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    Bios Upgrade went wrong :(

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by naton, Oct 13, 2008.

  1. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    Hi, I need help. This is a spare desktop I built and given a way to a relative. It was retourned back to me because it was instable. I think the bios doesn't support the CPU. I flashed the bios once and no problem. With the second flash I got a black screen

    I tried to find a solution the whole day but no avail. The mothorboard is a Matsonic MS8308EP(266) (a.k.a. PCChips M810L). The bios is AMI-Bios.

    I know (from the net) the procedure to recover an AMI Bios but somehow it's not working for me. When I turn the PC on, the CD drive light flashes but the FDD one doesn't (with or without a floppy in).

    Please help :(
     
    naton, Oct 13, 2008
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  2. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    So the FDD doesn't get accessed during the recovery process ?
     
    Andy, Oct 13, 2008
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  3. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    The PC doesn't read the floppy at all. The FDD light stays off all the time.

    I tried the recovery with a CD. The CD drive flashes twices for about 2-3 seconds then stops, and nothing happend afterwards.

    I tried a USB key too. with the USB the light of the key doesn't flash too.

    Don't know how to force the FDD to work :( (I tried the Ctrl + Home trick and it doesn't work in my case)
     
    naton, Oct 13, 2008
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  4. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Andy, Oct 13, 2008
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  5. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yes I followed similar instruction.

    The CD drives tries to read the CD I believe. I was wrong about the squence of the LED though. It flashes for about 5-6 seconds, then 3 seconds, and then 2 seconds. The FDD looks as if it's dead. I tried 2 FDDs and the same result. I tried two cables too.

    I tried the following combination of keys:
    Ctrl + Home
    Ctrl + PG-UP
    Ctrl + PG-Down
    Insert
    Ctrl + insert.
     
    naton, Oct 13, 2008
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  6. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    Add:
    My keyboard is not bead. If I hit the 'cap lock' the LED in the keyboard turns ON/OFF
     
    naton, Oct 13, 2008
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  7. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    any one plz
     
    naton, Oct 14, 2008
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  8. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    Any luck getting the floppy drive to work ? I've never seen a FDD not working when recovering an AMI BIOS.
    Either try a different FDD module, or get a new BIOS chip. Hopefully, the BIOS chip will be socketed.

    Anyway, have a look at this link....
     
    Andy, Oct 14, 2008
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  9. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    the bios is socketed but infortunately where I'm at the moment I can't get one (even via ebay) :(

    I'm still unlucky with the FDD. The boot order before the bad flash was CD-drive then HDD. This could explain what the CD-rom LED lights up but the FDD LED doesn't.

    Andy thanks for the link though I came accross it yesterday.

    I don't know what to do. Is there another combination of keys that my force the recovery?
    Is there another name to use instead of AMIBOOT.ROM?

    Thanks
     
    naton, Oct 14, 2008
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  10. Andy

    Andy Notebook Prophet

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    AFAIK, no. I've recovered the AMI BIOS twice, and used the same method as above. In my case, the FDDs did work.

    Where are you at the moment ?
    You might not find any BIOS chips on ebay....
     
    Andy, Oct 14, 2008
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  11. naton

    naton Notebook Virtuoso

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    Let's say that even if I can buy a mobo or a chip from ebay or else, no one will accept to send it over. Besides the cost to change the chip will be the same as the cost of the mobo itself if it is in a working condition.

    Andy in your case did the light of the CD-drive lit at all? if yes for how long?

    I've been reading a lot about bios modding lately. With what did happen to this Matsonic/Pcchip mobo, I don't think that I'll ever go ahead and try bios mod on a working PC/laptop :rolleyes:
     
    naton, Oct 14, 2008
    #11