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BIOS Gone!! Can I reinstall Original BIOS???
- Thread starter geekgal
- Start date
CitrixEngineer
Technical User
Unfortunately, if a BIOS is incorrectly flashed, in the majority of cases it be become unusable.
Fortunately a computer's BIOS is stored on an EPROM that is easily replaced.
Hunt around a bit, and you should find someone who can sell you a replacement BIOS chip for your motherboard.
I hope this helps
Fortunately a computer's BIOS is stored on an EPROM that is easily replaced.
Hunt around a bit, and you should find someone who can sell you a replacement BIOS chip for your motherboard.
I hope this helps
Suspect that he doesn't have an EPROM, but an EEPROM. EPROMs have to be erased first with UV.
Board manufacturer should have a program to control flashing and the data set to put on it.
I haven't dealt with any of the flashable M/Bs but have burned a goodly number of EPROMs, up to XTs.
I personally wouldn't want a BIOS that could be destructively accessed from a program running amuck. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
Board manufacturer should have a program to control flashing and the data set to put on it.
I haven't dealt with any of the flashable M/Bs but have burned a goodly number of EPROMs, up to XTs.
I personally wouldn't want a BIOS that could be destructively accessed from a program running amuck. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
CitrixEngineer
Technical User
:~/ I've programmed EPROMs using ultra-violet light thingies, back in the 1980s, when I worked for Panasonic (erk, and before...). I guess the missing E is pretty crucial.
Trouble is, once you've flashed a BIOS, and the flashing procedure has not gone through properly, if it doesn't POST, then you're pretty much up the proverbial creek.
I've dealt with a great deal of flashable pieces of equipment, and generally the procedure is straightforward.
I've yet to see a motherboard BIOS taken out by a flash program, but the many RAID/SCSI/Thin Client devices I've seen just keel over and die after one of these programs fails is heartbreaking.
The bottom line is, if you can't get the computer to the point at which it allows access to the BIOS (via F1, Del, Esc or whatever), and it won't post, then you can't get in - and the BIOS is suspect.
I'd try erasing the CMOS by taking out the battery and leaving it out for at least 20 minutes. If that doesn't work, a new BIOS chip is not expensive - around $20-30.
I hope this helps
Trouble is, once you've flashed a BIOS, and the flashing procedure has not gone through properly, if it doesn't POST, then you're pretty much up the proverbial creek.
I've dealt with a great deal of flashable pieces of equipment, and generally the procedure is straightforward.
I've yet to see a motherboard BIOS taken out by a flash program, but the many RAID/SCSI/Thin Client devices I've seen just keel over and die after one of these programs fails is heartbreaking.
The bottom line is, if you can't get the computer to the point at which it allows access to the BIOS (via F1, Del, Esc or whatever), and it won't post, then you can't get in - and the BIOS is suspect.
I'd try erasing the CMOS by taking out the battery and leaving it out for at least 20 minutes. If that doesn't work, a new BIOS chip is not expensive - around $20-30.
I hope this helps
I have zilch for experience with flashable BIOSes.But the one manual I read, from a M/B I don't have, allowed flashing from the BIOS. So I have to asume that the BIOS on this M/B is in two parts, one section not flashable that contains the entry area through at least the floppy read area and another that contains stuff that can be changed.
The alternative is to get assume that the program loads completely into memory and the flash does a 100% overwrite. And the latter way is guaranteed to glitch the M/B whenever anything goes bad from the program, the floppy, the data, the download, whatever. Further , if the BIOS corrupts in this way the board is unrecoverable since the bios controls the floppy boot.
After thinking through the possibilities I'm more determined to stay away from this potential problem.
Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
The alternative is to get assume that the program loads completely into memory and the flash does a 100% overwrite. And the latter way is guaranteed to glitch the M/B whenever anything goes bad from the program, the floppy, the data, the download, whatever. Further , if the BIOS corrupts in this way the board is unrecoverable since the bios controls the floppy boot.
After thinking through the possibilities I'm more determined to stay away from this potential problem.
Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
CitrixEngineer
Technical User
Fortunately BIOS chips are removable, and not soldered in.
Getting a replacement is not too hard - just check with the board manufacturer which BIOS (eg Award) and which version is needed, and this situation can be recovered from.
A good reminder to us all to only apply important patches to sensitive areas of the system only if it is absolutely necessary.
This link contains some excellent, easily digestible nuggets on how a computer's BIOS functions, and also addresses this exact issue.
I hope you find it interesting and of use.
Getting a replacement is not too hard - just check with the board manufacturer which BIOS (eg Award) and which version is needed, and this situation can be recovered from.
A good reminder to us all to only apply important patches to sensitive areas of the system only if it is absolutely necessary.
This link contains some excellent, easily digestible nuggets on how a computer's BIOS functions, and also addresses this exact issue.
I hope you find it interesting and of use.
Another alternative is using a burner to burn the image. Not everybody has one, but the later ones have the capability to do the eeproms too. Ed Fair
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
efair@atlnet.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply.
Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.
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