Rebels Haven Computer Forum
The BIOS Workshop Small Article

Using CBROMxxx(AWARD Only)

The CBROM Discussion thread is here....

CBROM2xx is to be used in the DOS "Real Mode", which means a Win98 Boot disk is required. I successfully use the "Command Prompt" of Win2000, as CBROM32 will only work in the "Command Prompt" of Win98, Win2K, and XP. This is CBROM v1.40 and newer.

CBROMxxx allows you to change:
1) Extract ROM Modules(Extract).
2) Delete ROM Modules(Release).
3) Insert ROM Modules(ROMFile).

CBROM32 will fix the BIOS checksum when inserting a module, but it will not fix the checksum of the module. Not all modules require a checksum.

If the un-zipped BIOS file does not have a ".bin" extension, you can simply edit the file name to end in .bin, but it's not necessary.... If a ROM module type being operated on has more then in the BIOS, a prompt will appear for you to chose the desired one.

The latest CBROMxxx versions that work for the latest AWARD BIOS, are linked here:
CBROM215
CBROM217A
CBROM219
CBROM220
CBROM32_140
CBROM32_149
CBROM_155
CBROM_1.55.1
CBROM 1.82

Be aware that CBROM 1.40, 1.49, 1.55, 1.55.1, and 1.82 are all Win32 programs and do not work in pure, real mode DOS, only a Command Prompt Window.

The command set can be displayed using the /? switch:



The ROMs contained in the BIOS can be displayed using the /D switch:

CBROM32_140 has a slightly different command set as this screen shot shows:



Anyhow, the last few versions all work the same. So operating on a module like "_EN_CODE.BIN" with CBROM32, the switch to use is /group. Execute at the command prompt the following, depending on what your doing:

Delete rom or "release":
cbrom32 xxxx.bin /group release

Extract rom:
cbrom32 xxxx.bin /group extract

Add rom:
cbrom32 xxxx.bin /group _EN_CODE.BIN

When adding a module to a BIOS, CBROM generates a file called "bios.rom". That is the added module in compressed form. We will find this file useful later on when modifying the system bios module.

Note that you don't need to perform a "save", as the file being worked on is on the drive and changed immediately. CBROM will fix any BIOS checksum issues when it inserts a module.

The latest version of CBROM32 is 1.49 and add's "/CALS" and "/NVMM" support.




The latest version of CBROM is 1.55.1 and add's "/CALS", "/efi0-9", "/minit" and "/NVMM" support.

Thanks to member JP, we have what has to be the very latest CBROM!

Discuss the use of CBROM 1.82 in the CBROMxxx Discussion Thread.

Here's the link: CBROM 1.82

Executing CBROM182 /? shows the command set:


Every switch below is added:



One of the things this version does that I have never seen before is, extract a certain module to a temp file and then add it back in. It only seems to do it once even though we use CBROM182 several times on a particular BIOS. The modules name that is re-installed(?) is slightly different from BIOS to BIOS, but it seems to have to do with the "memory module" module.