![]() In my previous BIOS repair tutorial, I used a Raspberry Pi as an EPROM programmer. Cleaning and reseating the BIOS chip is another possible fix. Note: an alternative to a corrupt firmware could be dirty contacts between the BIOS chip and the socket. If you lift one end of the chip too high it can bend the pins. Take turns lifting the chips from opposite sides and only lift a little at a time. A safer approach is to twist the screwdriver blade. Avoid trying to pry the chip up because the screw driver could scratch the traces on the board. The blade goes between the chip and the socket. Please see my previous tutorial for SPI programming and desoldering instructions.īefore removing the chip make sure the computer is unplugged and that you note the pin 1 orientation which is designated by a little notch on one end of the chip and/or a recessed circle.Ī small screwdriver works well for removing a socketed chip. Otherwise, if the chip is soldered there may be a SPI header on the motherboard. Fortunately the chip is socketed so no soldering is required. ![]() The BIOS firmware is stored on a serial flash chip on the motherboard. Legacy BIOS is 16-bit and limited to 1 MB of memory. UEFI is a big improvement over legacy BIOS which dates back to the first IBM PC’s created in the 1980’s. There can be enhanced boot speeds and some even provide Internet access and games. It implements secure boot which can help prevent malware from hijacking the boot process. UEFI increases maximum hard drive size from 2.2 TB to 9.4 ZB (zettabytes). UEFI typically sports a friendly graphical user interface with animation as opposed to text-based keyboard only. UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is a specification for a more robust version of BIOS which addresses many of its old predecessor’s short comings. This newer PC has a UEFI BIOS which complicates things a little bit. However, that tutorial featured a traditional BIOS. You may want to check it out because it goes into more detail about the BIOS and shows a low-cost programming solution using a Pi. In my previous BIOS tutorial I repaired a Dell with a bricked BIOS using a Raspberry Pi and FlashRom. Their conclusion was a bad motherboard (out of warranty) and they estimated $500 to fix it (includes shipping) assuming that it was the actual problem.Ī little online research indicated that reboot loops are a common problem with the ASUS X99 motherboard and one possible cause is a corrupt BIOS firmware which could be remedied with a BIOS upgrade, which is more difficult to accomplish when the computer won’t boot. None of the aforementioned corrected the rebooting loop. We disconnected all the peripherals, spent a lot of time moving RAM sticks around, tested the power supply, disconnected the CPU and removed the graphics card. Is not getting past the POST (Power On Self-Test) so the CMOS is not accessible. After a few more seconds it powers back on by However, a few seconds later it shuts off. ![]() Upon power up, the computer lights up, fans The computer is stuck in a rebooting loop. Both the CPU and the graphics card are liquid This model has an Intel i7-6850K CPU running at 4 GHz with 32 GB of DDR4 RAM and a GTX 1080 graphics card. ![]() I purchased the programmer used for this guide from AliExpress for less than $5.The broken computer is made by Digital Storm which is a Silicon Valley company specializing in performance computers. This guide will serve to explain how I was able to flash an FM2 motherboard from an Asus Desktop computer into a retail Asus F2A85-M motherboard and install the latest BIOS available. Not all boards will gain overclocking functionality by this method however. Some OEM Asus motherboards such as the one used for this guide can have overclocking functionality added through this method. Additionally, in some cases the OEM BIOS has removed features. Unfortunately ASUS does not provide acceptable BIOS support for their prebuilt desktops and as such the buyer can miss out on feature rich BIOS updates. The system's built in BIOS update utility is only able to flash the prebuilt specific BIOS versions. However, Asus prebuilt desktop computers come with a modified BIOS version from the factory. These updates can add features such as support for newer CPUs or general stability improvements. While ASUS OEM motherboards like this may share many things in common with a standard Asus motherboard, there is one main difference: the BIOS.Īsus typically provides years of BIOS support for their retail motherboards, and release updated versions periodically. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |