U56 series laptop dead from new Bios file in EasyFlash

Well, I read the Easyflash BIOS flash warnings here too late and paid the price when I flashed my new Asus laptop.

I was asked by Clear technicians to update my BIOS to get my WiMax chip working with their service and so I downloaded the BIOS file for my U56E-BBL6 (bought at Best Buy a week before Christmas 2011) and ran it in EasyFlash with the file on the HD and it left my laptop bricked. I knew immediately it was dead and yet after so many years of fixing PCs I was still pretty calm *;-) Pulled out my HD and got my data recovered to another drive.

So I asked Best Buy if they would help and could get the ASUS techies to reflash it. Apparently dishonesty is the best policy, because since I told the truth Best Buy techies in Kentucky said the motherboard needs replaced and Asus won't honor the warranty because I ran the file that killed it. Never mind it was their BIOS file and faulty BIOS instructions.

So the laptop is coming back (got an automated call from the Geeks saying I could pick it up) and so I will pick it up Friday Feb. 17. My plan is to reflash it myself if that is possible.

I read the two-year old thread here where Ken Lee from GenuTech helped Matt reflash his Asus notebook and I have been taking notes:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/348865-v1j-failed-bios-flash-screen-will-not-come-2.html

I would appreciate a little help from the members here, perhaps I can return a favor later.

Questions: In the bootable CD ISO image (which is no longer available for me to download and examine how it is built....)

1. Does the Aflash2 file (which I have) have to be set in motion by a DOS batch file on that CD?

2. Does the CMOS battery needs to be removed, removed briefly and re-inserted, or leave it alone? I was foggy on the issues Matt had with that.

3. The HD gets disconnected correct?

If anyone has some help for me or if Ken Lee is still active on the Forum I would appreciate some help.

I am not a total dweeb and have flashed 5,000 devices (most mobos) over the years and only killed one old, old Dimension desktop. This attitude by Asus and their complacency about fixing that issue so it doesn't happen to other owners is hard for me to understand.

My website is [removed by moderator] and I just retired from a career in education in Texas and this was the first laptop post-retirement I bought and I would love to salvage it instead of having to strip it for the HD, RAM, battery, LCD, and power supply. I will lose about $450 doing that route because I am not really interested in selling parts on eBay so the RAM and the HD will be the main things I will easily benefit from.

All the best,

Russell

 

The available versions of AFLASH probably won't recognize your flash chip in that new a model. You don't have much of an option except to send it in to ASUS, and I would just say it died instead of telling them about a bad BIOS update. Find a new customer rep if they give you trouble. Just keep calling back until you get someone who isn't a jerk.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/487940-asus-rma-warranty-guide.html

 

The Aflash is a download specifically for that model, and I just refuse to lie about what caused the problem. If they or Best Buy can't help me knowing the truth of the situation then it will be the last Asus or Best Buy product I will ever buy.

I will see what I can do and post back. If anyone has done this to a 2011 Asus notebook I would appreciate any tips.

 

The problem is that some of the ASUS customer support people think that BIOS flashing is at the users risk, while it has always been covered under warranty historically. It's a new thing - I'm not sure when it started, maybe a year or two ago. You can PM Chastity (ASUS rep on this forum) with your details: http://forum.notebookreview.com/member.php?u=222484

If you have aflash from the download page for that model it's worth a shot.

The question will be whether your BIOS has bootblock support (most ASUS do not, only Eee PCs usually do) and how trashed it has become from the flash. Your autoexec.bat will need to run the aflash command. Taking out the hard drive is to ensure that it boots from CD. The CMOS reset shouldn't matter, but you can do it anyway.

 

Texruss have you solved your problem with bios? I have a same problem right now