FX553VE-DM318T(FX553v) not POSTING

[claws77]

Cpu i7-7700hq Ram - 8gb samsung, 32 gb sk hynix
Gpu - nvidia geforce 1050ti
Ssd orion o700
Hdd hgst721010A9e630

See images


What's not working right?
The system does not even POST, display is black,
LEDs on - power led, aiplane mode, capslock fpr few seconds in the start(when connected to ac power) only.


When did the problem happen?
My laptop had dual boot setup, ubuntu and windows 10.
It already had a moklist error, that would occur when i tried to boot ubuntu.

When i upgraded my laptop
I changed from samsumg 8gb ram ddr4 to sk hynix 32(16x2) ram ddr4.
I attached one o700 orion ssd.
The pc did not boot immidiately.
But after several tries it did.
Then i used my laptop with 32 gb ram, 1 tb hdd (windows) and 1tb ssd(unintialized) for 15 days min.

The plan was to protect all personal data in hdd while merging partitions, removing windows and ubuntu and efi, etc partitions. Install windows on ssd.

To implemet this i thought to
1. intitialize my ssd transfer my data(that needed to be saved 500gb) from hdd to ssd. Done sucessfully.
2. Removed ubuntu partition, merged and formatted. Only left partitions are windows, efi, etc. Done succesfully
3. Created a live usb of puppy linux to boot into and merge remaining partitions and transfer back my data to hdd(merged) and get ready for fresh windwos install to ssd - failed
a. usb plugged in - done.
b. Boot menu change - failed. Could not open boot menu.
c. Boot to Bios - failed. - could not open bios, laptop freezes like the current situation(answer 1)
d. Reset cmos and removed battery- still failed. Still could not open bios , same reason as c
e. removed usb, the bios can still not be opened from key press but system boots to windows, normally. Thought it was a grub issue. Removed grub - still cannot boot to bios.
f. Removed hdd, one 16 gb ram, the bios opens up.
g. Set bios to boot live usb with ssd only. Success.
h. Connected hdd to motherboard, still cannot boot, system freezes, black screen no lpgo or stuck at logo.
i. The bios settings revert back to last saved.
j. Tried to boot with old ram stick with hdd, only ram and no drives, no ram and no drives.

Evertime after j, results the same - 3 leds, (power(keyboard), charging and airplane) capslock led flashes in the begining.

What was being done with the machine at that moment?
I was trying to upgrade

Did it start acting up months ago?
Kinda,
1. moklist error when dual booting - even after erasing forbidden signatures. The signatures would magically reappear.
2. First boot/posting issue started when upgrading.

Was it ever in contact with liquid?
Never

Was it ever dropped?
Never.


Was it repaired in the past already?
Never - i once replaced my cmos battery.

[m1ch43lzm]

I'm not completely sure, but it could be a bad/corrupt BIOS by looking at b, c, h, i, check the voltage on the RTC battery first (2nd picture, with 2 wires)

In that case, you'll need an external programmer, make a backup of your current BIOS, then make a new thread (or find an existing one for your model) in the BIOS request subforum attaching the required information and your BIOS backup (read the rules there first)

[claws77]

Thank you so much for taking the time.
i too think that.
Today i tried to put everything (disassembled) back together.
it magically booted to windwos.
It still has issues booting to bios.

its probably corrupt.
I will try to dump my bios.
And flash it maybe
is using a usb flash better or a external programmer?

[claws77]

Here is what the winflash utility shows.

[m1ch43lzm]

Only if there was a way to enter EZ Flash without entering BIOS setup, as you have to go to Advanced menu to enter EZ Flash (you mentioned issues entering BIOS)

https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1008859/

You have to copy the BIOS update onto a USB drive formatted FAT32

https://www.asus.com/supportonly/fx553ve/helpdesk_bios/

It's best to update BIOS from the built-in updater in BIOS itself, at least there's an option for it on ASUS laptops, similar to their desktop boards

For the winflash utility check here
https://rog-forum.asus.com/t5/rog-ga...sh/td-p/166819

You have to run winflash.exe /nodate

If for some reason it fails, you need an external programmer to flash the BIOS, check here
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...rces-and-tools

[claws77]

I have embedded windows key, attached to my bios.
will flashing delete this key.


How to make a backup bios and key with winflash?

[m1ch43lzm]

With the official updater (EZ flash/winflash) it should keep your windows key along with serial/model number

I haven't found a way to backup current bios version with winflash

To be 100% sure i suggest to backup the current bios with external programmer before attempting anything

read the bios chip 3 times, all dumps should be identical compared with a hex editor

[claws77]

Ok cool, now we wait for the delivery of external progammer.

How to pick one, i have no idea.
https://amzn.in/d/i7PSyfl

What do you use?

In the meantime, i'll find a friend that will let me use his pc for this.😅

[m1ch43lzm]

If you want a cheap programmer there's this version of the CH341A with green or blue PCB

https://www.amazon.in/DHRUVPRO-Progr...dp/B0DZJ312CF/

Get a SOP8 clip if you want, but sometimes those clips are unreliable, best is to desolder the bios chip from the board, something like the one below
https://www.amazon.in/IDUINO-Non-Dis...dp/B0CVNMFK2L/

The ones with a black PCB like the one you linked have an issue with wrong voltage levels on the data pins, there's a modification that can be done to fix that,
https://wej.k.vu/electronics/ch341a-...rogrammer-fix/

Something better, there's the RT809F and the T48, which are more expensive

Maybe someone else has some recommendations

[claws77]

I tried the WinFlash method, it failed. the BIOS still does not open. but while updating with Winflash, it looked it everything went smoothly. ez flash utility automatically opened.
but alas, no success.
NOTHING CHANGED
guess external prgrammer is the only way!.

now i have to worry about backing up my bios too
how do i backup my bios? with external programmer only?

[claws77]

https://www.amazon.in/DHRUVPRO-Progr...dp/B0DZJ312CF/
regarding this.
can it program all kinds of bios ics,

i am asking cuz repairing stuff, brings me joy. and right tools make all the difference!

thank you so much kind stranger on the internet!!

[m1ch43lzm]

Depends on which type of ICs you're looking to program

The CH341 supports only 24xx i2c eeproms and 25xx SPI flash at 3.3v
For 1.8v 25xx SPI flash like the ones used on newer motherboards there's a 1.8v adapter available
It's cheap but slow, it takes several minutes to program a BIOS like the one on your laptop
There's third party software called AsProgrammer and NeoProgrammer with more supported chips than the provided software by the sellers

The RT809F also supports 24xx and 25xx and other chips with additional adapters, it needs an additional adapter for 1.8v 25xx flash chips, it has HDMI and VGA ports which are used to program the EEPROM on some TVs and monitors

For old EEPROMs and flash chips (29Fxxxx, 39Fxxxx, 49Fxxxx) and other devices up to 40 pins there's also the Xgecu T48, it supports 1.8v 25xx chips
There's also the REVELPROG which is more expensive

Check the supported chips list for each programmer you're interested in buying

Sometimes getting several adapters in a bundle with the programmer is not worth the cost depending on the chips you need to program, the common flash chips used in laptops are SOP8 150mil, SOP8 200mil, WSON8 5x6, WSON8 8x6

[claws77]

Finally bought the rom flashers
black and blue ones both(ch341a), test clip.

they arrived today.

Got everything setup correctly

I am using raspberry pi with vnc to flash bios, using flashrom utility.

I am getting these errors.

i know my chip is w25q64fv. It says so on the ic.
what when i use -c W25Q64FV, it does not work.

Any guidance....

[m1ch43lzm]

Try -c "W25Q64BV/W25Q64CV/W25Q64FV"
Or -c "W25Q64.V"

I advise to read the chip 3 times, and compare the dumps if they're identical to each other with a hex editor
Otherwise borrow a Windows PC and use AsProgrammer software
https://github.com/nofeletru/UsbAsp-flash/releases

For Linux I found another software called IMSProg, I haven't tried it
https://github.com/bigbigmdm/IMSProg
https://www.onetransistor.eu/2023/10...mer-linux.html
Maybe there's a build available for the raspberry pi

[claws77]

Got new errors.

raspi@raspi-pc:~ $ flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r filename.bin -c "W25Q64BV/W25Q64CV/W25Q64FV" flashrom unknown on Linux 6.12.25+rpt-rpi-v8 (aarch64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q64BV/W25Q64CV/W25Q64FV" (8192 kB, SPI) on ch341a_spi.
Reading flash...
cb_in: error: LIBUSB_TRANSFER_TIMED_OUT
ch341a_spi_spi_send_command: Failed to read 4100 bytes
Read operation failed!
FAILED.


raspi@raspi-pc:~ $ flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r filename.bin -c "W25Q64.V"
flashrom unknown on Linux 6.12.25+rpt-rpi-v8 (aarch64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Error: Unknown chip 'W25Q64.V' specified.
Run flashrom -L to view the hardware supported in this flashrom version.


raspi@raspi-pc:~ $ flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r filename.bin -c "W25Q64FV"
flashrom unknown on Linux 6.12.25+rpt-rpi-v8 (aarch64)
flashrom is free software, get the source code at https://flashrom.org

Using clock_gettime for delay loops (clk_id: 1, resolution: 1ns).
Error: Unknown chip 'W25Q64FV' specified.
Run flashrom -L to view the hardware supported in this flashrom version.

[m1ch43lzm]

flashrom -p ch341a_spi -r filename.bin -c "W25Q64BV/W25Q64CV/W25Q64FV"

This one appears to be the correct command

Try on another PC

[claws77]

I tried to install imsprog.
but my raspi freezes in the middle.

I too suspect raspberry pi issue.
Will update after trying on a new pc.

Thanks again

[claws77]

yay!
finally read the bios dump 3 times.
i am using asprogrammer

compared the dump files with "fc /b" in cmd

please find attached. everything ok?

i'll post it in bios forum too

[m1ch43lzm]

Try again, the files are empty, full of FF FF...
Nothing that looks like the BIOS from Asus website
Sometimes the clip makes a bad connection

[claws77]

i installed both of these drivers.
my device manager shows like this


the asprogrammmer does not detect the programmer automatically, i select everything.