Failed BIOS flash

[Jailer]

No, no power loss.

 

[joeschmuck]

to support the CPU that I intend to install.

Do you have that CPU now and if yes, have you considered installing it to see if the BIOS just isn't supporting your current processor?

Maybe the NO Brystol Ridge Support also affected other CPUs.

 

[Jailer]

o you have that CPU now and if yes, have you considered installing it to see if the BIOS just isn't supporting your current processor?

Maybe the NO Brystol Ridge Support also affected other CPUs.

I do not. I don't want to purchase it if I can't recover this motherboard. If I have to buy a motherboard I'll likely go with an intel solution.

The CPU is a Raven ridge, Athlon 200GE. It's one generation newer than Bristol ridge.

 

[joeschmuck]

What bothers me is the BIOS ends up removing CPU compatibility. But I'm with you on this one, just buy a new CPU and motherboard. Wish I had a proper AM4 CPU I could loan you just to see if that is the issue.

 

[Jailer]

Well I just ordered this off amazon so we will see how this goes. There's plenty of tutorials out there on how to use it and if it works I won't have to de solder the BIOS chip from the board to use it.

At this point it's more about winning than it is getting the computer back up and running. I'm not ready to give up on it yet.

 

[Jailer]

There's an 8-pin chip labeled "M_BIOS". My first step would be to break out the magnifying glass and see if this is actually a ROM of some sort, and if so, what it takes to program it.

Well I managed to get a good pic of it. I hope that programmer I just ordered works with it. Not sure how to tell if it's compatible with it or not but it's the one suggested in the reddit thread I linked to above.

 

[jgreco]

So that's a Macronix 25U12873F and it looks to have been manufactured in the 38th week of 2017. I would imagine most programmers could handle an SPI flash device, possibly with a software update for the programmer.

 

[Constantin]

I have found using Chipquick a great and reliable method to get rid of ROHS solder. It significantly lowers the temperature needed and by putting down a big blob, you can heat and lift all pins on one side at once w/o risking pad damage. Then use the included flux plus some desoldering braid to clean up the PCB (and the chip) and you're good to go. I like using a lot of extra flux when re-installling chips as it helps ensure a good clean joint w/o oxidation.

 

[Arwen]

The Pine64 people had a bit of trouble with the Pinebook Pro laptop. It included a blank SPI flash device similar to the one you have. But, most people simply used the eMMC or SDXC device as the initial boot device. (The advantage of using the SPI flash as a boot for the Pinebook Pro was direct NVMe booting, no need for eMMC or SDXC.)

The reason I mention this, is that they had multiple ways of fixing failed SPI programming or bad images. Including clipping on an external EEPROM programmer, which did not require any (de-)soldering.

You might check the Pine64 Wiki on the Pinebook Pro, or other devices, (Pine64 put a SPI flash on many of their products). Or you can check the forums too.

 

[Jailer]

Including clipping on an external EEPROM programmer, which did not require any (de-)soldering.

That's what I ordered from amazon today. Hopefully it works without having to de solder anything. I'll know more when it gets here next week and I can try it out.

 

[joeschmuck]

Eh, just use a pair of wire cutters and cut that thing out of there, program it, and stick it back on with a little bit of bubble gum.

I hope the programmer works, if it does -- DETAILS on how easy it was or wasn't.

 

[Jailer]

Well, she's dead Jim.

Finally got my programmer today from amazon after a shipping delay by the completely incompetent USPS. It took a bit of searching and some random youtube videos to figure out how to hook this all up and get it running. Once I had all that figured out I hooked it up using the clip adapter and checked the connection with the AsProgrammer software. Everything checked out and it was being detected correctly so I flashed the BIOS chip with a known good BIOS. The flash succeeded and verified correctly so I put everything back together and....... nothing. So obviously there's something beyond a bad BIOS flash that's going on with this motherboard that's way beyond anything I will ever be able to figure out so I'm chucking this thing in the trash. At least I'm only out $14 and a little bit of my time and I got to learn to do something new.

 

[jgreco]

I'm very sorry to hear that, Jailer. Will there be a funeral service or any open bar?

 

[Jailer]

It will be a private ceremony of just me drowning my sorrows with a few barley pops this evening.

 

[HoneyBadger]

Send it off with a 21-Soldering-Gun salute?

 

[Romkslrqusz]

Well, she's dead Jim.

Finally got my programmer today from amazon after a shipping delay by the completely incompetent USPS. It took a bit of searching and some random youtube videos to figure out how to hook this all up and get it running. Once I had all that figured out I hooked it up using the clip adapter and checked the connection with the AsProgrammer software. Everything checked out and it was being detected correctly so I flashed the BIOS chip with a known good BIOS. The flash succeeded and verified correctly so I put everything back together and....... nothing. So obviously there's something beyond a bad BIOS flash that's going on with this motherboard that's way beyond anything I will ever be able to figure out so I'm chucking this thing in the trash. At least I'm only out $14 and a little bit of my time and I got to learn to do something new.

Did you use the 1.8v adapter for this 1.8v chip? Did you get and compare multiple reads to ensure a consistent connection?
The clip-on method can be unreliable, and ideally an SPI flash chip should be flashed out of circuit to prevent other signals from messing with things.

If a BIOS Flash is what bricked this board, I am confident this can be resolved with this programmer.

 

[Jailer]

Did you use the 1.8v adapter for this 1.8v chip? Did you get and compare multiple reads to ensure a consistent connection?
The clip-on method can be unreliable, and ideally an SPI flash chip should be flashed out of circuit to prevent other signals from messing with things.

If a BIOS Flash is what bricked this board, I am confident this can be resolved with this programmer.

Yes I did use the 1.8v adapter. It sucessfully connected and recognised the BIOS chip once I figured out how everything needed to be properly connected. I tried multiple times to flash the chip without success. The board was cheap so I really don't feel too bad not being able to get it brought back to life. No matter anyway, it went in the trash after many failed attempts to flash it and it's long gone so it's moot at this point.

 

[joeschmuck]

That is a real letdown, even if the motherboard was cheap. Well you have a new programmer, but I hope you never need to use it again.