(I originally incorrectly posted this on the Overclocking board/Chipsets & Bios thread and have moved it here while deleting it there).
This is a general question about soldered BIOS and flashing those chips. I've looked thru this forum and many others and have only found a small bit of info.
The question: How do mobo companies like Gigabyte flash the soldered BIOS at the factory? And how can they re-flash it for you, apparently fairly easily? And, if that's the case, then why can't we use the same methods?
Background to my question: I've now joined the ranks of those who have turned a mobo into fancy platter by a failed BIOS flash - this was a Gigabyte GA-8IPE775-G. The BIOS chip is soldered on this board.
In the many Google searches, I found these options:
-- Pitch the board
-- Attempt to reflash it via floppy
-- Send it to a custom shop and have a socket soldered in and a replaceable BIOS chip inserted
-- RMA the board back to Gigabyte.
For the sake of argument, let's ignore the first 3 choices. I called Gigabyte USA and they said they can re-flash it for <$30, including S&H.
It was the price that caught my attention. I'm figuring, for that price, they're not desoldering/resoldering chips - they've got to be doing an on-board flash. And that led me to wonder - how it is done at the factory?
I started looking at the board and, out on one edge are 3 solder pads, with a large label BIOS WP. There are some other words about two different combinations of those pins (1&2 and 2&3) with 2&3 indicated as a default of some sort. I assume WP = write protect.
So, in a factory process, are they connecting one, two, or three of those pins by a temporary jumper or two? Something like a clamp with two or more matching pads or some applied voltages to those clamp pads? Do they then flash the BIOS via the floppy port? If so, why can't we do the same? Or, is there some other port they access or do they do it thru a custom masked connector that temporarily fits down over the BIOS chip?
Again, this is just a general question but I wonder if it is one whose answer might be help lead the way to help people avoid seemingly permanently-bricked mobos and the costs of new boards.
For my part, the need to get this machine running again will probably lead me to RMA the board to Gigabyte. I wish I had the time to play with it and perhaps really ruin it.
This is a general question about soldered BIOS and flashing those chips. I've looked thru this forum and many others and have only found a small bit of info.
The question: How do mobo companies like Gigabyte flash the soldered BIOS at the factory? And how can they re-flash it for you, apparently fairly easily? And, if that's the case, then why can't we use the same methods?
Background to my question: I've now joined the ranks of those who have turned a mobo into fancy platter by a failed BIOS flash - this was a Gigabyte GA-8IPE775-G. The BIOS chip is soldered on this board.
In the many Google searches, I found these options:
-- Pitch the board
-- Attempt to reflash it via floppy
-- Send it to a custom shop and have a socket soldered in and a replaceable BIOS chip inserted
-- RMA the board back to Gigabyte.
For the sake of argument, let's ignore the first 3 choices. I called Gigabyte USA and they said they can re-flash it for <$30, including S&H.
It was the price that caught my attention. I'm figuring, for that price, they're not desoldering/resoldering chips - they've got to be doing an on-board flash. And that led me to wonder - how it is done at the factory?
I started looking at the board and, out on one edge are 3 solder pads, with a large label BIOS WP. There are some other words about two different combinations of those pins (1&2 and 2&3) with 2&3 indicated as a default of some sort. I assume WP = write protect.
So, in a factory process, are they connecting one, two, or three of those pins by a temporary jumper or two? Something like a clamp with two or more matching pads or some applied voltages to those clamp pads? Do they then flash the BIOS via the floppy port? If so, why can't we do the same? Or, is there some other port they access or do they do it thru a custom masked connector that temporarily fits down over the BIOS chip?
Again, this is just a general question but I wonder if it is one whose answer might be help lead the way to help people avoid seemingly permanently-bricked mobos and the costs of new boards.
For my part, the need to get this machine running again will probably lead me to RMA the board to Gigabyte. I wish I had the time to play with it and perhaps really ruin it.
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