BIOS/Motherboard problem - Virus problems?

Hot-swapping and Boot-Block flash & Boot block flash and floppy support
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gdb81
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Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2002 6:33 pm

I have been working on this for days, and will attempt to list everything I have tried and what I've assumed from my results:

Problem: Computer will not boot. Power goes to hard drive and CD-ROM drive, but not the floppy drive. The video card does not initialize so the screen remains blank regardless of what I try. Other odd problems persist (for example I can turn the power on, but not off unless I unplug the computer)

I have a spacewalker/shuttle AK31 v.3 motherboard with the most recent AWARD Bios on it.

I have had this same exact problem before, and fixed it. What troubles me is that I did not physically change anything to fix the problem, it simply started working. I have a strong feeling that these problems are the result of a virus.

1. I double checked all connections, jumpers, and cables. All appear to be in working order.
2. I connected an extra floppy drive to the computer and nothing happened. I also tried using a different video card to no avail.
3. I removed all non-essential components, but got no progress.
4. I took the hard drive from the computer and installed it into a second computer. The second computer refused to load the hard drive and informed me that the FAT32 table and registry were corrupted. I also took the working hard drive from the second computer and installed it in the first computer. The same problems persisted.

Currently I am assuming this is some kind of virus. It has occured twice (I have been downloading similar things and may have been reinfected that way, sadly I was never smart enough to put a virus-check program onto the computer). The hard drive is corrupted, yet using a new hard drive (of similar set up) does not solve the problem. This leads me to beleive that the BIOS has been corrupted as well.

I took the first logical step and cleared the CMOS, first by removing the power source and taking the battery out for an hour (didn't work) and then by using the CMOS clear jumper.

This seems to lead me to a solution, I need to reset/reinstall/upgrade my BIOS settings. The problems:

--No video output, I can't see what is happening
--No floppy drive access
--Installing a new hard drive has no effect.

?????????
Any help would be greatly appreciated
Denniss
BIOS Guru
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Maybe a CIH Virus type erasing your Flashrom chip completely or partially - maybe Clear CMOS helps if only configuration Info was mixed up .
Please use an Antivirus program and perform a viruscheck on your HDD and the HDD from your second computer !!
gdb81
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Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2002 6:33 pm

The description of the CIH virus that I have pulled up is consistant with what I am seeing, and would certainly explain the cause of the problem. The hard drive, and the information on it, are of secondary importance to me. What I am really interested in is restoring my computer back to life.

Since it seems that I have to reflash my BIOS, what would be the best way to do this? Contacting the manufacturer for another BIOS chip? Or is there an easier way?
NickS
BIOS Bodhisattva
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Joined: Fri May 03, 2002 10:34 am
Location: Thames Valley, UK

gdb81 wrote:The description of the CIH virus that I have pulled up is consistant with what I am seeing, and would certainly explain the cause of the problem. The hard drive, and the information on it, are of secondary importance to me. What I am really interested in is restoring my computer back to life.

Since it seems that I have to reflash my BIOS, what would be the best way to do this? Contacting the manufacturer for another BIOS chip? Or is there an easier way?
Try hot-swap flashing in the second computer ? See the main site FAQ for an explanation of hot-swap.
Tested patched BIOSes. Untested patched BIOSes.
Emails *will* be ignored unless the subject line starts "Wim's BIOS forum"
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