No, you can't apply a Win11+ BIOS update to the same USB drive at once along with a Q-flash.
No, you can't apply a Win11+ BIOS update to the same USB drive at once along with a Q-flash.
Motherboard: GIGABYTE B650 GAMING X AX V2. On their site it isn't clear that an empty flash drive is necessary. I set the USB to FAT32 and created a bootable file using MediaCreationTool. I renamed the biggest Gigabyte update file to "gigabyte.bin" and placed it on the drive with the Windows 11 installation media. Reason: I plan to connect this board with an AMD RYZEN 7 9700x processor. If the board was made before May 2024, it may lack the needed BIOS version for compatibility. Thus, I might need to flash the BIOS to get a version that supports the 9700x. To be ready, I want to double-check everything before taking apart my current PC. Will this approach succeed? Most importantly, could it damage the motherboard? Any advice would be welcome.
It's curious... Google confirms the same, FAT32 restricts files to a maximum of 4GB, while Windows files exceed that limit. Despite this, the tool created an installation media on the USB drive without any issues during setup. The system appears to have functioned correctly, though it might encounter problems when attempting the install.
It seems the tool might already have the capability to handle file splitting independently.
Relies on the particular motherboard supplier and their BIOS flash tool handling storage devices. Q-Flash and Q-Flash Plus Q-Flash are the tools used to start this process within the BIOS, directing the utility to the connected USB drive. Q-Flash should be able to browse the drive and choose the desired file. If not, it may require manual selection. Q-Flash Plus involves flashing directly from a powered-off system using a dedicated button, without needing the PC running. It's uncertain whether the tool can correctly identify or parse the drive, especially for NTFS formats.
No, the installation tool will replace everything and change the USB format to NTFS, you can't avoid it. Full stop.
I followed the MediaCreationTool instructions as illustrated in the image, but it didn’t convert the USB to NTFS. Instead, it reports a FAT32 format while the installation files are present. After running the tool, I wondered whether formatting would happen during the Windows installation since I could flash the BIOS first.
It's worth noting I might have mixed up the formatting method with Rufus or another tool. If the drive uses FAT32, don't worry about my earlier comment—you're all set to install the update and Windows from the same source. The BIOS update flashback (Q-Flash Plus) targets only the gigabyte.bin file at the root level of the USB, ensuring a smooth update process.
Asrock prefers only MBR. Discovered this the hard way when my old Microcenter USB2 8GB drive, which I used for BIOS flashing for years, unexpectedly changed to GPT (I was sure it was done). I assumed it was permanently broken until I restored it to MBR. FAT32 didn’t matter; if it was GPT, the board wouldn’t accept it for flashback. Returned to MBR and everything worked again as if nothing had happened.