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Bad flash results, any help is appreciated.

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 4:13 pm
by butlerjc
I am hoping that I haven't joined the ranks of the idiots who try this procedure and end up with expensive doorstops. At this point, I have my laptop ready to ship back to the manufacturer, but I just wanted to take one last stab at finding a way to get past the problem without such drastic action.

Here's the sob story:

I have a generic-built laptop from the now-defunct Windrover company. It has a MiTAC 6020 motherboard, running SystemSoft BIOS v1.10. I tried to add RAM, but it was not recognized. Kingston Technology website suggested old BIOS. I went to MiTAC and found v1.14 and followed their instructions to the letter. Everything looked perfect until I hit the power switch on reboot. System powers up, goes thru memory check fine, but then hangs on "Auto-detecting IDE Devices". Can't get past that to the A: prompt. (So far the only good thing that has come of this is that I can tear apart and rebuild my entire machine in about 10 minutes.) Have I killed it? I've run out of things to try other than shipping it somewhere.

Hope someone can help.

Thanks.

Jim C.
Tampa, FL

Posted: Tue Jan 28, 2003 11:23 pm
by Joe
Have you or are you able to enter the BIOS and restore / load "Setup Defaults"?

Joe

Re: bad flash results

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 2:51 am
by butlerjc
Nope.

The keystroke is never recognized, so I can't get into the BIOS. Just hangs at the Auto-Detecting IDE Devices statement.

Any hope?

Jim

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 3:30 am
by Joe
Were you given the option to "Backup" the old BIOS before flashing?

What is the solution the manufacturer is offering?

What model is this laptop? Did they just offer one model?

Joe

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 11:09 am
by Rainbow
Does it hang if you remove the HDD?

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 2:40 pm
by butlerjc
To both of the replies: (with my thanks)

Joe:

I believe that backing up the BIOS was an option. Being as timid as possible with this operation, I must have done so, however, I truthfully don't remember. The manufacturer will do whatever is necessary to fix the problem, as long as I pay them $75.00 flat for handling, and $55 per hour, plus any parts. I can't remember the model that Windrover called this machine. They did make several models, and this one was on the higher end at the time. It may have been a Windrover 6020. There isn't too much info left about the company. I will check past issues of Laptop Buyer's Guide (they were always a Best Buy) for the model, if it is an important bit of info. I know for a fact, the board is a MiTAC 6020.

Rainbow:

I haven't tried that (booting w/o HDD, but I will if Joe concurs that it may help.

Thanks again.


Jim

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 3:15 pm
by NickS
butlerjc wrote:I haven't tried that (booting w/o HDD, but I will if Joe concurs that it may help.
Joe isn't on every day, so I'd go ahead wihtout waiting for his concurrence. :)

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 4:29 pm
by Joe
Give it a try, be open for all possibilities..

hopefully you can get this resolved without paying anything..

Joe

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 5:01 pm
by butlerjc
Thanks for all the support. I will try the boot w/o HDD tonight and see what happens. No offense intended to anyone when I looked for concurrence. Apologies to all.

Jim :oops:

Posted: Wed Jan 29, 2003 7:26 pm
by NickS
NickS wrote:Joe isn't on every day <snip>
Damn, I would choose today to say that. :)

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 2:52 am
by Joe
I try to hang around where there is action.

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 3:04 am
by butlerjc
Progress.

I'm glad I found this site! By booting with the hard drive disconnected, it allowed me to get into the SCU. I tried the obvious stuff like Load Defaults, and Load Last settings, but it still boots up with the new version (1.14).

What's my next move?

Thanks!

Jim

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 4:51 am
by Joe
Does it give you floppy drive access? did you check the floppy disk for a backup of the old BIOS image?

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 2:22 pm
by butlerjc
The floppy kept responding with "Not a System Disk" etc. no matter what I put in. I took a shot and tried my XP CD and it started the setup process. I could probably create a boot CD on my desktop box. I will find the right floppy from the so-called upgrade and check for the backup.

Posted: Thu Jan 30, 2003 2:52 pm
by KachiWachi
Hopefully you saved your old BIOS and can flash back to that to make sure you machine is still OK before trying this again...

The floppy you are trying to boot from is a valid boot disk...right??

I went looking for your BIOS file...could you provide the link? I could not find anything at the MiTAC site...