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Motherboards BIOS chip

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by bartiszon, 18 Sep 2015.

  1. bartiszon

    bartiszon Minimodder

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    I haven't been in need of the bios chip replacement since 1999 when CIH infected thousands of computers. I've done it several times already, so got some experience, but this is something new to me:

    Two Asus Maximus VII Hero motherboards. One in fully working condition and the other affected by frozen rtc bug. I flashed the bios back and forward, took battery out for 24h. None of the mentioned fix worked either.

    Both are on the same, latest bios 2801. Both seem to work great under Windows 10 environment with i5-4430, so decided to shift the bios chip.
    Result: It does NOT work.:jawdrop:
    The faulty mobo with other chip is in a constant boot loop ended with Q-Code error 63 - CPU DXE initialization is started.

    The main difference is the faulty one has a Winbond chip and the other has a chip with large G logo.

    Any thoughts on this?
     
  2. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    When you take the fully working one out of that board and place it into the broken board, does it then function normally?

    The board and BIOS chip is physically the same, it's just a different chip they used for it. There's no problem there.

    If it does work perfectly, I'd suggest buying a new BIOS chip from eBay (I've used them in the past, they're great!) and that should solve your issues.
     
  3. bartiszon

    bartiszon Minimodder

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    It might have been a bit confusing, but I did take the bios chip from fully working mobo and placed it in the one with the frozen rtc bug and it doesn't work.

    and that's what I had always thought... until now.
    I do believe they are physically the same chips. I am just wondering if there is an area, not available to flash by user, containing some subtle hardware variations.

    I didn't try to use the 'buggy' chip with good mobo yet, but I am going to give it a whirl later.
     
  4. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    If the working BIOS doesn't work in the board with the RTC bug, it may not be an issue with the BIOS. It may just be a dead board. :(
     
  5. bartiszon

    bartiszon Minimodder

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    It doesn't make much sense to me as the board works with its own bios chip.
    Is there any other chip on the motherboard which might get infected by let's say a virus?
     
  6. bartiszon

    bartiszon Minimodder

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    Just a little update:

    Board with frozen rtc works with its own chip only.
    Good board works with both chips, however during boot with the 'bugged' chip it waits 15 seconds on error code 63 and then goes further. With its own chip I didn't notice to get the code 63 at all.

    I am puzzled even more. :confused:
     
  7. TheMadDutchDude

    TheMadDutchDude The Flying Dutchman

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    That is really bizarre. It might be worth buying a new chip. It only costs a tenner and could save a lot of hassle. :)

    Were these bought new, by any chance? If so, you can still RMA it as it is within it warranty period.
     
  8. bartiszon

    bartiszon Minimodder

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    The board is out of warranty I am afraid, so I am going to arrange a new chip for it.

    Meantime could someone identify this chip please?:

    [​IMG]

    The Winbond chip inside blue frame is obviously the programmable bios chip, but what is then the chip in yellow circle?

    Edit:
    According to TweakTown it may hold a utility for the USB BIOS Flashback without the ram and cpu.
     
    Last edited: 21 Sep 2015

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