BIOS updating insecurities

Hello, I'm new here so I apologize if this has been talked about already. I searched through the forum but haven't found anything similar.

Edited by stryzen - 04 Oct 2017 at 4:23pm

stryzen wrote: Hello, I'm new here so I apologize if this has been talked about already. I searched through the forum but haven't found anything similar. In short, I have a AB350 Pro4 MoBo and Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000Mhz RAM's. Unfortunately, they are working on 2133Mhz. The logic step is to update the BIOS but I got scared from reading all those horror stories about bricking the MoBo by doing so. Could you help me to make this process as secure as possible, please?  Here we go: Current BIOS version: 1.30 Win 10 on SSD, no OC's done. Step by step what I plan to do: 1) Buy a new USB, not bigger than 4gb and format it as FAT32 2) Download the instant flash zip file and unpack it in the root folder of the USB (under no circumstances should I use the Windows method) 3) Reset PC, go to BIOS, set everything to default values and Save&Exit 4) Insert USB in the I/O port (directly to the MoBo, backside of the case) in the 2.0 port 5) Follow method 2 as depicted in this link: http://www.asrock.com/support/BIOSIG.asp?cat=BIOS8 Some questions: -should I update AMD Chipset Drivers before doing this? -do I have to change anything in the BIOS settings before flashing BIOS (after reseting to default)? -is it better to do it without a Win install on the HDD? -did I miss something in my steps? -anything else I should do/know? Thank you so much on your time and help, I appreciate it! Edit: forgot the most obvious - I'm planning to update it to the newest version, 3.20. Any problems with flashing it that I should be aware of?

My main question is, with your current UEFI version of 1.30, do you have the Instant Flash option available in the Tools screen?

Some of the early UEFI versions of ASRock AM4 boards did not have the Instant Flash option. Which means without it, you would be stuck using the Windows or DOS update methods, the only methods available at the time. If you don't have the Instant Flash option in your board's UEFI, you cannot use it.

Have you checked that Instant Flash is listed in the Tools screen?

Otherwise, the AMD chipset driver version being used should not make a difference.

USB flash drives are formatted FAT32 out of the box. If you need to worry about the USB flash drive being genuine, as mentioned above, then buy a known brand name from a proper source. I've never had that experience, but I know what I'm buying.

You can use a flash drive larger than 4GB. Sometimes the very small capacity, very small physical size USB flash drives that are very cheap are poor quality, from any manufacture or source. Get a decent 16GB flash drive, you can use that for Windows installations from ISO downloads.

When using Instant Flash, it doesn't matter if you have Windows installed or not.

Thank you guys so much!

Guys, I did it successfully! Thanks again to everyone for participating and helping me. My first bios update, it all went well :)

Edited by stryzen - 05 Oct 2017 at 11:21pm

VUMeter wrote: Fast boot would be linked to UEFI, which is linked to turning CSM off, I am correct. Did you install your OS in EUFI mode or (emulated)BIOS mode, I think the later. HWinfo should tell you what you OS is installed via UEFI on it's main summary page. Someone else will chime in here who is more akin to this stuff that I, I am very fresh to it all myself.

Edited by stryzen - 06 Oct 2017 at 12:58am