How to flash bios on IFL90?

Hi,

I just downloaded the latest bios for the compal IFL90 (the previous version has been giving me some trouble) and was wondering how I should go about flashing it? After searching extensively, I could only find one similar thread about, which was really not very helpful.

Thanks!

 

I figured I'd take a crack at this. Someone's got to get the ball rolling.
What follows is generic procedure for updating bios in general. I do not yet have my IFL90, so I can't verify any of this. Use at your own risk!

First, grab the bios update .zip file from bizcom support. Scroll down to the IFL90/91 Section and click on the bios update file you wish to use. For some reason they're labeled in a way that makes them look like IFT00 bios files, i.e. 'IFT00_109.zip'. I'm guessing the two are compatible, I'm not sure.

If you don't have a utility to open zip files, do a google search for winzip or izarc and install. Izarc is a free alternative to winzip.

Now we need a bootdisk. Head on over to bootdisk.com and you'll see a line that says, 'Need To Flash Your BIOS On A PC With No 1.44'. That's us!

The Read1st.txt link explains how to go about including the bios files you just downloaded into the included .iso file. I won't bother repeating their directions here, just be sure to read all the way through before trying anything.

They mention backing up your current copy of bios before flashing. I'm not sure how this is done, as I can't tinker with the Phlash16.exe to see if it has an option to do so. The more adventurous or trusting may simply wish to skip this step and use an older version of the bios on bizcom's site if something goes awry. It would be wise to at least take note of the current bios revision you use: you should be able to find this on your bootup screen or listed within the bios config menus.

If you get your .iso burned and ready, make sure you have your bios set to boot from CD before attempting to boot from the HDD. Boot up with the CD and you should be at a command line prompt. At this point your goal is to run the batchfile (file ending in .bat) that you copied to your disk. If I read the text file correctly, the files you need will be located on the R: directory. Those needing a primer on DOS navigation might start here, or dig into google. The short version . . .

R: (switches you to the R: drive)
IFT00109 (executes the batch file of that name, change name as necessary)

Again, keep in mind that I have not and cannot (yet) test any of this, so while I believe that this proceedure is universal enough to work, use at your own risk.

I hope that puts you in the right direction. Hopefully someone with an IFL90 who's comfortable with such things can audit this and let me know if I got it right without taking any undue risk. Cheers!

 

Here's a tip I shared with a fellow IFL90 owner:

Google and download WinPhlash and use that instead of Phlash16. Much easier, no need to boot into DOS.

Also I was told that either way you go (WinPhlash or Phlash16), the newest BIOS has a checksum error no matter where you download it from (Bizcom or Compal's site itself).

I didn't even get to try this for myself since mine didn't even power on at all on the 2nd day i got it. I'll check this out for myself whenI get it back.

Can anyone else confirm this? According to CPUZ (on my laptop when it was working), it seems that I already have the latest BIOS (1.12) already, so I'm not concerned for myself.

 

Donald (Paladin44) has always said don't use winphlash on compal notebooks to flash the bios.

 

Tried both the DOS and WinPhlash. Didn't get to actually flash it... just says the new BIOS was bad. CRC error? Corrupt file on both Compal and Bizcom site?