[NBLUG/talk] BIOS -failed update - help

[Glen Gunsalus]

Justin,

Thanks for the respponse.

ok, for starters - no beeps.  The mb is 5-6 years old and manufacturer is foobar.
It's Atrend 6260.  It's Intel 440BX based chip set, multiprocessor with onboard SCSI controller.  All my data are on the SCSI, so I'd prefer to get this running again rather than replacing. 

-----Original Message-----
From: Justin Thiessen <thiessen at sonic.net>
Sent: Jan 6, 2005 4:52 PM
To: "General NBLUG chatter about anything Linux, answers to questions,
	etc." <talk at nblug.org>
Subject: Re: [NBLUG/talk] BIOS -failed update - help

On Fri, Jan 07, 2005 at 07:50:24AM -0800, Glen Gunsalus wrote:
> Sorry if this is considered off topic, but my linux box is out of 
> commission and I'm clutching for resources just now.
> 
> The short story is that I have no or a partial or a corrupt BIOOS so my 
> main linux box is dead.  I have the original BIOS on floppy (saved by 
> flash update program).  My BIOS is on a 40-pin EEPROM (socketed).  Is it 
> possible to write the chip using an eeprom writer and the 
> original_bios.bin?    If so, does anyone on the list have access to such 
> a resource and willing to give me a hand?

This might indeed be be possible, but first, let's see if there's an easier
way.  It's possible with some motherboards to go through a bios flash sequence
even if the BIOS is fubarred.  Unfortunately it requires doing things like
interpreting boot-time beep codes and the like, but it's better than tossing
your motherboard!

So...what brand and model motherboard do you have?


Justin

> This was all in the interest of installing a new disk which was bigger 
> than my BIOS could see/access.  I purchased a BIOS upgrade for my 
> motherboard from eSupport.com, followed their update instructions and it 
> hung during the eeprom write.  So far I've not been able to get a 
> response from eSupport.com (yea for support  :-(( )
> 
> TIA for any help or pointers.
> 
> Glen Gunsalus
> 
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