How to recover from a bad video BIOS flash

[Regeneration]

Added photos and information regarding laptops to the 1st post.

 

[Goodgo0d]

Would you help me? I try to flash my rx vega 56 reference card power color with bios on techpowerup but it doesnt work.. Still can not boot to windows

 

[waeil]

just one more queastion this is pins i have to short it same on the image
and thx

 

[waeil]

i did short to pins 1 and 8 same the image then i logged to the dos get the same massage
ERROR 0FL01 : press '1' to continue"
then i loged to windows to flash the card by antiflash.exe its not work
then i tried to log windows by normla card rx 850 its log normla but give me black screen
when i did this steps the card was hot
now this steps i did it on low pc motherboard asus ddr2 b5g41c
maybe this is problrm this motherboard cant work my card beacuse my main mother board is free P7P55D-E-LX-ASUS
so any help

 

[Malik Sajid]

just one more queastion this is pins i have to short it same on the image
and thx
View attachment 164157

Maybe you've bridged the wrong pins, the 1-8 pins are usually facing each other.

Google for the datasheet, then look at the mechanical drawing:

Note the position of the little notch and the dot near pin 1

 

[waeil]

Maybe you've bridged the wrong pins, the 1-8 pins are usually facing each other.

Google for the datasheet, then look at the mechanical drawing:

Note the position of the little notch and the dot near pin 1

hello I am very thankful for your help
put forgive me i do not know these mechanical things that your are talking about
i will show you a clear photo of the pins an pleas tell me what are the 2 pins that i should bridge ?
because i am afraid of doing something wrong and PCI do not work again
now i will show you the numbers on the pins and i will send a clear photo to them

pm25l0020
be1636
p10361tg

thats all for now i will wait for reply and pleas answer
and thank you again for your help

 

[Malik Sajid]

hello I am very thankful for your help
put forgive me i do not know these mechanical things that your are talking about
i will show you a clear photo of the pins an pleas tell me what are the 2 pins that i should bridge ?
because i am afraid of doing something wrong and PCI do not work again
now i will show you the numbers on the pins and i will send a clear photo to them

pm25l0020
be1636
p10361tg
View attachment 164543

thats all for now i will wait for reply and pleas answer
and thank you again for your help

Don't worry my friend, a lot of people here are willing to help.

I searched for your flash memory and here are the pins you need to short..

Watch for that little dot printed on the chip, it should guide you.

Make sure not to short any other components around the chip, good luck.

 

[waeil]

at the first realy thank you for your help
i have tried every thing u said it and every thing same the image and shorted pins 1 and 8
but there is no thing heppned same problems cant log windows and dos cant see the card so any other fix or help or i do smth wrong
and this is image for my card after i shorted the pin 1 and 8

 

[Caring1]

at the first realy thank you for your help
i have tried every thing u said it and every thing same the image and shorted pins 1 and 8
but there is no thing heppned same problems cant log windows and dos cant see the card so any other fix or help or i do smth wrong
and this is image for my card after i shorted the pin 1 and 8
View attachment 164911

Are you sure you have shorted the Bios chip and not another?
Check the number printed on it, online to confirm, or find a picture showing the exact location for your card.
Pin 1 is near the dot, pin 8 is diagonally opposite in the other corner.

 

[Malik Sajid]

Are you sure you have shorted the Bios chip and not another?
Check the number printed on it, online to confirm, or find a picture showing the exact location for your card.
Pin 1 is near the dot, pin 8 is diagonally opposite in the other corner.

I think he got the right pins shorted, I had an RX 460 with the same exact chip and I believe I've managed to resurrect it that way.

at first, really thank you for your help
I have tried everything u said it and everything same the image and shorted pins 1 and 8
but there is nothing happened same problems cant log windows and dos cant see the card so any other fix or help or I do smth wrong
and this is an image for my card after I shorted the pin 1 and 8

The wrong thing you're doing here is keeping the pins bridged during the whole process, you have to cut the bridge once you're in DOS or Windows.

So let's make it simple..

1- plug your card in with 1+8 pins shorted.
2- boot into DOS or Windows.
3- cut the wire from the middle. Don't desolder the joints, why? so you can short them again easily by twisting the two ends of the wire if needed.
4- use atiflash -i to see if your card is recognized if so flash it with the right BIOS.

You might not get it to work from the first time, just turn off your PC, reconnect the bridge by twisting the two ends of the wire -you have cut in step 3-, boot again into DOS and repeat the previous steps.

After several of tries if you didn't manage to bring the card to life, I've seen some people providing alternative pins shorting combinations like #4 + #7 or #5 + #6. but really at this point, I recommend you to use the spi flasher method to not risk killing the chip.

 

[Sentry2077]

Hi I just had a failed flash vbios on my hp omen 15 ce198wm i870h with NO integrated graphics it does have an gtx 1060 max q after the vbios flash now all i get its a black screen it does not beep or go allow me to go into recovery using esc key please advise ..it does have thunderbolt 3 but i never used it..Im thinking a spi tool flasher but I wouldnt know which one is good or how to go about using it
found this on amazon https://www.amazon.com/KeeYees-SOIC...flashcatusb&qid=1601623559&sr=8-6&tag=mh0b-20 is this a good spi tool and how is it used?

 

[Caring1]

Hi I just had a failed flash vbios on my hp omen 15 ce198wm i870h with NO integrated graphics it does have an gtx 1060 max q after the vbios flash now all i get its a black screen it does not beep or go allow me to go into recovery using esc key please advise ..it does have thunderbolt 3 but i never used it..Im thinking a spi tool flasher but I wouldnt know which one is good or how to go about using it
found this on amazon https://www.amazon.com/KeeYees-SOIC...flashcatusb&qid=1601623559&sr=8-6&tag=mh0b-20 is this a good spi tool and how is it used?

As per your other thread, your Laptop DOES have integrated graphics built in to the CPU.
As per the HP website it also shows drivers for the Intel HD Graphics, as well as the Nvidia drivers.

OMEN by HP - 15-ce198wm Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support

Download the latest drivers, firmware, and software for your OMEN by HP - 15-ce198wm.This is HP’s official website that will help automatically detect and download the correct drivers free of cost for your HP Computing and Printing products for Windows and Mac operating system.

support.hp.com

 

[Sentry2077]

As per your other thread, your Laptop DOES have integrated graphics built in to the CPU.
As per the HP website it also shows drivers for the Intel HD Graphics, as well as the Nvidia drivers.

OMEN by HP - 15-ce198wm Software and Driver Downloads | HP® Customer Support

Download the latest drivers, firmware, and software for your OMEN by HP - 15-ce198wm.This is HP’s official website that will help automatically detect and download the correct drivers free of cost for your HP Computing and Printing products for Windows and Mac operating system.

support.hp.com

I had asked HP support for and an technician to answer why the integrated gpu is not active they said that my laptop for that year my anthing under a gtx 1060 max q does not have integrated graphics i even tried to install the drivers and it did not work my laptop had models with gtx 1050ti and gtx 1050 that supposedly had integrated graphics and nvidia I was told by the expert tech that my particular laptop was a dedicated video gpu not dual gpu model regardless of the drivers being listed and said i8750h is supposed to havr he igpu they bypassed it altogether ..so Im stuck trying to restore my vbios Im hoping someone here in the forums can find out where the vbios chio is for my laptop because I cannot seem to locate it on the front of rhe mobo i dont wanna go tearing it down any further maybe someone here knows more and can find a way ..and does someone program vbios chips here in good standing that could pre flash a chip form me with the correct bios

 

[epsx]

Hello, can you please tell me what pins to short on RX 570 Pulse ITX:

http://imgur.com/a/4gbbFXS

.
I flashed with unverified bios.
When i put the video card in the pc no POST/BOOT.

THX

 

[Regeneration]

Hello, can you please tell me what pins to short on RX 570 Pulse ITX
I flashed with unverified bios.
When i put the video card in the pc no POST/BOOT.

THX

 

[Airborne_Monkey83]

@Regeneration Thank you for the excellent write. I would like to offer a small amount of my expertise. The chip that you are referencing for BIOS chip is called an SOIC and the pinout is universal. In your write you refernce PIns 1 and 8 should be shorted however the photo highlights pins 1 and 5. My friendly suggestion would be for you to edit this for correct pin out as to avoid future confusion. BTW thank you for this very help guide as it has helped me with my issue

 

[Goodgo0d]

Would you help me? I try to flash my rx vega 56 reference card power color with bios on techpowerup but it doesnt work.. Still can not boot to windows

Please help me.. my gpu still can not boot to windows : '(

 

[Panchovix]

Hi there guys, small question before I VBIOS flash my 3060Ti lol, I have dual VBIOS, assuming I "kill" the silent VBIOS, and I want to recover it, I just have to boot the PC into windows with the working VBIOS, then move the GPU VBIOS switch (with the PC on and on Windows), and then flash right? CMIIW

 

[Regeneration]

Hi there guys, small question before I VBIOS flash my 3060Ti lol, I have dual VBIOS, assuming I "kill" the silent VBIOS, and I want to recover it, I just have to boot the PC into windows with the working VBIOS, then move the GPU VBIOS switch (with the PC on and on Windows), and then flash right? CMIIW

Yes.

 

[Weffy]

Can this ruin a card? I had a working card and then flashed a bad bios to it.
I then tried this method, shorting out all the combos of all the corners...

Now I've since got a clip on SIP programmer, flashed to original booting BIOS back to the card... but the system doesn't post still.

So ... can shorting bios chip pins ruin the card???

@Regeneration Thank you for the excellent write. I would like to offer a small amount of my expertise. The chip that you are referencing for BIOS chip is called an SOIC and the pinout is universal. In your write you refernce PIns 1 and 8 should be shorted however the photo highlights pins 1 and 5. My friendly suggestion would be for you to edit this for correct pin out as to avoid future confusion. BTW thank you for this very help guide as it has helped me with my issue View attachment 176045

Apparently NOT universal... here is the pinout to my BIOS chip on a sapphire pulse RX 580 (Pm25LQ020 bios chip)

And, according to the thread you want to short out 1+8 or also 4+5 might work, but for this chip it is not opposite corners but the same side.

Regardless... just get a clip on SIP programmer and don't kill your board like me!

 

[Regeneration]

Can this ruin a card? I had a working card and then flashed a bad bios to it.
I then tried this method, shorting out all the combos of all the corners...

Now I've since got a clip on SIP programmer, flashed to original booting BIOS back to the card... but the system doesn't post still.

So ... can shorting bios chip pins ruin the card???

Only if you short the wrong pins, even then, probably damage just the BIOS chip, and not all the whole card.

 

[Weffy]

Only if you short the wrong pins, even then, probably damage just the BIOS chip, and not all the whole card.

Ok. So the bios chip was flashed. And verified with a clip on SIP programmer. I tried to boot every single bios in the database. Over 100.
The bios chip can't be damaged if the flasher is flashing it, and verifying it multiple times.

the card booted originally. But got code 43 and noticed it had been flashed with a different sub sys ID I Then reflashed wi itH a stock bios and It bricked . Tried to short pins nothing worked Then go t the SIP and tried all the bios... nothing. Finally, I flashed the original, mismatched bios that booted. Still bricked

could it be that the SIP programmer only thinks it’s flashing the chip? But then it wouldn't verify... so maybe somehow the I/O trace got damaged if it shorted??? I guess I will try replacing the bios chip.

 

[Weffy]

Don't jump BIOS pins. Get a cheap SIP programmer.

CH341A 24 25 Series EEPROM Flash BIOS USB Programmer + SOIC8 Clip

 

[Weffy]

How to Use the CH341A Clip ON bios programmer.

The Ch341A is a cheap flash programmer. It works natively in linux with most bios chips. Windows instructions can be found online, there are many different software programs and drivers.

You may hear that most of these cheap boards are defective and do not output 3.3V but only 5V. I successfully flashed 2 bios with my 'defective' programmer outputting 5v data. However, it is fairly simple to fix this, you just solder one small wire and it's fixed. (you don't have to include the capacitor if you have poor soldering skills and it's risky)
See more on the 3.3V mod HERE: https://www.chucknemeth.com/usb-devices/ch341a/3v-ch341a-mod


Step 1 - install flashrom (https://flashrom.org/)
Run

sudo apt-get install flashrom

alternatively find instructions on the website

Step 2 - Clip your chip.
Install the 8 pin clip onto the Bios chip. Make sure the Red wire of the ribbon cable alligns with pin 1 of your BIOS chip. Pin 1 of the bios has a dot on the chip itself, and sometimes an arrow on the PCB and/or a different corner outlining the chip on the PCB

Plug the clip into the programmer and insert USB into computer. The order of connection does not matter. If the USB port is to the left... use the LEFT SIDE of the 16 pin connector with the red wire to the right. (see picture)

Step 3 - run flashrom

sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi

this command above will search for a VBIOS chip to flash... use this if you just want to verify you clpped the chip correctly. It should auto rekognize the ID nuber of the specific silicone.

sudo flashrom -p ch341a_spi -w BIOS-FILE-to-be-WRITTEN.rom

Step 4 - Congratulations you did it. Isn't linux great?



UPDATE - no this did not ruin the card,.

I successfully booted and re-flashed shorting pins 1+8
The card was already having other issues causing it not to boot. This method should work, but SIP programmer is best.

 

[Brown123]

Hello, I have an RX 5600 XT MECH OC that fails to even give signal to the monitor which is unusable, the motherboard diagnostics stays lighten up on the gpu side when this happens. Could anyone help me with this? Also wanted to know if I could try the integrated graphics method.