BIOS update type American Megatrends Inc.

Despite the large number of motherboards in production, there are few BIOS chip vendors for them. One of the most popular is American Megatrends Incorporated, better known by the acronym AMI. Today we want to tell you how you should update this type of BIOS.

AMI BIOS update

Before beginning to describe the procedure, let's make an important point: BIOS update is necessary only in exceptional cases. These are described below in the following post.

More information: when you need to update the BIOS

Now let's go directly to the manual. Please note that it is intended for desktop PC owners, while laptop owners are advised to study the manuals separately.

Lesson: BIOS update on ASUS laptops, Acer, Lenovo y HP

Paso 1: determines motherboard type and firmware version

An important nuance to know before updating the system software is that it is not the type of BIOS, but the motherboard manufacturer who plays a determining role. Therefore, the first step is to determine the model of the "motherboard", as well as the firmware version already installed on it. The easiest option is to use a program to set the computer hardware. One of the best solutions is AIDA64.

Download AIDA64.

1. Download the test distribution of the program and install it on your computer, then run it from the shortcut in the “Desk”..
2. On the main tab, click on “System control panel”..

   Repeat the action in the next window.

3. Notes section “System board properties”. – On the line “System control panel”. the exact name of the model is written.

   Scroll down the block introductions “System board data” – this will contain the links we need to update the BIOS. They will be useful for the next step.

Paso 2: download updates

The most important step is to download the appropriate updates.

As a reminder, the AMI BIOS itself doesn't matter, but yes the manufacturer, the model range and motherboard review.

1. Open your browser and use the AIDA64 links from the previous step, or go to your board manufacturer's web portal yourself.
2. Look for the device's support page and look for the items that have the words “BIOS” O “Firmware”. It is in these sections where you will find the firmware updates for the board.
3. Look for the latest firmware version and download it to your computer.

Keep in mind. Many AMI BIOS variants do not support cumulative updates: it is not recommended to install the version 1.4 in BIOS 1.0 if there are versions 1.2, 1.3, etc.

Paso 3: install updates

Direct installation of the new BIOS can be done in several ways. It is not feasible to cover all of them in one post, so we will focus on the DOS shell installation option.

1. Before starting the procedure, it is advisable to prepare the support. Take a suitable flash drive, up to 4 GB size, and format it with the FAT32 file system. Then, copy the firmware files and then remove the media.

   Read more: How to format a USB flash drive

2. Go to BIOS and select boot from flash drive.

   Read more: Configure BIOS to boot from USB flash drive

3. Turn off the computer, plug in the USB stick and turn it on again. The shell interface will appear.
4. Enter the following commands to choose the root directory (remember to press Entered after each):

   fs0:
fs0: cd EFIBOOT

5. Then enter a command ls to display the file list. Look in it for the firmware file and the firmware utility (The names will be different for each AMI BIOS variant!!).
6. Then enter a command of the following type:

   *имя утилиты-прошивальщика* *имя файла прошивки* /b /p /n /r

7. Wait for the procedure to finish (it shouldn't take long), turn off your computer and unplug the flash drive from your computer. Start BIOS and check your version; if you do it correctly, the updated version will be installed.

Conclution:

The AMI BIOS update procedure has its own peculiarities, since it is different for each of the provider's variants.

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