Flash BIOS Damage?

I have a Gateway M465G laptop and I flashed the bios. When the laptop rebooted all I got was a series of vertical and horizantal colored lines going across the screen while the machine was booting into Windows. Once it booted into Windows all I get is a dark screen; nothing shows up. I hooked the laptop to an external monitor and I got the same results. How could a flash bios do this? Is there anything that I can do to reverse the flash bios? Thanks.

 

Last time I flashed my BIOS it gave me the option of saving the old BIOS in case it went wrong. Did you have that option? If you did, you could just restore the old bios. If not, you would need to download the original Bios from the manufacturer and flash it again.
Hope this helps
Sven

 

Thanks Sven, yes, when I flashed the bios I did save a copy of the old one, but the problem is that I cannot get into Windows or the bios in bootup. All that I see are colored lines across the screen.

 

You flashed the BIOS from within windows?
I had a bootable floppy with the software to flash and did it from DOS.
If you don’t have a floppy, you might have to pull the bios chip and have it flashed at a repair shop.
Sorry, can’t help you beyond that.
Sven

 

You might have one other option. Many laptop BOIS can be burned to CD. Then just boot the computer with the CD in the drive. Thats how I updated my Toshiba BOIS. Check the Gateway Internet site. Locate the BIOS and see if there is an .iso version available.

 

Sven, yes, the bios was flashed within Windows. Ranger, I'll check the Gateway site for an .iso version of the bios. But I am still curious to know how will I be able to read the bios if I do use a CD? When the machine turns on I press F2 and I can see that it enters the bios, but I cannot read anything. Everything is garbled...

 

When I updated my BIOS, I put in the CD and rebooted the computer. Everything from there was automatic. I did not have to do anything.

What version is your BIOS?

 

The version that I upgraded to was 71.12. My laptop model, M465G, is listed under the laptops that this update applies to. What I don't remember is the prior older version. I've been looking at the Gateway support site and I can't find any .iso versions of bios...

 

And I don't see one either. SVEN may be right. But before you get that drastic contact Gateway support. They may have a solution.

 

If you find yourself "up the creek without a paddle ", help is available in the form of a pre-programmed replacement chip from www.badflash.com Jack offers several options and I'll let you read about them rather than trying to list them all myself. I give this organization my highest recommendation.

 

Thanks everyone. I will first contact Gateway but I don't have too many expectations from them. This laptop is one of those that Gateway sold to MPC, which has declared bankrupcy. If Gateway does not work out then I will see if www.badflash.com works. I am going on a business trip for the next few days but I will let everyone know the outcome when I complete my options. I really do want to salavage this laptop because other than the bios issue it is working fine and has served me well. Thanks again everyone for the help!

 

I don't think so. For one, you just don't reach in and yank out computer chips! You'll likely destroy it, and perhaps the CPU, RAM, and more in the process. Second, I have not seen a BIOS chip that can be "pulled" off motherboards (implying it is in some sort of socket) in more than 10 years - maybe 15! That was when you actually needed to replace the "PROM" (NOT EPROM, or EEPROM) to get a new BIOS. These chips are soldered in, and unless you have been specially trained in micro-miniature soldering techniques on multi-layered printed circuit boards (and motherboards typically have 4 to 6 layers of circuitry) don't go sticking a soldering iron (or your fingers) in there!

@fsiaca - Did you try resetting the BIOS? This is easy with PCs but with a notebook, unless there are specific instructions in your manual or on Gateway's tech support site, I recommend you take it to someone with experience disassembling notebooks.

If this is still under warranty - definitely contact Gateway.

And for future reference, there is generally no need to flash the BIOS unless (1) The new BIOS specifically address a problem you are having, (2) The new BIOS addresses a critical security issue (3) The current BIOS is corrupt, and resetting has failed to fix it.

 

Bill, thanks for the response. I received a direct response from the people at www.badflash.com and he suggested that I reset the CMOS/RTC before I looked into replacing the bios chip. I am still waiting for a response from Gateway (there is no warranty left on the laptop.

I am totally comfortable with opening a laptop, I have done so in the past. But before I do so can I assume that is I pull the battery out and put it in again this would reset the CMOS, or would I still have to look for the CMOS jumpers? From what I have been able to find out the battery is located under the keyboard, which is very easy to remove.

 

First - to ensure no confusion for any one else reading - I am referring to the motherboard's CMOS battery, and not the notebook's power battery - which should be removed too.

IF a motherboard has a jumper, you don't need to pull the battery. They do the same thing - that is, they remove the voltage from the CMOS device - which is a special memory device that is only able to remember when it has voltage applied to it.

Moving the jumper instantly shorts the CMOS power, and any charged capacitors in the circuit to ground, and the CMOS forgets the Date and Time, drives, and other settings, reverting the system back to the BIOS defaults. That's why you just move the jumper for 1 second and move it back.

Not all motherboards have jumpers so the battery must be pulled for 30 seconds or so to allow any charged capacitors in the circuit to bleed off any charge that may be holding the CMOS settings.

The batteries typically cost $2 or $3 at your local battery/watch/camera counter so, you might consider just replacing it - take the old one with you (many places recycle) then, using a clean cloth (don't touch with bare skin) replace the battery.

After any reset, boot directly into the BIOS Setup Menu upon first boot and set the date and time, and make sure your drives are recognized. Then save and exit, and hopefully all is okay.

 

Bill, thanks. Yes, I am aware that we are looking for the CMOS battery; not the laptop's power battery.

From my research on the Internet it seems that the CMOS battery is located underneath the keyboard. I know how to remove the keyboard so I'll do that as soon as I get home later on this week. I will keep everyone posted. Thanks for the assistance!

 

Be sure to stay in constant contact with bare metal of the case and frame to prevent any static discharge from destroying nearby sensitive devices.

 

Incredible comment - I guess its been a long winter. (or several long winters!)

 

Yep! And if you sleep over them - technology, and the world will pass you by.