"Hot-swap" cmos??

[soaphead]

Is this possible?

 

[jlanka]

yes

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[HonestJhon]

yes, but this should only be done as a last resort, because of the problems that could arise!
look for a guide on the internet, or search the boards for information on performing this trick.
i hope that you dont have to do it any time soon!

-DAvid

-Live, Learn, then build your own computer!-

 

[Guest]

firstly you'll need a motherboard that allows you to boot to the boot block of the flash icc and secondly you'll need a flash prog that allows you to write code to non compataible chip . thridly a ziff socket is a handy tool to use( basically the bios chip sits in a little socket that is soldered to your motherboard. by unsoldering the socket you can replace it with the said zif which usually has a lever to open and then close the openeings for the pin legs, just like your socket a socket arm does). there are a great deal many types of flashh icc's but generally 32pin 2meg type is common.
asus boards are good for hotswapping and are a cheap alternative to buying a standalone reprogrammer which are very expensive.
basically the process involves 1. booting to dos with the original chip on board. do not load any drivers! whilst the power is on 2 remove the bios chip and replace with the faulty one. 3. run flash programmer and flash the chip with the new code.4 remove chip 5. replace original and 6 put the newly flashed chip back in the old mobo.
hope this helps. if you want more info i can paste a fairly good guide to it with better info than i could give. ruslan at windrivers.com is a good man to ask about this.. go to the forums and look for his posts in the motherboard section i think

 

[jlanka]

good tips. One thing to add - make sure when you insert the chips that the cutouts align (little notch on one end of the chip with little notch on one end of the socket)

<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[Crashman]

I've done it a few times, with the proper tools it's easy and relatively difficult to screw up unless your a total n00b or stupid, which I doubt you are.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?