Asus locked BIOS

Hey!
Now, it is long time ago last I've upgraded a Asus laptop but here it goes, today my cousin gave me a Asus K5 series laptop or something like that. It is orginally a 15,4" laptop, but I've had to replace the screen as it was accidently 'stepped on'. However, I've had a 14" (1440x900) screen which I replaced it with so the laptop is ready for use. But when I powerd it up it seems like the network card is not working. I mean the wireless. I have a 6300 which is laying around somewhere here, I started a big search with ended up with positive results pretty fast. However, I get the same problem as I do on my laptop. OS reorganize it but it does not work. I wonder if it is a BIOS lock, and is there anyway to costumflash a Asus laptop?

UPDATE:

 

There is no BIOS whitelist on asus machines.

 

By that you mean? It should accpet any other non-ASUS 'parts' or we're completely locked to ASUS parts...

 

Did you install the driver for the 6300?
Did you restore the BIOS to default to be shure BIOS recognizes the new card?

 

When you changed the screen, did you disconnect the antennas? Many laptops have the WiFi antennas alongside the screen.

 

Yeah, I installed the driver. But still it did not work. On my laptop, I removed the CMOS battery, waited for 10 minutes or so, installed the card and CMOS battery back then booted up my laptop. But what do you mean by 'BIOS default'? My laptop only has user default and facotry default. Is there any other thing I should do?

I'm quite sure I did not do that.

 

ASUS doesn't have a whitelist like some other brands. You can use whatever card you want.

 

Okay, that is a good news. I have however read that a EEE netbook which gave the same problem and the guy said it was cause by BIOS. However, I do not know, but is there anyother things I should do after a wirleless card upgrade? Maybe flash my BIOS with same version over again or something? Any ideas?

 

I don't think it has anything to do with the BIOS.

If it's showing up and you can install the driver, then it should work. As long as the antennas are hooked up and the wireless switch (if there is one on your model) is not set to disabled.

You could try a linux livecd like ubuntu to see if it's a driver or software issue with windows.

 

Take a look at this therad, there is a picture on last page.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/har...et-upgrades/544578-wireless-card-upgrade.html

 

Some of the older models had a hardware switch to turn the Wireless on and off, and it had to be plugged into the slot area of the wireless card, did you undo this? and not see it when you put all back together? Or not get it plugged in completely , I do not know if your model has this but you might look, this is one of the good sides to this being done by software now.

And as to the EEE PC's the Bios in those are a whole animal of there own so do not cross reference what they will do with other Notebooks , now there are a few that will be the same but not many.

 

No, that not in my case :/ Any other options? Also, what about the BIOS? How should it properly be done?

 

Can you send me a link to a trip sheet on your notebook that you are working on? A link or anything so I can see what it has and has for bios and the sort.

That will help quite a lot on helping you find out what can and needs to be done.

I'll take a look later when I have time, as I do not have the time to put into research finding all of this as of right now. But I do not mind trying to find out what you need in an hour or so.

 

FOR YOU WHO IS STILL INTRESTED IN THIS;
This is a BIOS issue, Asus have locked out BIOS to spesific parts, which means you simply can't upgrade to whatever part you want.

We are now working on to rewrite the BIOS.

If you have any ideas feel free to share!

 

What kind of lock are you talking about? And what kind of evidence is there that there is any kind of lock in the BIOS? ASUS machines have never been known to have whitelists, if that's what you are talking about.

 

My machine does not let the windows install driver correctly for Wirleless card upgrade. And I have found some other therads (on Asus forums) which in case is the same problem. I can P.M. you the links if you want me to.

 

Just post the links here, unless they're not safe for work or otherwise inappropriate.

Just curious though, it's not a lenovo-branded wireless card, is it?

 

No, it is a brand new Wireless card which I bought from a, quite big and respectet company here in Norway.

Here is one link;
Do all BIOS lock the mini pci-e wifi slot to Atheros? (Page 1) / Eee PC 900x Specific Discussion / EeeUser Forum

Here is another as well;
Replacement Wifi/BT mini pci-e card not showing up (Page 1) / Hacks and Modifications / EeeUser Forum

 

I thought it was a K50 not an Eee? The Eee BIOS is from a different codebase... I think some Eee PCs have special Mini PCIe slots too.

 

Yep. You're right! But, there is not another single explanation on this. The card is working, but when I do replace the card with the old one, it does not work. And as I said, a installation of driver freezez my whole system at end and after restart some Intel Wireless stuff crashes. I have tried 3 diffrent Wireless cards, and all three act the same way...

 

You've tried 3 different wireless cards and none of them work?

Have you tried an Ubuntu livecd to rule out a software problem?

 

I have not done that. BUT I've did clean install of every single card. However, the one can be Toshiba branded. While those don't work, after every clean install were my Intel cards don't work I simply swap my Atheros card back and *whips* windows automaticly installs the driver and it is ready to use.

 

Well give it a try then, it's worth a shot. Ubuntu should have most if not all of those drivers ready to go from the CD. I can't find any other references to a whitelisted ASUS BIOS except another thread that looks like yours on a BIOS modding forum...

 

Yep that is mine too. But those guys are also stuck, and you know how this stuff works, if people don't know how to solve the issue they simply do not reply. They asked me for links, I gave them now it is weeks later but they're quite. However, I have a 4th card in one of my other laptop, I'll try that and if even that don't work I'm sure it is the BIOS as there is not anything left.

But I still do not get how Ubuntu can help me to solve this issue...

here is another therad as well
http://vip.asus.com/forum/view.aspx...P&id=20090507165401706&page=1&SLanguage=en-us

 

Trying a Linux livecd will help you rule out a windows driver problem. Since it's an entirely different OS, it's a way to see if a different driver stack will work with the same hardware. If it doesn't work, there's better evidence of a hardware problem or BIOS whitelist.

Download | Ubuntu

Just burn the ISO and select 'try ubuntu without making changes to my computer'

 

hmm, do 32 or 64 bit have anything to say in my case?

 

Either will work, it shouldn't matter for testing wireless cards.

 

Okay, I've started downloading the 32-Bit now. Let's see how this turns out. I'll post the results here, but in maybe 13-14 hours or so.

 

UPDATE:
With the 6300 installed, the ubuntu preload freezez my computer. Hard-restart is needed.

Any ideas?

 

Is it crashing without the 6300 as well?

 

Nope. It is working without and with the default Atheros card.

 

UPDATE: I've tried another 5100 AGN and it gave me the same issue as well. We now all agree it is the BIOS right?!

 

I guess so. That's unfortunate, I've never had a problem switching wireless cards in my ASUS machines. I'd guess it's more likely to be a bug than an actual 'locked bios' or whitelist. You can try contacting ASUS to talk to a higher level tech, and see if they can verify this. Maybe there is a chance of getting a fixed bios update..

 

AFAIK ASUS do not help with modding issues, but I can give it a shot. I'll email them later today.