ASUSupdate killed my BIOS! CAN'T INSTALL ANOTHER!!!

S

sockhead

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 12, 2005
Messages
103
I tried using the ASUSupdate utility in Windows... it got as far as erasing and flashing my bios, but failed at the verification step...

So I figured, that the mobo had the crashfreebios thing, so I put the CD in... rebooted... it goes on for like 5 seconds, turns off, turns on... off... blank screen the entire time.

WHAT DO I DO?!?!
 
sockhead said:
I tried using the ASUSupdate utility in Windows... it got as far as erasing and flashing my bios, but failed at the verification step...

So I figured, that the mobo had the crashfreebios thing, so I put the CD in... rebooted... it goes on for like 5 seconds, turns off, turns on... off... blank screen the entire time.

WHAT DO I DO?!?!
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crashfree bios? no, it has the bios settings recall for a bad overclock, not a bad flash.

you have two options, one.. buy a new bios chip for 20 bucks or so, (easier, but costs money)


or two, try your hand at getting an RMA, or even an email back from asus... or have one of them pick up the phone... cuz i doubt they will, if you do that though, its free.


or you can rma it back to newegg or whereever you bought it
 
SippieCup said:
crashfree bios? no, it has the bios settings recall for a bad overclock, not a bad flash.

you have two options, one.. buy a new bios chip for 20 bucks or so, (easier, but costs money)
Click to expand...
does the P5K have a socketed BIOS chip though?
Lots of modern Asus mobos don't.
 
hmm... i'm not sure, at school at the moment... does anyone know?

i was thinking of RMAing it, is a flashed BIOS an acceptable reason to RMA?
 
The BIOS chip on the P5K Deluxe is soldered. Same thing happened to me when I tried to flash the BIOS in windows Vista x64 using Asus update. It failed at the verification stage, and I was left with a dead board. The CrashFree feature is supposed to also help in case of a bad flash, but it does not work.

NCIX provided me with an RMA without any questions when I explained that the board died due to a bad flash. I've exchanged it for a P5K Premium. Looks like a pretty common problem with the P5K Deluxe, at least when using Asus update.

I did flash my new board (the Premium) using EZ Flash 2 and it worked perfectly.
 
That's a big coincidence, because my failure happened while I was using Vista x64 too!

I've just sent an RMA request, hopefully they'll accept it. I paid for the expressRMA feature when I ordered my board, so hopefully I'll get a replacement soon.
 
I highly suggest flashnig the bios using the AS FLASH DOS utility in the bios. I just suck in a flash drive with the DOS bios on it. Selected it, backed up my old bios first, and it installed like butter and in 2 minutes i was up in running. THe wnidows utility has been known to give people problems.
 
I've asked for an RMA (refund, not exchange) and ordered a new board so I would be up and running with minimal downtime. Worst case scenario, they will charge me for restocking fees, but since I've never had a bad experience with NCIX, I very much doubt they try something like this.

Funny thing about Asus update is that it's listed as Vista x32/x64 compatible... I've learned my lesson (somewhat the hard way) and alway flash using EZ Flash... BTW, try to get the Premium. Minimal price difference and supposedly a better board. Looks more like Deluxe rev2.0...
 
coolxboxgamer said:
I highly suggest flashnig the bios using the AS FLASH DOS utility in the bios. I just suck in a flash drive with the DOS bios on it. Selected it, backed up my old bios first, and it installed like butter and in 2 minutes i was up in running. THe wnidows utility has been known to give people problems.
Click to expand...

+1

While people have used the above utility without issue, its looking for trouble.
Never use a windows or internet based utility to update a bios. Dos boot disk on floppy or thumb drive or now many bios have a built in flash, just need the bios file on a floppy or thumb and go into main bios screen and hit a function key.

Not trying to preach but mainly for anyone else that comes along and reads the thread.

"no asus bios detected"
Click to expand...
You might be in luck, it appears its looking for a vaild bios file.
You can try putting the bios file on a floppy and praying the boot block loader is not also corrupted and will find it and reload the bios.
 
If the BIOS chip is permanent, you are SOOL. If its replacable you can order a new BIOS from the BIOS department (I have that email,too.) and all it costs is 5 dollars. The BIOS chip on my 680i board is removable (its only 6 months old.)
The internet based BIOS flash = teh suck. EZ Flash2 with USB drive is the way to go.
Betty_Peng @ Asus.com. This lady has helped me a ton. She'll set up an RMA or find you a solution if you dont want to wade through the Asus red tape.

Otherwise you'll have to go to the retailer and RMA for a new board.
 
This is a known, and common, issue with the P5k series. Simply put, flashing from the original BIOS using the Windows flash utility = bricked mobo.
 
is it better/faster to go with the asus advancedRMA, or ncix expressRMA? (i paid extra on my order for expressrma)
 
Never tried an RMA with Asus but I can tell you that NCIX is very fast. Usually, you can order (and pay) a replacement board, and they will credit the old one once they receive it. It's exactly what I did. In fact, my new board is installed and I have not sent my old board for RMA yet... You can apply for an RMA online (way faster than contacting them by phone). Usually, they reply within 1 or 2 days. Good luck! :)
 
Good to hear! I've sent an RMA request to NCIX... so far they're trying to get me to diagnose the problem (ie. make sure it's the mobo), I hope as soon as I "prove" that it was my mobo, they'll take it.
 
When I did request the RMA, I simply wrote this:
Flashed BIOS using Asus Update in VISTA x64 and it failed. Tried restoring using CrashFree3 to no avail (would not work from floppy, cd-rom or USB). I got an RMA number within a day, no questions asked. BTW, they will take the board back no matter but if they can fix it, they will charge a restocking fee (15%). But like I said, nearly zero chances of that happening.
Out of curiosity, are you exchanging it for the Premium?
 
Windows Asus Flash does NOT WORK.

Crashfree Bios 3 bad-flash restorer also does NOT WORK.

ONLY FLASH FROM A FLOPPY

/disclaimer ;)
 
Or with EZ Flash2 with an USB key. Safe and fast... Just wish I new this first. To be fair I've used Asus update before without the slightest problem. Like Russell said, it appear to be an issue with the P5K series of boards.
 
cparent said:
Or with EZ Flash2 with an USB key. Safe and fast... Just wish I new this first. To be fair I've used Asus update before without the slightest problem. Like Russell said, it appear to be an issue with the P5K series of boards.
Click to expand...

I lost a deluxe to the in-windows flasher too... It seems to be specific to the boards with the soldered BIOS's... hmm.... :eek:
 
sockhead said:
I tried using the ASUSupdate utility in Windows... it got as far as erasing and flashing my bios, but failed at the verification step...

So I figured, that the mobo had the crashfreebios thing, so I put the CD in... rebooted... it goes on for like 5 seconds, turns off, turns on... off... blank screen the entire time.

WHAT DO I DO?!?!
Click to expand...

I did the same thing to my P5B Deluxe wifi 2 weeks ago. It is RMA time for you.

Make sure you give them a call and they will issue you an RMA lickety split.

It took 2 weeks from the time I shipped out my board to getting my new board.

The board I got in return seems much better. The old board needed 1.38V actual for my E6600 to hit 3,600. This one needs 1.36V and this board will run my 4x1GB of PC8500 at DDR1000 speeds where the old board would only allow DDR800 before it blue screened.

Just RMA it. There is no other option.
 
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