ASUS A7N8X Bios problem

[Grumper]

Greetings

My problem is that this computer refuses to go into the bios --all I get is a series of quick beeps and this message

Award Bootblock Bios v1.8
Bios checksum error
Detecting floppy drive a media
Drive medis is : 1.44mb

Automatic Load AWDFLASH.EXE
ERROR -- AutoFlash Not Found
Replace Disk and press ENTER

There is NO keyboard activity, the Bios stops that soon
Can this bios be reflashed now or is ir corrupt beyond repair --- are mailorder bios`s reliable ???

Thanks

[odannyboy000]

I'm not positive, but seeing that you get the "Bios checksum error" all you should have to do is replace the CMOS battery and reset the CMOS. Then you should be ok.

[Grumper]

Thanks for the reply----I had already been there and done that , thats not the answer ---new battery and repositioned the CMOS pins on the MOBO.

This BIOS seems to be corrupt right out of the starting gate.

[Grumper]

Well seeing I had another identical board and was going to install it I stripped out the bad board and tried it one last time before I ordered a new BIOS chip ---bare bones as they say. The board booted up and the CMOS seems fine, set the date [ the date was at 1-14-2002] no more mention of the floppy or Bootblock etc. When I striped the board out of the case I did use a compressor to really clean the board + I cleaned up the CPU removed the grease . Dont get me wrong Im happy its working, but what was the problem ??????, what made the BIOS not boot and why the reflash.

Do you elder statesmen have any ideas as to WHY, or is this just one to tell the grandkids ??

The Board is an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe rev2
The Bios chip was an AwardBios AN8DZ
1003
C 302
GM F5

Thanks Paul

[mjc]

Well, that particular error is a bit more than just a bad battery...it looks as if the board were interrupted during a BIOS flash or at least it thought it was. It was automatically trying to flash from the floppy drive, but since there was no disk, it would fail. My guess, is that there was a short between the board and the case...if there wasn't an actual failed flash.

[Grumper]

Thats logical, but if it were a short could the BIOS chip really tolerate it.

By removing the board and flexing the board + pressing down on the BIOS chip, might that have cleared the problem ???

[mjc]

I was thinking more along the lines of a 'conductive' dust bunny...but yeah, reseating the chip could clear it up.

One of the ways to recover from a bad flash is to actually short a couple of pins (but actually finding/knowing which pair to use can be a bit of a headache)...this would force the bootblock to become active...and then, if a disk is inserted (with the required bin file) force the flash.