Upgrading the BIOS on an GNU/Linux-powered ASUS Eee PC 900A

I recently started thinking about upgrading the stock Solid State Drive with a faster and higher capacity model. It runs fairly fast already since I use light-weight applications, but extra speed is always a plus.

The prerequisite on the manufacturer's website for the faster drive was that the Eee PC needed to have a newer BIOS installed. It did not surprise me to discover that my version was so old that it wasn't even listed on ASUS' download page anymore.

I figured that even if I don't ever get a new SSD, at least I'll have a newer BIOS with all the latest fixes and after doing some quick reading I discovered that upgrading the BIOS was pretty straightforward.

Download the latest BIOS file from ASUS. (version 1102 from 2009/06/16 as of this writing)

Format a USB flash drive to FAT16.

Extract the BIOS ROM from the archive, rename it to 900A.ROM, and copy it to your flash drive.

Place the USB flash drive into the left USB port.

Plug your AC adapter into the system and reboot.

Hold down ALT+F2 at POST to launch the built-in BIOS updater.

Always remember: Do NOT turn off the system until it finishes.

I was forced to use an SD card with a USB card reader because for some reason my 900A could not detect the BIOS when it was on a normal flash drive.

Other articles

Rockbox 3.6 Released
Published: Fri 04 June 2010
By Moparx

In Articles.

tags: Firmware

The developers of Rockbox, an open source firmware replacement for digital audio players, have released version 3.6.

I love Rockbox for its customization and Ogg Vorbis support. I run it on multiple digital audio players (Sansa e250v1, Sansa e250v2, and a Sansa Fuze) and I couldn't be happier.
- Why …
read more
OpenInkpot: the best alternative firmware for the BeBook / Hanlin V3ext eBook Reader

Published: Sat 08 May 2010
By Moparx

In Articles.

tags: Firmware

I enjoy reading books whenever I can so in October 2008 I purchased the BeBook eBook Reader, an re-branded Hanlin eReader V3ext, that was sold by Endless Ideas BV.

Although the BeBook's hardware itself was solid, the firmware that came on the device (and the subsequent updates for it) tended …
read more
OpenInkpot: free and open-source firmware for eInk-based eBook Readers

Published: Sun 09 November 2008
By Moparx

In Articles.

tags: Firmware

When I was initially looking for information on the Hanlin V3 prior to the purchase of my BeBook, I stumbled upon a project that caught my attention and I bookmarked the site in order to watch its development.

The project is OpenInkpot, a free and open-source Linux distribution for eInk-powered …
read more

Other articles

links

social