A CMOS battery can be seen at above left
Abit motherboards were a favorite of computer hobbyists for almost twenty years, until Universal Abit stopped manufacturing them at the end of 2008. However, as of 2010, the company continues to maintain a website where it honors its last warranties and offers downloads of its most recent drivers and BIOS upgrades.
The BIOS is firmware that is needed to help boot the computer. It is stored on a read-only memory chip located on the motherboard. Upgrading the BIOS is called "flashing the BIOS," and allows manufacturers to fix bugs and add new features to their motherboards.
Instructions
Model and Version Numbers
1. Turn off your computer and disconnect it from all power sources, including ethernet and phone cables. Open the computer case to reveal the motherboard.
2. Copy the model and version number from the motherboard. The motherboard is the largest circuit board in the computer, to which most of the other boards are attached. The model and version numbers are located on a sticker on a corner of the motherboard near the slots. The model number is the first part of an alphanumerical string, and occurs before a space or dash. The version number is the last part of the string, and follows the letter "V."
3. Close your computer. There is no need to replace any screws as you will be reopening it soon. Reattach all cables, and plug it in.
Upgrade Software
4. Turn on your computer. During boot up, it will invite you to "Press DEL to enter SETUP." Press "Delete," which will take you to the Setup screen. At the lower right hand corner, you will see a long string of numbers. The group of numbers at the end, after the last hyphen, is the BIOS version. Write this down. Press "Esc" to quit the screen and continue booting.
5. Go to the Abit website, click on "BIOS" and choose your motherboard model to view the correct list of updates. The latest version will have the highest number. If this number is higher than your version number, download this file.
6. Double-click the downloaded file to extract the zipped files.
7. Copy the files to the bootable floppy disk, USB drive or CD. Write down the names of the BIOS files you have copied.
Flash the BIOS
8. Restart your computer and enter Setup again by pressing "Delete" during boot-up. Use arrow keys to navigate to "Advanced BIOS Features," and set "First Boot Device" to the type of your bootable device. Press "Enter" and "F10" to save the changes.
9. Reboot once again, this time from your bootable device.
10. Run the file that will update the BIOS from the command line. If the files you copied to your boot device included a file named "runme.bat," type "runme" and press the "Enter" key to start the upgrade.
If the files included only "awdflash.exe" and a filename ending with ".BIN" (for example, AB9_14.BIN), execute the upgrade by typing:
awdflash AB9_14.BIN /py /sn /cd /cp /cc /cks /R
11. Allow the program is allowed to finish. Do not allow the computer to lose power during the upgrade, or the BIOS chip will be corrupted beyond repair.
12. Shut down the computer and unplug the cables. Open up the computer.
13. Reset the CMOS data--the stored system settings--by resetting the jumper near the coin cell battery on the motherboard. The jumper is a small plastic rectangle, by default placed across the pins labeled 1 and 2. With needlenose pliers, gently lift the jumper up and place it across pins 2 and 3 for one minute, then replace it across 1 and 2.
14. Close the computer, reattach all cables, and power it up. On bootup, hit the "Delete" key to enter Setup again and determine whether your upgrade succeeded.
Tags: your computer, version number, across pins, bootable device, cables Open, cables Open computer, enter Setup