Re: [flashrom] I lost my backup image and now my pc doesn't start...!

[İlhan Kahraman]

No, it didn't give any errors. And No, bupdater identifies the bios of
m4a.... and gives an error mesage because it knows the board is not
appropriate for the bios of m4a.... So I have to do it with flashrom.
Yes I can do hot swap as I mention in prev. mail. Same protocol same
voltages...

The one thing that I totally confused that: *the flashing*. Is it
just a " sudo
flashrom -w  any.rom " process or more complicated than that like: updating
some part of the chip with  -- layout or -- image  options
and leaving other parts of the chip whit its original contents (like boot
block) or something like that?  And I do not really know if this process
can affect the amd chipset of my board or its only effective on the flash
chip?
İf its just a writing process of any .ROM file I thing I can try forcing it
to writing operation with internal programer...

Thanks for Luck :))

8 Ocak 2012 19:37 tarihinde Marcos Felipe Rasia de Mello <
[e-mail]> yazdı:
> 2012/1/8 İlhan Kahraman
> > Hello there...,
> >      My name is ilhan and I have just started to use a linux
>
> operating system, so I am new to all of these linux applications...
> > While I am using this operating system, my self-confidence about diving
>
> into more tough stuff like flashtom-0.9.4. , has pushed
> > me a downgrade flashing attempt on my motherboard, Asus M4A88TD-V
>
> EVO/USB3.
> >       Actually, I have tried a downgrade flashing whit my mobo's
>
> official  applications, such as asus update and bupdater, in both FreeDos
> and
> > Win7 environments but, this did not help me and kept saying that  " you
>
> are trying to load an old version of bios"...
> >      So, I downloaded flashrom-0.9.4 source, installed it according
>
> to README file, read its manual
> > (http://www.flashrom.org/trac/flashrom/browser/trunk/flashrom.8) and
>
> finally I made a backup file.
> >      While playing around these linux applications and
>
> procrastinating my bios flashing, days gone by... Then one day :)... I just
> decided
> > to flash my bios because of increased freezings and shutdowns in Win7,
>
> without being aware of that I have lost my usb stick in which I
> > backup my mobos image whit using:
> >
> > sudo flashrom -r m4a88tdbackup
> >    In other words; I, unconsciously, started the flashing whit out
>
> having a backup file...
> > I simbly downloaded my old bios to my desktop (M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 BIOS
> from:
> >
>
> http://support.asus.com/download/download_item_mkt.aspx?slanguage=en-us&...
> > I named this file as m4a88tdnew.ROM
> >
> > and continue with ...
> >
> > ilhan@ubuntu:~/Desktop$ >> sudo flashrom -E
> > ilhan@ubuntu:~/Desktop$ >> sudo flashrom -w m4a88tdnew.ROM
> >     After flashrom verified that the chip (winbond W25Q16) content
>
> and the file content was same, I hit the re-start button and this was the
> end of my computer :)
> > It has not respond anything after that, not even any fan has cycled... I
>
> have already  tried the firmware CD and usb  which both contains the
> > m4a88tu3.rom ( I think its  the equivalent of the amitool.rom in the
>
> asus due to user guide instructions), have clear the cmos without its
> battery and
> > have un-plugged everything (expect cpu) in various combinations... All I
>
> have now, at start, CD-rom trying to read the CDs but it gives up quickly
> and
> > the most important the cpu fan and the cpu ( I guess) does not work...
> >    Trying all of this with out any luck, I decided to buy a new but
>
> cheaper mobo. I bought a Asus M4N68T-M ( with Nvidia MCP61 chipset
> (un-tested) and Eon EN25F80
> > flash chip). I plugged everything on this mobo and it just working like
>
> a charm.
> > With this new card I continued my attempts to flash my old cards chip
>
> but, I realized that I have no enough skills even making a simple
> confirmation of that: did I succeed it,
> > in a right way. I decided to go in short way, made a simple search on
>
> the issue and found the yann's report (
> http://paste.flashrom.org/view.php?id=687)  about my old card.
> > I requested from him to send me his back up image file via e-mail and
>
> he, kindly, said that he hadn't got any backup and directed me to the Asus
> support site which I already tried.
> > After all of this, as a last resort, I  decided to stole your precious
>
> time for my unimportant problem... Can you help me about it. Can I resque
> my old card and how?
> > I thought, if you can help me, in return of this help; I could
>
> contribute by sending you a report about both my new and old mobos :) I
> thing it is a good deal...:))
> > So How can I flash my old card's chip in my new card and verify its
>
> flashed in a right way?
> > I thank you very much by now for just reading this long.
> >
> > Have a good day....
>
> Hi,
>
> Did "sudo flashrom -w m4a88tdnew.ROM" show any errors? If no, I can
> only think this board requires some magic from the official update
> tool to work...
>
> To restore your old chip contents using the new board you will need
> hot swap. Before continuing see if both chips have the same protocol
> and voltage. Power on your new board and load Linux. With the system
> powered on, remove with care the flash chip and put the "dead" one in
> place. Run flashrom -E and -w as usual. Power off and put each chip in
> its original place. However I don't think it will help if your first
> update attempt apparently was completed without errors.
>
> You can also use the DOS tool. Maybe it's the solution:
>
> UPDATE
> bupdater /iBIOS.ROM /pc /g
>
> BACKUP
> bupdater /oBKP.ROM
>
> The bios filename has *no* space after the "/i" and "/o" switches.
>
> Good luck.
>
> Marcos