AMI BIOS May Need to Be Upgraded for IDE Hard Drive

 Last reviewed: November 22, 1994
Article ID: Q88758
The information in this article applies to:
  • Microsoft Windows operating system versions 3.0, 3.0a, 3.1, 3.11
  • Microsoft MS-DOS versions 3.2, 3.21, 3.3, 3.3a, 4.x, 5.x, 6.0, 6.2, 6.21

SYMPTOMS

American Megatrends Inc. (AMI) has confirmed that its BIOS dated earlier than 4/9/90 may have problems with IDE hard drives.

These problems may be seen when booting the computer and receiving a "NON SYSTEM DISK" error, or when running Microsoft Windows in 386 enhanced mode and experiencing momentary hangs (lasting 5 to 10 seconds) that may adversely affect currently running programs. The problems are caused by IDE hard drives not following the AT bus standard.

RESOLUTION

Contact AMI and obtain a BIOS dated 4/9/90 or later.

MORE INFORMATION

AMI technical support also recommends a BIOS dated later than 9/1/87 to function correctly with Windows 3.0.

To determine the AMI BIOS date, examine the 16-digit identification displayed near the bottom of the screen when the machine is started. For example, in the following ID 

   DAMI 3601 092588 K8
the digits "092588" specify the BIOS date.

The AMI products included here are manufactured by a vendor independent of Microsoft; we make no warranty, implied or otherwise, regarding these products' performance or reliability.

KBCategory: kbhw kb3rdparty kbprb
KBSubcategory: win31 win30
Additional reference words: 3.00 3.00a 3.10 3.11 3.20 3.21 3.30 3.30a 4.00
4.01 4.01a 5.00 5.00a 6.00 6.20 6.21 3rdparty

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Last reviewed: November 22, 1994
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