Trying to upgrade P5NSLI BIOS, getting "Downgraded ROM file was not suitable for the system" error message ?

[Asus Guy]

I recently ordered 6 P5NSLI motherboards because of good (or at least
not bad) reviews by several different hardware websites.

Today I took one of them out of it's box and set up a very minimal
system just to make sure the board was functional. I installed a new
Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86 ghz, 1066 FSB, 2 mb cache) and a single 512 mb
stick of DDR2 667 mhz ram.

My ATX power supply connector didn't have the extended number of pins,
so I'm not sure if that's an issue or not.

I plugged in an Asus Nvidia 6600 PCI-e video card, but no hard drives,
no floppy, no optical drive. I powered it up (green LED on
motherboard comes on, cpu fan comes on) but system doesn't post,
doesn't beep.

I check Asus web site, don't see anything in particular about this
board not posting, I do see an FAQ about this board supporting Conroe
and something to do with a bios upgrade (which doesn't necessarily say
you have to do).

So I replace the E6300 with a Celeron-D 360, and it posts.

So at this point I figure that I need to update the bios - and figure
this is a real bit*ch for users who don't have the right CPU's on
hand.

So I tried to update the bios using "ASUSTek EZ Flash 2 BIOS ROM
Utility B315" from the "Tools" section of the bios.

According to EZ Flash, current ROM = 0601 (07/13/2006)

Tried to flash rom version 1001 (reported as 12/28/2006)
Also tried rom version 0903 (reported as 11/24/2006)

Both attempts resulted in this error:

"Downgraded ROM file was not suitable for the system"

So what do I have to do to get this motherboard to work properly with
Core 2 E6300?

PS: memory on the board is a single stick of 512 mb 667 mhz. Will
this work for E6300 just to see it post?

I just bought 6 of these P5NSLI and it sucks if they all have the
original 0601 bios. Is that typical?

How do I read the date code on the box?

Is it part of the serial number?

Just what is it with this "downgrade rom file was not suitable for the
system" message?

[Paul]

Post by Asus Guy
I recently ordered 6 P5NSLI motherboards because of good (or at least
not bad) reviews by several different hardware websites.
Today I took one of them out of it's box and set up a very minimal
system just to make sure the board was functional. I installed a new
Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86 ghz, 1066 FSB, 2 mb cache) and a single 512 mb
stick of DDR2 667 mhz ram.
My ATX power supply connector didn't have the extended number of pins,
so I'm not sure if that's an issue or not.
I plugged in an Asus Nvidia 6600 PCI-e video card, but no hard drives,
no floppy, no optical drive. I powered it up (green LED on
motherboard comes on, cpu fan comes on) but system doesn't post,
doesn't beep.
I check Asus web site, don't see anything in particular about this
board not posting, I do see an FAQ about this board supporting Conroe
and something to do with a bios upgrade (which doesn't necessarily say
you have to do).
So I replace the E6300 with a Celeron-D 360, and it posts.
So at this point I figure that I need to update the bios - and figure
this is a real bit*ch for users who don't have the right CPU's on
hand.
So I tried to update the bios using "ASUSTek EZ Flash 2 BIOS ROM
Utility B315" from the "Tools" section of the bios.
According to EZ Flash, current ROM = 0601 (07/13/2006)
Tried to flash rom version 1001 (reported as 12/28/2006)
Also tried rom version 0903 (reported as 11/24/2006)
"Downgraded ROM file was not suitable for the system"
So what do I have to do to get this motherboard to work properly with
Core 2 E6300?
PS: memory on the board is a single stick of 512 mb 667 mhz. Will
this work for E6300 just to see it post?
I just bought 6 of these P5NSLI and it sucks if they all have the
original 0601 bios. Is that typical?
How do I read the date code on the box?
Is it part of the serial number?
Just what is it with this "downgrade rom file was not suitable for the
system" message?

First thing to check is the motherboard revision. Revision 2 motherboards
support Core 2 Duo. Revision 1 series are for late P4, Pentium D etc. You
probably got a deal, because they were 1.02 or something.

http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/cpu_support_right_master.aspx?type=1&name=P5NSLI&SLanguage=en-us&cache=1

The revision number should be printed on the motherboard, in white letters.
Maybe a revision 2 product would have a sticker on the outside of the box
somewhere, but that would take a classy manufacturer to do that.

What this means, is I would not recommend a P5NSLI to someone, if there
is a risk they could get the wrong revision. Retailers are not honest
enough to present the revision number, so customers will know what
they're getting.

As for that downgrade message, I'd start by saving the current BIOS
image to disk. Then compare the existing BIOS image, to the ones you
are trying to flash. Maybe the model name is different in the files
or something.

Paul

[Asus Guy]

Post by Paul
First thing to check is the motherboard revision. Revision 2
motherboards support Core 2 Duo. Revision 1 series are for
late P4, Pentium D etc. You probably got a deal, because
they were 1.02 or something.
The revision number should be printed on the motherboard, in
white letters. Maybe a revision 2 product would have a sticker
on the outside of the box somewhere, but that would take a
classy manufacturer to do that.

I pulled another P5NSLI out of it's box and it is rev 2.00G. I can
only assume (for now) that all 6 boards are the same (I'll have a
closer look at the one I was actually testing).

The box does say "Intel Core2 ready" - printed right on the box (not a
sticker).

This appears as one of the FAQ's for the P5NSLI:

----------------
Does P5NSLI support Intel Conroe series CPU?

Yes, P5NSLI supports Intel Conroe series CPU. Please updata BIOS to
version 0903 or later.

http://support.asus.com/download/download.aspx?SLanguage=en-us&model=P5NSLI&type=BIOS
---------------

So yes, the P5NSLI supports Conroe. But the answer is unclear. Do I
HAVE TO update the bios to 0903 for Conroe support?

I'm pretty sure the E6300 is a Conroe. The box says "Intel Core2
ready". So why does the board come with an old bios?

Unless by "Intel Core2 Ready" they mean the E4x00 core 2 and not
necessarily the Conroe Core-2?

[woops]

Post by Asus Guy
I recently ordered 6 P5NSLI motherboards because of good (or at least
not bad) reviews by several different hardware websites.

Mine is happy with the E6600, bios updates OK, but all the usb ports died
(tested under XP and Linux)

[Asus Guy]

According to this:

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2820&p=5

Anandtech reviewed the P5NSLI last August. They reviewed it using a
E6300 CPU (exactly what I was using).

Since the 0903 bios version is dated as November, presumably
Anandtech's board had something less than the 0903 version.

[Asus Guy]

Ok, I downloaded AWDFLASH118.zip and booted up a win-98 DOS disk with
the version 1001 bios on it, and flashed it. This is with the system
running the Celeron D.

I made sure it cold-booted with the new bios, then powered down and
swapped the Core 2 6300 back in. Remember, the system didn't post
with the original BIOS.

This time, the board did post, here's the result:

--------------------------
ASUS P5NSLI ACPI BIOS Revision 1001

Main Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 1.86 GHZ, 2 CPU(s)
CPU Brand Name: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86 GHz
C1E BIOS Supported

12/28/2006-nForce4_SLI-P5NSLI-00
------------------------

So for now this issue is solved. Since I have a few more of these
boards, and Core-2's, I will try again to see if another system will
post with another 6300 with the original BIOS.