Search found 13 matches

by stripwax
Sun Oct 04, 2009 10:50 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

Actually, the Acer 1300 and Acer 1310 Crisis bios sections look equivalent to the one in my Benq, but the Acer 2010/2020/Extensa images additionally have reference to CREXT.CHB [as well as the BIOS.ROM stuff]. That rings a bell, some other bios recovery procedures use that name? However the Crisis i...
by stripwax
Sun Oct 04, 2009 9:28 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

My zip file downloads fine for me and I can confirm the files are not corrupt. There are two files, insydeco.exe and readme.txt (these are the original ones as previously downloaded from the biosgfx site). Please try again. http://www.beermex.com/insydeco.0.1.zip Alternatively if this still doesn't ...
by stripwax
Mon Aug 10, 2009 12:03 am
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

I've uploaded a copy of the windows insydeco decompressor (command-line) tool to my local webspace, for those that have been having trouble downloading

wimsbios isn't letting me post the link (as I don't have 10 posts yet). But it's at www dot beermex dot com forwardslash insydeco.0.1.zip
by stripwax
Sat Aug 08, 2009 4:04 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

Updated list of laptops with identical Insyde CRISIS bios sections So, not much of an update. BenQ tech support redirecting me around the houses on both phone and email support, failing to acknowledge any crisis recovery mode whatsoever. Their repair centre seems to be unable to understand the prob...
by stripwax
Tue Feb 24, 2009 2:04 am
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

Doze2: That's correct, although the links on that site are dead ends - I got mine from the wayback machine. I will upload a mirror to some webspace too if it helps others out too. This link via archive.org points to a dated mirror http://web.archive.org/web/20051018070723/www.kaos.ru/biosgfx/index.h...
by stripwax
Sun Jan 11, 2009 5:26 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

The bios upgrade is just the usual stuff - dos-based flasher and .rom file. upgrade instructions are 'boot to dos and run update.bat'. e.g.: http://benq.co.uk/support/downloads/drivercounter.cfm?dpid=562&id=2070&size=303%20KB&type=B&filename=5000U_BIOS_109.zip&type=B&whereto=%2Fsupport%2Fdownloads%2...
by stripwax
Sat Jan 03, 2009 3:58 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

I contacted BenQ who said that they do not stock any such recovery floppy, and they also denied all knowledge of a crisis recovery mode. They also suggested I phone their premium support line. So - they didn't really say I would have to pay for that file, but I would imagine I would spend a lot of $...
by stripwax
Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:27 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

I got a message back from Insyde , when I queried them to see if any of the recovery files are available. They say that they don't produce BIOSes, they just provide source code to manufactures who can integrate as they see fit. Suggesting that Insyde crisis recovery is perhaps not a one-size-fits-al...
by stripwax
Sun Dec 21, 2008 2:20 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde bios recovery from bad flash - many different kinds?
Replies: 0
Views: 6266

Insyde bios recovery from bad flash - many different kinds?

I've got a BenQ Joybook 5000U circa 2004-ish, which I'm trying to recover from a bad flash. I've made some progress (see my thread on the technical page) but at the point where I think I just need proprietary files from the manufacturer, and I'm assuming they won't give them out for free (nor are th...
by stripwax
Sun Nov 30, 2008 7:12 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

Patching a floppy disk boot sector so that the entry point is at 7c80 actually works - I tried it with a Caldera DR-DOS floppy image. My Benq laptop (joybook 5000u, insyde MobilePro bios version 4, intel ICH4 mobo) gets as far as the "Loading Caldera DR-DOS" message (indicating the floppy boot secto...
by stripwax
Sun Nov 30, 2008 2:37 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

Actually, what the Insyde bios bootblock code really seems to be doing is: 1. Look for a file named BIOS.ROM. Load some of it. (Possibly also extract the VGABIOS from it and apply it, but not completely sure) 2. If we got this far, show the flashing message "Loading Flash Utility\r\nPlease Wait..." ...
by stripwax
Sat Nov 29, 2008 6:48 pm
Forum: Notebook BIOS and other problems
Topic: Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries
Replies: 20
Views: 36595

Insyde BIOS bootblock recovery- some new info - some queries

Using some insyde/systemsoft decompression code I managed to split out the BIOS for my Benq laptop (dead from a failed bios flash), and it includes a CRISIS.ROM Dissasembling that a bit, it looks for a file named BIOS.ROM on a connected floppy drive, reads in something like 64KB of the file, and the...