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

İlhan Kahraman ilhan805 at gmail.com
Sun Jan 8 15:33:54 CET 2012


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
1601)from:
http://support.asus.com/download/download_item_mkt.aspx?slanguage=en-us&model=M4A88TD-V+EVO%2fUSB3

I named this file as m4a88tdnew.ROM

and continue with ...

ilhan at ubuntu:~/Desktop$ >> sudo flashrom -E
ilhan at 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....


-- 
İlhan KAHRAMAN
Undergraduate  Student at
Materials Science & Engineering Department
and
Department of Industrial Design,
Anadolu University, Eskisehir,
Turkey
e-mail: ilhan805 at gmail.com
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