Any way to recover from failed BIOS update?

[lbeachmike]

Hey guys -

ASRock 939Dual-SATA - this board doesn't like me very much.

I flashed BIOS up from 1.2 to 1.4 - I used their new Windows-based Flash tool. I am now staring at two blank displays when attempting to boot.

The BIOS flash appears to have done this board in for good.

Is there any way to recover from a failed BIOS update? I'm guessing there is not.

I'm beginning to question this board and firmware/software support in terms of quality.

PLEASE HELP.

Thanks.

Mike

[Steve R Jones]

From ASRock's web site:

Updating BIOS Procedures

Notice : If you encounter problems while updating the new BIOS, DO NOT turn off your system since this corrupt BIOS might cause your system failed to boot up. Just repeat the process, and if the problem still persists, update the original BIOS file. If the Flash Memory Writer utility was not able to successfully update a complete BIOS file, your system may not be able to boot up. If this happens, your system will need service.

[lbeachmike]

Yes, I've read that as well - and it would be really fantastic if there was a way to "repeat the process" - however, the flash procedure went fine - and required a restart - and the machine simply never came back up. So, their instructions are rather worthless.

Is there any known way of getting my board out of it's coma? My old mobo had a backup bios which this one appears not to have.

Thanks.

mrk

[Rocketmech]

AMI bios right ?

The AMI boot-block BIOS will look for a AMIBOOT.ROM file on a diskette. Copy and rename the correct BIOS file AMIBOOT.ROM to the floppy and power up the PC. The floppy doesn't need to be bootable. You will see the PC read the floppy, after about 4 minutes you will hear 4 beeps, this means the transfer is done. Reboot the PC and modify the CMOS for your configuration.

If your lucky, you should hear the floppy kick in and see its light turn on , if not the bios chip is dead and you'll need to rma the board or swap out with the one in the old board if you still have it. Maybe do a hotswap . You'll need a PLCC tool to remove the chips.
http://www.biosflash.com/e/bios-chip-removal.htm

[lbeachmike]

It is the BIOS for the ASRock Dual939-SATA mobo.

http://www.asrockamerica.com/Products/939DSATA2.htm

They list the BIOS as -> AMI 4MB Flash ROM with ACPI, SM BIOS 3.0, PnP

The only real question I have is how can I boot from floppy if the machine is dead to where it's not even displaying video to the monitors? Isn't the machine entirely dumb with the BIOS corrupt or missing?

Thanks.

Mike

[Sterling_Aug]

Not necessarily.

Most mobos will in fact boot from a floppy disk even without video.

Follow Rockets advise and try it, you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

[lbeachmike]

How can it boot from a floppy if the floppy controller has not yet been detected by the BIOS because there is no functioning BIOS?

[Steve R Jones]

Maybe the bios is only 97% not functioning

[Sterling_Aug]

The BIOS boot rom is activated before anything else, so a floppy will boot and reflash the BIOS.

I have done it before, so it does work.

[Ol'Tunzafun]

If the above suggestions don't yield the desired result, there is a fair chance that the BIOS chip on your old board may still be usable. It could very well be that the north bridge was fried by the surge thus preventing a memory poll. It would be worth buying an IC puller (about $10) from Radio Shack to swap out the BIOS chips. If it boots, then you have the possibility of a hot swap and recovering both chips, and while the hotswap is an option that you could exercise at a later time, it would be nice to have two healthy chips before doing any more updates.
Before buying an IC puller, examine the board to make sure that the BIOS chip is not the type that is soldered in.

[Sterling_Aug]

You could also try one of the BIOS recovery services such as:

http://www.mrbios.com/home.cfm