tman70 Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 (edited) Ran PC Pitstop test to see if I could someday upgrade to XP.It said I needed to just upgrade my bios. I ordered the upgrade from esupport and d/l it to a floppy per instructions. I followed all the instructions and when it made the backup, it ask me to press f1 to continue.I did and the screen went blank and after 10 minutes it was still blank so I shut it down. It will not reboot even with the w98se bootdisk. Luckily I had the same model computer I had just repaired so I can use it for the internet.Have I fried my bios in the other computer? Edited September 8, 2006 by tman70 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Honda_Boy Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 same basic thing happened to me basically. Try clearing your bios by removing the battery from the motherboard or if there is a CLR_CMOS jumper or something like that try setting it to clear and turn the computer and for a little bit and let it clear and then reset the jumper. If that don't work then you are in the same boat as me. Mine just did the same basic thing now my Compaq is serving as my primary system. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
shanenin Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 (edited) you may get lucky clearing the cmos, but.......it sounds as if the flash procedure failed(no fault of your own). If that is the case, the motherboard is unusable for all practical purposes. To fix this problem you need to replace(or maybe reprogram) the eprom chip. this is something that has to be done by the manufaturer(maybe by you with the right technology). Edited June 29, 2006 by shanenin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sethook Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 Check here for a possible solution. There are a few different vendors to select from. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Honda_Boy Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 hmm that's how i could fix mine but. I'd rather just get started on a new system though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tman70 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 same basic thing happened to me basically. Try clearing your bios by removing the battery from the motherboard or if there is a CLR_CMOS jumper or something like that try setting it to clear and turn the computer and for a little bit and let it clear and then reset the jumper. If that don't work then you are in the same boat as me. Mine just did the same basic thing now my Compaq is serving as my primary system. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheTerrorist_75 Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 You can try removing the battery first to see if it will recover. If that doesn't work then try the Bios recovery jumper (not sure if you move or remove jumper). If that fails try the battery again after doing the jumper. It would help to know what the motherboard and/or make and model of the computer is. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sethook Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 Have you ventured into the mobo maker's web site or the board manual? What make and model is your PC / mobo? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JDoors Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 Just so you have some idea where you're at: The BIOS information tells your computer how to start up and is stored on a chip that retains that information even if the computer is turned off. Upgrading rewrites the information on that chip. The old information might not be capable of recognizing new hardware or processes, for example. If the upgrade fails, the chip may be useless. The computer starts up, reads the chip, the information is not correct (possibly scrambled beyond recognition) and your computer cannot start up. So depending on what part of the upgrade failed, you may be able to recover using the information given in previous posts ... or you may not. Good luck, hope you get it running soon. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TheTerrorist_75 Posted June 29, 2006 Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 It should be noted that when flashing the Bios you should unplug any external hardware such as printers, scanners and etc. You may even be able to reflash the board but you will not be able to see it becuase of the video not working. You would listen to the motherboard beeps and watch the power activity light. With older motherboards that had ISA slots you could use an ISA graphics card which would still function after a bad flash. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tman70 Posted June 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 29, 2006 Well, I tried removing battery, then tried resetting Bios recovery jumper, then tried removing battery and resetting Bios recovery jumper. Nothing works so it looks like the Bios Flash did not work and I will now use it for parts. This is a Dell Millenna with a DR737 board. I got one just like it from E-Bay for nothing, which is what I am using now. I thought maybe I could flash one and if it worked I could do the other and then upgrade to XP home later.Thanks to everyone who replied and offered advice. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tman70 Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 OK, I got a new BIOS Chip and installed it.I turned on the power and the Bios information came on the screen and said there was a "cmos checksum error- defaults loaded".Press F1 to continue or Del to go to setup.Pressed F1 and nothing happened.Pressed Del and nothing happened.Powered down and replaced battery with a new one.Got same screen. Pressing F1 or DEl still nothing happens.I am on the learn by the seat of your pants program, so if someone can tell me what to do next I would appreciate it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tman70 Posted September 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 8, 2006 Problem solved for now.It's so funny that I may post it in the comedy club or I could be having slow brain function due to so many mini-strokes.After I figured out what I wasn't doing I just laughed and now everything is working fine. Any way the problem was, I only have one monitor and when I hooked up the other computer to try the new bios, I forgot to hook up the mouse and keyboard to the other computer. When I can save up enough money I will try to upgrade to XP. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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