A Comprehensive Guide to Flashing M860TU Motherboard BIOS

Right, so looking around on these forums I've noticed the same questions popping up again and again, being answered again and again either on the forum or through PM. I've gotten a lot of help from the people around these parts, so I figured it's time to give something back to the NBR community. (It was either this or another M860TU review, but really, do we want another one of those?)

First and foremost, a disclaimer:

BIOS flashing, especially the motherboard, is a dangerous process and should NOT be done yourself unless you're having some sort of issue with your system. There is no BIOS that simply performs better than another.

As well, since it IS a dangerous process, and you can permanently brick your system (read: you will have to send it to your reseller if you screw up), I assume absolutely no liability for your actions, and hence am not responsible if you mess this up.



Step 1: Create a Bootable USB Key

This thread, although slightly out-dated in terms of the actual flash process, is going to be your stop for creating a bootable USB key, so refer to it all the way up to the actual flashing portion of the guide, and then refer back here.



Step 2: Get All the Necessary Files

Now we'll need to get the files necessary for your flashing. I've hosted them on Rapidshare for the sake of ease, and made sure that ecflash.exe is included in each and every one of them. These are the BIOS I used personally to flash, and I can vouch for them working.

http://rapidshare.com/files/191455207/M860TU_BIOS.7z

If you're not 100% sure, you can also download the proper BIOS here. I warn you though, not every download pack there had the ecflash.exe file, which is 100% necessary for downloading BIOS. Took me about an hour to figure out why the heck DOS was giving me an error any time I tried to start flashing .



Step 3: Find out your BIOS version

Now you need to find out which BIOS version you're currently using. To do this, you must first boot into your BIOS by pressing the F2 key during startup (where you see your initial splash screen loading, RIGHT after you hit your power button). Now, near the bottom of your screen, having not moved from the main tab, you will see your BIOS revision, and your KBC/EC version. Take note of the last digits of both numbers.

This is important because BIOS need to be updated one after another (i.e. you can't flash .13 BIOS on top of .06 BIOS, you must do every step in between)

This will determine which files from my download pack you keep, and eventually put on your USB key and flash.



Step 4: Put All Files Onto USB Key

By now you've got your bootable USB key, you've got all the BIOS files you're going to use, now just make sure that you put them onto your key exactly as you see here:



This is especially important when navigating folders in DOS, as you'll have to type exactly what I post here, down to the letter. Make sure that those 5 folders are in the root folder (the main folder, F:\, E:\, whateverdriveletteryourcomputergivesyourkey:\) of your key, and not in any folder other than that.



Step 5: Setting Your Boot Order

Next, in order to boot into DOS, you'll have to modify your boot settings so that your USB key is active before your hard drive. To do this, restart your system with your key plugged in, and boot into your BIOS (F2 during startup, just like in Step 3). Now, head over to the boot tab, and you'll see your Hard Disk, your Optical Drive, your USB key etc. Find your USB key, and hit + until it moves up the list into first position.

You're done here, exit and save changes, proceed to Step 6.



Step 6: Flashing the BIOS

The next time you restart with your USB key in, you'll boot into DOS. You'll see a command line, and this is where you're really going to get to work.

Since some of you are starting at different start points, and some of the files are separated differently (Thank Clevo for that one...), I'll break this step down into separate BIOS versions.

Most of these are a two step process. Do not assume you are finished after finishing one step, and do not attempt to boot back into windows until this guide tells you to. As well, under no circumstances should you take out your USB key in the middle of a flash, as you WILL brick your motherboard.

Before we start, here are two useful commands that we'll be using for folder navigation, and comfirmation:

CD\ is the command for changing folders in DOS. By typing this, followed by any sort of folder name, you will navigate into that folder. However, to navigate within that folder, you'll have to use CD\currentfolder\next folder.

Here's an example:

Lets say currently you're in c:\. You've got a folder called Clevo inside there, and inside Clevo, you've got M860TU. Your entire directory looks like this:

C:\Clevo\M860TU.

Now, if you want to navigate from C:\ to C:\Clevo, you'd type:

Now that you're in C:\Clevo, to get into M860TU you'd type:

That's pretty much it for folder navigation.

dir is a command that will display the files in the current folder you are browsing. This is useful for knowing that you are in the correct folder.

To use this command, simply type "dir" without quotes at any time, and you'll get a listing of all the files in the current folder.

Now then, onto flashing.



Flashing KBC/EC .06 and BIOS .06

At the command prompt type:

CD\ is the command for changing folders in DOS. By typing that, you are now in the BIOS06EC06 folder on your USB key.

If you type "dir" without quotes, you will now see the files in that folder displayed. You should see exactly the same files you saw in the BIOS06EC06 folder opened in windows.

Now that you're in the proper folder, the flashing can begin.

Type the following:

Follow the on screen instructions, and reboot back into DOS.

Get back into your BIOS06EC06 folder with the "cd\BIOS06EC06" command.

Now, simply type

or

Again, follow the on screen instructions. This time you're done, and you may proceed to the next step or be finished if you don't want to update any further.



Flashing BIOS .07

At the command prompt type:

Now that you're in the proper folder, we can start our flash.

Type the following:

Follow the on screen instructions, and you're done! That one was pretty easy wasn't it? Reboot back into DOS to flash the next firmware, or else you're finished.



Flashing KBC/EC .08 and BIOS .08
At the command prompt type:

Now type:

Follow the instructions, reboot back into BIOS.

And now you'll be typing:

Done and done. It was really odd that some of these are organized differently than others, but I won't touch anything at this point since that's just how they're downloaded. Maybe at some point in the future I'll re-organize all the folders, and create any .bat files that are missing. That aside, we've got 2 more updates to go!



Flashing KBC/EC .10 and BIOS .12
At the command prompt type:

You may want to use the good old "dir" command to make sure you're in the right place.

Assuming you're in the EC10 folder, type:

Follow the instructions, reboot back into BIOS.

Now, we need to get into the BIOS12 folder, so you'll be typing:

And again, we'll be typing

The flasher will pop up, do its thing, tell you to reboot. You're done this one, one more to go, or call it quits if your problem is solved.



Flashing BIOS .13

This is our last one, and it's pretty simple (although really, this isn't brain surgery).

First we need to get into the BIOS13 folder, so we'll be typing:

And now that we're in the proper folder, type:

Step 7: Setting the Boot Order Back to Normal

We're done with flashing, so you'll have to set your boot order back to normal if you ever want to get back into your OS again with your USB key inside . Just head on over to your BIOS by pressing F2 at startup, go to the boot tab, and keep hitting + on your hard disk until it reaches the first slot in the boot order.



Aaaaaaaaaand that's all folks. If you went through with the entire thing, your KBC version should be .10, and your BIOS version should be .13. You should now be paging up to 3GB of memory in 32-bit, and your CPU whining problem should be solved (mine was anyway, some people reported otherwise).

If Clevo releases further BIOS updates (maybe one for Intel Quad support? ) I'll update this guide. But for now, enjoy.

If you have any further questions, shoot me a PM, or post em here.

 

Wonderful guide.
Thanks a lot

 

I thought you had to flash at least to .08 to go to the .12 and .13 versions....im currentely using the 08 version. So can i go directly to the .13???

 

Love YOU... i will do it after the weekend... EXACTLY what i wanted. MMM .13 and .10 here i come!

 

Wow finally someone decided to post some easy steps

 

Titled two steps the same by accident, thanks for catching that.

Fixed!

 

Sweet guide, thanks for that I'm now on the latest bios!

 

Don't forget to tell us if it fixed the whining noise

 

im going to upgrade. Do i need to upgrade to .12 first or can i go straight to .13.???

 

Excellent guide, thank yo for all of your time and work.

 

Now that i remember i never went to the .07 version i went straight to .08

 

well got to the .12 seems the sound cpu thing is gone....what does the .13 version does?

 

I thought you upgraded a long time ago?

 

ive been trying to wait for my 8800m gtx. Now i tryed this yesterday, still my problems are different now.......my laptop seems a bit slow in the OS ambient.....playing games works as usual but the xp seems a bit slow and now my usb keyboard doesnt work properly here.....

 

The m860tu website seems to have the EC/Bios 08/08 removed.....i wonder why??that's the one im using currently....

 

Curious...

 

New rev 14/15 BIOS out as of 3/20. The revision numbers jumped to bios 2.14/15 for some reason, but the notes indicate minor fixes (or do they? the clevo site is, as usual, chock full of info ). I think there's a 'soft fan' mode now as well (although I haven't found fan control if that was an intended feature).

I could do without all the beeping during the updates, an my Sager logo is gone upon boot (and is Style Note... aw); any easy way to fix this? Other than 'get Sager to reflash your notebook.' Minor, but disappointing.

Thanks for the great guide - it makes flashing look daunting but in actually it's just "update them in order, and follow whatever random command clevo picked for each BIOS update" (it would be nice if they stuck with a pattern).

 

No wonder if you flashed a BIOS straight from Clevo and not from Sager There should be guide to modifying the BIOS logo. Link, anyone?

 

Yeah, I did Sager doesn't have download links for BIOS at all.

I know this is minor, but I had fun with people wandering up to my booting notebook asking what Sager was and/or what kind of cheap off brand notebook was I using. I don't even know what Style Note is! I would have been happy with Clevo Hehe.

If there was an easy way to modify the boot-screen logo, I'd probably end up putting something silly on it for kicks (like, Tandy 2000 booting up! Please wait, an Apple logo, or pretend to be a Dell/Alienware and get people to ask where they could buy one, etc).

 

Style note is the line of clevo notebooks that this is built on

 

Also, if you want a custom boot logo, just tell me which bios you would like it added to (laptop model/bios version) and send me the image (limited to 640 x 480 and about 300k) and I'll see what I can do.

Edit: Only Santa Rosa models and prior can be edited at this time

 

Edit logo for M570RU is easy, but i think he wants one for M86....Still didn´t find a proper Phoenix Editor to open that BIOS Rom....

 

Fair enough, I hadn't realised that...

 

what KEC does the .14 bios run with?

 

.14 still runs with 1.00.10, while System BIOS 1.02.15 needs EC 1.00.12.

 

What's the latest release of BIOS for the M860TU?

 

BIOS 1.02.15 / EC 1.00.12

 

same process in updating with lower version BIOS? just run step1 then step2?

 

What do you mean by "pure DOS mode" in the instructions posted in Clevo's download site?

 

It means creating a USB boot drive and booting into DOS to perform the flash.

 

Add to the first post:

- download bios 14 (labeled as 214 now, up to revision2.14 instead of 1.13, etc)
- download bios 15

extract both, stick it on the USB key prepped like before

bios14:
- navigate to bios14 folder, update
reboot
- navigate to bios15 folder, step 1
step2
reboot

Is what I did. Enjoy the beeping

 

Isn't it supposed to be just step1 and step2? At least that's what I did in my case, and everything worked out. Is the "update" command still necessary?

 

Well, there isn't even any"update" command in the zip folder I've downloaded from Clevo's website anyway

 

sorry about that, I overlooked where the "update" command was, it's in the 2.14 BIOS, lol. I was updating to the 2.15 BIOS. Thanks anyway

 

Yeah, just look at what files you extract. It sort of seems random as to what Clevo prefers I just did whatever the appropriate .bat was in each update folder, and if it has an ECFlash update, so that first (usually that's step1). Randon monkeys are making the BIOS update files at Clevo it seems

 

Thanks for the guide, I'm now on BIOS 1.02.15 / EC 1.00.12, my usb-keyboard had stopped working with BIOS13 but it is now working, can't tell about hissing noise because it's like ambient noise I can't really tell when it hiss or not.

And by the way the beeping noise is a speaker noise not a system noise so you can plug speaker and mute them to avoid getting deaf or being hit by your roommate for being so noisy

 

I lied my usb keyboard (apple aluminum keyboard) worked during an hour or two but then it stopped working completely. So Ive had the brilliant idea to uninstall apple driver and now I'm unable to to install it back. Also the hissing is back stronger than ever

For the keyboard, should I downgrade the bios or ec or both?

 

Tell me something does that keyboard as a usb hub included?
Im asking because i have a Happy Hacking Keyboard pro 2 and it stopped working from the .12 bios.....:S

 

yes it does have 2 usb port on it

 

My BIOS version is 1.01.13, while my KBC/EC Firmware is 1.00.06. I would like to update to BIOS .15.

Should I just flash the BIOS to .08 and the KBC/EC Firmware .08, before flashing to KBC/EC .10 and BIOS .12, and then update to BIOS .13 and BIOS .14?

Or is there an easier or safer method?

 

Did your notebook arrive with 1.01.13 BIOS and KBC/EC 1.00.06? That's an odd combo.

KBC/EC 1.00.06 goes with BIOS 1.01.06, so that might be the best course of action (i.e. BIOS 06, then continue to 07, EC08/BIOS08, EC10/BIOS 12, BIOS 13, BIOS 14, EC&BIOS from BIOS 15 update). Did that make sense?

I'm assuming that later updates depend on previous ECflash updates (Clevo's download site seems to indicate this) so it's odd that you have an earlier ECflash, unless it was downgraded at the end to fix keyboard issues (KBC?).

I think the above is safest, but wait for more responses or call your reseller to make sure!

 

Yes, it came with BIOS 1.01.13 and KBC/EC 1.00.06, I'd only noticed the BIOS version till now. I was about to flash and I noticed the KBC/EC didn't "match" my BIOS (1.01.13) like I thought it did.

 

Might want to call your reseller (and/or if it's a third party, ask them to contact the company that put it together) and see how they did it (i.e. flashed EC up, downgraded, or just didn't upgrade EC at all). The downgrade to matching ec/bios is what I would do.

 

It seemed like a sound idea to start with BIOS .06 and KBC/EC .06 and to continue from there. The flash worked fine, and now I'm using the latest BIOS (1.02.15) and the latest KBC/EC Firmware (1.00.12).

Thanks for the assistance.

 

Well there you go, i had the exact same problem, its no the keyboard, its the usb hub, try any other usb hub 2.0 and then try to connect any device to it that doesnt require too much power like a mouse and then you will probably start seeing some stuttering and then it completely stops to work. I had to downgrade the bios back to .08. I hope someone at clevo sees this since its really a problem for pple who wants to use external keyboards....

 

Why don't you send in your laptop to get checked out? I use a USB hub on one of my ports and it runs and powers everything I put on it just fine. Mouse, hard drive, all in one printer, etc. And my BIOS is the latest now, .15

 

Well i only tryed till the bios .12, it didnt work then i downgraded and it started to work fine.....ill have to try the .15 anyway since i have a m260 pre-ordered. Still is your hub 2.0? because in the .12 bios, if i used a 1.0 hub it worked go figure.

edit:still it doesnt seem to be a hardware problem so why sent it back. I assume that the .13 bios might correct this, since it deals with power issues too...?

 

It sounds like/I assume drivers for external keyboards with hubs (which probably appear as a separate usb device, not keyboard) weren't included and/or were screwed up in recent BIOS updates. It might be worth e-mailing Clevo (? the idea is amusing in case a non english reader reads the e-mail, really likely), reseller/etc and asking.

By the way, my external keyboard works fine. It's a really cheap off brand, no usb hub.

 

Anyone tryed the latest bios?regarding the usb hub/keyboard issues?

 

SOS. MAY DAY.
I bought my Clevo M860TU laptop a year ago. As soon as I got it I format it with Windows 7 (beta back then) and using the newest version of Windows 7 since then.
The last month the BIOS did not "see" the 500 Gb hard drive. Then I started updating the BIOS version to 1.01.13 and KBC/EC version to 1.00.10. My problem was solved for 2 days (the hard drive appeared) and then it started again.
This very moment that I write these word the BIOS can not 'see' the hard drive that is connected (I have to use my desktop to write this). What can I do so that my laptop will work 100%?
Please help.
Thank you for your time in advance.