Failed Bios Relife. New chip?

[pederson_76]

I have a Biostar TA790GXE 128M board and I failed an bios update. For me, that was no big deal as its happened before and I just use the Bios Relife feature.

I started the Relife and that failed writing about half way through and the computer shut down. I accidentally tried the relife with a modded bios (got the stupid files mixed up on the flash drive). After that, I tried clearing cmos/ removing battery/ relife again, everything. Even old school floppy. But still, got nothing.
I inspected the board very thoroughly and couldnt find anything that looked blown or out of order.

Do I just need a new bios chip? or maybe theres bigger problems not worth messing with?

 

[VirtualLarry]

http://www.badflash.com/

 

[pederson_76]

So are you pretty sure the bios chip will fix the problem?
thats the main thing I'm wondering...

 

[pederson_76]

anyone?

 

[bankster55]

Dont know anything about AMD/Biostar mobo, but since you are desperate:

You prob corrupted the bios boot block
Sometimes a "drastic" cmos clear can work:
Batt out, CMOS jumper shorted, PSU unplugged, 24 hours
(The amount of time you wait may surprise with results)
However, yes, new chip will prob get you back to normal
But you will have to figure out what happened or it may happen again.

Is the chip replaceable - not soldered in?
Does biostar even offer replace chip for sale?
If not, I use this guy (in U,K, but very good - never a prob)
http://bios-repair.co.uk/
Once you get your second chip you can hotflash bad one when in Windows, with redo bootblock switch if necessary

 

[pederson_76]

Ok thanks, yes the chip is in a socket. I already extremely carefully pulled the bios chip and put it back in to check.

The board hasnt been in a system for about 2 weeks now, I will try clearing everything again and force flash this weekend :thumbsup:

 

[bankster55]

Not to drag this out, but out of case is not good enough
Have to take out battery and short clear CMOS pins if it has them, or leave the chip itself out for the 24 hrs

p.s.
+ using modded bios by mistake cant help

 

[pederson_76]

The bios chip was out for at least a day earlier this week. I will take the other steps you mentioned first and hopefully try tomorrow

 

[pederson_76]

Well, after like a week of being shorted out, I finally got to it today. Still nothing.
You fairly confident its the bios chip?
I can get one for like $18 shipped.

 

[bankster55]

Just make sure you UNSHORTED the pins
And I guess you could check batt voltage

like I say I know nothing about Biostar bios and "relife"
Were it ASUS, I could be definitive.
But a failed flash and a no boot afterwards can only mean one thing.
Right?
Cant lose by getting the bios chip - always nice to have on hand. And $18 is no biggie I would think. And you cant do anything else until you do and get that out of the way.
Right?

 

[pederson_76]

Haha, yeah I switched the pins back. I've made that mistake in the past so thats one of the first things I checked

I think I will go ahead and try the chip. I can't justify not trying the bios chip with your advice. I'm a total noob when it comes to the bios department.
Thanks for the advice :thumbsup:, I will let you know if it works or not when I get it