General BIOS Information for
Vortex-Based CPU Boards
Background
The basic input/output system (BIOS) routines are stored on-board VersaLogic CPU boards. The BIOS includes the code to start up the system when power is first applied, and the code to handle various interrupt and I/O tasks for the operating system once the system is up and running.
VersaLogic boards based on DMP processors (such as the Vortex) use an American Megatrends BIOS (AMIBIOS) that has been enhanced for OEM applications. Binary images of new BIOS versions are available for download from the board support page. You can download the SPIFLASH utility, required to program the BIOS, from this page. Both the SPIFLASH utility and a binary BIOS image file are required to update a BIOS. You must run SPIFLASH on the target system (the system that is getting the updated BIOS).
BIOS Upgrade Instructions
- Download the BIOS file from the board support page and the SPIFLASH utility from this page.
- Unzip the BIOS image and SPIFLASH utility, and copy them onto a DOS bootable drive (such as a floppy or USB thumb drive).
- Boot the target system from the bootable DOS drive containing the utility and BIOS image.
- From the directory where the utility and BIOS image are located, enter the following command:
spiflash u biosimage nomd5
where biosimage is the filename of the BIOS binary file. For example:
spiflash u 1045r100.bin nomd5
Update Utility
SPIFLASH BIOS Update Utility Rev. 1.41
Use the SPIFLASH utility to update the BIOS on Vortex-based VersaLogic CPU boards.