![]() ![]() Most newer Award-based motherboards include a failsafe mode - in the event of a bad flash the BIOS will run a chunk of code to just get your floppy drive working, so you can reflash your board. The program itself is menu-based and fairly self-explanatory - read the documentation if you get stuck.ĭoc's VH article also offers advice on making a backup floppy in case the flashing should go wrong, which is probably a good idea. ![]() ![]() This program only really works under DOS, since flashing your BIOS under Windows is a *very* bad idea! Either use a bootdisk, or start up in MS-DOS mode (bootdisk is better, you want as few drivers loaded as possible), and with the awdflash program and your bios file in the same directory, type "awdflash (biosfile)" without quotes. You're going to use awdflash, the Award flashing tool, but there are several different versions so check your motherboard manufacturer's site for the download. Now, before you do this, make sure you write down your current BIOS settings, as a flash will probably set them back to the factory defaults. The final step - flash the new BIOS to the motherboard. Replacing (biosfile) and (epafile) with the filenames of your BIOS rom and finished EPA. Simplest step of all is to replace the EPA. EPA 2.0 users don't need to worry about this. If you have a complex colour scheme in mind, you might want to go back and edit your original BMP, move elements around so they change grid squares. There's a grid you have to work to (visible in the Windows prog, invisible in the DOS one), and only one foreground colour is allowed per grid square. Load your BMP into the whichever program you decide to use, convert to EPA (if you're using the Windows version), and then start painting! Only problem is that for EPA 1.0 files you can't paint individual pixels different colours. ![]() Unfortunately, it doesn't let you paint the logos, only converts them, and painting them in an ordinary graphics program can be a bit fiddly (see why below.). The third choice is EPACODER, which is freeware and does support EPA2. Essentially, it's the same as the Windows version, only free - though I don't know if it supports EPA2 or not. Alternatively, you could use Award's own utility, BMP2EPA for DOS. One is BMP2EPA, by Michael Rosenbaum, which is a Windows app (now freeware again). Now to convert to EPA and add color, you have three choices. If you have a EPA 2.0 BIOS, you can create an actual 16-color bitmap, same size, and just convert it without having to paint. Creating the BMP isn't too hard, use whatever program you like.only limitations are that for EPA 1.0 the file must be 136x84 pixels, and in black and white only - 2 colour mode, or 1bpp. ![]()
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