Cannot update AOD255 BIOS via FreeDOS in order to get 2GB RAM stick working

dan9er

I've been trying to install a 2GB RAM stick in my Aspire One D255, however once it's in there it won't boot to BIOS, just a blank screen and fans stop spinning. I've looked around and I think a good step is to update the BIOS to v3.16 (after putting the factory RAM back in, of course).

I've already wiped Windows off my C drive trying (and failing) to install Kubuntu. So I installed FreeDOS on there and (on another PC) copied the BIOS update files onto a USB drive and then moved them to the root of C on my laptop. The file structure is as follows:

<br><div>COMMAND  COM        66,945 08-28-2006 10:38p</div><div><br></div><div>FDCONFIG SYS           762 <code>04-27-2019  3:21p<br><div>FLASH    EXE        16,714 <code>04-27-2019  3:42p<br><div>FLASHIT  EXE       489,486 01-10-2009 10:02p</div><div><br></div><div>KERNEL   SYS        46,685 05-11-2016  9:42p</div><div><br></div><div>PAV70D2  FD      2,097,152 04-22-2011 10:48p</div><div><br></div><div>PAV70D3  FD      2,097,152 04-22-2011 10:00p</div><div><br></div><div>         8 file(s)      4,816,215 bytes</div><div><br></div><div>         1 dir(s)   2,136,309,760 bytes free</div><div><br></div><div></div><div>C:\>dir</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;Volume in drive C is FREEDOS2016</div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;Volume Serial Number is 113E-16F7</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>&nbsp;Directory of C:\</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>FDOS                 <DIR> 04-27-2019  3:20p</div><div><br></div><div>AUTOEXEC BAT         1,319 <code>04-27-2019  3:21p

Flash.exe, FlashIt.exe & the 2 .fd files are the update files. The rest is part of FreeDOS.

But when I run Flash.exe, I get this error:

<div>C:\>FLASH.EXE</div><div><br></div><div>C:\>Flashit PAV70D3.fd /all</div><div><br></div><div>DOS/4GW Professional fatal error (1307): not enough memory</div><div><br></div><div>one file removed.</div>

mem returns this:

<div>C:\>mem</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Memory Type        Total       Used       Free</div><div><br></div><div>----------------  --------   --------   --------</div><div><br></div><div>Conventional          639K        18K       621K</div><div><br></div><div>Upper                  68K        19K        49K</div><div><br></div><div>Reserved              317K       317K         0K</div><div><br></div><div>Extended (XMS)   1,036,776K     1,316K 1,035,460K</div><div><br></div><div>----------------  --------   --------   --------</div><div><br></div><div>Total memory     1,037,800K     1,670K 1,036,130K</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Total under 1 MB      707K        37K       670K</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Total Expanded (EMS)                8,640K (8,847,360 bytes)</div><div><br></div><div>Free Expanded (EMS)                 8,192K (8,388,608 bytes)</div><br><br><div>Largest executable program size       621K (635,904 bytes)</div><div><br></div><div>Largest free upper memory block        48K ( 49,520 bytes)</div><div><br></div><div>FreeDOS is resident in the high memory area.<br></div>

Before you say "don't bother, just buy a new laptop", I recently received this D255 as a gift.

Please help, as I have 30 days to return the 2GB RAM stick if the problem is with the stick itself (however I highly doubt that, since I bought another 2GB RAM ram stick before this one that that didn't work either).

EDIT: fix formatting on code blocks

dan9er

Booting FreeDOS in Safe Mode made Flash.exe work! My BIOS is now updated to v3.16. Let's hope this makes my PC work with 2GB RAM...

dan9er

Booting FreeDOS in Safe Mode made Flash.exe work! My BIOS is now updated to v3.16. Let's hope this makes my PC work with 2GB RAM...