[SOLVED] Flashing BIOS on Toshiba Satellite A105 S 4547 Laptop SUSe 11.2

[carr]

I bought this laptop several years ago. It had Vista. Just long enough for me to download SUSe, nuke and pave the HD and install Linux.

Recently I upgraded from 1 GB to 4 GB of RAM, the maximum that is allowed given the motherboard (based on from what I am able to learn the Intel 945 chipset).

After upgrading to 4 GB, the machine (according to "My Computer") only sees 2.9 GB. I understand that under an earlier version of the BIOS that the machine would not recognize the RAM correctly. Additionally the "My Computer" page lists the display as "Intel 945GM".

My problem is that I can find no Linux utility to flash the BIOS on this machine-- Toshiba only provides the BIOS included in an .exe file for either XP or Vista. I am hesitant to use the BIOS for the Intel 945 series motherboards from their site.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

Warmest Regards

Carr

[oz]

After upgrading to 4 GB, the machine (according to "My Computer") only sees 2.9 GB.

If you are running a 32-bit version of Linux, all 4GB of RAM won't show up. You'll need to install the 64-bit version of Linux for that. You can finds several different ways of flashing your BIOS without Windows installed here.

[carr]

Ozar

Many thanks for the information. Linux is a continual learning experience for me (which is why I enjoy it so much ). Additionally thanks very much for the links to the BIOS how to's.

I have both this laptop..... and a couple of desktop computers which I believe are 64 bit capable but I ve never run anything other than the 32 bit OS. Im going to download the 64 bit version of 11.2 and then consider a HD format and reinstalling the 64 bit version. I only hope everywhting works as well as it has with 11.2 32 bit.

Regards and again many thanks

Carr

[gogalthorp]

You don't need to nuke it just select the / root partition for teformat and NO format for the /home partition. That way you do not lose anything