"Error: ROMHOLE not exist" when trying to update BIOS on Sager NP9170. Ideas?

Dear Forum:

I decided to update my Sager's BIOS and ECBIOS last week.

I contacted Sager, and they sent me the files with instructions. I followed them to the letter, and the EC BIOS updated without a problem, but when it came time to update the BIOS, I got the message in the subject line.

Specifically, BEFORE updating any ROMs, I had the following:
KBC/EC firmware: 1.00.063A
BIOS revision: 1.00.07LS2

After burning Sager's file 917ec07.iso to disk and rebooting, the autoexec'd utility had no problem and confirmed reflashing the bios, so that on recheck, the EC was now v 1.00.113A .

I then erased and placed on the same disk the iso for file 917bv10as without a problem.
But upon reboot and autoexec, I got this error message before it got to the flashing bios step:

Reading Flash... done.

-ME Data Size checking.... ok

-FFS checksum .... ok

b- Error: ROMHOLE not exist


Then it would go back to the C prompt.

I emailed Sager techsupport about it this weekend and just got the reply (complete message as follows):

"Hi, I do not know why the computer pops up that kind error message. You may wait for later BIOS updates."


So I'm putting this out here for some ideas.

Thanks in advance!

 

edit the autoexec.bat

If /K is present in the line:

'afudos xxx.rom /P /B /N...'

then remove /K

If /K is not present then add it after the /N and before the /shutdown command

Please PM me the files that Sager send you.

 

I'm getting this error too.

917bv10as.iso

but how do I edit that file?

where do I find Autoexec.bat on Win7?

 

Hey folks,

I am running into the same problem with my Sager NP9150 during the BIOS Update coming from version 1.00.05LS1. EC updated fine. I checked the batch file and doesn't contain the K switch.

The full command is AFUDOS.exe %BIOS.ROM% /p /b /n /L1 /x %1. The BIOS file is P15EM14b.LS3.

 

Same thing happened to me with a p170em and official sager bios 917bv14ls3. The EC upgrade was successful though.

 

YES, there is no /K...I assumed they where using the older commands...we fixed the issue on Rick's system by removing the "/L1" line...

 

How do we get to the batch file? I can't find any files on the cd. It is saying there is roughly 9 mb of files but nothing show up except an .ini file.Sager gave me an ISO for the upgrade BTW.

 

Extract with "ISO Buster" and then better use a USB pen-drive to flash it:

FLASHING GUIDE « Prema Mod

 

Thanks for the tip Prema but unfortunately that didn't work for me either. After removing the /L1 switch the error message changed slightly to:

bb - Error: Rom image layout detected RomHole is redesigned

Not sure how to get past this one..thinking about adding the /k switch but after just having recovered from a bad flash attempt yesterday.. I am not sure if I have it in me..

What version of afudos have you been using on Rick's system. 3.03?

Edit: Checked the afudoes.exe properties - the one sager included is 160KB in size, the one from mysn.de is 197KB, could it be that Sager threw the wrong afudos into the bios package they sent to me?

 

Exact same problem, even with the usb flash. It is a bit frustrating.

 

i think its trying to tell you that you are putting it into the wrong hole haha, but no, i have no idea

 

I encountered the same problem, but it was due to my mistake. You have to run MESET.exe, it will reboot the system and then you can flash the bios. This is the readme.txt that was with the flash procedure of my supplier:

How to flash whole ROM that include ME:
1. Make sure plugin AC adaptor.
2. Run MeSet.EXE under pure DOS, the system will auto cold boot.
3. Run FlashMe.bat under pure DOS.
4. The system display flash complete message after flash success.
5. Press power button override 4 seconds, and then re-plugin AC adaptor​

 

curious, but would going into the bios and select where to boot from make any difference rather than using F7?

 

If F7 accesses your quick boot menu, then no. Reassigning the boot priority from BIOS just makes the change permanent, whereas the boot menu selection screen is for a per boot basis.

 

I ran meset.exe every time before flashing -never even tried without - maybe there's something wrong with the Me info on my board?

There are two Sager BIOS updates out there with windows 8 compatibility and the fancy meset.exe procedure: 1.02.14.LS1 and 1.02.14b.LS3

14.LS1 caused a permanent black screen so I had to revert to a previous version..
14b.LS3 gives me the error..

Looking at the batch file for 14.LS1 shows an entry that makes me a wonder (even though that was the one that actually didn't give the error but completed and almost bricked it my machine..)

Code:

:End
:ME-err
echo.
echo   ====================Error: could not reflash ME====================
echo.
echo     found error during ME f/w update reflash!
echo.
echo     if you tried the A step (MEset.exe) and then B step (Flashme.bat)
echo.
echo     again but the error message was still there, do not continue and
echo.
echo     report it to your supervisor
echo.
echo     (the machine might have the hardware problem on m/b ME chip)
echo.
echo   ===================================================================
Pause
goto ME-err 

:me-good

Wondering what that is all about..

but since this is really just speculation. is it safe to try a different L switch perhaps like L3 instead of L1?

 

I do know that Sager seems to have its own bios variants, but I have no idea why. This is the flash procedure for the P150EM from my supplier:

@echo off

@set BIOS.ROM=P150EM.14
:: Flash ME
fpt -f %BIOS.ROM% -me
if errorlevel 1 goto End

fpt -f %BIOS.ROM% -desc
if errorlevel 1 goto End

@if exist MSDM.BIN del MSDM.BIN

::=======================
:: #define NG 0
:: #define PASS 1
:: #define ERR_FILE 2
:: #define ERR_NOMSDM 3
:: #define ERR_ACPI 4
:: #define ERR_CLEVO 5
::=======================
GMSDM.exe

if errorlevel 5 goto NoMessage
if errorlevel 4 goto WithoutMessage
if errorlevel 3 goto NoMessage
if errorlevel 2 goto SaveMessageFail
if errorlevel 1 goto WithMessage
if errorlevel 0 goto Fail

goto Help

:NoMessage
goto WithoutMessage

:SaveMessageFail
goto End

:Fail
goto End

:Help
goto End

:WithMessage

AFUDOS.exe %BIOS.ROM% /p /b /n /x %1
OAIDDOS MSDM.bin /OA
@if exist MSDM.BIN del MSDM.BIN
AFUDOS.exe /s /shutdown
goto End

:WithoutMessage

AFUDOS.exe %BIOS.ROM% /p /b /n /x %1
AFUDOS.exe /s /shutdown

goto End
:End
​

 

Hmm, the latest Sager one is the exact same except for the L1 switch - that basically just loads the default BIOS settings if I'm not mistaken.

What afudos version do you have in the package provided by your supplier?

 

no love for the sager np9170em? I tried three times using both the usb and cd drive with the memhole errors. EC sent was P170EM_SAGER_EC_1.00.00.11SA. bios was P170EM_SAGER_BIOS_1.02.14bLS3.

 

I have AFUDOS V2.39. With AFUDOS /H you can see all possible switches, there is no /L switch ..... Asus has a AFUDOS V2.41, however it dates from 2010 and 'our' V2.39 dates from 2011.

 

As far as I know EC 1.02.12 is a prerequisite for Bios 1.02.14, so it seems you are using an outdated EC file.

 

Thanks, man. Didn't even think of checking the afudos help - I'm getting a little rusty with dos I think..

Just had a quick look and Sager included afudos v3.03 in their latest bios update - for the 9150s at least. V3.03 actually comes with /L (program all ROM holes) and /Ln (Program n'th ROM hole only n=0-15)..

I've tried both running the update with and without /L1 but no success. I think that trying just /L and program all ROM holes could be unsafe..so unless someone knows the difference between the Sager and Clevo BIOS it seems we're stuck..

 

Indeed, I would also like to know what the difference is between a standard Clevo bios and a Sager Bios. I do know that you should not flash a Sager notebook with a standard Clevo bios! Besides that, I don't understand all these different switches anyway. A bios is a EPROM of a certain size, and 'our' bios has a size of 6MB. I would expect that flashing a bios is nothing else then reprogramming the whole 6MB, the flash file is also 6MB in size. So why do we have all these switches??

Clevo should also have a look at how Asus does these things. Having to boot in DOS to be able to flash the bios isn't really what you might expect these days, a company that claims to sell high-tech notebooks should be able to supply us with a procedure to flash the bios from Windows or Linux in my view.

 

hoping to find a solution

 

I noticed that neither Sager or Clevo make bios and EC files available for download. Why not? This is silly, any PC or notebook manufacturer makes these files available for download, but not Clevo c.s. My supplier ( www.bto.eu ) does publish the EC and bios files, and I'm sure the only difference with a standard Clevo bios is the BTO logo.

 

Has anyone with the ROMHOLE error have any progress to report in updating Sager BIOS?

 

Some people here sent me their Sager ISOs and where able to succesfully flash after we removed both romhole commands (/Lx).


In case you don't know how to do that and your system doesn't shutdown after the original Sager flash failed with a romhole error and remains at the DOS window you can also just do this:

type: dir (to list all files on the CD)

look for the romfile named P1xEMxxx.LSx (where X is a variable)

type: afudos thatromname.LSx /P /B /N /X

After a successfull flash type:

afudos /shutdown

DONE!

 

tried this.. didn't work.getting pissed off at sager... they sent me 2 versions of the bios and neither works... ec installed fine btw.

 

Are you running meset.exe before trying to install the BIOS? You need to since the BIOS also updated the ME 8 firmware, needs access. Not sure if that is the problem or not.

 

Yes I am... I ended up downloading an older one version .ls1 and it flashed without a problem... is there a difference between .ls1 and .ls3?

 

ls1 is if you are going to run win8 and ls3 is for win7