A7N8X-X BIOS corrupted :(

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blaedmon

I recently tried upgrading bios from 1005 to 1009 (hoping to correct a
chip-detection problem) and apparently the onboard bios-update utility
failed and screwed the motherboard.
Has anyone gone through this and come out ok, without having to scrap the
board completely?
I get power, of course, the board sees the keyboard (lights flash as normal)
but I get no video - theres only like a slight spike of power going to the
videocard. I can not get POST. It just seems to hang with blank screen.
All parts of the system are fine - just wondering if I have to scrap the
board or if theres a way I can salvage it somehow.
Any ideas appreciated.
 
"blaedmon" said:
I recently tried upgrading bios from 1005 to 1009 (hoping to correct a
chip-detection problem) and apparently the onboard bios-update utility
failed and screwed the motherboard.
Has anyone gone through this and come out ok, without having to scrap the
board completely?
I get power, of course, the board sees the keyboard (lights flash as normal)
but I get no video - theres only like a slight spike of power going to the
videocard. I can not get POST. It just seems to hang with blank screen.
All parts of the system are fine - just wondering if I have to scrap the
board or if theres a way I can salvage it somehow.
Any ideas appreciated.
Click to expand...

I see in the manual, it doesn't have Crashfree.

Do a Google search on "boot block", as the BIOS consists of two
chunks of code, and if you didn't specify updating both of them,
then the "boot block" could be intact. But this method hardly ever
works for anyone that I've heard of.

There is "hot flashing", by using a working board, and pulling the
BIOS chip out of it while it is booted. Then, plugging in the dead
chip and reprogramming it. Not for the faint of heart...

Finally, there is www.badflash.com, and you can order a new BIOS
chip. Pay careful attention to the orientation of the chip when
you plug in the new one - look for the orientation dot or mark
on the chip - it should line up with a mark of some kind on the
socket.

To prevent future problems, you can also buy a BIOS Savior.
See ioss.com.tw for details. This runs around $25 and there is
a spare flash chip soldered to the device, giving you two BIOS
chips, and the ability to "hot flash" with no danger or issues.
There are some suppliers who will flash the BIOS Savior for
you before shipping, so buying the BIOS Savior would be enough.
Others ship it unprogrammed, so you need the services of a
company like badflash.com, as well as get a BIOS Savior, in
that case.

While you could try the "clear the CMOS" procedure, with the
line cord _unplugged_ , I doubt that will help.

HTH,
Paul
 
Thanks for the ideas - I'd already bought another bios chip from
badflash.com, as it happens ;) And i was thinking of hotflashing today -
since I have 3 of these boards lying around here. I'll give that a go - if
it blows up then I can always put the new bios in one and hotflash the rest.
Thanks for your help. The Savior thing sounds excellent for this kind of
thing, I'll read up on that.
Cheers.
 
blaedmon said:
I recently tried upgrading bios from 1005 to 1009 (hoping to correct a
chip-detection problem) and apparently the onboard bios-update utility
failed and screwed the motherboard.
Has anyone gone through this and come out ok, without having to scrap the
board completely?
I get power, of course, the board sees the keyboard (lights flash as normal)
but I get no video - theres only like a slight spike of power going to the
videocard. I can not get POST. It just seems to hang with blank screen.
All parts of the system are fine - just wondering if I have to scrap the
board or if theres a way I can salvage it somehow.
Any ideas appreciated.
Click to expand...

You can salvage it by ordering a replacement BIOS chip from a supplier
that is often mentioned in this newsgroup. I'm sorry that I don't have
the URL handy. I'd also buy a BIOS Savior device and use it once you
get the replacement BIOS chip. The BIOS savior will allow you to have
two BIOS chips handy in case one goes south on you. It should get you
back on the air. Also, go to an electronics store, Radio Shack, or
slightly better, and buy a PLCC chip extractor. You'll need it to
remove the old BIOS chip from the socket without damaging it or the
socket.

Arnie
 
Have you tried flashing it again with 1008 (or 1005) by using a bootable
diskette with the
awflash utility that can be found on your mainboard's CD.

I read somewhere that this will work if you remove the graphics card.
But I would try it first witht he graphics card in.
 
Thanks guys. As an afterword - I did get the machine up again, by
hot-swapping from another uninstalled A7N8X-X I had waiting here to be
fitted to a case. The hotswap worked and was quick and easy - I have the
machine running 1007 now and I dont think I'll be flashing any time soon
without a bios savior, the onboard flash utility simply isnt reliable enough
to risk using, other that the standard bootdisk flashing method which I
should have done in the first place.
I bought a replacement BIOS for the mobo and its on its way, and I'll also
get a PLCC tool for good measure.
Thanks for your help and advice.

p.s. The bootdisk method would not have worked in this case, since there was
no post and I guess most of the bios had been corrupted. I had already tried
the 'remove the vidcard to force floppy read' method and it didnt work.
 
I would also like to get a BIOS Savior (Saviour), but
do not know where I can get them in Candea.
Anyone has an idea ?

TIA
 
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