Different System Bios Flash Mistake M17x R2

okay long story short I was trying to stop my GSOD problem with my m17x r2 and I stumbled upon a fix for that, Stupidly I did not read that it was for a Asus I thought it was for my system. The page I was led to from a forum is here G73Jh GSOD Vbios Update

My specs
OS: win 7
Gpu: ati radeon 5870m
CPU: intel core i5 2.40 ghz
4gb RAM

My comp turns on lights up from the keyboard LEDS fans work, but then the NUM CAPS and SCROLL LOCK start to flash on the indicator. Plus the screen doesnt power up.... Any Suggestions on what to do from here?

 

Look up blind flash for the M17x R2. Follow the directions exactly. If that doesn't work, a motherboard replacement will be in order.

 

There are bios rescue services that can manually program chips which would be a lot cheaper.

 

I tried BIOS crisis rescue but radji I'll try your solution and see if I make a breakthrough.

 

He flashed the graphic card, from what i understand.
You will probably have to remove the VBIOS, reprogram it and then resolder it.

 

You know, you're absolutely right. The G73Jh update he used was a VBIOS flash, not a system BIOS. +1 to you.

OP: if you did flash that VBIOS updated, then you will need to blind flash your 5870m card, not your motherboard. It is still possible and you would looks it up under M17x R2 blind flash and make sure it's a VBIOS flash. You can get the Dell VBIOS from the Dell Downloads website, then open the .exe file with 7-zip and extract the VBIOS file.

 

Pretty sure it has to do with misguiding title xD
"Different System Bios Flash Mistake M17x R2 "

I tried to do blind flash, but the system doesn't let us do that, because the diagnostics stop the laptop from booting :/
- now you can stick it in G73JH that actually alows you to do blind flash with bricked cards
- or you can send it to slv7, he's good with this kind of stuff
- or repair it yourself if you are good with soldering, and reporograming.

 

You can bypass the diagnostics by creating a barebones win98 bootable USB (with the DOS framework only) and try flashing with only ATIflash and not all the dell diagnostics attempting to intervene.

 

True, this could work. That way you can flash the video card.

 

How do you mean bypass Dell diagnostics? I thought that if you get LED error code, the system stops at that point

 

It may be that the tools let you boot to a DOS environment before kicking in.

 

You're right, it does. But his LED error code signifies a system board (motherboard) fault, not necessarily a GPU defect (he says all three LEDs are flashing) Alienware LED Codes Table.

SO...maybe he should do blind flash the system BIOS and see if that gets the LED error code to go away, then go in and blind flash his GPU if necessary?

 

I dont even get to the alien or the system startup. I just get a black screen with no light. I'll try your solution maxslo. But I'm kinda in a chokehold here GPU or Motherboard?

 

I still say try a blind flash of the system BIOS first. You said the NUM CAPS and SCROLL LOCK flash, that LED error code indicates a problem with the motherboard, not necessarily the GPU. But since the GPU was flashed incorrectly, it could be causing the error code with the motherboard. Still, it can't hurt to blind flash the system BIOS and see if the LED code goes away. If it does, you can try blind flashing the GPU VBIOS and see if that corrects your problem. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but considering the alternative will be sending your system away for repair, it's at least worth considering.

 

Oh, i misread i thought he said only 2 were flashing xD
I still doubt that he could flash VBIOS even by mistake on the BIOS.
I thought Atiflash can only flash GPU adapters.

 

Yeah, ATI flash will only flash the GPU ROM, or at least that's what it's supposed to do. The way I figure it, there are two possibilities. One, the ASUS VBIOS flasher messed up the system BIOS during the flash, hence a blind flash may fix the system BIOS. Two, the ASUS VBIOS flasher messed up the 5870m to where it is causing an error with the system board, hence the motherboard LED error code.

 

ATIflash has very specific bios roms at specific hardware addresses it will access. i don't think it could flash a system bios without significant modification.

 

Ok I'm kinda of a noob, what should I use to blind flash I cant find a tutorial or anything anywhere? Also the signal given is either the GPU or the SYSTEM BOARD. Let me make one thing clear, The alien head bios screen does not show up its as if my screen is on black out with no power at all, but when I hold FN+B the error signal goes away when I do the power drain. Please help I on my last rope. One last minute thing, the LED code stated this in the table: The video card is preventing the system from completing POST.

 

So number lock is not flashing, but scroll and caps are?

If that is the case, try doing the blind flash of the 5870m VBIOS. You would need to do the flash right after you the power drain to make the LED error code go away. That way the next time you start up, there's no error code and you can blind flash, in theory. If this doesn't work, you can always try what Max said, take your 5870m card out and put it into an ASUS and blind flash it there. Otherwise, the only sure-fire option will be to replace your video card.

 

okay I have ati flash, and the bootable usb stick what files am I missing. No other guide went into detail about files needed.

 

Here is the guide on making an MS-DOS bootable USB. MS-DOS Bootable Flash Drive - Create - Windows 7 Help Forums

You will need ATI flash and the correct BIOS file. You can get the Dell 5870m VBIOS rom file from here: VGA Bios Collection: Dell HD 5870 Mobility 1024 MB | techPowerUp

The catch 22 is you don't know if the system will boot from the USB properly. Since your LCD is o/s you just have to guess. So you create the bootable USB and put the ATI flasher and rom file on your USB. Make sure to put the flash and rom file on the root of he USB(not in any folder) and rename the rom file to bios0.rom. Now plug the USB into your Alienware and try booting your system (you should remove your hard drives/SSDs to force the system to boot from the USB). If it doesn't give the LED error code, wait about a minute and type in atiflash -f -p 0 bios0.rom and press enter. You WILL NOT be able to see what you type so it is super-duper important you be sure you get it right. If the status light on your USB drive flickers after you press enter, that's a good sign it is flashing. Wait about 10 minutes (just to be safe). If after that time, the light on your USB drive is not flickering anymore, then you can press the power button to shutdown the system. Try starting back up and seeing if the display comes back to life.

One other thing I forgot: have you tried plugging in a VGA monitor to the VGA port on the Alienware and seeing if anything comes up on that display?

 

FIXED: bought a new 5870 and I'm back on track, Now I know don't be an idiot and skim through upgrade guides.

 

What have you done with the old 5870M?