G74SX in-circuit reprogram of BIOS SPI

Greetings Everyone!

I originally posted this in the "G74SX 202 BIOS Now Available" thread,
but did not see any responses. It's an older thread, so maybe a separate
thread makes more sense. Hope you don't mind the re-posting

Well, you can count me among the (dare I say) thousands of poor fools,
that attempted to update their BIOS, using the EasyFlash Utility,
and used that nifty feature of pulling the file directly from a NTFS
drive partition. I wish I had checked the forums, before I attempted
to do the update. I guess it was too much to expect Asus to support
any kind of recovery mechanism, or make sure their update utilities actually
worked correctly. You gotta love a company that leaves landmines in their
code, and no way to repair the damage, short of doing a RMA. What the
heck were they thinking? At least bundle the update files, with a Readme,
warning not to use the error prone features of the tool.

Okay, enough venting (at least for now)

So it turns out that in-circuit reprogramming of the SPI Flash is
fairly easy, if you have the right tools. I dumped the contents of
the bricked BIOS, and discovered that the Easyflash tool uses an
incorrect buffer pointer (at least when doing NTFS based updates).
Rather than the new BIOS code, the tool wrote the contents of my
hard drive directory tree into the flash. Nice, huh? Needless to say,
the G74SX would do nothing, after the update (no sign of power, no
lights, dead to the world). Side note, I was updating from 201 to 203,
on a G74SX, purchased in the last few months.

I tried downloading the 201, 202 and 203 BIOS files into the flash. The
good news is that the lights started coming on. The bad news is that is
as far as the unit gets. Holding the power button does not cause the
power to cycle back off, so the EC is probably in a bad state. Based on
the size of the files, and the fact that the first 512Meg is all 0xFF's,
I suspect the update files are either incomplete (they rely on some code
that stays resident in the flash, during update), or the file format is
not a raw binary image.

Does anyone, out there, know what format are the BIOS update files? Do
they need to be parsed?

Alternately, I was wondering if anyone has a raw image copy of their
SPI flash available, that they could send me (PM)? It should be about
4M in size. I believe the Linux tool "flashrom" should be able to extract
the SPI flash image. It is available as part of the following RecoveryCD:

Live CD - flashrom

Would anyone be willing to boot the CD, and take a snapshot, from their G74SX?
In return, I will gladly put together a tutorial on how to reprogram the BIOS flash.
It would be great if enough people made snapshots, so we
could get all 4 variants archived (V201, V202, V203, V203 + Throttle Mods).

Thanks to everyone who participates in this forum, and for all of your
time, expertise and efforts!

Brave, Brave Sir Robin

 

It's a binary file.

Bad idea, chances are you overwrite your serial nr / service tag when flashing a dump of a complete bios chip of another system.

 

Hey I have Asus G73Jh's full bios backuped by spi programmer.
I know it wont help, but one of my friends has an asus g74 , il ask him to make a backup of his bios, can you tell me how to do that with live cd .
thank you

 

Thanks for confirming the format, svl7
Do you know if there the file needs to be
offset in the flash (start programming at an
address other than 0x00000000)?

If those fields were stored in the SPI flash, they are long gone. Easyflash
erased and replaced them with garbage. They must erase the entire device,
and then attempt to rewrite the data, they want to save. Not good, if you've
got the wrong buffer pointer, in your code If they truly are storing the serial
number/service tag, in there somewhere. I can always edit the image to include the
correct number(s). I just want to get my G74SX running again. I know others are in
the same boat. If we can figure out how to fix the issue, in the field, it will be very
helpful, for those who are out of warranty service. Asus should really issue a generic
image file (complete image), for those people who need to go to a repair shop, or
need to order a replacement chip. After all, this is 100% Asus's fault. They should
never have let this problem occur in the first place. The least they can do, is provide
the files necessary to fix the problem.

Thanks evgasr2, if your friend is up for it, it would be a great help!

Here are the instructions. I just verified them on a H67 based Shuttle SFF:

1. Make sure your bios is setup to boot from CD/DVD as the first boot device
2. Plug in a USB Flash drive (for storing the image)
3. Insert the recover CD, and boot the system
4. Select "boot directly to graphical interface"
5. Once Gentoo has finished loading, you should see a console window
6. In the console window, enter the following (assumes only one USB drive installed)
"mkdir /mnt/flash"
"mount /dev/sdf1 /mnt/flash"
"cd /mnt/flash"
"flashrom -r bios_image.bin -p internal" (flashrom should write the file to your usb drive)
"flashrom -v bios_image.bin -p internal" (flashrom will verify the SPI contents to the file)
"cd /"
"umount /mnt/flash"
7. Once you are finished, you can use the shutdown button, on the lower right
side of the GUI, or type "shutdown now" on the console.
8. The file will be on the top level of your USB drive.
9. Then just remove the CD, boot to your normal OS, zip the file, and send it off

One note, according to the users manual, for flashrom, it may complain if it
detects that you are running on a laptop. Unfortunately, I do not have any way
to confirm if it will run successfully on the G74SX. Since we are only reading the
SPI, it should be fine. Reads between different masters, on the SPI bus, should be
properly semaphored (EC vs processor code etc). If this is the case, we should be
able to use the "−p internal:laptop=this_is_not_a_laptop" override.

Thanks to anyone who is willing to give it a shot!

Sir Robin

 

I'm not concerned about your serial... The issue is that you have a valid serial of someone else afterwards.

 

cant it be changed?

 

I understand and share your concern. That was why I suggested PM rather
than posting the image. Just on the outside chance, that they are doing
something like that. My intention was to compare images, from at least
two units, and see if any unique fields are present (outside of the BIOS
variable storage areas). If present, I was going to try to decode the fields,
and either null out the value, or reenter my original SN. Honestly, I am
not convinced that Asus actually puts a unique serial number/service
tag in each BIOS Flash. That has not been their practice, with other
EFI based boards, with which I have experience,and they tend to avoid
complication/cost. Adding a unique serial number, to each device manufactured,
is a costly step, for a high volume OEM. It means either a serializing programmer,
or a programming step, during integration testing. I did not notice any mention
of a unique serial number, in the BIOS setup, or anywhere in their windows tools.
It is possible that I overlooked it, however. I never went digging to find one.
Other vendors (Toshiba, for instance), appear to provide a complete image file,
suggesting that they do not rely on any pre-stored values in the flash (same basic design).
It is possible that Asus chose to pre-program part of the flash, simply to avoid
possible contention issues with the EC/ME, which are known problems, if not
handled properly. It may have nothing to do with a unique serial number. I see from your
other posts, that you have a great deal of experience, in this area. Can you confirm
that Asus is indeed placing unique serial numbers/service tags, in the G74SX bios SPI?
If so, can you provide an offset location and/or the storage format?

Depends on the storage format. If it is encrypted, probably not, however, there may
not be any checks to see if the field contains valid data, so nulling it out may be okay.
If it is not encrypted, it should be something we can change. Changes should not mess
up the BIOS checksum, since that section of code is a unique entity.

Sir Robin

 

Good news!

I have figured out how to bring a G74SX back to life, after a failed
BIOS update attempt. I will put together a guide, but in the mean time,
for those who are in need, here are the basic steps:

1. Gain access to the SPI ROM
2. Using a SPI ISP programming adapter, or device programmer, read and store
the bricked BIOS image (4MB, Winbond W25Q32)
3. Download, from Asus, the BIOS update file, for the version that you were
originally running, before the failed update attempt (V201 is on the driver
CD, V202, V203 are on the download site).
4. Using a hex editor, merge the two images as follows:
Reconstructed_Image 0x0 - 0x17FFFF = Bricked_Image 0x0 - 0x17FFFF
Reconstructed_Image 0x180000 - 0x3FFFFF = Update_Image 0x0 - 0x27FFFF
5. Program the Reconstructed_Image into your SPI Flash
6. Power-up or power cycle the laptop (your G74SX should be alive again)
7. Enter BIOS setup, by pressing F2
8. Select "Restore Defaults"
9. Save and exit

If you plan on reattempting the original BIOS update, be sure to follow this guide (using the
Easy Flash method). Also be sure that Easy Flash correctly reports the image as being for the
G74SX. If it fails to do so, abort the update (wrong buffer pointer problem):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/174395-bios-update-guide-asus-notebooks.html

Some useful notes:

1. I was wrong. Easy Flash does not erase the entire flash, during an update.
It only replaces 0x180000 - 0x3FFFFF. The data in 0x0 - 0x17FFFF is essential to
allow the system to boot properly. I was originally fooled by an incorrect assumption,
I made early on, about where the update file was being placed.

2. I have confirmed that Flashrom is not able to read the SPI flash on a G74SX,
even with the override. The SPI accesses are terminated, with an error. I believe there
is a way around this, but in it's current form, it is not a viable path to making a copy of
your G74SX SPI flash. For non-laptop motherboards, it works quite well. For anyone who
plans to play around with their BIOS, I suggest making an archival snapshot.

3. 0x0 - 17FFFF is a locked region, on a working system (reserved for the ME, descriptors and some
other stuff).

4. During boot, the SPI flash occupies 0xFFC00000 - 0xFFFFFFFF of the processor address space.
It is also aliased to other areas.

Good luck, and let me know if this works for you,

Sir Robin

 

Does it mean you will be doing some soldering work as well?

 

Soldering is certainly an option, for those who have already disassembled
their unit, but may not be the best way to go, depending on your situation.
For those who are willing to make a small "adjustment" to their
internal shell wall, no soldering/dis-assembly is necessary, or recommended.
The SPI flash is located on the bottom of the motherboard, just offset from
one of the lower-cover retention tab holes. With care, an approx 3/4"x1/2"
hole can be added to the plastic, without seriously impacting the structural
strength of the panel (warning, the plastic cover is impregnated with metal,
to act as an RF shield. You need to be very careful to avoid loosing shards
into the circuitry). For this job, I used some patience, an Xacto knife,
and a cardboard "debris catcher". Others might consider a soldering iron.
It's hard on the tip, and the fumes are toxic, but with a little practice,
you can cut a nice hole, without dropping any debris. To ISP read/program
the flash, I used a Pomona SOIC-8 chip clip, tied to a Total Phase Aardvark.
Total Phase includes a flash programming utility, for the Aardvark.
The Aardvark is an overkill, for this application, and expensive. For
those looking to setup their own ISP fixture, I would recommend
a Bus Pirate, or one of the other inexpensive solutions based on USB-Serial
controllers (FTDI, SI Labs, etc). There are also many inexpensive
chip programmers available (Ebay). For those, just create a DIP-8 to
Pomona clip adapter cable. Adapters using pogo-pins, also work well,
but you need to hold them steady, while you're working with the device.
I noticed that Flashrom supports the Bus Pirate. For those, with a Linux
computer handy, it may be a good option (or use the Rescue CD).

For those attempting this, be sure to only attach to the signal pins.
Let the laptop provide the power. With the battery removed, the G74SX
will apply 3.3V to the flash, whenever the AC brick is plugged in. As long
as the system is not told to boot (button press) or is fully bricked, the
chipset will not attempt to drive the SPI signals. I hooked a meter to the
clip power/ground pins, so I could tell if the clip was attached properly.
Avoid manipulating the clip, with the power on

Good luck,

Sir Robin

 

Interesting, I should try it one day if mine is bricked too, it'll be a hardcore lesson for me as I haven't done any SPI programming before. Did you happen to take a picture of where you cut the hole?

 

Yes, here is a good shot of the hole, and the surrounding area.
You should be able find the spot, without too much effort. The
DDR DIMMs are to the right. The drives are below the hole. The
wireless adapter is too the left. I found the hole to be a little snug.
It works fine, but it's not easy to see the pins, on the SPI flash,
when attaching the clip. In hindsight, I would have made the hole
slightly taller/wider, so I could better see around the clip, or added a
side view hole (wall near the drive). With a little work, it would be easy
to put together a long pogo-pin adapter. In that case, the hole size
could be reduced.

Sir Robin

 

Ahh you mean without disassembly, I was thinking that you had to cut a hole on the motherboard . So if I do the SPI flashing after disassembled, I don't need to cut anything and just attach the device to the chip right?

 

LOL!

Right, but there may be an issue with powering the board? I have not
tried powering a stand-alone G74SX motherboard. My guess is that it will
work fine, but there is the possibility that the power/control logic has some
dependency on the other parts of the system. It should be easy to test.
Assuming the DC brick jack is mounted to the motherboard, you should be
able to engage the DC plug, and see if 3.3V is delivered across pins 4 (GND)
and 8 (3.3V), of the SPI device. If so, you should be good, on that front. If not,
you either need to fix/bypass the dependency, or de-solder the part, and read/write it
in a programmer. I do not recommend applying your own 3.3V power. Many
motherboard chips are multi-voltage, and can be damaged if one supply is
present, and not the others (you can, if there is an inline diode, or transistor,
between the primary rail, and the device, but that is beyond the scope of
what we're talking about here ) The other issue, that comes to mind, is
SPI bus signal contention. You do not want to drive the signals (with the
ISP adapter), if the chipset is also driving them. Most likely, the motherboard
will power-up in a reset state, waiting for the user to press the power button.
If this is the case, you should be able to read/modify the SPI flash without
problems. If, for some reason, the motherboard attempts to access the SPI
flash, once power is applied, you may have a problem accessing the flash,
with the ISP adapter. In some cases, this can lead to damaged chips on
the motherboard or ISP adapter. Holding the board in reset, if you can find
the signal/button, should prevent this from being an issue. With an
oscilloscope, you can easily determine if the motherboard is attempting to
access the SPI flash, after power-up. If you try this, always read and verify,
before attempting to change the SPI contents. Due to buggy programmer/ISP
software, I recommend the following:

1. Read the device contents into the programmer buffer
2. Verify your read buffer against the device
3. Save the file, in the desired format
4. Clear the programmer read buffer
5. Read the file back into the programmer buffer
6. Verify your programmer buffer against the device
7. If everything checks out, make a backup of the file, on another machine/drive

Sir Robin

 

I have been digging into how to make a complete backup
of the SPI flash, on the motherboard. Since each unit may
have a unique programming of offset 0x0 - 0x17FFFF, it is
important that owners be able to make a backup image, in case
something goes wrong with the device/data, once the unit
is out of warranty. As I mentioned earlier, this section does not
appear to be changed by Easyflash, during the update procedure, and
is not included in the update files, provided by Asus. So, if you
loose the data contained in 0x0 - 0x17FFFF, you have no way to
recover it, short of an RMA. This data is critical, because it
contains the descriptor tables, ME code, Ethernet firmware, and
likely some manufacture specific data structures (serial number,
model/assembly numbers, etc).

I have reviewed many of the available tools. So far, I have not
found anything that does a complete SPI flash snapshot. I have,
however, found two tools, that will make an accurate backup of the
0x180000 - 0x3FFFFF section. In essence, they create an equivalent
of the Asus update file, with the added benefit of including you current
BIOS setups (since the NVRAM sections are included in that range). Here
are the tool names:

AMI AFUDOS or AFUWIN Aptio version (I recommend this tool over the other)
AMI | American Megatrends Inc. : AMIBIOS Support

Universal BIOS Backup ToolKit 2.0
(The best way to get this tool is to google it.)

So why is this important? If you are into custom BIOS mods, this is
an easy way to backup/distribute your tested BIOS. Also, if you have
a complicated BIOS setup, this trick will store the setup along with the
BIOS code. Here is my personal favorite reason. Because it fixes the
disabled keyboard backlight issue

Yep, the G74SX appears to be subject to the same problem as the
G73 series. Somewhere, in the BIOS, there is a variable, that, if changed,
causes the backlight support code to be skipped (lack of backlight display
during Asus splash screen). This same code must be responsible for the
ACPI entry, which tells the windows driver how to handle the Fn key press
events. I suspect this is why windows can not recover the lights, once the
variable is corrupted. I do not yet know the exact cause of the variable
corruption, but I suspect it has something to do with uninstalling Asus
apps, which talk to the ATK driver module. Here is a link to the G73 series
thread, for reference:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/490250-asus-g73jh-keyboard-light-failure-after-bios-flash-209-a-34.html

Gary's fix updates one of the BIOS variable locations, with a value that
re-enables the keyboard backlight. At this time, I do not believe the
G74SX uses the same location, so I would not suggest running Gary's
fix on a G74SX. It may work, but so far, I don't see a similar variable in
the G74SX snapshots.

I will post the full keyboard backlight fix, in this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/659017-g74sx-keyboard-backlight-disabled.html

Here is the readers digest version. If you have working keyboard backlights,
make a snapshot of the BIOS code now, using one of the above tools. If they
ever become disabled, you can use Easyflash, to re-enable them with your
backup copy of the BIOS code.

Enjoy,

Sir Robin

 

Dear Sir Robin,
I have a bricked g74sx bbk8 after a failed bios update to version 203 from version 202.
I am desperate to get the 4mb file to then look for an SPI ROM tool to put things back into the BIOS chip according to your instructions.
Would you please help me

 

Hi mybouadani,

Sure, lets see if we can get your system going again

First things first. If your unit is still under warranty, the easiest path
to recovery is an RMA. There is a certain amount of hacking skill needed,
to perform the reconstruction method. If you're comfortable with the concept,
or up for a learning experience, then the reconstruction method may be a
good option for you. If you are not comfortable with performing the
operations, the reconstruction method may still be an option, if you have
an open-minded repair shop, or friend, who can help you with the trickier
parts.

This subject has been discussed, in more detail, in the following thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/668404-g73jh-bios-chip-replacement.html

I recommend you give it a look. It may answer some of your questions.

The first and most important step, in the reconstruction method, is to
make a full copy of your SPI flash device. To do this, you will either
need to disassemble your laptop, or duplicate the access hole modification
I showed above. If you choose to do the access hole change, be sure to
capture all of the plastic debris. It contains metal shielding, which can
lodge between pins, on your motherboard, and cause shorts. I used a
combination of an Xacto knife, and a debris catching tray, to make the
change. I also carefully vacuumed the area, after I was done. As mentioned
earlier, a soldering iron can be used to cut the hole, without dropping debris.
I would avoid Dremel or grinding tools, because it's too hard to catch all
of the removed material.

Once you have access to the SPI flash, you will need to rig up a
device reader/programmer, to read the contents. I can provide an
Aardvark cable definition, if you have access to one. Alternately, I have
outline a Bus Pirate cable in the above mentioned link. You are not limited
to those two options. There are many programmers/adapters available.
My personal favorite is the Dediprog SF-100. It is fast and reliable, but
very expensive, compared to other options:

DediProg.com :: products

Once we have a copy of your SPI flash, we can put together a reconstruction,
that will hopefully bring your unit back to life.

One other thing. I have a slightly different model than you. It is possible that
Asus used different sized SPI devices, in the G74SX line. The size of the device
will effect where we do the splicing.

How do you plan to access the SPI device?

Sir Robin

 

Thanks Sir Robin. Ive just fixed one of these for a customer. I had it already stripped, so it was easy to hex edit & splice the BIOS together. I used an external programmer, as I do this fairly often.

I used a Smartpro 5000U with a SOIC8_W adapter.

Ive got a copy of the 4mb Reconstructed BIOS if anybody wants one.

 

That's fantastic news Wozzzaaa! Glad it worked for you, and
thanks for posting your results + the tools you used! It really helps
to know that the trick has worked for others. Do you recall the
laptop family/model number, and SPI part number? I would like to start
list of families/models that have been repaired, and their associated
SPI flash sizes/splice offsets.

Thanks again, for taking the time to post your results!

Sir Robin

 

Hi
The SPI was a Winbond W25Q32BV SOIC 208mil. I dont have the laptop details on me now, but it was a G74S.

The dump from the SPI was 4MB. The downloaded file from Asus was 2MB, I pasted it at offset 0x180000 - 0x3FFFFF using a hex editor to create a reconstructed image. I was thinking of flashing the Asus bios dirrectly to the SPI at that offset, but decided against it.

First time it flashed correctly, however failed to verify. I erased the SPI completely and the next time it verified fine.

Once the Asus fired up, I used easyflash to load the latest BIOS - 203.

Got some crappy iphone photos and screencaps of the flashing.

 

Awesome, thanks for the details!

BTW, tried sending a PM, but hit a block. You may not have PM rights yet,
or have it disabled

Sir Robin

 

Hmmm, no PM. Send me a email.


Out of curiosity, how did you work out the correct offset for the Asus flash?

 

When I first dumped my SPI flash, I was concerned that Easyflash had
completely trashed it's contents. I could not find any patterns that
matched the upgrade file. Looking at the upgrade file, it appeared that
Asus was running in non-descriptor mode. In the dump, I could see my hard drive
directory tree starting at about 1.5MB, so I knew it was, at least partially,
corrupted. There were a lot of unknowns, and few hard facts. I ran a few
experiments, to test the non-descriptor mode theory (loading the upgrade file
at 0x000000, etc). They show minor improvements, but were clearly not correct.
After a couple of days, it occurred to me that some section, of the upgrade image,
must be providing the processor reset vectors. If the upgrade file was a binary
image, that was not parsed, then the reset vectors should be at the end (the BIOS
flash is always setup to occupy the end of 32 bit processor space). I took a closer
look at the end of the upgrade file, and determined that it contained the vector table.
Then everything fell into place. I went back, and re-examined my SPI dump. I compared
0x-0x3FF to another machine, based on the H6xx series, and determined that the
descriptor table was likely in good shape. I also realized that Asus was padding
the first 512KB of the upgrade file. The actual "real" code starts at 2MB. I then knew
enough to take a good guess at where the splice should occur. Thankfully, the contents of
my SPI device were only corrupted in the area that Easyflash "updated" (last 2.5MB)

The formula, for calculating the splice offset, ends up being quite simple:

Splice_Offset = ((SPI_Device_Size) - (Upgrade_File_Size))

Anything below the Spice_Offset should come from the SPI device dump.
The upgrade file should be pasted into the reconstructed image, starting
at the Splice_Offset.

Sir Robin

 

can you upload the file ? thx in advance

 

wow thank you m8. I bricked my laptop using the same method you did (ntfs usb flash).
I need your opinion. I ordered BIOS CHIP ASUS K42JB, K42JK, K42JR, N45SF, N55SF, N75SF, G53SX, G50G, G74SX, | eBay and Im still w8ing for it to come.
I was planning to replace the old BIOS chip with the new one. The seller says it allready programmed with the latest g74sx BIOS update.

what do u think??

 

Sorry to hear about your "bricking" BlueNasser

As for replacing the chip, yeah, that should work, if you get
one with the full image. It is unclear if that vendor is providing
a complete image (taken from a running unit), or simply programming
the update file, into the flash. If they are only programming the
update file, it will not work. I have read several reports, from people,
who bought pre-programmed SPI chips, from online/ebay vendors,
that did not work. The vendor you listed is one of biggest on Ebay,
so it is possible that they have a full image. If you have access to
a programmer, you can dump the contents of the pre-programmed
device, and see if it contains a Descriptor Table, similar the one I
posted in this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/668404-g73jh-bios-chip-replacement-5.html#post8721890

If so, and the end of the device has code that matches the end
of the update file, you should be in good shape. If you don't see
those things, the chip is not likely to work, and I would not
recommend installing it. Rather, I would suggest removing you old
chip, and dumping the contents, to a file (using a programmer).
Then do the reconstruction method, and write the new file to the
Ebay device, or your original. Be sure to save a copy of the Ebay
device, just in case. As always, if you are still under warranty,
the safest course of action is to request an RMA.

Good Luck,

Sir Robin

 

Thank you very much Sir Robin.
I took the laptop to ASUS. They told me they can't replace the BIOS chip but instead they will replace the motherboard :S. I said ok as long as im not paying .
It's still under warranty.

 

Hi again.
After I got my laptop back, it was fixed and it has 203 BIOS. Unfortunalty the keyboard backlight stopped working. I found a fix for the G73 but im not sure if it will work with g74sx or not.
your help will be appreciated.

 

Glad it's working again BlueNasser!

I assume you're referring to Gary's Keyboard Blacklight Fix, mentioned in this thread?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/659017-g74sx-keyboard-backlight-disabled.html

I have not seen any clear reports that it works on the G74SX.
It has been a while since I researched the issue, so there may
be updates out there. It may work, but the jury is still out on
that one, from my perspective. I have not had a chance to dig
into the issue further, since the last exchange in the thread. I
will get there, but free time has been short recently. If you have
access to anyone, who can provide a working image copy, you can
use the trick I outlined in the above thread. Otherwise, you can
try making a working image copy of your bios, and then try Gary's
fix. As long as it does not brick your laptop, you can restore
your working copy, if the fix does not help.

Good luck, and report back if you try Gary's fix,

Sir Robin

 

Thank you man
Could you please send me a copy of your bios

 

Can you send me the reconstructed file? please i bricked my asus g74sx my email is [email protected]

 

Hi first time posting.
I bricked my g74sx, and I'm unable to claim warranty as apparently it's a US model with no local warranty here in Australia.
I tried the method described by sir robin, but to no success, I think my BIOS is too screwed up...
Its too expensive for me to buy a new motherboard (only a uni student) so would anyone be kind enough to please share a reconstructed BIOS, would be much appreciated!
Email is [email protected]

Thank you kind sirs!
Regards, nabs

 

Has anyone tried replacing the motherboard with a cheap made in China one? Eg ebay
Thanks

 

I already done it for me, it was complicated, i was one week reading over and over again the Sir Robin's guide, because Im not a programmer, and i don't know too much about Hex Editor or something, but I could repair my Original code and my G74SX is back to life now!

 

Would u be so kind to list the basic steps of how you got it working, or send me the reconstructed file? Much appreciated!

 

of course, i will be glad to help all people who needs this file, It was very complicated for me and took me one entire week without sleep to get this done, and I have read many cases of this problem, so is great when you see your notebook waking up, and is better if you can help others to feel the same happiness, the thing is I dont know how to upload a file here, and I dont know how to send a private message, everything is blocked and i have no privileges, send me your email and i will send the file to you

 

Hello,

can anyone send me the reconstruction file?
My e-Mail adress: [email protected]

thanks,

 

Yes, i have already done it 3 times,
first time i got burned, coz i was looking for cheapest variation, and paid 190$ for mobo that had only 2 RAM slots.
second time i got a normal one, but without working backlit, and BIOS version 212 ? for 210$ (updated later and fixed backlit)
third time i got fully working one, with all features and no problems found yet for 130$.

All 3 are still running =)

EDIT:
all prices have DHL Express included in the cost.
And BTW all G73JH motherboards are made in china XD

 

Hello,

can anyone send me the reconstruction file, pls?
My e-Mail adress: [email protected]

thanks

 

Thank you kindly for the reply.
Which website did you buy from? If from ebay, which seller?
Cheers.

 

There's a seller on ebay that repairs motherboards with a bad bios flash.

Here's a couple links

Bad BIOS Fix Only Asus G73 G73JH G73JW G73SW Laptop Motherboard Repair Service | eBay

Bad BIOS Fix Only Asus G53 G53JW G53SW G53SX Laptop Motherboard Repair Service | eBay

I would guess he covers all of the models but it's probably best to message him first.

 

Actually i bought from Aliexpress.com and/or Alibaba.com.
You can do some bargain with the sellers too =)

@ my previous post
looks like the last mobo has issues with charging the battery :S

but if i would still have the bad one, and wouldnt sell it so fast i could still charge it in that mobo XD

 

Hi everyone,
Does anybody have the reconstructed BIOS file of G74SX or G53Jw or U30Jc in order to program my BIOS chip? I've bricked my laptop. I need a complete 4-MB-size BIOS file. Not the 2 MB one on ASUS site. If anyone is into BIOS chips, please back it up and send it to me or create it.
It's urgent and necessary.
My laptop is ASUS U30Jc, however the other mentioned model file is also of great help to me.
My E-mail: [email protected]
Thanks a lot. I'd appreciate it.

 

Please, avoid crossposting and bumping threads before 24 hours. One post is enough to being attention to your problem. Given the nature of your issue, it might take time before someone can send you the file.

 

Hi all, I need to ask a question to those of you who have dissected the G74Sx bios code. Right now, I have that laptop and well, I applied a modded bios that unlocked the bit 15 of MSR at 0xE2 which would allow my laptop to run OS X Mountain Lion without having to patch the AppleIntelCPUPowerManagement.kext file every update. Also allows native speedstep up to 3.1gzh, prior I would only have 800Mhz or 2.2Gzh. A bit of info on my scenario which will be helpful...

Any who, like a dummy I always have a BIOS password, I just liked having one because my roommates would try and use my computer and well, they aren't technically inclined enough to bypass it. I have had this modded BIOS for a few months no problem, until I "reset to default settings" because I turned a setting on by mistake and was having BSODs. After resetting to default, the computer exited the BIOS and I was greeted with a blank password box... it didn't say "enter password" like normal, it was that same password box but without any text saying what it was. Sure enough I hit Enter leaving it blank... now things get ugly.

Upon reboot, it asks for the password before you can boot windows OR get into BIOS, so I enter my normal password, says invalid. did it three times, I restarted. Confused, I thought that maybe with that blank prompt from before I set my new password as blank, so I hit enter, NO GO!

I am now locked out of my computer completely. ASUS wants it RMA'd because it is under warranty, but I would rather spend $30 for a Bus Pirate, $12 for the SOIC8 clip, and put the entire 4MB BIOS back onto the chip, erasing my strange password dilemna AND have it done quicker than the ASUS RMA procedure would take (upwards of 2-3 weeks!!) and in the process avoid ASUS' "you forgot your password" claim and to avoid the possibility of them finding that I have modded the BIOS.

MOD EDIT: I know it sucks when you're in this situation, but we do not allow discussion of bypassing security measures under any circumstances.

P.S. Sir Robin, kudos to all that you have provided to this forum. I have read every post you wrote up about the g73 and this thread on the G74. You went into such detail in every post, and I can tell you thoroughly enjoy doing this. I want to have the same fun! Thanks in Advance.

 

I completely understand, that is why I expressed concern about how other forums would have reacted and I am not assuming this forum is any different. This situation I am in regards security and passwords yes, but it is due to the same underlying condition of a broken BIOS which is what others on this thread are discussing. A password prompt for a password I never set is a result of a BIOS flash. It is a problem which is denying use of the computer, as is the bad flash people are getting also denying them use of their machines.

 

Hi bud, we understand your intention, and while that may be the case, there is no way for you to prove it, and even if you did it would still break the forum rules which you agreed to when you signed up. So we have to delete part of your post. Sorry.

This site isn't the place to discuss what you are posting about. If you want to get into BIOS hacking discussions that border on security features you have a few good options, try rebels haven, BIOS-mods, MDL, or Wim's.

 

Im sending you the file!

 

Thanks a lot rachcampitos,
Finally, happily I recovered my laptop using a file DRGN997 has sent to me here:
http://rapidshare.com/files/1175037335/U30JcAS217(G73jh+Asus U30Jc bios update).zip
and now I'm typing with my own laptop.

Thanks for your files anyway.

 

Hi!

With some inspiration from Sir Robins posts, I managed to unbrick a N73Jn.
I also had the bios file on a ntfs stick when I used Easy Flash.

I used spipgm2 via a printer port from another computer and a Ponoma clip on the dead bios

Schema for the cable -> RayeR's homepage/Programátor SPI FlashROM na paralelní port

I didn't use any ground cable between pin 18 on printer port and pin 4 on bios chip. And instead of 150Ohms resistors I used 220Ohm.
Used 2 1,5v AA batteries, connected to pin 4 (-) and pin 8 (+), to power the chip. Using the power adapter as Sir Robin did, didn't work for me.

Booted the computer with the printer port on a usb-stick that was prepared with that HP utility to make it bootable.
Description on how to do that - > How To Make usb Thumb Drive Bootable - Computer Forums

On the usb-stick I also had spipgm2.exe and cwsdpmi.exe.

steps: (a bit simplified)

cwsdpmi
spipgm2 /i (to check if spipgm2 could identify my chip)
spipgm2 /d oldbios.rom
spipgm2 /d oldbios2.rom (took two dumps, they should be identical or the reading is not stable.)

Reboot into windows and used a hexeditor to compare the two files, oldbios and oldbios2, they where identical.
Cut the first 2MB from oldbios.rom into a new file. (offset was exactly at the middle of the dumped rom file)
Added bios file I've downloaded from asus before, 2MB size, to that new file and saved it as newbios.rom

Reboot on the usb-stick.

cwsdpmi
spipgm2 /u (unlocks bios so it can be written)
spipgm2 /e (erase)
spipgm2 /s newbios.rom ( /s as in slow programing, /p didn't work for me.)
spipgm2 /d control.rom ( to compare with newbios.rom, should be identical.)

Rebooted into windows and compared newbios.rom with control.rom with the hexeditor and found them to be identical.

Removed the clip on the laptop and booted it up, And it started again. ;-)