bios hard reset

Hi, I have a problem.... I mistakenly flashed the bios update for the A0D150 model aspire one (11.6" screen version) and is has had a disastrous affect.

This version has a update routine which updates the bios through windows, which is great, accept it doesn't tell you that you have the wrong bios for machine you're trying to update!! (just looking for someone to blame for my own incompetence, though it is a valid point!).

So upon completing the flash th unit immediately switched itself off and now its dead, and i mean totally dead!

Pressing the on switch does nothing, it doesn't even get as far as powering up far enough to run the bios recovery routine which is widely known about now if you search google (hold fn+esc whilst switching on).

The only bit of life i see is when i disconnect and reconnect the battery, then the power led and hdd light flash for maybe half a second and that’s it...

So, my question is, how do i manually wipe the bios chip? I have the unit in pieces and removed the cmos battery but this has had no affect, i fear it will just wipe that date and time. Usually there are a set of jumpers which you have to short but i think Acer in there wisdom have got rid of this.

So to finish, I have the unit in pieces and I'm looking for a way of manually wiping the bios?

Any help would be very much appreciated as I don't want to be without my one whilst i send it back to acer.... or be forced to purchase a new one for such a silly mistake.

Thanks in advance and sorry for what seems to be such a long post...

John

 

John, there is a post just before yours asking basically the same thing. There are several posts on these forums and also no the net that a simple search will provide the answers. Below is a link to the post as stated which has two different methods. I think the method you will need will be the ESC+FN. Post back when you get it running properly.
link to other thread

 

Oh, I did not read your entire post . Have you tried booting to a USB floppy drive? Before you return or get a new one you can send your AA1 to me and I could try with my USB Floppy and WIN98 DOS. That is how I flashed my AA1's BIOS. Other then that, I have a link below to another thread asking basically the exact same thing as you. You would have to desolder the chip (pics provided in thread) and then flash with a programmer and resolder. I could possibly do it but my programmer is out dated and I do not have the proper device selection for that chipset.

link to BIOS chip removal/flash

 

hi garrettp thanks for the reply. read your post, did you manage to reflash your eeprom in the end?

sound like i properly screwed it..... bugger!

i would have a go at flashing it myself, do you know how much flashing tools are and which one i would need?

Thanks, John

 

John, I tried both the USB and ESC+FN options. Although I think I did not set the BIOS for "boot to USB" which may have been my problem.

I got it to work with DOS using the USB Floppy drive. I had to copy a few files over so it was a good thing I somewhat know DOS.

Removing the chip is not terribly hard as you can remove 4 pins on one side and then the 4 on the other. You should know what you are doing though as you could break a leg(pin) or lift a trace.

As for flashing, I use a programmer called Needhams EMP20. But Needhams went under and they have no support. It went under before the production of our BIOS chips so it is not supported. If you can find someone with a newer programmer it would be possible and it is rather simple to flash a chip. I will check on another forum I belong to as there are electronics geeks on there that may have the proper programmer.

I will post back when I find out.

My offer still stands to give it a go with my USB Floppy. Where do you live?

 

Hi, to anyone who is interested I fixed the problem!!!!

This involved replacing the chip on the motherboard, which was tricky but I am happily now writing this on my one!!!!

I bought the new chip pre-flashed with v.3309 from Grains BIOS repair http://bios-repair.co.uk/

Excellent honest service and only cost me £13.74 posted.

Would definitely recommend this site and Paul to anyone with a BIOS prob which is not recoverable.

Happy that I fixed it without having to send it back to Acer.

John

 

Hi,

Take apart the AAO. You should see the motherboard, look for a Nickel Li-ION battery, unplug that for aproximentally 30 Seconds. Then press the ON Button. NOTE: "Press on button, when you have assembled computer together. - To avoid injury through electrical shock, and electro-static-discharge to computer perhiperials*

If that does not work, there should be a jumper somewhere on that motherboard. I believe if you unplug the jumper or something of the likes, you can reset the CMOS which in return I BELIEVE resets the BIOS? Then again.... I think im way off topic now that I think about your problem even more, and I believe your screwed.

Send the unit back to Acer, I believe the only way they could reinstall a BIOS is by directly interacting witht he EPROM.

hint: *If it does not display BIOS version, simply send it back to them, say like something is wrong with the computer etc... My friend told me that theres something you guys need to do the bios cuase other people where having problems with battery charge etc... * - They might believe this, and just flash the bios themselves without actually booting up.

Aric

 

Hi Aric, please read my post above yours....

It was screwed and the only way to repair it was to replace the bios chip

John