HP Pavilion a6242n - MCP61PM-HM (Nettle2)

[Nollipfsense]

First post...background, I am a Mac person and happened to found the above computer next to the trash dumpster. So, I took it home, and it worked...then, I decided to turn it into a PFSense machine. I bought 8GB of Crucial RAM (800 MHz) and an i350...feeling gung-ho.  Then came the sadness...the PC environment is not plug and play as Macs do...on top of that, the only PCIe✕16 slot won't accept the intel - i350 NIC and it won't boot (PFSense 2.3) when the NIC installed. If I remove the Intel - i350, the computer boots. Searching the web for a solution led me to here...(https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-H...ng-Options).

So, having found here, I decided why not really mod this puppy...so, I bought the AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ 3.1GHz Dual-Core Processor 89W  (on its way from China...should arrive by Thanksgiving) and a 16GB SSD to use that for the OS and the current onboard HD for data logging storage.

Question...will the BIOS upgrade to v.5.27 from V.5.18 unlock the PCIe✕16 slot, which it seems is for only graphics currently? I could not find confirmation on AES - NI support. The best deal is to use that PCIe✕16 for the NIC and disable the onboard one.

[Nollipfsense]

Well, I bought this NIC - Dual Port PCI-E Intel 82575 Gigabit PCIe Ethernet Server Adapter Network Card 1x, just in case after flashing the BIOS with v.5.27 has no effect on enabling the PCLe✕16 slot with non-graphic card. It's coming from Hong Kong in a couple days. I shall attempt to flash the BIOS later.

[Nollipfsense]

This BIOS flashing not going so well...every time I try to format with the HP USB disk format tool I get the device is "write protected" despite it not been so or when it does format the device, there is NOTHING on the device after taking while to format. I am using Windows 7 professional.

Wish I could use a Mac! Any suggestions for a MAC user? Is theWIZ in the house?

[Nollipfsense]

Well, I could not get the bootable USB to create in Windows...ended up with just an empty disk. So, I tried making the DOS bootable USB on a Mac using VirtualBox and FreeDOS...all went well; however, when I ran the command:

awdflash M613Z_19.BIN /py /sn /cc / cd /cp /wb /r

I get this...see image attached...seems it might not like GUID partition or what? Not sure what it trying to say...it's definitely upset about something...as it needs a MAC address...any ideas?

[Nollipfsense]

Well, I could not get the bootable USB to create in Windows...ended up with just an empty disk. So, I tried making the DOS bootable USB on a Mac using VirtualBox and FreeDOS...all went well; however, when I ran the command:

awdflash M613Z_19.BIN /py /sn /cc / cd /cp /wb /r

I get this...see image attached...seems it might not like GUID partition or what? Not sure what it trying to say...it's definitely upset about something...as it needs a MAC address...any ideas?

Okay, I figured out what was the problem...they're no space in the command...got it flashed...now can't enter BIOS F1 nor ESC does nothing...text appears on screen, then the fan at FULL speed. What to do now?

[Nollipfsense]

Well, I could not get the bootable USB to create in Windows...ended up with just an empty disk. So, I tried making the DOS bootable USB on a Mac using VirtualBox and FreeDOS...all went well; however, when I ran the command:

awdflash M613Z_19.BIN /py /sn /cc / cd /cp /wb /r

I get this...see image attached...seems it might not like GUID partition or what? Not sure what it trying to say...it's definitely upset about something...as it needs a MAC address...any ideas?

Okay, I figured out what was the problem...they're no space in the command...got it flashed...now can't enter BIOS F1 nor ESC does nothing...text appears on screen, then the fan at FULL speed. What to do now?

Well, I should have seen that the DELETE key gets one into the BIOS   I entered, made the recommended adjustments, FAN now quiet...trying to figure out how to enable the PCIe✕16 slot...onboard graphics set to auto and always so far.

[Nollipfsense]

Well, I could not get the bootable USB to create in Windows...ended up with just an empty disk. So, I tried making the DOS bootable USB on a Mac using VirtualBox and FreeDOS...all went well; however, when I ran the command:

awdflash M613Z_19.BIN /py /sn /cc / cd /cp /wb /r

I get this...see image attached...seems it might not like GUID partition or what? Not sure what it trying to say...it's definitely upset about something...as it needs a MAC address...any ideas?

Okay, I figured out what was the problem...they're no space in the command...got it flashed...now can't enter BIOS F1 nor ESC does nothing...text appears on screen, then the fan at FULL speed. What to do now?

Well, I should have seen that the DELETE key gets one into the BIOS   I entered, made the recommended adjustments, FAN now quiet...trying to figure out how to enable the PCIe✕16 slot...onboard graphics set to auto and always so far.

Doesn't seems that the PCIe✕16 slot cannot be used for anything other than a graphic card...when I add it,  the BIOS setting back to the state when first flashed (like loud fan). Still, it would be nice to hear from the forum expert on whether there's a way to enable the PCIe✕16 slot for a NIC (Intel - i350).