now it sends them an email first and they have to contact you. Both times I've tried it, it hasn't worked. Just post you email address in your next posting here. Once I see it I'll let you know and you can edit it out.

. . . Or just click 'my computing.net' in the left column. Then click 'private message center' and go to the bottom of that page to 'write someone a message' and send it to me that way.

OK, I just sent it with instructions. Post back on how it works out.

do I need to find the .bin file for my MoBo?

The update file should be 311.rom. Did you type uniflash 311.rom and then ENTER at the a:\> prompt?

You could probably change the file name to 311.bin as I don't think the file extension is all that important, especially with uniflash. But I don't think it's necessary.

I haven't heard back from you. Did you try it? If so, how did it go?

sorry I took so long to respond. I had to leave town for a week without access to a pc. Anyway, I tried it but it didn't work. Thanks for all your suggestions and help. I really appreciate it...too bad we couldn't get it going..but that's ok. My friend is just going to send it to a " hp technician"...HP wins again...lol. Thanks again.

I did do a type 311.rom just to see if there was any legible text. There was a line that read 311.bin indicating that may be its original name and was changed for purposes of the live update.

The only other thing I would suggest is to rename it as 311.bin and then use a regular Award flasher and see if that worked.

Well I'm sure HP can get it fixed.