Failed BIOS upgrade. . . please help ! ! !

[WJB05]

As described in an earlier post, I flashed my ASUS P5A bios with version 1011_004, and believed the upgrade to be successful. After restarting the computer I am seeing the message PRESS KEY TO REBOOT, and the computer will not boot - even from a floppy. Have I permanently damaged the BIOS? Any assistance will be appreciated - I cannot get the computer to boot! Thanks.

 

[GregANDTCH]

Try holding down the "insert" key while it starts.

Does it have a jumper to clear the bios?
I think it's a good sign that it's showing you something on screen.
(Sounds like that's what you said.)
I screwed up a Bios flash & nothing showed on screen.
(cheap Matsonic MB bios chip)

If all else fails:
BadFlash

 

[PoGo456]

I just finished responding (again) to your earlier post before I saw this one ...

It's really a bit difficult being precise without knowing Everything about your setup, but ...

If you can get to the Bios Screen early in the boot process, you may still be able to make progress.

First, note (first screen after boot) what bios the system is seeing. That should display at the bottom of the screen. You video adapter and driver will display at the top. You can hit the pause key if it flashes by too fast to read. If the system is seeing any good bios file, you should still be able to get to DOS.

Then, hit any key if you paused the system, get into BIOS and set "System Defaults". Reboot to the floppy and see what you get. If you made a bootable Award flash disk with only the three DOS files (Command.com, Io.sys & Msdos.sys), your Award Flash file and your Bios binary, all the better. Boot to that. You don't need a full Windows boot disk yet.

If you can then get to the DOS prompt, you're home free .. just reflash the bios to the old 1007a that you have and start over again. No damage done.

If, however, you can't boot to a floppy with only the three basic DOS files, you'll likely need to call Asus support for another Bios Chip. They're very good at this and very fast. You can do it over the phone (San Francisco, as I remember) with a credit card and $25.00. The support number is on the US Asus site. You can send your old chip back for eprom reprogramming, but it costs almost as much as a new chip and takes a week to ten days.

I've done "Hot Swaps" on Bios chips, but you apparently don't have another around and it's not something I generally recommend. Asus can have a new chip in your hands within 2 days. Then you'll have a spare to play with.

Don't worry ... you haven't trashed your system ... a bit of time and maybe a small bit of money will set it right.

Good luck ...

 

[WJB05]

Thanks for trying to help with my situation. After trying all suggestions, I still cannot boot to even a floppy with only basic DOS files. Looks like I am going to be calling ASUS for a new BIOS. Again, thanks much.