BIOS Locked - Will not load System Block

  • Thread starter Thread starter NJITGS
  • Start date Start date
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NJITGS

Greetings All-

In the past I have always been able to rely on the Ms Newsgroup forums to
obtion successful solutions to computer issues, I hope this remains.

Recently I had to clear the CMOS for my computers motherboard with the
jumper pins and unfortunately incorrectly replaced the jumper pins afterward
resulting in the BIOS being locked and not loading the second (System) block
of the BIOS program. It will only load the optical drive and the hardrive
and stops at that without starting the display or the keyboard. Now I'm left
with a computer that I can do absolutely nothing with.

According to the HP web page for my particular model computer there is no
BIOS utility or upgrade that I could use to unlock or restore it. Contacting
HP's Consumer Affairs about this they refuse to furnish me with the necessary
drivers for flashing the BIOS, telling me that they do not provide utilities
for flashing the BIOS and that I would have to take it in for repair to have
this done. With my first Compaq Deskpro computer I was able to go to it's
Campaq web page for it and download a utility that would enable me to create
a BIOS flash disk in case of such and event like this and it would enable me
the capability to modify, update or restore the BIOS. So I know that this is
possible, the trouble is I don't know where to locate the utility for doing
so.

Additionally, I have directly contacted the manufacturer of the BIOS program
and alll they could tell me is that they only create the source code for the
BIOS and that the manufacturer of the computer customizes it according to
thier speicifications and that I would need to contact the manufacturer of
the Computer. And that's when I phoned HP's Executive Consumer Affairs in
Palo Alto, Ca only to be given the same answer that they do not provide such
a utility.

Among the measures I have taken to resolve this:
Reset the CMOS with the correct jumper pin setting, both with and without
the CR2025 battery.
Left the Jumper pin off as directed from motherboards web page for clearing
the CMOS.

Removed the CR2025 battery overnight.

Reseated the RAM Chips.

Restarted the computer without the hard drive plugged in hopeing to trigger
the BIOS to request it.


Could anyone please help?

A link to the BIOS utility download with complete instruction would be
fantastic...

Computer Information:

Compaq Presario
Model: SR1950NX
Motherboard: Nagami2 GL8e Rev. 2.0 (HP Part # 5188-5067)
BIOS: Phoenix Award BIOS Version 3.11, Core Version 6.0
 
Hello-

And thank you for replying to my thread..

Yes, My computer is a Presario SR1950NX Desktop with XP Media Center Edtion.

However, none of the steps provided in the link included the utility
download that I am looking for. Most of the suggestions were for modifying
the BIOS settings if I were able to get to the BIOS display. Problem I am
having is that the BIOS will only load the BOOT Block and not the System
Block so it will now start the display, keyboard or mouse.
 
Thank you also for your reply. However the same applies. None of the steps
provided on that page include the download for the BIOS utility.

Please if anyone else has encountered this problem and has found a solution,
Please reply with any links or suggestions.

To note; as I also previously mentioned, only the BOOT Block of the BIOS
will load enabling the CD Rom Drive and the hard Drive. It will not load the
System Block of the BIOS so the Display, Keyboard and mouse will not start.

I really need the BIOS flash utility that I could put in the drive and
restart my computer with so that it flashes the BIOS.
 
In message <[email protected]>, NJITGS
Recently I had to clear the CMOS for my computers motherboard with the
jumper pins and unfortunately incorrectly replaced the jumper pins afterward
resulting in the BIOS being locked and not loading the second (System) block
of the BIOS program. It will only load the optical drive and the hardrive
and stops at that without starting the display or the keyboard. Now I'm left
with a computer that I can do absolutely nothing with.
Click to expand...

How do you know that this is how far it's getting - presumably you are
seeing _something_ on screen?
[]
There's only so much you can do: with EEPROM BIOS chips, it is possible
to hose them completely, so that the bit that would load the
self-modifying code is corrupted. I'm not saying that's what you've
done, but if it is, then the only solution I can think of - assuming it
is a socketed chip, which it may not be - is to take it out and program
it on an external programmer. To do this, you'll need (a) to find
someone with [or buy, but that's a bit overkill!] such a programmer, (b)
to get hold of the code that should be in it (and in a form that can be
loaded into the programmer). Most of the BIOS upgrade utilities you can
download from the manufacturer's site will _I think_ include the
relevant code once unzipped; the best would be to borrow the chip from a
working identical PC, as there'd be no problem getting its contents into
the programmer.
--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/<1985 MB++G.5AL-IS-P--Ch++(p)Ar@T0H+Sh0!:`)DNAf
** http://www.soft255.demon.co.uk/G6JPG-PC/JPGminPC.htm for ludicrously
outdated thoughts on PCs. **

No matter how beautiful a girl is, no matter how much you might love her,
squeeze her tight enough and she'll fart - Joe Barron, quoted by son Fred ("My
Family" creator), RT, 15-21 March 2003
 
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