ATI Bios Flash for Hercules Cards

[Scarthy © ® ™]

Hi all ;) ,

Just thought I would add this info for future readers. This is for 64MB cards Only ! My card is marked 631 505 8888 and after the flash the BIOS info is...

- BIOS Version 7.004

- BIOS p/n - 113-8502-103

- BIOS Date - 07/11/2001

I have a Hercules 3D Prophet FDX 8500LE 64MB DDR Graphics Card. I have recently re-flashed the card to run the ATI 7004 BIOS. This BIOS is clocked at 275/275 un-tweaked and can be overclocked to around 300/300 (or so I have read). It is an older BIOS used on ATI (Built By) Cards and it seems to work a treat on mine. Plus, I now can use the 'Built By' drivers for my card...

After the flash I have gained around 350 points in 3DMark2001 SE over the last BIOS I had. I now get around 8500-8600 in the test.

Here's what to do....

WARNING - Flashing can cause irreversible damage to your hardware and should be done with care ! ! ! Windows Forum and Myself, accept no responsibility for any damage to persons or equipment caused by using the information provided. If you feel that you or your computer may be at risk by using the information provided, then you are advised not to continue with the modifications.

First you need to get the new BIOS file from HERE

This is a zip file that contains all you need. There is even an original Hercules BIOS just incase you need to resort back to it...

The things you need are in the zip file the zip file has the following files:

- Atiflash (the flash utility for flashing the bios)

- 8500.rom (the retail bios file at the speed of 275/275)

- hercules.bin (the backup of the original bios from the card)

- autoexec.bat (command line for flashing to hercules.bin)

- autoexec1.bat (command line for flashing to 8500.rom)--> rename it to

autoexec.bat

I would suggest you do the following:

Create 2 bootable disc (format them offcourse) and put on both the disc:

- Atiflash (unzip it to the root of a:)

Then copy hercules.bin to the first floppy disc (this will become your backup, incase something will go wrong)

and place autoexec.bat on the 1st disk too (in this autoexec.bat is the line you have to type, to backup your bios)

By using those autoexec.bat files you don't have to type anything, and all

will just go automatic

Then on the 2nd disc place 8500.rom (this will become your disc to flash it

to 275/275) and rename autoexec1.bat to autoexec.bat and put it on the 2nd

disc too (in this autoexec.bat is the line you have to type, to flash your

bios)

MAKE SURE THAT ALL FILES ARE IN THE ROOT OF A: !!!

So when we have made those 2 disc they contain:

Disc1

- atiflash

- hercules.bin

- autoexec.bat

Disc2

- atiflash

- 8500.rom

- autoexec.bat

The only thing you have to do now is to make sure that your 1st boot device

is the floppy disc. After that put DISC2 in it to flash to the new 275/275

bios. (everything will just go automatic) in case something go wrong (like

seeing no or garbled text) just pop in DISC1 and everything will flash

itself back to the original bios (also automatic).

That's it...All Automatic. I would suggest that you un-install all drivers/ control panel/ Hydravision software etc before you do the Flash. This is because your computer will recognise "new hardware" when the flash is done and it is better to start afresh...

;) Good Luck and Happy Flashing. Oh and forgive the English, a friend in Holland sent me the info and his English aint brilliant... ;)

- Questions....Just Ask -

Special Thanx to MazeWing

[Prince of Calcutta]

you wouldn't happen to have something to give my geforce 2 a bit more oomph would you?

:(

[Scarthy © ® ™]

Sorry mate..Only ever had an ATI card. I will have a look around though and get back to ya... ;)