BIOS UPDATE PLEASE for HP Pavilion M2N78-LA (Viola) motherboard

[mattjmould]

PLEASE can HP release a BIOS update for the M2N78-LA (Viola) board so AMD Phenom II processors can be correctly identified and supported on HP Pavilion AMD systems?

I (like many others) have bought a faster AMD Phenom II Quad-Core processor to replace the Phenom triple core because it is AM2+ compatible and therefore SHOULD be compatible with the M2N78-LA (Viola) board used in some HP Pavilion's BUT the processor is listed as unknown and therefore the drivers don't support it correctly leading to DPC latency issues.

Please provide the update - it's a ASUS based board and megatrends BIOS - it must be possible.

Thanks in advance

[Big_Dave]

What model PC are you using?  These are your motherboard specifications.  What bios level are you running today?

Perhaps this is what you are looking for a bios update (5.20) Or this update. (5.29)

**********You need to go with the bios level for your PC otherwise you might brick your motherboard.**************

Bios 5.29 seems to be the latest and you need to be running VISTA to do the update using HP's updater.

[mattjmould]

Thanks for the post...

I have an HP A6635uk and it's running BIOS 5.29 released: 07-2009 but I noticed the link you sent me was for v 5.20 but released: 2010-03-29 and for an HP Pavilion p6310f Desktop PC - don't think the product guys at HP work centrally when it comes to the motherboard side of things...

The reqs for the install are based on the board rather than the PC model so I will apply the BIOS update and let you know how I get on.

[mattjmould]

The BIOS update was a success bar not allowing anymore than 4 SATA ports out of the 6 I have onboard.

The PC now operates at an amzing speed with no DPC latency at all!

If HP could just formally release this update for the HP A6635uk and include the other SATA ports - we have one amazing long term investment PC on our hands.

Thanks again - my PC, which is DAW (digital audio workstation) is no longer a dead dog

[Big_Dave]

Try resetting the CMOS and see if you get those last two sata ports back.

[Redneck46]

I tried to update mine and got a 253 error. It sad this was the wrong Bios for my system. I have the correct motherboard and have Windows 7 Home Premium. The Bios is 5.13.

[Big_Dave]

Redneck46,

The 5.29 bios is a VISTA only bios.  What model PC are you using?

[Fullifan]

I recieved the same error as Redneck, I´m using win7 Pro....

But maybe the big difference is that the computer is a HP Pro 3015 minitower, but the same motherboard M2N78-LA with BIOS 5.11 ?

I try to update it with both 5.29 and 5.21..but NO, the 5.29 just say NO WAY BUDDY, only Vista...but I just had to have it a go, cause nothing else worked.

Can it be that it is a OEM Win 7 ?

[Big_Dave]

The installer looks for VISTA.  You could try amiflash.zip and see if that approach works for installing the new bios.

Another option is to put up a VISTA partition and install the update while VISTA is up and running.

[DKParkerUSA]

FYI to those of you running a v5.13 BIOS. You're most likely running a different version of the M2N78-LA board, not the almost identical M2N78-LA (Viola) discussed in the original Posting. Additionally your BIOS update errors may not be due to a Vista-vs..-Windows7 issue, as much as you may have the wrong BIOS revision for your flavor of M2n78-LA.

I'm running a A4316F series HP Pavilion (Athlon IIx4 620) which uses the M2N78-LA (Violet6), previously running the v5.13 BIOS, updated to the current V5.16. The M2N78-LA (Viola) is from a HP Pavilion Media Center m8530f (Phenom x4 9550), and the BIOS are not interchangeable.

(As a side note, I recommend avoiding the v5.16 upgrade. My system was running fine on v5.13 until a "proactive" update to v5.16 caused a bogus overtemp issue which ironically enough started on the initial reboot of the update. I won't go into how I feel about the 12-14 day downtime I'm going to have to endure to have my system shipped in for a motherboard replacement 😞

There are several different versions of the M2N78-LA board, but the main physical difference I've notice in addition to the CPU support, is in the PCI/PCI-E/PCI Expansion slots. I'll list the different links below, but your best option is to run the specific Product number (AY570AA not A4316F) from your units service tag on hp.com, then double check the Product Specifications for your model, because not all M2N78-LA's are created equally.

Motherboard Specifications, M2N78-LA (Viola)
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01421635

The M2N78-LA (Violet) motherboard
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01635734

Motherboard Specifications, M2N78-LA (Violet3)
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01742903

M2N78-LA (Violet6)
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01959704