Toshiba nb200-110: bios SEMI-BRICKED?

Discussion in 'BIOS Mods' started by crimsom, Nov 5, 2010.

  1. tqhoang

    tqhoang MDL BIOS Modder

    Apr 29, 2008
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    Very nice...congrats! Now you need to upgrade to BIOS v2.10 so this doesn't happen again. :)
     
  2. crimsom

    crimsom MDL Novice

    Oct 12, 2009
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    Done! Thank you very much!!!!!!
     
  3. openfly

    openfly MDL Member

    Oct 18, 2009
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    missed to buy cheap price the netbook. :)
     
  4. crimsom

    crimsom MDL Novice

    Oct 12, 2009
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    ahaahaahhahahaha
     
  5. tqhoang

    tqhoang MDL BIOS Modder

    Apr 29, 2008
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  6. nenedeantes

    nenedeantes MDL Novice

    Nov 16, 2010
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    Hi guys! i've got the same problem with same symptoms! and im almost crying.. finally i found THE place! i readed this thread for five times, but still got some doubts, hope you can help me.
    I've downloaded the crysis disk and the 1.60 Bios version, so.. doubts!
    1- can i use a usb pen drive? i dont have a disk drive.. but if its necessary i'll buy it
    2- from where can i obtain the boot.wph and phlash16 files? (i uncompressed the bios file, found a phlash16 file, but i cant find one with .wph extension)
    3- the procedure.. should be like this? "create a bootable disk with crysis / copy phlash16 and boot.wph to the bootable disk/ power on the NB200 without the battery, just the ac adapter, pressing Fn+B/ wait and pray for about 20 min."

    thats right? correct me if im wrong please!
     
  7. nenedeantes

    nenedeantes MDL Novice

    Nov 16, 2010
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    Thanks a lot! now it's working allright.
    i've buyed a usb disk drive and followed the steps.. I really appreciate the work and dedication of people like you; you make me save a lot of money and headaches.. thank you!
     
  8. nenedeantes

    nenedeantes MDL Novice

    Nov 16, 2010
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    Im very glad too my friend! ;)
    Cheers!
     
  9. geraldmark

    geraldmark MDL Novice

    Nov 20, 2010
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    #33 geraldmark, Nov 21, 2010
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2010
    problem has been resolved

    thank you all...
     
  10. crimsom

    crimsom MDL Novice

    Oct 12, 2009
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    hi gerald

    have you used bios 1.60?

    have you used floppy usb?
     
  11. geraldmark

    geraldmark MDL Novice

    Nov 20, 2010
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    #36 geraldmark, Nov 23, 2010
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2010
    problem has been resolved

    thank you all...
     
  12. geraldmark

    geraldmark MDL Novice

    Nov 20, 2010
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    #37 geraldmark, Nov 23, 2010
    Last edited: Dec 3, 2010
    problem has been resolved

    thank you all...
     
  13. wanton007

    wanton007 MDL Novice

    Nov 28, 2010
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    I have an issue with mine and I believe it's a BIOS issue. I'm trying to upgrade, but I don't have the usb floppy / usb cd drive.

    I've created a bootable USB drive with the update files.

    When I boot up all I get is the Toshiba screen and does not load Windows XP

    Pressing F2 to get into setup just returns "Entering Setup" and never gets past that screen.
    Pressing F12 to change the boot device just returns "Entering boot device selection menu", and never gets past that screen.
    Pressing ESC returns this:
    KAVAA Bios Version v1.20
    CPU - 1 Processors Detected
    Intel Atom CPU N280 @ 1.66GHz
    0000000000000000000000000 System RAM Passed

    Is there anything I can do to get it to boot from the USB key so I can perform the BIOS update?
     
  14. tqhoang

    tqhoang MDL BIOS Modder

    Apr 29, 2008
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    Sorry, you need to get a USB floppy to perform the BIOS Crisis Recovery. If you buy it from a local retailer, you can always return the drive.
     
  15. toptiercomputerservices

    Dec 2, 2010
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    I finally got it. After perusing this forum with questionable steps and surfing the net for over 5 hours I successfully created a floppy and got it to flash to 1.60. The other site I used that gave a more in depth, but similar description of steps can be found at: theeldergeek [dot] com/forum/index.php?showtopic=21209
    This is from the post:

    And I quote: "I recently had a rather frightening experience when I accidentally started the Phoenix BIOS Flash program in Windows.

    I have an Intel VBI Compal EL80 (the HEL80 is the non-VBI version), and I wanted to update my BIOS to see if I could shorten the POST time (it seems excessively long, and it's because the thing is counting RAM, to the tune of 2 GB). So I downloaded the 107B BIOS update (From 102B), and was looking through the folder when, for one reason or another, most likely because of a sensitive touchpad, the Phoenix updater for Windows began to run.

    Unfortunately, there was no user intervention required. It seemed to check the current version, and apparently since it was older than the version in the folder, started re-programming. No prompts, no nothing. Of course, I couldn't stop it, and it seemed to do okay.

    Until it hit the 13/19 mark. Made it about halfway through, and gave me a BSoD (IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL). I nearly had a massive heart attack. Of course, it was toast when I attempted to restart. It powered on, but that was it. No POST, nothing on the screen.

    I managed to find enough instructions to build a "Crisis Recovery Disk", which I couldn't use at the time due to not having a floppy drive in my laptop. This recovery disk allows you to recover your system after a failed BIOS flash, providing your system has a Phoenix BIOS which supports this operation.

    I attempted to use a USB flash drive without success, so I had to use a USB floppy drive at to fix it. For those of you that might have stumbled upon this for a similar reason, I will tell you how I got the system back into good working order (I hope it helps; it's not a good feeling when this happens).

    First, you need to get the Crisis Recovery Disk Tool. Phoenix_Crisis_Recovery.zip (540.42K)
    Number of downloads: 5877

    If you can't get it in this post, you can find it here: HP Business Support Forum - the download link is the paperclip on the right side at the top of the first post.

    Once you have the program, run it, (I checked the "Format" option - I couldn't get it to work without doing that, results may and probably will vary), and you will now have a floppy that you will be able to use to recover the BIOS. But you're not done quite yet.

    There is a file on the disk called BIOS.WPH which needs to be replaced with the file for your specific BIOS (mine was EL80107B.ROM, files will vary). The file needs to be put on the floppy in place of the 512 kb WPH file, and you MUST rename your BIOS file (i.e. EL80107B.ROM) to BIOS.WPH. Changing the extension is necessary.

    After you have traded the default WPH file for your specific BIOS file, you have a completed disk, and need to remove the battery from the laptop, and unplug the AC power cord. Then plug in your USB floppy drive (with the Crisis Recovery Disk in it and ready to go). Next, With the AC still unplugged, press and hold the Fn(Function) and B buttons. While still holding them, plug the AC power in, then press the power button.

    The system should power on, but there should be no LEDs lit up, and the fan should not slow down like it normally does. If that is not what happens, and you get LEDs that light up, and the fan slows like normal, unplug the AC power and try using the Win and B keys instead. Once the system has booted into the BIOS recovery mode, the floppy light will flash as it reads the BIOS file from the disk. You can then release the Fn+B keys (or Win+B ). After a minute or two, the floppy light will stop flashing.

    DO NOT shut the computer off, as the process is only half complete. The system is now flashing the BIOS.

    After the floppy light goes off, leave the computer on for two or three minutes; more if you want to be sure, and if the system does not reboot itself (mine did not), unplug the AC power. I let mine go for five minutes or so and pulled the plug (the power button would not shut the system off no matter how long I held it; I suspect this is normal). Five minutes should be plenty; however long you wait, try to be patient. My five minutes of waiting seemed to take forever, but paid off. Better to be without the laptop an extra minute or two than two weeks while it's back to wherever it came from having a new chip installed or the old chip re-flashed. Plug the AC power back into the laptop and fire it up.

    If all goes well, you'll have made a very expensive paperweight into something useful again.

    It seems this works for most newer models of laptops with Phoenix BIOSes (from what I've seen). Forums I've read have said that it may be either Fn+B or Win+B to boot into BIOS recovery mode, and I assume the EL80, HEL80, EL81, and HEL81 are the same, and probably behave the same during emergency flashing.

    Hope someone finds this helpful, as I had to piece it together from parts I found all over."

    Best Regards,

    Chris Rea
    Pres-CEO
    Top Tier Enterprises LLC DBA Top Tier Computer Services