acer aspire 1652WLMI Bios updated... and DEAD

Hi bbdiop,

Extract from Microsoft Support:
---------------------
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310561/en-us
Windows XP supports the creation of primary partitions and logical drives of up to 4 gigabytes (GB) using the FAT16 file system. The maximum cluster size is 64K.

However:
FAT16 volumes larger than 2GB are not accessible from computers running Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me), Windows 98, Windows 95, or MS-DOS. The size limit for FAT16 volumes in these operating systems is 2 GB. In other words, to maintain compatibility with Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows 95, or MS-DOS, a volume cannot be larger than 2 GB.....
----------------------

So since we want to boot into DOS for the Flashing Program to work, I would suggest to use a USB stick with maximum 2GB capacity - which size are you using currently ?

 

Hi Jonnie,

Just back from holiday - still having problems or solved by now ?
If you still have - the indicated beeps don't seem to be from the bios of your Acer, since according to them the Bios only knows one 'Beep-type': "long short short" indicating a corrupt graphic bios.
So looks like your machine has booted into DOS already and the beeps come from the Phlash16 programm - now it depends on the version of this program - which one are you using ?
If it's the one i am guessing (missing Himem.sys memory manager), try Pressing F5 once after the beeps and the programm should continue to work.

 

Hi There frank

Thank you for getting back to me nope machine still broke i dont know what im doin wrong im using a kingston 2gb i used the hp tool to make the memory stick bootable with the mini dos files from phoenix recovery then i copied the autoexec.bat and the phlash16.exe to the device and extracted my bios file then renaming it bios.wph when machine starts the light on the kingston flashes and then the 1 dull beep and 3 higher ones come and then nothing even when f5 is pressed stilll no response what am i doin wrong thanks for giving me your time and helping me frank

 

Hi Jonnie,

With your Acer almost certainly starting to boot given the described
beeps, looks like you may be using a non-compatible Bios version.
On their UK support page:
http://www.acer.co.uk
there are Bios-Versions for 4 different sub-models:
Bios for Intel graphics (integrated UMA), ATI X700, X600 & X300 Graphics.

Acer seems to constantly revamp their support sites - this time they
took out a little tool to identify the sub-model incl. graphics card
and memory type (DDR1/DDR2) based on the serial number...
So if you do not know your grahics card and memory type, welcome to
the 'trial and error' club

Also missing are the previous Bios Versions for different RAM types,
only the most recent one is listed for download and no more different RAM types
Almost seems like there was no need for all the different BIOS Versions before or what ??


Still today don't really understand why, but my Acer 1694-wlmi DDR2 came
back to life only after I used one of the oldest versions listed for
this model - meanwhile it is running on the latest one.
Based on this experience, try to use for the initial 'blind-flash' (blind = no screen ) a bios version with a release date close to your purchasing date, you can still update to a later one once the screen is back

A couple of questions in order to solve your 'riddle' further:
-which version of phlash16.exe version are you using ?
-which graphics card out of the 4 options is installed (and which Bios
are you using for the reflash ?)
-which sub-model and manufacturing date (look at the back next to serial number like: 1694-wlmi)

To make things simpler for me, please download the package from a
previous post:
ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_1690_ddr2/bios/3a30.zip
(As of now the link is still working - so hurry up...)
This package contains phlash16.exe, older Bios versions for all 4 graphic card options for the 1690 sub-model Acer Aspire 1694-wlmi with DDR2 Ram & and a readme-file explaining which file to use.
Provided your sub-model comes close to this spec, you may want to try the different Bios versions contained in this package, otherwise go the FTP Support page (see next post) and look for a better match...

Happy trying
Frank

 

One more thing to add:
The FTP page from Acer Europe
ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/notebook/
still contains all previous versions of the Bios.
For Acer 1690 for both RAM types DDR(1) and DDR2 - so as long as this page is still up, you might want to download all available packages -
Just in case the ones now offered for download on the official support webpage won't work on your machine...

 

If there is a BIOS PASSWORD what i should do ?
by the way the dvd-rom causes any problem ?
(acer aspire 5920G)

 

Hi Paft,

If the Bios is 'f**' up due to an unsuccessful flashing attempt AND you are presented with a dead screen THEN -in my experience- the boot sequence does not even get to the password routine.
The 'bad flashing' seems to erase and overwrite any password & password setting(s).

Well - this seems to be one (very painful) way to crack a Bios password...
Never touch your BIOS in the first place - it is not worth the risk

Would be the first time that the DVD-Rom would interfere (provided there is no disc in side), however the hard-drive has to be physically disconnected and removed in most cases, to force booting from the USB thumb drive.

 

Hi Frank
Sorry its taken me a while to get back to you well you did it lol i finally got my acer working again im using it now it has no problems i change the phoenix programme to a different one put it in 20 seconds later turned its self off and then the screen came on thank you very very much for your help i am forever greatfull to you

With your Acer almost certainly starting to boot given the described
beeps, looks like you may be using a non-compatible Bios version.
On their UK support page:
http://www.acer.co.uk
there are Bios-Versions for 4 different sub-models:
Bios for Intel graphics (integrated UMA), ATI X700, X600 & X300 Graphics.

Acer seems to constantly revamp their support sites - this time they
took out a little tool to identify the sub-model incl. graphics card
and memory type (DDR1/DDR2) based on the serial number...
So if you do not know your grahics card and memory type, welcome to
the 'trial and error' club

Also missing are the previous Bios Versions for different RAM types,
only the most recent one is listed for download and no more different RAM types
Almost seems like there was no need for all the different BIOS Versions before or what ??


Still today don't really understand why, but my Acer 1694-wlmi DDR2 came
back to life only after I used one of the oldest versions listed for
this model - meanwhile it is running on the latest one.
Based on this experience, try to use for the initial 'blind-flash' (blind = no screen ) a bios version with a release date close to your purchasing date, you can still update to a later one once the screen is back

A couple of questions in order to solve your 'riddle' further:
-which version of phlash16.exe version are you using ?
-which graphics card out of the 4 options is installed (and which Bios
are you using for the reflash ?)
-which sub-model and manufacturing date (look at the back next to serial number like: 1694-wlmi)

To make things simpler for me, please download the package from a
previous post:
ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/notebook/aspire_1690_ddr2/bios/3a30.zip
(As of now the link is still working - so hurry up...)
This package contains phlash16.exe, older Bios versions for all 4 graphic card options for the 1690 sub-model Acer Aspire 1694-wlmi with DDR2 Ram & and a readme-file explaining which file to use.
Provided your sub-model comes close to this spec, you may want to try the different Bios versions contained in this package, otherwise go the FTP Support page (see next post) and look for a better match...

Happy trying
Frank[/QUOTE]

 

Hi,

I have the same problem: Black screen on my Acer Aspire 1690 DDR2 ATI 700.

I've tried to flash with all Bios versions with no success. I follow step by step the instructions of this posts.

When i leave the "Fn+ESC" pressed, my laptop starts with the beeps (long ; short ; short) but it never restarts so my screen is still black. After some seconds (maybe 20) one of the three leds of the top right side of the laptop turns off. I don't know the meaning of this led. The power led remains on for all time.

Even if i try the flashing process with the USB unpluged... the beeps starts also so i guess that the beeps does not mind that the flashing process boot and is working fine.

Any help will be great!
Thanks in advance

 

Hi Kev
As you can see from my posts i had the same problem with$ my acer 1690 took me atleast 2 months to figure it out so ill talk you through what i did
1) download and install hp tool to make your usb memory stick bootable
2)plug in usb open the hp tool and click create bootable disk then find your mindos files and click start
3) after you hp tool has done its stuff open the memory stick and copy your autotex file and your phlash16 programme to it
4)download your bios flash file see above post by frank for link to download open the bios and open the folder you should now see about 4 files i think it's the third one for our type of acer click it and drag it to your memory stick renaming it bios.wph please be aware you have no need to press any keys just insert the usb stick also please make sure the hard drive and battery and cd drive is not connected to the laptop if your not sure how to take the cd drive out write back insert usb and switch on laptop

 

I am another unhappy Acer Aspire 1692 DDR2 ATI 700 owner (like Kev). I had a dead touchpad and thought Winflash to the latest Bios would help. Big mistake.
"Fn+ESC" then power gives beeps (long ; short ; short) and my screen is black.
Tried the flashing process with a USB but nothing.
(I can't find how to remove the CD tray, and don't know if this is critical.)

Have you got yours going, and if so, please describe how in "dummy" detail!

Any advice much appreciated


bits2

 

Thanks Jonnie for your help!!

Yes, I'm following all your steps except the "remove cd drive" step. I have tried it with 3 different Usb memory Stick (32MB, 128MB and 2GB).

To remove phisically the CD drive you need to unscrew one screw from the mother board. Its hard to disassemble all laptop to do that. Could you flash your Acer Aspire 1692 Bios with the CD Drive? or it is absolutely necesary to disconnect it?

Please, which Bios version are you using with your laptop. I bought mine on 6 September 2005 and i guess i have to use 3A17 o 3a28 versions. Despite that i'm trying all versions but not with each one of my USB Memory Sticks.

Thanks in advance

 

Hi - to give you some hope I followed the instructions below (taken from other contributors on this thread and others - my huge gratitude to them) on my 1692 WLMi with X700 Video and Phoenix bios and magically it worked WITHOUT TAKING OUT THE CD DRIVE.

1. Download and unzip the Phoenix recovery utility. I used http://www.box.net/shared/j2u98ci67f for phoenix recovery.rar

2. Download and use HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool with MiniDOS files to make your Bootable USB Stick - (I chose to format using FAT, rather than FAT32 on a 128MB stick).
3. Make sure all the files from Phoenix Rescue folder are copied to your USB Stick (ie autoexec & PHLASH16)
4. Rename your BIOS file to bios.wph and copy it to your USB Stick.
5. Remove the battery, I also removed the HDD (don't know if this is strictly necessary), unplug the computer from the power.
6. Plug in the usb stick (I used the front one, rather than the 2 side ones)
7. Press the power button.
8. Now you should see the USB light flicker - after a few seconds, magically, there's activity on the laptop screen and you can see the bios being written.
9 I found that the BIOS writing finishes and then restarts the laptop - it went around the cycle a couple of times before I realised. I just quickly whipped out the USB at the end of the cycle.
10 The screen says something like "pxe connection fault" - fret not. Just remove the power lead, reconnect the battery and HDD, then RESTART YOUR LAPTOP!!!

THIS ONLY WORKS ON PHOENIX BIOS as far as I know.

I am so happy - if you're local to J18 of M1 feel free to try the USB stick I've created.

 

CONGRATUATIONS "bits2"!!!
Finally you got it!

I will keep trying.

Please, which Bios version you use? 3a17?? I guess you use the one from Acer webpage.

I realise that you use the "Phlash16.exe" from the Phoenix_recovery RAR file. And you do not edit the "autoexec.bat" file. In other posts, people use the one from the Acer_Flashes Zip files and edit the autoexec.bat file.

"HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" makes a copy of MiniDOS folder files automatically to the USB stick and you do not need to copy them.

Thanks for your help.

 

my Bios version was 3A45(ATI M26) for my X700 graphics = L3263A45.WPH.

Good luck

BITS2

 

Sorry to bump this old thread, but this is the best fix Ive come across for my problem. I am using an HP with phoenix BIOS. Will this work? Also the bios file I get from HP is an .exe file. Can I still rename it to bios.wph and it will work? Or do I need a rom file or some other BIOS file?

 

Extract the EXE using 7zip the BIOS is inside.

 

What is the file extention to the bios file?

Edit: When I extract using 7zip I get a whole folder full of files and other folders. None of which look like a bios file. Only one I see is maybe BIOSOLD.bat but I dunno. Can someone help me figure out which file to use.

 

Ok I figured out that the bios file is the wph file. But there are 2 of them in there.

30CFF31A.WPH
30CFF31B.WPH

Which do i use?

 

Check which file does the Phoenix ini file point to by opening it up in notepad.

 

Phoenix.ini? Do you mean the autoexec.bat? Because that points to bios.wph which is what you have to rename the BIOS file to. So which one do I use?

Or do I somehow have to use both? Can anyone help me with this?

 

There is a ini file for WinPhlash to know which is the BIOS file open it and check.
Also why don't you just link us to the BIOS and save us the guesswork.

 

lol sorry man its been a stressful night with this stuff. Here is the link to the exe BIOS file.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&os=2100&product=3691928

Thnx for all the help by the way. If my reps meant anything Id rep you.

 

I did a checksum of the files
1)The 2 BIOS are different
2)Since your laptop is already no go you might as well try both.
The bootblock will not be overwritten unless you flag it "/BBL"
So just remember not to use /BBL and it is safe.

 

So it isnt flagged with BBL already? Also which file would I change it to /BBL if I wanted to change it?

 

I renamed the A file to BIOS.WPH andput it on the usb stick with the phoenix rescue files. Started the laptop with the stick in it and no HDD or battery and still nothing.

I feel crushed right now that this laptop bricked. Why cant I find a solution.

Edit: ive seen on another site that the use small USB drives. They only ones I have are like 4gbs. Does this make a difference? he said use 512mb and below on the other site.

Edit: I saw somewhere to hold windows key + B on startup to get it into BIOS recovery mode. When I do this the usb stick light comes on but it still isnt fixing the bios. Even if I leave it for like 10 mins. Still blank screen.

 

You have to get the key combo right.
It is usually Windows + B + Power On button (For HP Laptops), hold the combo for a few seconds before releasing.
The laptop will have to show signs of entering recovery mode.

i.e flashing LED Lights, Fan Spinning up

 

Ya the winkey +B makes the led light turn on. And even at first it flashes like twice like its working but then it just sits there wiith an idle light. Even if I leave it for like 10 mins it does nothing and doesnt work on restart.

My brother has futureshop warranty on it so he is gonna take it in and hope they can fix it.

 

Thank God, i finally did it

Today i brought back to life my ACER ASPIRE 1694 Wlmi, Pentium M 760 processor, 512 MB DDR, ATI MOBILITY RADEON X600 128 MB.

I had tried EVERYTHING, tons of flash drives, with 128, 512MB, 2GB, KINGSTON, HP, you name it...formatted with all the applications named here ( HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool, HP Drive Key Boot Utility, etc)

Inside were all the files, mentioned here (and in other forums), but with no sucess. Always the green power light on, fan starts, and blank screen...

Today i have a usd floppy drive (Brand IBM) borrowed and it worked. This is how i´ve done:

1) Quick Format a 1.44 MB floppy disk
2) Run the crisdisk.bat file like this "crisdisk a:"
3) When the process ended, i substitute the bios.wph in the floppy with right one for my laptop model (must rename the file to bios.wph, for example, L2243C29.WPH to BIOS.WPH).
4) Plugged usb floppy drive with the floppy inside and pressing Fn+ESC powered the laptop (with dvd and hard disk, no need to remove)
5) The floppy led blinked twice and stayed on reading and laptop start beeping
6) After a while the laptop rebooted and it was alive, no more blank screen

Attention that in the process the floppy stops, before the reboot (about 1 or 2 mins), but it´s normal don´t power off the laptop.

The files are here

CRISDISK FOLDER - RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

BIOS FILES FOR ACER AS1690/TM4100/TM4600 WITH X300, X600, X700 and UMA VGA - 3 VERSIONS - RapidShare: 1-CLICK Web hosting - Easy Filehosting

In my case i used the L2243C29.WPH in C29 folder.

Please feel free to ask.

 

Welldone odracir, good to hear success stories like yours.

 

this links are down
can u please upload it again cause my acer ferrari 1000 is stop at splash screen and i think bios update will solve this
ihave phoenix bios

thanx tj

 

So your computer stops at the Windows splash screen? If so, then it's unlikely a Bios issue.
See if you can start in Safe Mode (pressing F8 before Windows starts loading).

Michael

 

Hi,

Please be careful doing this operation. Make sure you have the original bios in case you do anything wrong. In my case the screen was black, nothing happened. Your case is different, first try all other options first (boot from cd, floppy, F8, etc).

After that if you can´t be successful here are the files

CRISIS DISK - MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

BIOS FILES - MEGAUPLOAD - The leading online storage and file delivery service

Good luck

 

Thanks.

Sometimes is good be stubborn

All the best.

 

Same here too.. How is the solution with that? Share something..

 

Thanks Karot!

This worked for me! As this post is a few years old the Link is dead, but redirects you to Acer's homepage. I navigated to the driver download page and found 4 different bios files for the Acer Aspire 1650, and took a sort of guess which one I needed.

On the bios setup screen all I could see was VGA something : aTi 008.***.***.*** (A number I can't remember). I googled this number and found 1 result. A french website with TONNES of posts and lists and lists of numbers, but the excerpt on the google page matched one of the save files for one of the bios folders. Anyway I took a chance.

The other thing that didn't work was flashing the bios without the battery and hard drive. I've never messed around with laptops before, I was just having a stab for my mate. As such I thought doing something without the battery seemed a bit strange. Absolutely no response at all. I put the battery back in and it flashed the bios. It did it twice, as I didn't know what I was doing. I turned it off as it started to do it a third time.
Put the HDD back in. Power on. Fixed.

Thank you!

 

Hi, did you had the power cable plugged while on the 3rd step or did you plug the usb stick first, then inserted the cable and pressed the power button?

Thanks man. I have the same laptop and it just isn't working :/

EDIT: can you upload the original bios? Mine was 3A33 but i don't know if I have the backup. I only have 3A41 and 3A45. The laptop worked fine with the 3A45 until i decided to flash again lol

 

The Acer Euro FTP site with downloads for "antique" Models is still up

Ftp://ftp.work.acer-euro.com/notebook/




Careful though - the 3 listed Bios Versions are for different hardware configurations / Graphic Cards: Intel / Ati / Nvidia
They are not interchangeable !

 

Hi, i have acer aspire 556g and i updated bios to 1.09 and it restarted and now only black screen. i can hear the fan running and the power and battery light turn on. i have tried this method in many ways.
i have found a 256 MB USB hdd and put the files mentioned here. i downloaded bios 1.17 from acer FTP, and put the wph file on the USB.
i have tried with/without battery and hdd. the indicator light on the USB dose not turn off when the battery is in. Do you think the a USB FDD would work form me? And do you have any suggestions on what else i can try

Thanks in advance for all help...

 

Hello guys,

I had the same problem with an Acer Aspire 1652LMi , I assumed the information at ACER website was accurate and secure so i've updated the bios from this laptop without even doubt their information, I even used their "Autodetect Laptop Serial number" utility to make sure I wasn’t doing anything wrong, and guess what.... black screen! no more laptop, it's like... ? shame on you Acer !

Anyway, I've ended up reading this post, and struggled along trying to make a USB bootable disk, in the end I was able to do it, but in a completely different way you all guys where doing, because it just wasn't working! and this will be the step number one before doing anything else!

The utility you mention to make a bootable usb, the "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool" it might work for some but it didn’t for me, so I’ve tried to find another way: The Hammer!

Step number 1:
Download and install utility called RUFUS , Google it I’m sure you will find somewhere, I’ve used the version 1.4.5 , downloaded from Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way ;

Step number 2:
Connect a usb drive and format using FAT 32 and MS-DOS Options ;

Step number 3:
Make sure its working! so test it on another computer, go to bios and choose to boot from USB Device, it wont make any harm to this pc you are using and this way you are certain that its really working.

Step number 4:
Just to make things simple delete both files from the already created usb bootable pen, autoexec.bat and config.sys, I wasn’t able to see the files even activating the option "See hidden files and folders" from windows, so I’ve just booted from the working usb and deleted manually the files using MS-DOS commands : del config.sys and del autoexec.bat , we are going to create an autoexec.bat file later but if you want to edit the file at this point you should, I’ve done it using MS-DOS but for this you will need command EDIT to be there for you to use it, download MS-DOS 6.2 or Google for the EDIT utility and download it, i have found it here: Boot Disk's Antigo80x86 and then used the utility WinImage to extract the files out, and there it was the famous EDIT file.

Step number 5:
Rufus utility created a folder called "LOCALE" Take the files out from this folder and copy them to the root of the usb bootable pen, now create the Autoexec.bat file, edit one or make one, just make sure the filename will be AUTOEXEC.BAT , write the line PHLASH16 bios.WPH /mode=3 /X , close and save.

Step number 6:
Copy files to the working usb boot drive: (Root)

PHLASH16.EXE
BIOS.WPH
AUTOEXEC.BAT

If you have your old bios make sure it will have the extension BIOS.WPH and not BIOS.BAK, if you don’t have try to find one and this time make sure it's the correct one, if not, well... the laptop its dead anyway! So won’t harm killing it again, but... better not

STEP NUMBER 7:
Take the battery out, Take the Hard Disk out ; Take the CD out, plug the energy, plug the USB , now, to remove CD/DVD Reader in some laptop models it's tricky, sometimes you will need to move the keyboard up a little bit ot take it out to access a small bolt that it's fixing the CD/DVD, go to YouTube type the model of your laptop and how to remove CD/DVD I’m sure you will find plenty of information how to do it, don’t just start taking all the bolts from the laptop, we know it's an Acer and probably doesn’t worth the trouble but hey we are trying to solve a bios problem here not getting another problem lol

STEP NUMBER 8
The moment of truth! turn it on and lets see what happens! for me worked! the usb pen started to blink, then the pc started to beep a lot of times, rebooted by himself and i was on time to remove the pen out before it booted again or else it was a never ending story, make sure you are not going for a coffee while doing this

And that’s it, I hope this information was helpful, I’ve decided to register and post this information here in a way of saying thank you for the forums and internet because most of the times we get what we are looking for, but, this only happens if people write and help each others!

Now im gonna to try to find the right BIOS update for this laptop and send a complain to ACER support web site!

See u !

Miguel Silva.

 

Did you ever find out?
what was the last version of bios?

 

I built the USB pendrive has you said, tried in a virtual machine and it works but on the laptop after 1m or so I get 1 long beep and 2 short beeps that never stop in loop.