Customer shut off PC while doing bios update

[JoeTech]

I had a customer bring in a desktop that they tried to upgrade the bios on it. They didn't know what they were doing and turned it off during the update. The motherboard is a MSI B450M Bazooka V2.

I have tried the following:
I have removed the cmos battery.
I used a jumper cap to short JBAT1 for about 5-10 seconds
I disconnected all cables except the cpu fan and power.
I have removed the RAM and using it only in the dimm2a slot
I also tried to recover the bios with a flash drive and that didn't work.

The cpu light on the easyled diag is solid white. I removed the CPU and checked for bent pins, but I didn't see any and put in back in place.

Is there anything else I can try or is his motherboard bricked now and he needs to get a new one?

 

[nlinecomputers]

 

[Sky-Knight]

Make a USB key that's partitioned MBR, and formatted FAT32. Place the USB file in the root of the USB stick, and rename it to AMIBOOT.ROM.

Remove power from the unit, and move the CMOS-Clear jumper in to the reset position. Press the power button a couple of times and move the jumper back.

Detach ALL DRIVES but the USB stick you're trying to update from.

Power the unit up, and press CTRL+Home You should see a status LED on the main board change status as soon as you do.

Wait... it can take AWHILE, 3-5min

Once the system boots, get into the BIOS and reflash it from there.

Note, some boards from MSI require the BIOS file to be on an optical disk, which means a SATA attached optical drive of some sort.

 

[JoeTech]

I made sure my USB drive was formatted MBR and fat32. I renamed the file to AMIBOOT.ROM. Nothing happened after 20 minutes. I burned the file to a cd and tried that way as well. This model doesn't have a flash bios button or switch on the motherboard like I see in all the youtube videos. The only light that is on is the easyled cpu light.

 

[JoeTech]

I have also noticed that the green lights on my keyboard don't light up. I tried usb and ps/2 keyboards. So I don't know if it recognized when I was pressing ctrl and home buttons

 

[sapphirescales]

You can get a basic AM4 board for like $50. Not worth sinking all this time into. If the flash drive didn't work then just quote them a replacement board. It's not like the old days where changing to a different model motherboard would cause a BSOD boot loop. Just slap a replacement in, install some drivers, and call it a day.

 

[Sky-Knight]

Yeah, I'm afraid SapphireScales is correct. That was the BIOS recovery procedure, if that doesn't work the mainboard is a brick. If you really want to fix it, only MSI support can help you now. It'd be faster to source a new board, the labor on fixing this one will be much more money than a replacement.

 

[JoeTech]

Thanks for all your help guys. I will quote him a new motherboard and go from there.

 

[Howie Johnson]

I will quote him a new motherboard and go from there.

Will that need a new Windows license too? We all VL here so just askin'

 

[Markverhyden]

or

 

[Sky-Knight]

Will that need a new Windows license too? We all VL here so just askin'

OEM licensing allows you to replace parts... but yeah technically that replacement main baord needs a new license. but that's mostly because there's no key to recover when you're working with the tier 1s. White boxes still have keys, so if it were on my bench I'd just reuse the sticker that's on the box.

 

[nlinecomputers]

.

OEM licensing allows you to replace parts... but yeah technically that replacement main baord needs a new license. but that's mostly because there's no key to recover when you're working with the tier 1s. White boxes still have keys, so if it were on my bench I'd just reuse the sticker that's on the box.

This. Even if there’s no sticker you can call M$ and plead your case. Most of the time they will give you a new key.

 

[sapphirescales]

Will that need a new Windows license too?

Depends. If they've tied their current Windows license to their Microsoft account then it will transfer over to the new motherboard. If they bought a retail copy of Windows when they did the custom build then that license can transfer over as well. If it's an OEM license then they can call Microsoft and explain what happened and 99% of the time Microsoft will release the license for one more activation. If they got the license as a free upgrade from Windows 7/8 then that license is dead as a doornail. Microsoft won't help them, and there's no way the Windows 7/8 key will activate Windows 10 on another motherboard.

 

[Porthos]

there's no way the Windows 7/8 key will activate Windows 10 on another motherboard.

Unless the sticker was never ever used to activate any Windows. But... Doing that would be against the EULA because the only ones that come with a sticker are OEM and die with the first board it is installed on.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Unless the sticker was never ever used to activate any Windows. But... Doing that would be against the EULA because the only ones that come with a sticker are OEM and die with the first board it is installed on.

But the original Windows 7 OEM license permits repair. So you can repair it under the Windows 7 license and reupgrade.

 

[sapphirescales]

Unless the sticker was never ever used to activate any Windows. But... Doing that would be against the EULA because the only ones that come with a sticker are OEM and die with the first board it is installed on.

The keyword here is "another" motherboard. Once it's been used once to upgrade a motherboard, you can never use it on another motherboard again. I've called Microsoft and begged for them to release the license and they say they can't physically do it. The people at the phone activation centers have very limited power nowadays. I mean, heck, they used to GIVE out Windows keys back in the day if you were nice to them and explained the situation. Then again, their call centers used to be manned by actual Microsoft employees and not some guy from a call center in India that knows basically nothing about Windows or what he's actually doing for his job. They're script monkeys. Nothing more. They read a script and push buttons.

 

[SAFCasper]

Just FYI this is the BIOS update screen on MSI B450 motherboards

"They didn't know what they were doing"
=
"Too impatient to follow basic instructions clearly highlighted in red"

So don't feel any shred of guilt charging them for new parts

 

[Porthos]

But the original Windows 7 OEM license permits repair. So you can repair it under the Windows 7 license and reupgrade.

Replacement of the same model board of course. Any other board is seen as a new computer.

 

[Tech bud]

I don't even do bios updates in storms much less turn the thing off haha

 

[JoeTech]

Just FYI this is the BIOS update screen on MSI B450 motherboards

"They didn't know what they were doing"
=
"Too impatient to follow basic instructions clearly highlighted in red"

So don't feel any shred of guilt charging them for new parts

They came and picked up the desktop without wanting to do any repairs. The guy sounds like he knows enough about PC's to be dangerous. I don't know of any home owner, outside of ones with gaming machines, that have tried to update their bios. Anyways he learned the difference between a bios update and a windows update today.