Can't update my bios

[Iamnotacat]

So I have never updated the bios so it has the really old version it shipped with. The problem is there is no option to do it in my bios. Under tools it just shows driver update, and that doesn't work anyway, so I went and got 3.4 and 5.2 from the website(with the manual on my lap so it is the right bios for the right board). I put it on a fat32 formated usb drive and booted into the bios, but there is no UEFI update utility in my tools tab. I have reset the bios to the default but don't know what else to try. The option I saw them click in the youtube guide just isn't there in mine. Very strange.

I think that is all the information. Can anyone help?

More info: This is the page i downloaded from: https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350%20Pro4/index.asp#BIOS

Picture of my manual and bios screen: https://imgur.com/a/EB3FFRW

[Jarsky]

5 hours ago, Iamnotacat said:

So I have never updated the bios so it has the really old version it shipped with. The problem is there is no option to do it in my bios. Under tools it just shows driver update, and that doesn't work anyway, so I went and got 3.4 and 5.2 from the website(with the manual on my lap so it is the right bios for the right board). I put it on a fat32 formated usb drive and booted into the bios, but there is no UEFI update utility in my tools tab. I have reset the bios to the default but don't know what else to try. The option I saw them click in the youtube guide just isn't there in mine. Very strange.

I think that is all the information. Can anyone help?

More info: This is the page i downloaded from: https://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/AB350%20Pro4/index.asp#BIOS

Picture of my manual and bios screen: https://imgur.com/a/EB3FFRW

 

What version is your BIOS currently? 

What CPU are you using?

Have you tried to reset CMOS (Reset All Settings)? 

Is the USB showing up under Boot Devices?

 

Also make sure you're unzipping the BIOS when you put it on the USB Drive

[Iamnotacat]

2 hours ago, Jarsky said:

 

What version is your BIOS currently? 

What CPU are you using?

Have you tried to reset CMOS (Reset All Settings)? 

Is the USB showing up under Boot Devices?

 

Also make sure you're unzipping the BIOS when you put it on the USB Drive

Bios version:p1.3

cpu: ryzen 1700x

I have not tried cmos yet.

Yes the USB in in boot devices.

 

Someone on Tom's hardware (hope there is no blood feud here) just told me that it is the bios version and I need to update through windows. I just have to figure out how to do that.

[zipspence]

Alright, lets break it down back to basics here. A lot of computer brands don't allow for through windows BIOS updating so you can chalk that up to them not being familiar with some brands of hardware. But in the easiest way to ensure you have everything set correctly or "starting fresh"

1. Have ONLY 1 BIOS version on the USB drive (just to rule out any chance of a multifile not readable state) and ensure you only have the UNZIPPED version of the bios on the drive. 

2. remove power from your PC and remove the CMOS battery for a minimum of 5 minutes (can take longer but 5 minutes is the basic guide). Put the CMOS battery back in and with the USB in the BACK of the computer attempt the boot to BIOS. 

3. IF you have completed that and the utility doesnt show up for you, it is possible that you are making too large of a jump in BIOS, sometimes you have to baby step these motherboards forward in bios instead of making jumps. So starting with an attempt to go to version 2.5 would be a good start. 

4. If you still have the utility not showing up there is a chance that some motherboards require a specific USB to be used for BIOS flashes. (I don't know enough about asrock to say that this is a thing with them, I know newer ASUS boards all have a marked port to use for a bios flash)

 

After all that troubleshooting if it still isn't pulling up the utility I would reach out to ASRock tech support (email) and ask them directly for help in this matter. Most support channels will assist you with hardware issues. If all else fails then take it to a local hardware store (microcenter is my preference) and talk to them about completing the task. It will cost a little bit of money, but sometimes these issues are past what can be completed at home. 

[Jarsky]

12 hours ago, Iamnotacat said:

Bios version:p1.3

cpu: ryzen 1700x

I have not tried cmos yet.

Yes the USB in in boot devices.

 

Someone on Tom's hardware (hope there is no blood feud here) just told me that it is the bios version and I need to update through windows. I just have to figure out how to do that.

 

OK that BIOS is such an early version it pre-dates their Instant Flash. Which is why you can't see anything. 

Try using Rufus to format the USB key again and make sure its bootable. Rename the USB key to "UPDATE".

Then copy on the BIOS file and try again. 

 

Try BIOS 2.50 or 3.00 first 

 

e.g 

 

 

21 hours ago, Iamnotacat said:

 so I went and got 3.4 and 5.2 from the website

 

Also stick with this, this is the correct procedure due to running a 1st gen Ryzen. 

[Jarsky]

Here is the AB350 Pro4 DOS BIOS. 

You can make a bootable USB and just run the executable from DOS. 

 

So create your FreeDOS bootable USB.

Download FreeDOS 1.3 Lite and extract the files, then extract the FD13LITE.img file to your USB and overwrite any files on there. 

Copy over the AB350 Pro4 DOS BIOS as well.  so your USB Key should look something like this:

 

 

Reboot to BIOS, and boot off the USB. Change drive to your USB key and run the executable.

It should be either A: or D: drive typically. So example of commands to run

cd A:
AB35P4_300.exe

 

 

AB350 Pro4(3.00)DOS.zip

 

[Jarsky]

Any luck @Iamnotacat ?