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    Dead Laptop BIOS

    Discussion in 'Windows OS and Software' started by Passa, May 25, 2010.

  1. Passa

    Passa Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi guys,

    I have a NEC Versa M370 here, which sadly stopped booting after a botched BIOS upgrade. It powers up, but just hums/spins the fans without showing anything on screen/no harddrive activity etc.

    It uses an AMI BIOS, which I read could be recovered with a floppy disk containing a proper BIOS. I tried connecting a USB floppy drive, but the laptop makes no attempts to access it.

    What are my options here? It's an otherwise perfect condition laptop with a decent Core 2 Duo processor, 15.4" screen.. only weak point was the X3100 integrated graphics. Is it salvageable at all or should I just gut the thing and sell its various parts on eBay?
     
    Passa, May 25, 2010
    #1
  2. moral hazard

    moral hazard Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    moral hazard, May 25, 2010
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  3. gerryf19

    gerryf19 I am the walrus

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    gerryf19, May 25, 2010
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  4. Passa

    Passa Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the help so far guys. I put the BIOS as AMIBOOT.ROM on a FAT16 formatted USB key and booted holding CTRL + PGUP.

    After 10 seconds or so, the USB key started flashing with activity. It's been flashing with activity for 15 minutes now but there's still nothing on-screen (and I'm sure BIOS flashes don't take this long).

    What could I have done wrong?
     
    Passa, May 25, 2010
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  5. Passa

    Passa Notebook Enthusiast

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    Okay, now it appears that it will begin showing USB activity regardless if I press any buttons after pressing the power button. It will also show optical drive activity if I put a disc in there instead (no USB attached) and leave it after powering up.

    Is this part of an attempted recovery process?
     
    Passa, May 26, 2010
    #5