Failed Bios update! RG84510A - Gateway 500SE

[gdblackthorn]

I recently flashed my Gateway 500SE. It seems I have what Gateway calls a Nimitz Motherboard, though I am not sure if that helps much. It seems to be an 845GRG board, but I am not absolutely certain.

The Bios version beforehand was
RG84510A.15A.0009.P03

I did quite a bit of research before I tried flashing the Bios. At least that is what I thought at the time. Now it appears that I should have done much more. I flashed the Bios with this version. Of course it is a Gateway Bios as you can see. This is practically the only one available without trying an Intel Bios, which would surely ruin my day.
RG84510A.15A.0057.P19

I ran the update from windows, though now I see most people don't recommend it. After the flash the computer rebooted and just sat there doing nothing. Just a black screen. I tried once again from a DOS floppy and I get a beep, then another and then another. It would have been nice if I had gotten one beep, then two later together, but that is not the case.

I tried to do a recovery by taking the DOS files from the uncompressed exe file from Gateway (and putting them on a floppy) and removing the jumper on the motherboard. I followed the directions as closely as I could. I get no beeps.

My computer recognizes floppy's and does read them, though I don't always get a single beep to tell me that it has started.

Unfortunately any other info I have on the computer is all in text files that I accumulated and that is all unfortunately on the dead computer.

When trying to flash the Bios from the DOS disk, I do not have video, so I cannot see what errors I may be getting other than the beeps. I realize that there is no way to get video while trying the recovery, but with the jumper installed, I still have no video. I am plugged into my ATI video card and not the onboard built in video card which I had disabled during the install.

If you need more info, I will have to try to get it off my computer. The Bios chip is soldered in (Intel N82802AB8 A2170431).

I have been searching for solutions for two days now. If there is a utility that will still work on a floppy, I would love to try it. I wanted to find out more on the UNIFLASH utility, but the site seems to have disappeared. I am wide open to any suggestions that you might have.

Thanks for your time to look at my problem!

edit: The more I read the more depressed I become. I now have UNIFLASH which I suppose could be run to tell me what it sees in the chip, but since it is probably corrupted now, it won't do me much good. I should have done a Bios backup, but since my chip is soldered in place I don't suppose that would of helped that much. I am going to try to get more details from the text files from my hard drive if possible. Man this doesn't look good!

edit #2: Now I am really confused. I went to the Gateway site to look up my computer specs by entering my serial number and I find this function no longer works. Gateway has sold itself to MPC (formerly known as Micron Computers). This happened on October 1, 2007.

The reason I am confused is because, the manual I downloaded for the 500SE has an image of a mini tower that looks nothing like my computer at all. If I could boot to a CD, I could run some tools that might be able to give me the info I need. I managed to get this from a text file I had on my hard drive. This is info that I had previously gotten from the Gateway site using my serial number.

Chipset
82845GL (GMCH)
82801DB (ICH4)
82802AB (FWH)

Processor
Support for Intel Pentium 4 and Celeron processors
400 MHZ Data bus
478-pin (ZIF) socket

I happen to have a 1.8 GHZ Intel Pentium processor. (But that is probably info not required).

The confusion I have is leading to doubt that I am looking at the right Gateway 500SE info, since the ugly white computer they show on the site is quite different than mine. They list it as a 500 SE Special Computer and show no other 500SE that I can find anywhere. Well back to some more googling...

Edit #3:
This is an image of my computer:

Code: Select all

http://www.fscoop.com/images/500se.jpg

The image below is not my computer - Special white Gateway 500SE

Code: Select all

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/2800071/2800071nv.shtml

Internal view (not mine) & does not look like my mother board!

Code: Select all

http://supcontent.gateway.com/support.gateway.com/s/PC/Shared/graphics/280005012.gif

Not my bios jumpers either!!! I got my bios jumper info elsewhere which may also be wrong.

Code: Select all

http://support.gateway.com/s/PC/Shared/jumper_block_500se.shtml

(I wasn't sure of your image posting and linking images policy. I don't remember seeing it in the rules.)

This whole thing is looking embarassing...

Edit #4: Well the entire model number of my computer is:
MFATXPNT NMZ 500SE

At least it probably is a Nimitz! This is the only Bios there is for anything at Gateway that I can find that begins with RG84510A.15A, so it must be the Bios for my computer. I only wish I had a copy of the original RG84510A.15A.0009.P03 Bios...

One of my concerns is running something that may make things worse. I want to run some of your tools that you suggest to determine the motherboard and Bios here. Since I have already screwed things up, I don't want to make things worse. I would rather someone really experienced give me some suggestions. Note that I am still reading and learning about possible solutions.

Edit #5: It seems that I do indeed have the Intel i82845GL System Board, the specs which can be found here:

Code: Select all

http://support.gateway.com/s/Manuals/Desktops/8508622/08622.htm

Just a Note: It looks just like the Intel® Desktop Board D845GLVA, though I have no idea what the VA designation is on the Intel board.

Code: Select all

http://support.intel.com/support/motherboards/desktop/d845glva/sb/cs-008865.htm

Edit #6: I went ahead and followed the "How to recover a corrupt BIOS ?" instructions located here. I used Solution 4: (for Intel motherboards).

http://www.wimsbios.com/faq/howtorecove ... ptbios.jsp

I followed the steps closely, but I fear the worst.

I powered down, pulled the jumper and booted to the floppy.
The floppy light came on for a short time and then went out.
I then powered down, replaced the jumper and rebooted to the same floppy. I get a beep, then another, then another. The beeps are about the same space apart, so I think I am getting 3 single beeps, but to be honest I am not really sure. I then pulled the floppy and tried to boot up. I just get one single beep, and nothing else.

My only hope may lie in my floppy setup or in the Bios I am using. I sure would appreciate some suggestions on what to check or try. I thought about trying "Solution 1: Boot-block BIOS", but I don't see how that would work with my Bios since it is some Gateway Bios version I wouldn't know which one to try. Is there another Boot-block method that I am missing here? Have I corrupted the boot-block and beyond any type of recovery? How can I check this?

Edit #7: I am trying to find the Bios beep codes for my board. Since Gateway seems to be somewhat worthless, I am looking at the Intel board that closely matches mine - D845GLVA. This does not seem exactly the same however, since the Bios for that board only supports 4 USB ports and I am using 6 on mine. Anyway the beep code for one beep, which I get when I try to boot up says it is "Refresh Failure". I don't know what that means nor do I know if that is the correct beep code for my board. I am trying to find out more.

Edit #8: Finally, I found out the motherboard part number 2517119. This is the key to finding all the right documents on a Gateway computer. I actually found this by going to Gateway's Memory search using my serial number. Fortunately the memory search function still works on Gateway's website and shows the part number along with the memory info!

Using the part number I verified that I am using the correct Bios update and that I have a Nimitz board, etc. Gateway is a total mess, they have so many variations of my motherboard, but not one that looks exactly like it.

The specific beep code for one beep is "Normal function", so now what am I doing wrong here?

Edit #9: I found the whole shebang for my computer, images and all: You can click on any component on the image and a larger image and detail of the component are shown. This is great!

Code: Select all

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/INTEL/2517119/2517119mv.shtml

Edit #10: I found what I think is the Bios chip datasheet which is very detailed. I compared it to the above link which matches at least in part. The complete chip number on my computer is as I mentioned in the beginning of this post. I noticed that the 82802AB means that my chip is the 4-megabit (512-kilobyte) chip. If it ended in AC it would be an 8-megabit chip. I have no idea what the A2170431 part number is on mine. NOTE: The chip in the image in the above link is not soldered, but the one on my board is soldered.

NOTE: The datasheet shows the entire pinout, and pin #1 is easy to see on the chip, so if I have to deal with a particular pin, that won't be a problem.

Code: Select all

http://www.alldatasheet.com/datasheet-pdf/pdf/66112/INTEL/N82802.html

Edit #11: On my endless quest for satisfaction, I found that someone shorted out a couple of pins which allowed him to reflash his chip. He stated that (on the same chip that I have) he shorted out pins 7 & 32. Pin 7 is WP# (write protect) and pin 32 is Vcc (device power supply). It is tempting, but without some real expert advice I won't attempt it. In the datasheet I have for the chip, it gives in detail what each pin is for, most of which is above my head.

Anyone have any suggestions as to what I should do?

[rleescott]

It appears we have the same computer. I had the same trouble finding it on the gtwy website, but could never get a proper hit. I did search the driver and nimitz board to come up with the same bios driver you did. I was about to use it, but not now. My idea was to also upgrade the chipset and usb drivers, since my usb 2.0 is not working right.My problem initially was after full reinstall of xp, I needed new audio, video, and network drivers, and ended up using those for E2100. Interestingly, dxdiag call this computer E2000, which isn't on the site.
If it's possible to copy the bios, which I have not done before, perhaps my bios would help you??
I have several questions for you. Perhaps we can help each other.

[gdblackthorn]

I can help you verify which board that you have. I am assuming that you also have the same 500SE that I have which you can tell by looking at the image that I posted above.

To get your board number, go here:

Code: Select all

http://support.gateway.com/support/memory/memory.asp

Get your Serial number off the rear of your computer, or from the front next to your drive bay you should find a white sticker. This search still works and it will not only give you your memory info, but it also gives you your Motherboard Part Number. With this number you can get whatever info you need on the Gateway site.

Here is how to get to your board details: Make sure you are on a page that begins with

http://support.gateway.com/

and go to the search box at the very top right of the screen. Type in your Part number, which you should now have and then type in the words 'Main view', then click search. Your search will now come up with just a couple of results. The one you want is the one that says 'Main view'. From there you can look below the image and find the Description table that reads 'BIOS firmware', mine happens to be item 'N'. You can click in the table to get to it or go back to the image and click on the letter or actual componet on the image to see your Bios chip. NOTE: the numbers on the image may be slightly different from yours and it may show a chip in a socket rather than a soldered chip. Now at least you know exactly where the chip is on the board and what you have.

So, does your Bios begin with RG84510A.15A? Mine as I mentioned above, of course is RG84510A.15A.0009.P03.

There is a way to copy the Bios, which is mentioned here on this site. Which I highly recommend before you flash. From what I read, I would also not recommend flashing through windows, but from a floppy drive if you have one (it would seem that you do have one). Is your chip soldered like mine, or one that installs in a socket?

I am not entirely certain how to back up a soldered chip, or if there truly is a way to do it. I am going to do a bit more reading to verify this.

Yes, maybe we can figure this out together. The more help the better off we will be.

[rleescott]

Yes we have the same computer.
My model is MFATXPNT nmz 500se, just like yours.
My current bios is rg84510a.15a.0018.p08, apparently later than yours.
Its serial is:0028442559
mobo#: 2518050
Can you run dxdiag from the run dialogue and see if it says you have the E2000?
Can you link me to instructions on how to copy the existing bios?
I am guessing the bios I found on gtwy is correct for this system, 9524633.exe, rg84510a.15a.0057.p19.
It appears to execute thru windows. Can you tell me how to convert it to a bootable floppy?
I am also considering updating the chipset and usb, hoping this will make my usb work better, My usb problem is that with an external drive with its own power supply plugged in and working normally, flash drives plugged in while the hard drive is on won't read. It says unknown device. If the external drive is unplugged or off, all jump drives read and work properly. Would you know if you had such a problem before? Any advice on how to correct this issue?

[gdblackthorn]

Can you run dxdiag from the run dialogue and see if it says you have the E2000?

Actually, my computer is dead so I can't run anything like dxdiag. But I did see something somewhere that mentioned E-2000, though I can't remember what it was.

Can you link me to instructions on how to copy the existing bios?

There are instructions on how to copy the Bios on a motherboard with a socket type bios chip.

Code: Select all

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/41

Since I am not sure if that is what you have, there seems to be a way to do it using Uniflash. I am not exactly sure how this is done, but there seems to be a way to do it using the command-line parameter -SAVE with Uniflash. You can download it through this link. Read the text file that comes with it.
http://www.wimsbios.com/phpBB2/topic4408.html

I am guessing the bios I found on gtwy is correct for this system, 9524633.exe, rg84510a.15a.0057.p19.

Yes, your motherboard number 2518050 is listed in the list below on that page.

It appears to execute thru windows. Can you tell me how to convert it to a bootable floppy?

After you extract the files by double clicking the 9524633.exe file. (It extracts the files into a folder on your c drive. This can be extracted to wherever you want). Look into the folder where it was extracted and open the cabs folder, open the next folder and you will find a DOS folder. Just copy those files onto a floppy and it is supposed to work. Don't forget to read the readme file. I read somewhere that it didn't have to boot to DOS to do its job. I would verify this first though.

If the external drive is unplugged or off, all jump drives read and work properly. Would you know if you had such a problem before? Any advice on how to correct this issue?

I did not have that exact problem, however when using windows XP always use the same USB port for the same drive each time. Always use the same USB port for the flash drive as this also can cause problems. If you boot up your system every time using the same port (I always have the drive plugged in and turned on before I boot up, it seems to eliminate problems that way.) your external hard drive should be happy! Once your hard drive is ok, then plug in your flash drive (using the same port every time), and it should come up. If your computer has recognized it and is trying to install the driver you should be ok. If you have an oddball flash drive then that could be another thing.

Hope that helps you out. When I have a bit more time I will try to read up on the Bios update a bit more. There should be some really experienced people on this site that could help us both out.

[edwin]

The usual way to recover Intel boards (including OEM ones) is making the bootable bios update disk, remove the only jumper that the board has, power the board on with only the floppy drive attached, memory and CPU, and hope it will read, beep once, read more, beep twice and stops reading. If that happens, power off, put jumper back on NORMAL position, pray and power on.

[gdblackthorn]

making the bootable bios update disk

So edwin, is the best way to make the floppy disc as I described to rleescott. By taking the files in the DOS folder and copying them and nothing else to a floppy? There are 13 files in the DOS folder.

autoexecbat - with the following:
beep
iflash

BEEP.COM - with the following: I suppose this would be how many beeps?
懤౐륡က姾﫢둡쵌倡ｦ4ᷓ

BIOS.REC
IFLASH.EXE
P19-0057.B11
P19-0057.B12
P19-0057.B13
P19-0057.B14
P19-0057.B15
P19-0057.B16
P19-0057.BIO
P19-0057.ITK
P19-0057.SIG

power the board on with only the floppy drive attached, memory and CPU

So I should disconnect the monitor, keyboard, mouse, all hard drives, all CD & DVD drives, and remove the video card and SATA card from the PCI slots?

I hadn't tried disconnecting everything before. I will give it a try in the morning.

and hope it will read, beep once, read more, beep twice and stops reading

Heres hoping to hear just that!

put jumper back on NORMAL position, pray and power on.

So should I just leave everything disconnected when I power it back up or connect at least the video, HDD, keyboard, and mouse to test it?

I really appreciate your help edwin! Thanks!

[edwin]

thank you for that question.

basic setup: power supply, motherboard, cpu, memory, video card, keyboard and floppy drive. Usually it's not a problem to leave other things inside but this increases chances on success.

you want to make that disk bootable though, get the Driver Free Disk For BIOS Flashing at http://www.bootdisk.com then copy those files to it afterwards. iflash needs a DOS environment to work with, it's not hardcoded in the recovery part of the board.

[gdblackthorn]

Ok, so here is what I did. I downloaded the Driver Free Disk For BIOS Flashing disk per your link and copied those files to a floppy. I then copied the following files from the DOS folder I mentioned above to the floppy:

BEEP.COM
BIOS.REC
IFLASH.EXE
P19-0057.B11
P19-0057.B12
P19-0057.B13
P19-0057.B14
P19-0057.B15
P19-0057.B16
P19-0057.BIO
P19-0057.ITK
P19-0057.SIG

I opened the autoexec.bat file to see what was on it and modified it to look like this:

@echo off
cls
beep
iflash

I then disconnected the monitor, mouse, all hard drives, all CD & DVD drives, and removed the SATA card from the PCI slot. I did leave the video card in place.

I then removed the jumper, and powered it up. I got no beep sound, but it was reading the disc for quite some time. I waited patiently and then heard two high pitch beeps! This was what I had never heard before!

I then powered down, replaced the jumper, connected the monitor to the built in video card on the motherboard (not to the video card in the PCI slot), connected the main Hard Drive, connected the keyboard and mouse. I powered on and waited, I heard a beep and there was text on the monitor! I hit F2 and went into the Bios! Then I hit the F9 key and checked all my settings to make sure they were correct. Most of them were fine so I changed the few that needed it (such as the video card being in the PCI slot and not somewhere else), saved the changes and powered down. I then moved the video connection to my video card and rebooted. Up came windows! After I checked everything, I powered down and reconnected my other drives, inserted my SATA card, and powered up and checked out the Bios settings again.

My system is up and working again with the changed Bios! I really appreciated your help.

Unfortunately the brainy smurf that made this bios has left me with two unworking USB ports. I have 4 in the back and 2 in the front. Now only the back ones work. I don't suppose that there is anything I can do about that? When a flash card is inserted into the USB port, it recognizes that there is a drive in it and even gives it a drive letter, but it does not show the contents of the drive. The light on my drive just flashes. Even when I use the "safely remove hardware" icon in the taskbar to disconnect the drive it keeps on flashing as if nothing has happened. Normally my flash drive light goes out when it is safe to remove.

I tried the drive in one of the back ports and it works fine. If there is any suggestions on this one, I would appreciate it.

Thanks for the tips and detailed info. I have learned a lot and now I know the importance of the details!

[edwin]

I have no idea why the front USB isn't working entirely, once it is recognizing the drive it should also show the contents. Maybe you have to check what is listed in device manager and remove any USB ports with a in front of them, and let windows redetect them.

[rleescott]

Way to go on getting the bios working!
Until you mentioned it, I hadn't noticed the 2 front usb ports. Remember usb issues are why I considered the bios upgrade in the first place. In the meantime I added a pci usb card that seems to work ok.
The gateway site has an update for chipset and usb for our model. Are you game?
Do you believe your troubles came from using the windows path for bios rather than booting from a floppy?

[edwin]

If you don't have a healthy windows setup, don't flash the bios from within windows. It is that simple. Unless you had a fresh install there's no way of telling if it will work or not, could be anti-virus software in the way (Symantec anyone?) or other stuff missing/broken. There's too many variables involved flashing from a mature windows install...

[donfox]

gdblackthorn,
If either of two state of affairs has occured with your computer, I have a suggestion that may remedy the eluding resolution of the Intel RG82845G BIOS experience. (1) If your computer came from Gateway with an optionalal PCI graphics card added before it was shipped. (2) If your computer was later upgraded to use a PCI graphics card instead of the VGA graphics card that comes embedded into the motherboard . In either case there is still a blue VGA graphics interface port on the back of the computer. This is the graphics interface port that the Intel RG82845G BIOS will boot to after the BIOS configuration is reset to use the original or the optimal startup boot BIOS.
I'm thinking this could be the case for your startup BIOS that you flashed with the original chip set configuration. If your system has a PCI graphics card disconnect your monitor from it and connect it to the blue embedded VGA graphic interface on the back of your compter and see if your computer will bootup without a black screen. If it does restart and and press the F2 key to access the BIOS, on the menu select the advanced option and down arrow to the graphics configuration and press enter to select the graphics config and change it to use the PCI and save the changes and exit the BIOS. If loose your monitor after doing this if so shut down using the power button and change your monitor plug back to the PCI and power up and if your monitor stays on shutdown and do the monitor switch.
I hope this helps you, good luck anyway.
donfox

[edwin]

That may have been the problem but please explain why it was working once we got through the recovery procedure? My guess: sick windows install and/or anti-virus software interfering. I still flash bioses from DOS or bootable media.

[rleescott]

Thank you donfox. I have the same system as gdblackthorn, but only have the original video from the mobo. This question is for Edwin and gdblackthorn, but all replies are welcome:
I downloaded the driver free disc for bios flashing from 2 different mirrors, and the file is drdflash.exe. I double click and it says to insert disc in drive a: It copies and finishes but when I open the window, it is empty, no files visible. What am I doing wrong?
Also, when I format the disc before copying, should I select make disc bootable, or does this file automatically boot from a:?