Acer Aspire 6935 ...bios flash didn't work. need help!

Hi forum,

I have a Acer Aspire 6935 and installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 on the weekend.

everything was fine, but the Nvdia driver 258.96 seemed not to work properly (have Nvidia Gefore 9600m GT with 512mb), because my possible max resolution was limited to 1377x768 (or so) instead of the 1920x1080 (as i had it before under win xp). i did try to customise the resolution, but during the test windows told me that any resolution higher than 1377x768 (i tried a few) isn't supported by the screen.

so i (the genuis i'm) decided to flash the bios. the bios was 1.05 and i flashed to 1.10.
actually i did check in the forum here, to see if this would cause problems. because it is changing from Bios ID Aspire 6935 to BIOS is ID KM2/TT2 and found this forum thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/345470-6935-new-firmware.html ...unfortunately in my case it didn't work out.
it is an import from taiwan, is that maybe the reason? ...isn't the hardware setup international, at least for the cpu and motherboard?

the laptop is still booting, but after the Windows 7 logo appears i get a blue screen. i tried to boot in safe mode, but that didn't go either, same result.

i assume i need to create a boot cd to flash my bios with the old bios version 1.05 or a newer version like 1.13?!? (are thre different bios version for different parts in the world?)

problem is just that i'm obviously not that much of an expert and don't know excatly how to create a boot cd which would flash the bios. ...also not sure if that is the correct way to go from here and for sure no clue where to find the correct sofware. ...don't want to make it any worse.

i googled for bios version 1.05 and boot cd, but could find anything that would help me.

could someone please help me? i really have no idea what to do at the moment.

if more information is needed to identify the problem and a solution for it, please let me know.

i'm using the pc at work at the moment (have at home only my laptop), so wont be able to come back here until tomorrow morning (new zeeland time).

will post tomorrow additional info i can get from the boot menue and from the bluescreen tonight.


Many thank for any help you can offer regarding the resolution problem and/or my bios problem!


Regards,
'desperate' Beezissler

 

my friend sad to see that you bricked your computer.

Please try to find a crisis disk to your notebook. I think that your BIOS is a Insyde bios so you must find a crisis disk for insyde flash for your model.

 

For Aspire 6935g you also have Bios version 1.20 from acer support site.
It can be flashed from windows or directly from pure dos.

 

If it's Insydeflash, try Bigozone's guide from here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/acer/284686-aspire-5315-bios-recovery-using-usb-thumbdrive.html
though the method is for other models, you can only find out by trying it and see whether it works for your model. Good luck.

 

Hold on guys, his laptop's not bricked. It boots to Windows 7 screen then crashes.
That points to something else going wrong.

First thought is that the BIOS update forced your hard drive back to IDE emulation mode, when Windows 7 is expecting AHCI mode. Go into your BIOS options by hitting F2 before the Windows boot sequence begins, and change your hard drive mode from IDE to AHCI.

If that doesn't work, try booting a Linux Live CD/DVD to make sure that the system still works.

 

Oops..Sorry

 

Sorry

agree with TehSuigi maybe it's the AHCI mode that was changed to IDE when bios was updated and resetted to default.

 

It's OK, lads. I was thinking the same thing after skimming it.

 

Hi guys,

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated!

The BIOS Version V1.10 which change the BIOS ID to KM2/TT2 was from Insyde.

I brought the laptop to work and just checked, the AHCI modus is set.


Maybe some additional info may help to find the cause?

Model is Acer Aspire 6935G - 864G32Mn (sticker on the back/bottom)(import from Taiwan)

Bluescreen says:

Stop: 0x0000007B (0xFFFFF880009A9928, 0xFFFFFFFFC0000034, 0x0000000000000000, 0x0000000000000000)


if there is some other info that's may be needed, please let me know.


Thanks to all of you!


Cheers,
Beezissler

 

what happens if you boot into windows safe mode. do you still get the blue screen of death

 

try to reset the bios to defaults.
see more of error 0x0000007B here or update your bios to the latest one using dos

 

Yes, I tried the safe mode and the blue screen comes up with the same error message.

the last thing i can see when i boot in safe mode that windows trys to load CLASSPNP.SYS ...after that comes the bluescreen.


Thanks!

Beezissler

 

thanks for that tip!

i searched for how to clear the cmos and found this thread Where is the cmos battery?

from my understanding they see it as a drastic step to open up the laptop and take out the capacitor ...so i tried to clear the cmos by going into the boot menue and tried to load the default setup, but it still shows bios version v1.10 and i still get the bluescreen.

any idea what i could do to clear the cmos without brazing? really don't want to do that...

 

just called Acer Support New Zealand ...a bunch of jokers!!!

the guy told me that the sofware department can help me to clear the cmos, but they would charge about NZ$70 for that call!!! just for telling me how to clear the cmos!!!

...why does every country has thousand of laws, but rip offs like this are still legal?

...NZ$70 for a 5min call ...i doubt they pay their staff 1400 per hour!

when you are in trouble, bloodsucker are never far away!

Acer Support New Zeeland shame on you!!!

next time i by a laptop/notebook i will choose (amoung other reasons) what kind of support they offer!


sorry guys, but had to let that out!

 

Try other ideas without clearing the CMOS first (and even then, that won't change the BIOS back to the original 1.05). Have you download a Linux Live CD (like Ubuntu or Linux Mint) and tried to boot from it?
If that boots up fine, then we can narrow down the potential causes of your system's issues.

 

Hey TehSuigi,

sorry didn't got the chance yet to download it.
Can't do it from work and have to go and meet a mate, which will hopefully happen tonight after work.

will report back as soon as i got the download done, but considering that the network in new zealnd is quite slow, it might take 2 or 3 days to get the 4.3 gib ( Download of the day: Ubuntu Linux 9.04 CD / DVD ISO) downloaded.

should i look out for any particular info during the linux boot?


thanks so far to everyone!


cheers,
Beezissler

 

Try a CD-sized Linux distribution instead of the DVD-based Ubuntu; Knoppix and Linux Mint for example will only ding your Internet connection for ~700 MB.

No need to look for something during the Linux boot. If it works, then the BIOS can at least boot an operating system; next step is to get it to boot the operating system we want, or failing that, using Linux to get all your data to a safe place.

 

sweet, thanks for the link TehSuigi!

this might actually get downloaded by tonight.

no need to rescue data, i saved everything on external usb before i installed win 7, but without an laptop to use it, well....

will come back with the result of this.


thanks.
Beezissler

 

Just thinking here: did you try a different display driver before updating the BIOS? If 258.96 didn't work, try 257.21 or some of the 190 Series drivers.

 

i installed at first the drive from the acer homepage, that was when i realised that i could only have a max resolution of 1377x768 (previous under win xp 1920x1080, not sure which driver i had installed with win xp) ...so installed 258.96 driver, but max resolution was still the same.

found several threads where people had problems with drivers and could solve these by updating the bios, thats what i did then (as mentioned in original post) and it all went to custard, aka bluescreen.


couldn't try linux yesterday, download was very slow (~35kb/s), so will see my mate tonight again and will try then.


thanks.
Beezissler

 

Well, as long as your data is safe, take your time. We'll be here waiting.

 

lol ...i'm a lucky b*****d (or just have been very stupid before ...lies in the eye of the beholder) ...laptop didn't want to boot from the linux live cd my mate burned for me. so i checked if i could at least read the win 7 cd ....and that little b*****d just went on and i could install win 7 again (formated the harddrive during installation) ...awesome!!! my laptop (number 5) lives! ^^

sorry for all the hustle i may have caused here! but i would have never guessed that a windows installation would work considering that even a boot in safe mode didn't work.

my understanding at that time was that the bios version v1.10 didn't work with windows 7 ultimate x64, but now i guess that the bios version didn't work with a certain driver.

many thanks to lloco73, ellalan, TehSuigi and AppleUsr for you help!!! MUCH APPRECIATED!!!


will flash tonight bios version 1.20 which lloco mentioned earlier.

and than install drivver by driver to see which one (which i hope won't happen) is causing a problem.

will come back and report result for others. so they know which bios version works with which driver. can't loose any data at the moment, so will use this chance to test it.


by the way, did anybody made allready experience with bios version v1.20 in combination with windows 7 ultimate x64?



again, many thanks to all you guys for your kind support!

will come back from time to time to share my expierince and little knowledge i have, with those who might need it.

great community here!!!


thanks
the grateful Beezissler

 

Glad to have been of help, Beezissler!
However, keep in mind that BIOS upgrades are inherently risky in other ways. If something goes haywire, your system is completely bricked; not bootable, not operable, nada.
Work on BIOS 1.10 for now.

 

ok, will keep that in mind and operate on v1.10 and check which driver is causing the bluescreen.

will come back with results.


...ups, sorry for tricking the swear filter! didn't took it that serious since i didn't try to insult anyone ^^


thanks
Beezissler

 

Hi there, yes the blue screen of death (BSOD) could have been caused by corrupt system files. the bios flash must have worked as bios has recognised the update and you have access to bios etc...

If the bios update did not work then you would have problems suck as the computer stuck at the bios screen, or simply powering on and sutting off after a split seccond of powering on.

It might have been possible that the "hardware abstraction layer" (HAL) got corrupted during the flash as flashing bios alters and changes hardware settings.

I do have a problem with my Acer Aspire 6935 too, as recently it began running very slow even though i had nothing running, came to re install windows 7 home premium and i just got the flashing cursor, nothing loading.

I attempted to bood VIA linux CD which you may be farmiliar with "UBCD" and it booted fine, just has me puzzled at the fact i can't boot VIA windows installation CD, i tried XP cd's they boot, the vista one does not, and the windows 7 one does not, the discs are genuine and are scratch free so i have no need to coppy them.

Any assistance from another fellow member who has had this issue?