First, I downloaded the latest BIOS flash utility and ROM image from the ASUS tech support site. I unbundled the ZIP archives and burned the following files to a CD:

• the update utility: AFUDOS.exe
• BIOS image: P4R8L-ASUS-P4R8L-1006.004 (will display in DOS as P4R8L_AS.004)

Next, I downloaded the FreeDOS Lite image and burned it to another CD. At first I tried the plain FreeDOS package, but that was one of the many dead ends because it didn't have CD drivers.

With both CDs in hand it's time to begin the upgrade. First, boot off the FreeDOS Lite disc. When you get the "choose the drivers" menu, arrow down to the entry that loads just the ATAPI-CD driver and nothing else. This is very important. When I loaded HIMEM and EMM386 (the default) the flash utility failed complaining, "This program must be run in MS-DOS mode"

Once the system boots, exit the menu to a DOS prompt.

Next, we need to switch discs. Unfortunately, I found that I needed to go through a precise procedure to do this, otherwise I had problems browsing or accessing the disc. Here is the procedure that finally worked for me:

• Type dir to display the contents of the disc. I think this may be necessary to load some message strings from the FreeDOS disc into memory.
• Eject and remove the FreeDOS disc.
• Load the disc with the BIOS update utility and firmware image.
• Wait for the disc to load and the drive light to go out before proceeding.

Now, type dir to display the contents of the BIOS disc. If that works then congratulations: you are ready to flash. Use a command such as:

    afudos /iP4R8L_AS.004

The good news is that the BIOS flash ran to completion and the system rebooted fine. The bad news is that I don't think the updated BIOS did anything for me. My primary concern was reducing the Pundit-R system noise, and I'd read that later BIOS versions addressed that. I suspect that my system was new enough to have that fix already. Oh well, at least I got a blog article out of the ordeal.