•
Intel® Express BIOS Update utility, which enables automated updating while in the Windows environment. Using
this utility, the BIOS can be updated from a file on a hard disk, a USB drive (a flash drive or a USB hard drive), or a
CD-ROM, or from the file location on the Web.
•
Intel® Flash Memory Update Utility, which requires booting from DOS. Using this utility, the BIOS can be updated
from a file on a hard disk, a USB drive (a flash drive or a USB hard drive), or a CD-ROM.
•
Intel® F7 switch during POST allows a user to select where the BIOS .bio file is located and perform the update
from that location/device. Similar to performing a BIOS Recovery without removing the BIOS configuration jumper.
Both utilities verify that the updated BIOS matches the target system to prevent accidentally installing an incompatible BIOS.
BIOS Recovery
It is unlikely that anything will interrupt a BIOS update; however, if an interruption occurs, the BIOS could be damaged.
Table 27 lists the drives and media types that can and cannot be used for BIOS recovery. The BOS recovery media does
not need to be made bootable.
Acceptable Drives / Media Types for BIOS Recovery
Media Type
Can be used for BIOS recovery?
Hard disk drive (connected to SATA or USB)
Yes
CD/DVD drive (connected to SATA or USB)
Yes
USB flash drive
Yes
USB diskette drive (with a 1.4 MB diskette)
No (BIOS update file is bigger than 1.4MB size limit)
Note: Support file systems for BIOS recovery: NTFS (sparse, compressed, or encrypted files are not supported), FAT32, FAT16, FAT12,
ISO 9660
Boot Options
In the BIOS Setup program, you can choose to boot from a hard drive, optical drive, removable drive, or the network. The
default setting is for the optical drive to be the first boot device, the hard drive second, removable drive third, and the
network fourth.
The network can be selected as a boot device. This selection allows booting from the onboard LAN or a network add-in card
with a remote boot ROM installed.
Pressing the <F12> key during POST automatically forces booting from the LAN. To use this key during POST, the User
Access Level in the BIOS Setup program’s Security menu must be set to Full.
For use in embedded applications, the BIOS has been designed so that after passing the POST, the operating system
loader is invoked even if the following devices are not present:
•
Video adapter
•
Keyboard
•
Mouse
Pressing the <F10> Key during POST causes a boot device menu to be displayed. This menu displays the list of available
boot devices.
Boot Device Menu Options
Boot Device Menu Function Keys
Description
<
↑>
or
<
↓>
Selects a default boot device
<Enter>
Exits the menu, and boots from the selected device
<Esc>
Exits the menu and boots according to the boot priority
defined through BIOS setup
Power Button Menu
As an alternative to Back-to-BIOS Mode or normal POST Hotkeys, you can use the power button to access a menu. The
Power Button Menu is accessible via the following sequence:
1. System is in S4/S5 (Not G3)
2. User pushed the power button and holds it down
3. The system will emit three short beeps from the PC speaker, then stop to signal the user to release the power button
4. User releases the power button before the 4-second shutdown override
If this boot path is taken, the BIOS will use default settings, ignoring settings in VPD where possible.
