Bricked G73 after BIOS 213 Update...

And I'm out of warranty. I submitted an RMA thinking Asus would be reasonable regarding the warranty situation (it's been less than two years, IIRC there is coverage for defects etc for two years, correct me if I'm wrong) but they said I'd have to pay out of pocket to get the BIOS chip reflashed. Awesome, considering the amount of money I've spent with Asus over the years. Especially awesome because I've always recommended their products to everyone I know. And being that I work in Information Assurance, I get asked about this type of thing quite often. Needless to say I'm starting to doubt my own recommendations.

So my options are buying a whole new motherboard and installing it myself, or trying to solder on a new BIOS chip myself.

I really wish they'd have made it so EZFlash can't read from an NTFS partition, it doesn't make any sense to allow it to do so if you're supposed to use a FAT partition for the update.

Has anyone bought a pre-flashed BIOS chip off ebay and soldered it on themselves?

 

I was under the impression failed BIOS flashes were covered under warranty. I recommend sending a PM to Chastity on this forum for help with your RMA. Couldn't hurt...

 

If your out of warrantry only option to save money is replacing the bios chip,
you can find one for 23$ on ebay , and disassemble your laptop and take it to a repair center and tell them to replace the old bios chip with new one thats it , the maximum cost may be 60$ including bios chip,
hope this helps.

 

I won't lie, I've lurked around this site/section for quite a while before signing up. Having witnessed some of the things Chastity has worked out here gave me hope that maybe she could take a look at my situation. Unfortunately, newbs can't PM I guess

And this is what I'm probably going to end up doing. I'm currently deployed with the Navy and thus don't have any of my tools with me, so I'm going to have to send it out for repair.

I wound up buying another (I know, I'm a glutton for punishment) G series to replace the G73, a G74SX-TY389V while I was in Dubai. Cost me around $1700, and I've been incredibly happy with it. I'll probably be selling the G73 once I fix it, because the improvements in the keyboard and touchpad alone would make it very difficult to go back to the G73. At this point I just hope I never have to talk with Asus about it, because this situation has left me less than happy.

 

What kind of bios is it?
AMI, PHOENIX?

There are bios recovery techniques that may be able to help you (if you have another system you can work on).

Ask this guy:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/asu...jh-bst7-bios-crisis-recovery.html#post8362578

 

Very interesting... I will follow this thread and see what happens. I'm not so sure it will help me because the G73 doesn't even power on. It's completely non-responsive. Plugging it in doesn't even make the power light light up.

Edit: Can't even PM the guy. When the crap will I be able to PM here? :lol:

 

You need a couple more posts (5 maybe).

So let me get this straight, you update the bios, notebook turns off and never turns back on?

Have you pulled out the CMOS battery yet?

 

Hey dont anger your self , for no pm function, you will have it after 5 posts,
btw: DO you know I am a guy who knows all bios recovery procedures on G73,
so , it will be easy for me if you have anyting like skype or msn.

 

Hey, it's the BIOS guy! Nicely done!

Yes, I spent the time between posts researching the lack of PM, and found the same answer

Unfortunately, due to policy, I do not have access to skype or msn.

 

Negative. I followed the procedures for a capacitive discharge (unplugged, reset pinhole for 15 seconds, let sit with no battery for 2 hours) and still nothing

But yes. I updated the BIOS by saving the file to an NTFS partition (a mistake I didn't know about until it was too late) and used EZFlash to update the BIOS. The system attempted to restart, but never turned back on.

 

haha nice name for me "BIOS GUY" , I should rename myself soon time.,
can you give your email? or anything ?
because its going to kill my self when posting in threads,

I think you should disassemble your G73 to follow my instructions,
your warranty wont be void trust me., do you know : only if the processor is removed your warranty voids , unless that your free as a bird to remove anything on your g73.

 

I'm glad you approve of the name

If it's not too much trouble, I would prefer to wait until I can PM you my email. Posting it publicly invites spam.

I'm not terribly concerned about my warranty, because according to Asus I don't have one anymore. I do have the disassembly instructions and a set of screwdrivers though, so I can definitely pull it all apart. Are you saying I should remove the CMOS/BIOS battery?

 

Thanks
ok pm me after you get that function.
btw: CMOS not at first, did you try pressing the reset button?

 

I did, but I will try it again.

 

if it faILS, hold rest button and connect the ac adapter, but before attempt remove your battery.
make sure reset button is beign pressed,

 

Ok, I tried:

Reset button for 15 seconds: Nothing
Reset button w/ no battery for 15 seconds: Nothing
Holding reset button while plugging in a/c adapater: Nothing
Pressing the power button like a maniac while cursing: Nothing

 

PM Sent. Perfect timing!

 

Please update us if you manage to fix it

 

evgasr2 and I exchanged a few emails, and I tried his method, but to no avail. The laptop still won't power on or even acknowledge it's plugged in.

I've emailed a company back stateside to see if they can solder on a new BIOS chip for me. It's a pain, because of all the shipping (read: waiting) involved... But at this point it's looking like it's the only option left.

 

Hey sorry , I couldnt contact you,
do you have your laptop disassembled?

 

Just wanted to update this for anyone who finds this via google/search. I've ran out of options aside from an RMA with Asus. I will be sending them the laptop next week.

DO NOT USE AN NTFS PARTITION TO FLASH YOUR BIOS!