Hi all,

I want to buy an AMD Socket A MSI 6570E motherboard, so I downloaded the manual.

It has a “Live BIOS Update” feature that accesses the web, but the manual doesn’t say if it updates the BIOS while you are online. Does anyone know if the BIOS is updated so that you don’t have to use the boot floppy disk method?

There is also an optional USB bracket called D-Bracket that has four LEDs that is used to diagnose system faults. The manual doesn’t say how it works. Do you install software that allows you to use it for diagnostics?

There is also a feature called “Cooler XP” that makes the AMD Athlon processor run cooler. Again, the manual doesn’t say how this is accessed. Is it in the BIOS, or does it show in say the Windows Control Panel?

Eric,

http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm

my gigabyte board has a live bios update feature and it updates the bios while you are on line. then it reboots your computer.

dell computers use the diagnostic lights feature I kind of liked it. with dell there is no software included to runthe feature just an explanation of what the lights being on or off mean.

I would hope that the cooler Xp feature would be accessible fromt he control panel the usual method of "cooling" the cpu is to throttle it down in speed which is why I dont care for the feature.
hopefully it is an optional feature that you can chose not to intialize.

Thanks for the reply.

What was established -

The D-Bracket is just like a super-POST diagnostic system in hardware that you can read by knowing the signals used by the four LEDs on the bracket to signal various faults. The signal patterns are provided in the manual.

The D-Bracket isn't a USB bracket as such, but it comes with two USB ports on it.

This is a reply I got elsewhere -

"Yes, it does do the BIOS updae over the internet, kinda -- it downloads the BIOS data to your harddrive, then reboots the machine to DOS mode and performs the update. If you are on dial-up, better to download it yourself, and copy it to a floppy. The MSI boards I've used have a BIOS update option right at boot time, that boots from a special eeprom; no DOS diskette required.

"The D-Bracket plugs into the motherboard and flashes lights as it boots; the idea is that if there's trouble the lght pattern will tell you what went wrong."

This is a useful piece of info -

"CoolerXP is a part of the PCAlert 4 software that you install in Windows to monitor the hardware and temps. It works, but it throttles the CPU to do so."

It's a pity that most motherboard manuals are so badly written.

Eric,

http://www.legge40.freeserve.co.uk/BuyerBeware.htm

that is why I like gigabyte boards my 7vrx boards came with a manual that is about 1/4 inch thick and covers everything in detail

My Gigabyte came with a thick manual too, shame the bloke who translated it was thick also...