I killed my PC- can I recover my BIOS?

[Edcrab]

To cut a long story short I discovered that a few major issues with my computer could have been down to a corrupt BIOS- I idiotically tried to upgrade... the end result has left me dragging my 600mhz machine out of storage in order to seek help

Hopefully I haven't fried my BIOS chip- if so, am I right in thinking that I can remove the motherboard battery in order to force it to revert to default? If this is the case, how long do I need to get the battery out, and what else do I need to do? Presumably I just tried to install an incorrect BIOS image- I've a nagging suspicion it was for a V1.1 instead of a V1.

It's a MS-6382 Version 1 (MicroStar) with an AMD 2000+. When I turn it on I hear no beeps and both my main and graphics card fans are functioning- it's just that my monitor is not detected, and retains its little orange standby light instead of kicking into life. So with no display I'm not really capable of telling what's going on

Any ideas? I knew the computer was on its last legs but I never thought I'd strike the death blow

 

[Asus]

Check your manual but there should be a CMOS jumper on the motherboard that you can short and it resets the BIOS. If you have a case speaker yet you don't get any BEEPs then something basic is probably wrong. After you reset your BIOS and if it still doesn't BEEP then check power connections, take your GFX card and memory out and put them back in etc.

 

[Edcrab]

This is a hugely stupid question but (since I'm computer illiterate and lack a manual) would you explain precisely what you mean by shorting the jumper? Hell, I'm not even sure which cable is the jumper.

Hopefully that'll return my PC/monitor to the land of the living, but I need clarification

 

[PickledGecko]

Sorry but the battery and jumper thing resets the CMOS, not the BIOS. The BIOS is the software your motherboard needs to start booting, the CMOS is different options you can have your BIOS set as, e.g. FSB frequencies, boot sequences etc.

If you have indeed updated to the wrong BIOS then I’m sorry to say your motherboard is useless. There are however 3 possible options;
1. Does your motherboard have a dual BIOS? It will say in the manual and it will tell you which jumper to move to copy the original BIOS from the backup chip to the main chip.
2. Send your motherboard to the manufacturer to have the BIOS replaced. Remember, computer components are assembled in the Far East, so the postage alone would take weeks, even ignoring the fact you wont be a high priority within the company itself.
3. If you have access to a motherboard with the same BIOS chip type (there are 2 commonly used chip types in PC motherboard manufacturing) you can attempt what is known as a “Bios Hot Swap”
Linky

 

[Edcrab]

Gah! I'm almost certain it's only a single-BIOS model but I'm downloading the manual off the manufacturer's website just to check.

If it really has died... well, damn. Either I'll flash out for a repair service or, more sensibly, just by a new damn computer...

 

[Razor]

Gah! I'm almost certain it's only a single-BIOS model but I'm downloading the manual off the manufacturer's website just to check.

If it really has died... well, damn. Either I'll flash out for a repair service or, more sensibly, just by a new damn computer...

Phone up the motherboard manufacturer if you can't get it repaired and see if they can send a new Bios chip for you.

But try to reset the bios by changing the jumper over, switching the computer on for a few seconds, turning it off and changing the jumper back.

 

[Edcrab]

I was under the impression that that only applied to the CMOS?

 

[Edcrab]

Nope, definitely not a dual BIOS, and resetting the CMOS jumper did nothing (I eventually found the thing on the manual's diagram)- I can't even turn the computer on while its in the reset position, which is supposedly a good thing: the manual advocates avoiding that move as it could well damage the motherboard.

I'll just ring a repair group in the morning, one of those no-fix no-fee outfits, and arrange for them to do all the dirty work. Although ultimately I could do without the hassle and the costs- all I want is the data on my hard drive back

 

[chewyxx]

heh that happened to my computer i had warranty on it so i jus got free and better parts hehe

 

[psyno]

You hard drive should be in good shape. If you need to get to that data, simply plug your HDD into another computer and access it from there (if your file system is NTFS, make sure the new host can read NTFS.) To do this, make sure that you cut the power to both systems, and that you set HDD's jumper accordingly.

As PickledGecko has indicated, the BIOS and and BIOS memory live in different places. If the actual BIOS has been compromised, resetting the CMOS -- the name for the BIOS memory -- won't help you.

You likely haven't caused permanent damage to your motherboard, just loaded on something that makes no sense to your hardware. If you can find a place that has a device to program your BIOS EEPROM, then you might be in luck. Such places can be hard to find though...