novice user attempting first BIOS write on ASUS laptop

Collapse
X
 
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
  • alphabetty
    New Member
    • Mar 2024
    • 3
    • spain

    #1

    novice user attempting first BIOS write on ASUS laptop

    Hello first post!


    Ok so after an (ASUSTek) optional Windows update, my old ASUS E403NA laptop rebooted and froze in the BIOS menu screen and was unresponsive so after about 30 mins I powered off and back on again. Now i just get a power LED and a black screen, I have tried all the basic suggestions and all the suggestions on the ASUS site, spoke to ASUS support who said I will need to pay for an RMA.

    The laptop is worth €50 so I won't be doing the RMA at god knows what price.

    So I have seen some videos where people have reprogrammed the BIOS using a chip clip and a raspberry pi. I have a spare pi zero, and fairly comfortable in a bash terminal so plan on connecting via ssh to the Pi zero and Im going to attempt to rewrite the BIOS chip which i think I have found and identified as a (winbond 25q64fwsig).

    Click image for larger version

Name:	JPEG-20240307-020923-4492775017980540481.jpg
Views:	70
Size:	784.3 KB
ID:	3230386



    My question is I guess is this feasible or am i barking up the wrong tree. Because I noticed the E403NA also has a IT8995 chip that is also reprogrammable. I guess I am confused between the relationship between the 2 chips and whether it's possible that I need to reprogram both chips to get my laptop running again. The winbond chip is surrounded by a copper heatsink and i assume the clip will attach onto it and have good access when this heatsink is removed.

    I have a hot air solder station and some flux, although ive never soldered on a PCB before so this would be my first time if i need to remove the chip if the clip wont work while on the board.

    Also regarding the BIOS bin file to write, should i just write the latest bin file from ASUS, or will i need to read the chip and manually edit the files or should i just write the new BIOS using flashrom in the terminal?


    One final thing is, I'm currently without work, and if able to fix this laptop and learn more, I would like to maybe do this sort of thing as a sideline possibly in the future make some money from repairs. Does anyone have any solid advice, golden rules, what to expect or resources?

    Thanks for looking.
    Attached Files

Related Topics

Collapse

  • razor_amd
    [TUTORIAL] fix asus bios with bios from asus web support (by razor_amd)
    by razor_amd
    With ASUS, not everything is quite so simple. I will show you my way. It may be longer or harder but it is the right way to do it in my humble opinion.

    For example, you can have 3 similar ASUS motherboards, all being the same model, all of which will have different BIOS versions.

    I will give you an example and my version of preparing BIOS from ASUS website and in the process I am always cleaning Intel ME while doing it so you have fully cleaned BIOS, no DMI data, no password, nothing.

    This is the picture of 3 similar ASUS motherboards, all of them being X555LD...
    12-15-2020, 07:07 PM
  • throwaway327
    Asus ROG Ally X -RC72LA - changed hidden bios settings with 'Smokeless-UMAF', won't get past boot logo
    by throwaway327
    ASUS ROG Ally X - (Handheld Gaming PC)
    Model No: RC72LA
    Serial No: SBNVKD001014459

    Hi all, I've spent the past week digging through the forums and guides to try correct my foolish mistake of changing hidden settings while tinkering around, and to be honest my heads overloaded so I'm hoping you'll be able to help.

    I used a tool called 'Smokeless-UMAF' to access usually hidden settings in the bios. I tweaked one or two 'safe' things but made the mistake of tweaking a lot of settings under 'USB/Thunderbolt Configurations' when I didn't know what they did. For...
    06-18-2025, 05:52 PM
  • jbonavita
    ASUS TP500LA BIOS request/repair/merge?
    by jbonavita
    Hi, my laptop wont boot at all
    With original bios no POST, only LED lights
    With alternative BIOS from model TP500LN (flashed via programmer) the notebook works again
    Some issues
    A- with bios from 500LN, it won't update from bios of model 500LA (from 500LN v203 to 500LA v300)
    B- If updated from 500LN version 203 to 300, the battery stops being recognized

    Things I tried

    1- Update / clear ME: Took the non working bios, made a backup, and did this: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...theory/trouble...
    04-29-2025, 09:38 PM
  • lrouw84
    Asus vivobook s510ua bios changed to x510un
    by lrouw84
    Hi there,

    I know there is somebody who can tell me what is happening with my laptop. For start, it is an asus vivobook s510ua with an asustek x510ua motherboard with an intel i5 7200u cpu and 16gb ram.. i have a screenshot from speccy before strange things started.. as you can see the laptop type and bios version x510ua.302.I don’t manually update the bios because i don’t like to having a bricked bios, i know what troubles that gives..

    I did a fresh win 11 install, and after the automatic updates, windows rebooted and automatically started asus ez flash.....
    01-28-2023, 01:31 PM
  • DynaxSC
    Need real mobo dump of BIOS v402 for ASUS PRIME Z590-A - stock image no help
    by DynaxSC
    Hi,

    I have a serious problem to program the Z590 chipset SRAM with a Management Engine after replacing the chipset.
    The new chipset is factory new and is not containing any Management Engine. Any attempts to program it into the chipset under Windows ends with a failure (eg. Error 20: Management Engine Device not present, or something similar).
    Due to the lack of the ME several ports on the board, including all M.2 ports aren't working, booting OS works only on USB. So it's now other way, as to program the chipset with a ME.

    Usually on ASUS boards it worked...
    06-14-2024, 03:49 PM
  • Loading...
  • No more items.
Working...