PC died after succesful [??] BIOS upgrade

Hot-swapping and Boot-Block flash & Boot block flash and floppy support
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digibeet
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After BIOS upgrade I got message HED succesfully and then nothing anymore. Tried to restart but only short flickering of the LEDs of the floppy-, CD & DVD station and the hard disk. LED of screen switches form yellow (stand by) to green (normal) but immediately back to yellow.
re-booting from harddisk or CD-rom impossible. No jumper on motherboard. Removing battery made no difference...
Have not found BIOS downgrade on the WEB yet.
However as both my computer hardware knowledge and my electronical skills are rather limited I am totally confused by the various recommendations I get in "shops"'. The PC is far beyond warranty, no replacement BIOS or motherboard available anymore [Medion]. Upgrading a 5 year old 900 Mhz with 40 GB with a new motherboard might not be a wise solution. I was also told I might be able to get another motherboard accepting the re-use of my Intel 900 Mhz and both 128 MB Sdram PC133 mm modules but could not trace on on the web yet.
However on the WEb I found various sites on which users state the "recovery"of a BIOS is not too complicated. I am willing to try but have a number of questions. I found a large number of related topics on the net but they are far too technical for me, at least for this moment
  • How can I be sure the BIOS can be Re-flashed?
    How can I be sure problem is in the BIOS and not in the motherboard or elsewhere?
    I got an almost identical PC in the family, only 1000 Mhz in stead of 900 Mhz. Maybe I can copy the BIOS settings to my PC?
    How do I copy settings to diskette?
Specs: motherboard Medion 2001 rev 1.01
BIOS: Award 1998 - PCI/PNP 686 [262416550]
Intel Pentium III [900/256/100/1.7V] 7045A294-0323 SL4SD
Just installed Windows XP home edition
By the way: sent E-mail to AWARD support but got no reply

Sorry for long story, hope somebody can help me!!
KURIAKI
Moderator
Posts: 1037
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 9:37 pm
Location: Cancun, Mexico

Which BIOS update are you used, Medion or Asus? which BIOS version?
I think is an Asus CUV4X-CM (MED 2001) motherboard.
More than 100,000 BIOS strings in my database just now!
http:/ /www.kuriaki.has.it/
http:/ /www.supportbios.info
------------------------------------------
Saludos desde Cancun, Mexico
KURIAKI
digibeet
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Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:20 pm

Only found Medion on motherboard but will be made for Medion by another company. So Asus could very well be right, I think.

Update BIOS from Medion site (Medion.com). Right file versions were given based on my PC-serialnumber: 1009med. and 1009med.med
I extracted all files to a bootable diskette and restarted my PC. Everything run automaticly. With results as written before.......I will check your link and try to find right one. Suppose flash with same procedure? If not, please tell me otherwise. In case not the right one, can I create more damage?

Thanks for help and fast reply
greetings from Holland
NickS
BIOS Bodhisattva
Posts: 3145
Joined: Fri May 03, 2002 10:34 am
Location: Thames Valley, UK

When you removed the CMOS battery, did you also remove the mains power lead and cycle the front panel power switch? After this, try shorting the connectors in the battery socket (with a paperclip or similar) for a couple of minutes.

Were there any error messages when flashing?

How do you propose to reflash? Does the floppy run? Is the BIOS chip in a socket?
Tested patched BIOSes. Untested patched BIOSes.
Emails *will* be ignored unless the subject line starts "Wim's BIOS forum"
digibeet
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Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:20 pm

Had all power cables removed. Did not toggle the power switch, did I have to? Battery has been removed for ± 24 hours, should I shortcircuit anyway?

Had no error messages when flashing. Actually it said: HED succesfully!

Don't really know whether my floppy station is operational. LEDS only glimp for a very short moment, could not reboot with start-up diskette neither. Actually I read somewhere that if the required commands are at the beginning of the "startfile" it might work. Have no real way to check I'm afraid
NickS
BIOS Bodhisattva
Posts: 3145
Joined: Fri May 03, 2002 10:34 am
Location: Thames Valley, UK

The input capacitors on the PSU can retain charge for a while, pressing the front panel button should discharge the PSU to ensure no power remains on the motherboard. If you left the battery out for ~24 hrs, that should be enough.

For info, the update file contains two BIOS images:
1009MED.MED
12/05/2001-VT694X-MED 2001-00
ASUS MED 2001 ACPI BIOS Revision 1009 MEDIONPC

1009MED.001
06/12/2001-VT694X-MED 2001-00
ASUS MED 2001 ACPI BIOS Revision 1009

Interesting... two versions 1009 with different dates. :?
Kuriaki - Google suggests both CUV4X-CM and CUV4X-M. Do you know what the difference is?
Digibeet - is there a marking CUV4X-** on the board?
Tested patched BIOSes. Untested patched BIOSes.
Emails *will* be ignored unless the subject line starts "Wim's BIOS forum"
KURIAKI
Moderator
Posts: 1037
Joined: Thu Nov 18, 2004 9:37 pm
Location: Cancun, Mexico

NickS wrote: 1009MED.MED
1009MED.001
Interesting... two versions 1009 with different dates. :?
1009MED.001 = 1009 Beta 001
1009MED.MED = 1009 Final version
NickS wrote: Kuriaki - Google suggests both CUV4X-CM and CUV4X-M. Do you know what the difference is?
I can't find a manual for CUV4X-CM, but both motherboards has different BIOS:
ASUS CUV4X-CM ACPI BIOS Revision 1004 (the only one in my database)
09/27/2000-VT694X-CUV4X-CM-00
ASUS CUV4X-M ACPI BIOS Revision 1008 Beta 003
09/05/2002-VT694X-CUV4X-M-00
More than 100,000 BIOS strings in my database just now!
http:/ /www.kuriaki.has.it/
http:/ /www.supportbios.info
------------------------------------------
Saludos desde Cancun, Mexico
KURIAKI
digibeet
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Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:20 pm

Removed motherboard from PC, but could not find anything more than Medion 2001 rev 1.01 Checked the WEB for pictures of the ASUS board. Looks more or less similar but not 100 %. Saw loads of photos but not the right one. I can E-mail jpg if required. Anyway it has 3 pci slots (white) 1 slot for video, 2 slots for sdram. AWARD bios on lower lefthand corner, battery on lower right hand corner.

About BIOS upgrade: the zip file I got from Medion site contains 2 files: 1009MED.001 and 1009MED.MED. Amazingly both have exactly same size and date????? If required I can sent zip file separately.

BIOS chip looks mounted in a socket, but will need special tool to remove safely I assume
sIc
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I had the very same problem.
Same board, only an other bios version.
Actually it said: HED succesfully!
Same here :x
digibeet
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Joined: Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:20 pm

In case you haven't solved your problem yet: I finally found http://www.flashbios.org in the Netherlands. Disconnected my BIOS and sent it to Flashbios. Transmitted the BIOS upgrade separately without even being sure of it. Superb service, got the BIOS back within a couple of days!!! Re-assembled my desktop and it is still working perfect. Saved me from buying a new Mobo or even ea new PC. :D
Surely it is worth to try, hope you will have same luck!
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