.........
NVFLASH
NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility
Mark Stephen Krueger
2006-11-14
4
NVFLASH – NVIDIA fIRMWARE uPDATE uTILITY Manual
NVIDIA CONFIDENTIAL
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Supported Operating Systems 1
General Usage 2
Warning 2
Primary Commands 3
<update> 4
--save 7
--compare 9
--version 11
--list 13
--display 14
--check 16
--protectionon 18
--protectionoff 19
--straps 20
--guid 22
--guidsource 24
--tv 26
Related Utilities 29
Mac OS GUI Versions 29
Win32 GUI Versions 29
NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility 29
List of Tables
Error! No table of figures entries found.
List of Figures
Hidden. Unhide if we add tables or figures.
Page 16
The NVIDIA Firmware Update Utility (NVFLASH) is used to update the firmware stored in the EEPROM of an NVIDIA display adapter. It can also be used to perform other tasks on the adapter such as saving a copy of the current firmware image to a file, displaying the version of the firmware image, or determining the EEPROM part present on a display adapter.
NVFLASH is currently available for DOS, Win32 platforms, Mac OS X, and EFI. The Mac OS X version requires that a NVIDIA driver be running on any cards that will be accessed by the utility. The Win32 version includes its own kernel mode driver to allow it to access the hardware.
NVFLASH has a set of primary commands that specify what operation it should perform. In addition there are options that can be specified with each of these commands to control how these commands operate.
NVFLASH is a command line utility that can be run stand alone from the command prompt, run from batch files, or spawned from other programs.
There is a real danger of a display adapter becoming unbootable and thus preventing the entire system from booting if the update process is interrupted due to a software fault, power failure, the operator manually resetting the computer (for example via a reset switch), or the operator updating an adapter with the wrong firmware image. For this reason, care should be taken when using this utility.
This section describes the main commands that are available with NVFLASH. Each command has options available to use with it, but only one primary command can be used at a time.
Most commands and options have both a long (English readable) version and a short version. The long version is invoked by prefixing with a double dash (“--“). The short version can be used with a single dash (“-“).
Note that for both long and short versions of command and options, case is significant. The operator can not type “--Version” for example, it must be “--version”.
<update>
The update command is the default command if no other primary command is specified. The update command installs the specified firmware image or images onto one or more display adapters. By default, the update command scans the system to update all display adapters that match the specified firmware image or images.
nvflash [ <options> ] <filename>
<filename> filename of firmware image or firmware image bundle
Long Form
Short Form
Description
--index=<index>
-i <index>
Only attempt an update of the display adapter with the given index. If “--index=ask” is specified, the user will be prompted to pick which display adapter to use.
--fwindex=<index>
-F <index>
Specify index of which firmware image to use from a firmware bundle. If “--fwindex=ask” is specified, the user will be prompted to pick which image to use.
--overridetype
-5
Allow firmware and adapter PCI device ID to mismatch.
--overridesub
-6
Allow firmware and adapter PCI subsystem ID to mismatch.
--keepstraps
-g
Keep the soft straps already present in the EEPROM after flashing the new image.
--romstrap
-j
Override the ROM strap setting to allow flashing an image when grounding the STRAP_SUB_VENDOR pin. This allows flashing a corrupted or erased EEPROM.
Note: Make sure there is a physical EEPROM present when using this option.
--auto
-A
When possible, run without user intervention.
--reboot
-y
Reboot the PC after other tasks completed.
--log=<file>
-L <file>
Generate a text log file of the session, where <file> is the file name of the log file.
--silence
-s
Prevent NVFLASH for beeping during various stages of the update process.
--beep
-!
Beep during the update process to signal progress.
--nolight
-l
Do not light keyboard LED's (only applicable with the DOS version of NVFLASH).
--directpci
-n
Force NVFLASH to bypass the PCI BIOS and access the PCI configuration space directly. This option is only available in the DOS version of NVFLASH. This command should usually not be used and may not work correctly on all systems. It is only meant to work around issues with some systems.
The override options (--overridesub, --overridetype) can only be used when there is a single display adapter to be updated with a single firmware image. A single display adapter can be specified with the “--index” option. If there is only one NVIDIA display adapter in the system, then the use of “--index” is not needed. A single firmware image is specified by either just supplying the filename of a single firmware image (which will have a *.ROM extension) or by using the “--fwindex” option when a firmware bundle is specified (which will have a *.NVR extension).
It is important that the update process not be interrupted due to power failure or by a forced reset. If an error occurs during the flash process, it is advisable not to reboot the computer until the problem can be determined. The card may be unable to be restarted if a failed update has occurred (and thus the system as a whole may not reboot).
If the original firmware image contains an IEEE 1394 GUID, the update command will preserve it and NOT use the GUID of the new image.
nvflash --index=3 --fwindex=2 nv17.nvr
nvflash p77.rom
nvflash --index=ask --fwindex=ask nv28.nvr
--save
The save command saves the current firmware image of a display adapter to a file. This file can be used to restore the firmware later if a different image is uploaded.
nvflash [ <options> ] --save <filename>
<filename> filename to save the firmware image to
Specify which display adapter to use. If “--index=ask” is specified, the user will be prompted to pick which display adapter to use.
--override=<level>
-o <level>
Override the display adapter type and EEPROM part checks. Without this option, NVFLASH will abort if it detects an NVIDIA display adapter or EEPROM part that it is not familiar with (such as when using a newer display adapter with an older version of NVFLASH).
The possible levels that can be used are:
1
Unknown EEPROM acceptable for read operations.
2
Unknown NV adapter acceptable for read operations.
3
Combined effect of 1, 2 (cannot write to unknown EEPROM or adapter).
The save command is mainly useful for backups of a firmware image and for diagnostic purposes...
bison616