identifying BIOS flash chip on a laptop board

[meanderer]

I just flashed a DV9700 with the latest BIOS from HP. The flash process was done on vista business 64 with official HP tools. The flash process was completed successfully but upon reboot the dreaded BIOS corrupt beep code comes up. When I was flashing the BIOS the tool seems to have skipped past some blocks quickly, it would say
block 16 of 16 for 5 sec
block 15 of 16 for 5 sec ...
then goes to
9,8,7,6, was so quick that I couldn't see it
then
block 3 of 16 for 5 sec.. etc.

I think this process was blotched and I am left with corrupt BIOS.

anyone successfully resurrect such BIOS? I AM VERY POSITIVE THAT the GPU is in working order.

Looked up some articles regarding flash drive recoveries on google. win+b combination and Fn+b. didn't do the trick so far.

I am looking to buy a BIOS flasher, but I would need to locate the chip itself first. the flasher can be found on ebay if you search NANO BIOS programmer.

 

[MobileTechie]

Depending on who makes the BIOS there is usually a rescue disk system. You have to create a floppy with the application and BIOS file and press certain keys at startup to get it to load. I forget the name of the system Phoenix use. It can be a right pain to get it to work though.

 

[coreyspeed]

the bios is normal on a smd chip like the one below, i have done what you are trying to do many times before on embedded PCB's but the process should be the same, you have to remore the chip and program it in an external flash device.

other sites that may be of intrest


http://bios-repair.co.uk/bios/solbios.htm

 

[TLE]

This site may be of interest to you..

http://www.wimsbios.com/faq/howtorecoveracorruptbios.jsp

 

[meanderer]

Thanks, these resources are great.
As you know, this is a laptop with no floppy. Some say that they work with USB floppy, should I invest in one just to try this out? or you think I will be fine with flash drives?

the bios is normal on a smd chip like the one below, i have done what you are trying to do many times before on embedded PCB's but the process should be the same, you have to remore the chip and program it in an external flash device.

other sites that may be of intrest


http://bios-repair.co.uk/bios/solbios.htm

do you mean a 8 pin chip? there are a lot of 8 pin SMD chips on a typical motherboard, any more clues to tell which is which? for as far as I know, if you see 2 identical chips, those are power mosfets, something like that.

 

[TLE]

I have a USB floppy drive for just such occasions. It was always handy for doing XP installs where additional drivers were needed. Haven't used for quite some time now, but it's there just in case. You can pick them up from Ebay pretty cheaply.

 

[meanderer]

once I find out the chip, do you know where I can get some replacement chips?

I know a korean seller at ebay is selling "NANO BIOS Programmer". Has anyone know about this? anyone ever tried such BIOS programmer to work on a laptop BIOS?

from another defective sony motherboard I found a flash chip with some markings on it, searching online I found out that it is EN25F80-75HCP
8Mbit serial flash, Now the problem is that I can't find this chip nor similar specc'ed chip at either digikey or mousers.

What's the next step if I want to further this reprogramming route?

 

[meanderer]

Thanks everyone's help, I think I got the hang of it and identified the BIOS chip on 3 laptop boards. From another forum I also found a suitable replacement chip if there's a need for such.

I am just waiting for the floppy drive to arrive, give my 9700 another BIOS rescue. If it doesn't work I will go the long way and reprogram the BIOS out of board.