Need the help of a kind soul from my digital life - Asrock FM2A75M-ITX backup ROM

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by jobyrne30, Jul 13, 2013.

  1. jobyrne30

    jobyrne30 MDL Novice

    Dec 4, 2011
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    Hi folks,

    I reckoned this would be the best section to post this request. I'm trying to repair an Asrock FM2A75M-ITX for a friend, it is a new motherboard he bought a few months ago on ebay, he only got time to make his HTPC this week. Unfortunately the motherboard is faulty, the PC powers on, fan spins but nothing comes on the screen. After much trouble shooting I removed the bios chip and checked it in a bios programmer. I found the bios chip is completely blank/erased. I was going to attempt to flash it using my bios programmer but the bios file from the Asrock site is over sized for the bios chip, it must contain extra data that is not written to the bios during flashing.

    Then I was going to attempt a hot-flash using my Asrock FM2A75M-ITX but I own the REV2 version of the board with different mosfets and other components so hot-flashing won't work.

    So this is where I need the help of a kind soul from my digital life. If you are the owner of an Asrock FM2A75M-ITX could you please use the MDL's Universal BIOS Backup ToolKit 2.0 to create a backup rom of your bios and upload it here.

    The backup tool can be downloaded from here - "hxxp://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/9856-Universal-BIOS-Backup-Toolkit/page14?p=730925&viewfull=1#post730925".

    Run it as admin, it reads and creates a backup rom in a 30-40 seconds. The rom will be the correct size for me to flash with my programmer....hopefully this will work and save my friend a bit of money.

    Thanks
     
  2. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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  3. jobyrne30

    jobyrne30 MDL Novice

    Dec 4, 2011
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    Thanks,

    That was actually me :biggrin:, it's a different motherboard (REV2) and bios is different.

    I know there are versions of the FM2A75M-ITX modified bios out there, but what I need is a backup from a running system. The backup can be easily created using the Universal BIOS Backup Toolkit. The backup will be the correct size for me to flash using my bios programmer.

    The Bios files from the Asrock website and the modified ones created here are over sized, they have extra data on them not used for flashing so they can't be used by my programmer.....it must be a backup rom of the correct size.

    Thanks, again
     
  4. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
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    Nov 30, 2009
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    What is the needed size of the bios for the programmer??
     
  5. jobyrne30

    jobyrne30 MDL Novice

    Dec 4, 2011
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    Hi Tito,

    The bios files that can be dowloaded from the Asrock site and here are 8196 KB - "hxxp://wwx.asrock.com/mb/AMD/FM2A75M-ITX/?cat=Download&os=BIOS". The winbond DIP8 bios chip has a max capacity of 8192 KB. A backup rom created using the Universal BIOS Backup Toolkit will be the correct size 8192 KB.

    I've tested my theory using my REV2 board, first I created a backup rom using the
    Universal BIOS Backup Toolkit. Then using my programmer I flashed a spare winbond DIP8 bios chip with the file you created on this thread - "xxxp://forums.mydigitallife.net/threads/5863-Award-amp-AMI-Bios-mod-requests/page4524?p=765763#post765763", received an over sized error and the PC would not boot. Re-flashed using the backup rom and it worked fine.

    Thanks for the reply
     
  6. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
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    Nov 30, 2009
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    Delete the block of length 1000h from the beginning of the bios using any hex editor.
     
  7. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    lol i was tired.
     
  8. jobyrne30

    jobyrne30 MDL Novice

    Dec 4, 2011
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    You where not the only one ....

    Yeah, that worked perfect:worthy:. If I wasn't so bloody tired myself I would have thought of that myself. Anyway a nice lesson to learn, even if i was half asleep :biggrin:

    For those of you interested I used this cheap programmer "hxxp://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=161054108619", it's ideal for winbond DIP8 bios chips. That same seller has a few more with extra attachments for use on SOIC8 and JSPI1 bios chips and connections. I used the English software from this link - "hxxp://wwx.dream-e.com/Pshow.asp?Pid=8"
     
  9. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
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    Thanks for the feedback.

    :)
     
  10. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    lol i actualy deleted the first 1000h last night and saw size .. when he posted size he needed.. i saw it would work and was waiting for confirmation.
     
  11. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
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    Actually the first 1000h portion is used for security checking.
     
  12. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    yep.. i saw that months ago in asus bios .. didnt think it was same here.
     
  13. Tito

    Tito Admin / Adviser
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  14. jobyrne30

    jobyrne30 MDL Novice

    Dec 4, 2011
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    I was thinking about this too. I actually downloaded a modified bios version last night, but when I went to flash it was over sized, well at least I thought it was. I just had another look ....I must have selected the wrong bios file last night because on retrying it worked perfect:rolleyes:. Like I said I was tired too.

    Anyway I learned a few things......

    (1st) Deleting the first 1000h on an over sized Asrock original bios file and flashing with my cheap programmer will now most likely work and should I ever brick a similar mother board with a modded bios I should have a quick and easy recovery process.

    (2nd) In fact I should be able to recover most bad flashes I come across using that programmer instead using of my old favorite method hot-flashing. Not bad for a sub $10 programmer

    (3rd) There are a few kind souls here on my digital life

    (4th) Possibly the most important, if I can't keep my eyes open...... I should stop and go to bed :biggrin:

    Thanks again Tito/Folks