nVidia Network and Firewire/1394 Bios Repair Tutorial

[otoc]

[Modsquad: Added to ASUS Tutorials ]

Nforce2 Nvidia Network and Firewire Bios Repair

There are times when issues come up with the Nvidia Network device and onboard Firewire that can't be solved by driver versions, driver set ups, or network set ups. The nvMAC (nVidia network) and nvGUID (Firewire) should be checked for factory settings before the board is returned for a non working device.

There are stickers that have the factory settings for the nvMAC and nvGUID.

The stickers are found by the ide and floppy connectors on the main board.
NvMAC= Side of Primary IDE connector, nvGUID=Mainboard by the Primary IDE connector, 3Com= side of Floppy connector.

Problems
Issues that occur with the nVidia network device may include not accessing the internet and network, drivers not loading (errors), or problems when using a DHCP server. With Firewire, the device manager will be flagged as having a driver error. Issues can occur after hotflashing, installing an IOSS RD-1, or flashing the bios with older versions of Awardflash (prior versions to 8.23c). Using the software key /wb with Awardflash 8.24b may cause changes to either the nvMAC or the nvGUID. There have been reports of the nvidia network device ceasing to function after a normal flash. This isn't a cure all for network issues, but for troubleshooting it is a quick process to verify the factory settings.

Some problems and solutions this covers are:
• The same MAC and GUID cause problems with the nvidia network and/or firewire
-This includes driver errors or non-connection to the network (even though settings look good)
• A nvMAC that has the non-functional ID of 8D-F0-00-E7-39-00 will show up in Network connections but will not access the network/internet or may say the cable is not connected.
• A hot flash should transfer the MAC address from the host chip (cmos) and may clone the MAC address to the nvGUID. Having two computers on the same network with the same MAC will cause networking problems. It's best to keep the factory setting for the board.
• The same goes for the initial flash of an RD-1 (duplicate MAC and GUID). The effect is both are rendered useless, though it may show up as one or the other not working while the other does.

How to check for the nvMAC and nvGUID
There are a few ways to get the nvMAC such as IPCONFIG /all, but it is best to run AWARD FLASH as it will show BOTH the nvMAC and the nvGUID. This will prevent issues with problems that occur when the MAC and the GUID have been assigned a duplicate number or a MAC that is out of range.

Step 1
Prepare a bootable DOS floppy with AWARDFLASH VERSION 8.24b (preferred) and a bios for your mainboard version.
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socka ... dflash.zip
A bootable CD could be prepared as an alternative.

Step 2
From a cold boot, at the A: prompt, type:
awdflash yourbios.bin /pn/sn/e

example: awdflash C18D1005.bin /pn/sn/e

Note: This will not flash the bios.

You should see this screen.


If the numbers match the numbers on the stickers, you'll need to further debug your original issue. I've seen a reflash of the bios with the factory sticker numbers repair the type 10 errors with firewire even though the bios showed the correct numbers. So you never know.

If they don't match the stickers, you'll need to flash the bios.

Flashing the bios
Step 1
Prepare a bootable DOS floppy with AWARDFLASH V.8.24b or later,
the bios file, and clrcmos.
ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ASUS/mb/socka ... dflash.zip
http://www.unicore.com/techsupport/UTILS/clrcmos.exe
A bootable CD could be prepared as an alternative.


Step 2
Cold Boot, and at the prompt:
awdflash yourbios.bin /py/sn/cc/cd/cp/nvmac:XXXXXXXXXXXX/nvguid:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX/wb/e
Please note: the award flash help screen is wrong, you need 16 digits and not 14 for proper flashing of the firewire.

Step 3
After flashing is complete, use clrcmos or shut down or use the jumpers on the board.

Step 4
Cold boot and allow the cmos error to come up, hit delete go to load defaults and make your bios changes, including date and time. You should have now successfully applied your settings.

Please note: There are alternate methods to flash the bios such as adding the software key /ld to bypass the checksum error on reboot with an auto load of bios defaults. This will allow the bios to post to completion and have the OS boot. I prefer to clear the cmos (with clrcmos.exe) and boot into the bios screen for a total setting of all bios fields including the date and time. Just don't forget to first LOAD DEFAULTS before making changes and saving. But whatever works for you is fine.

Step 5
For safety, boot from the DOS media and check the nvmac and nvguid to make sure you made the right entries using awdflash yourbios.bin /pn/sn/e.

Final Comments
Networking issues can be a dog to debug with information and procedures varying according to the hardware and O/S you are running. This procedure is meant to be a quick first line trouble shooting test and repair. It should be applicable to all makes of nforce2 boards. After you make sure the proper drivers are loaded for both the nvidia network and firewire, check with support options for the O/S you are using, the router (if used), and the cable or dsl modem. Sometimes a shutdown of all systems will be enough to repair problems.

This is a tutorial based on http://www.nforcershq.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=17978 Special thanks go out to Bottled (for his patience, time and input), Pennhaven (for his contributions), userA, Kagato, True, johnd311, Jim, DarkKnight, greenring7, Senor Panadero (amdmb), and UK_Bloke (amdmb).

[peterpossum]

I have had the 1394 host controller not functioning in the device manager since i installed the a7n8x deluxe last week, version 2.00. i have 1005 bios and have followed the tutorial steps that are in this thread. what is next step ? everything else works without a problem.

athlon xp 2000
ati aiw 9000
antec 1080
win 2k
256 corsair ram

[otoc]

It's tough to say for you don't say what you found while going through the steps and what the error is.

For device manager errors:
If you found the nvmac and the nvguid matched the stickers, it could be a MB, cable, device driver, or interface card issue. Make sure you have all updates to the os installed (many updates for 1394 issues), try uninstalling the device driver and see if 2k finds the hardware on a reboot. Try unplugging one cable at a time.

If you found the nvmac and nvguid did not match, and you flashed the numbers on the stickers, verify that the settings took. Then try the above.

For issues with devices connected to firewire (if your problem has progressed that far and there are no errors reported in the device manager):
Try the above, check the MS support site, check the device manufacturer site, try the asus firewire patch.


If all else fails, it could be a hardware problem.

[otoc]

A little addition.

I had a situation recently where I flashed the nvmac onto a new chip and the nvidia network port didn't work. The nvmac in the bios matched the sticker when checked in the bios.

A second repeat flash with the above procedure (the network cable was unplugged from the port) fixed it.

There's a habit that some oldtimers have (me included) regarding bios flashing. Flash twice. Just thought I'd mention it.

[otoc]

Another update:

I've found, on occasion, nvidia network or firewire issues pop up after software installs/updates/extreme overclocking. The tutorial steps don't seem to cut it.

Try this:
unplug network cables, firewire cables. Shut down and pull the atx power connector from the main board after the green light goes out. Clear the cmos and boot at default speeds for the cpu.

I keep forgetting about the wol feature being active when the system is shut down. I had a driver update lock the sucker out on a rev 1.4 board. Hope this helps.

edit:
and from the asus faq's
I have a LAN problem. Whenever I play online game, after about half an hour, my A7N8X system drops connection. Why?
Please update your system BIOS to the latest ones. For PCB rev.1.0X, please go for BIOS version 1004. For PCB rev. 2.0X, please update it to C1005. After updating BIOS to the latest version, please go to the BIOS setup, under Advanced Chipset Configuration, set the FSB spread spectrum as "Disable." In this way, the disconnection error will disappear.

[jheaven]

Where the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX's are the exact numbers and letters we see on the stickers on the motherboard? Good guide but I dont know if you actually mean to put X's in there or actually what the sticker on the mobo says!

Someone please help quick :O

[otoc]

the numbers from the stickers are used. The x's represent the number of digits that are needed.

[Bottled]

Hmm, could this be the source of a problem I have with my network?:

Whenever I start up and logon, I spend about 2 minutes waiting on the 'Restoring Network Connections' message before it finally times out. I check my NIC status and it says 'Invalid IP Address'.

This only started happening when I bought a router (an Origo ASR-8400 4 port router and ADSL modem) for my ADSL connection. Previous to this my PC was running ICS to share a dial up connection with other networked PCs, since then ICS has been disabled. I'm guessing that my PC doesn't like being assigned an IP on the router's DHCP server. Note that this doesn't happen to any of the other stations, so I'm guessing it's not the router.

Repairing the connection won't work, manually releasing and renewing the IP addresses won't work, however if I run the XP Network Setup wizard, then it has no problems setting up my network connection, being assigned an IP address on the network, and connecting to the net.

Most annoying, this also happens on both NICs. I suppose assigning my PCs static addresses and disabling the DHCP server might help, but I'd rather keep it as it is to make automatically adding more devices to the network easier.

[otoc]

however if I run the XP Network Setup wizard, then it has no problems setting up my network connection, being assigned an IP address on the network, and connecting to the net.

Most annoying, this also happens on both NICs. I suppose assigning my PCs static addresses and disabling the DHCP server might help, but I'd rather keep it as it is to make automatically adding more devices to the network easier.

if I read you correctly, the problem then happens again at the restart?

If yes, and you disabled each (nvidia/3com) nic in the bios when checking the other, I'm not sure. If the nvmac was the issue, the 3Com would work fine. Have you checked from the router end? See what your dhcp client list is showing. Perhaps it's just a delete and reset on that end for it to see that pc.

When this happens, if you do an IPCONFIG /ALL at the C:
does the IP address and subnet match the one being given from the dhcp server at the router?

[Bottled]

Yep, this happens on restart, I have both NICs enabled in the BIOS, since I was testing each, but it happened on the 3COM before I enabled the NVIDIA NIC.

Everything seems to be fine on the router end; like I said, the other two PCs on the network work fine.

Running ipconfig /all shows me a network IP of 0.0.0.0