boot block

[screwy]

I have made a mistake on a bios upgrade of a VIA VT8363/VT 82C686B KT-133 Chipset (For 663AS PRO).
I Accidentally powered down before completion of the flash upgrade.

I am not too sure if this bios chip has a part set as side for boot block. Could you good people clarify this for me?
And if it has, is there a way to get the boot block to activate so I could recover the bios?

Many thanks

[NooNoo]

Does it boot at all?
Does the a: drive activate?
Do you have a pci video card?

[Ruslan]

Originally posted by screwy
I am not too sure if this bios chip has a part set as side for boot block. Could you good people clarify this for me?
And if it has, is there a way to get the boot block to activate so I could recover the bios?

All depend on what exactly the chip type - many of flash chips are having hardware protected boot-block(s).
So, you can have good chances to recover that BIOS...

This motherboard (Jetway 663AS Pro, correct?):
http://www.jetway.com.tw/evisn/produ...o/663aspro.htm
has one ISA slot, so you should use an old ISA videocard, othervise you'll have to do BIOS recovery blind...

Read this article:
http://www.viaarena.com/?PageID=194

And this one:
http://tw.giga-byte.com/support/bios.htm

If all above did not help you, read my own BIOS recovery tips:
http://forums.windrivers.com/cgi-bin...+recovery+tips

Good luck!

[geoscomp]

You have an award bios on that machine, and it is my understanding that almost all of the modern boards with award bios chips have a boot block..Ruslan knows for sure I think. This is from a helpsite for your motherboard:
If flashing BIOS is interrupted or BIOS is corrupted somehow and system fails to boot then insert BIOS recovery disk, Reboot again and retry updating BIOS.
If you have a PCI video card you won't see anything on the screen until system recovers and Reboots itself, because the boot-block BIOS only supports an ISA videocard

edit..and Ruslan is quicker than I am too

[Garak]

Ruslan is BIOS king, but I would like to ask a few questions, ie what software did you use, I know the new AMIflash 827 erases the chip before reprogramming rather than erasing and reprogramming block by block.

As for recovering the boot block, did you enable the "erase boot block" or "write boot block" option?

Good Luck.

edit, just noticed your in the UK. If you can't get the chip to re-flash or recover the BIOS, e-mail or PM me and I maybe able to flash up a spare IC.

[Ruslan]

Originally posted by Garak
Ruslan is BIOS king, but I would like to ask a few questions, ie what software did you use, I know the new AMIflash 827 erases the chip before reprogramming rather than erasing and reprogramming block by block.

You're wrong about first statement, Gary...
But you hit the point with second one - I just hope he was using standard awdflash without switches...
8.27 is not the latest version of AMIflash, by the way - there is newer version mentioned in the link above...

[Garak]

Oh oh well.. We're all allowed to be wrong sometimes
I might have to download latest flash tool me thinks.

[screwy]

Thanx guys for the replies, much appreciated.

The answers to your questions are

M\b does boot,
A:\ doesn’t.
Pci video card installed.

Obviously I can’t see a damm thing as yet because of the PCI video card, but everything sounds ok apart from the floppy drive.
I have not tried an ISA video card yet

I used these files extracted from the 663as.zip on to a bootable floppy.
663asa07.bin
663asa10.bin
Awdflash.exe

These were download from the same site Ruslan so kindly suggested, so I presume the flash is ok

It looks like I will have to go out and purchase one of them tools for removal of the chip, And hot swap the bugger.

I was hoping not to go down this road but that’s what you get for being an Idiot and not concentrating on what I am doing…… that will teach me hey!

Thanx again guys. I haven’t used this forum much, but with so much knowledge out there, it has showed me it is bloody useful.

I have been converted!!