m14x R2 BIOS chip swap

[Surpher805]

I recently had a bad BIOS flash and did a blind flash with a stock ROM that has now caused a no power state. I purchased a replacement BIOS chip and am very capable of replacing it. However I need to know the BIOS chip location on this board. There are 2 possible locations. one is marked as "U48" and the other is marked as "U604". I need to know what chip I should swap and an hoping that someone on this forum knows, or has access to a schematic for this board.

[dermosi]

Hello, i have the same Problem i buyed a replacement chip ( Winbond 25..... 1301 ) an i used the Location "U48" but after the Replacement my M14XR2 doesn't do anything, i don't no why. I have wrote an Email to my Chip Dealer which Bios Version he had programmed at the Chip. I hope that was the right Location, when i remember right the Chip on Location "U604" are a little bit smaller and have another Description i think.

When are you finished and its work please write the right Location and your Chip Description please.

Good Look , dermosi.

[dermosi]

So, Super've now M14Xr2 my yet again disassembled because I was curious.

have two pictures taken which places the chips show there seem to be two different chips, the chip has been the sent me corresponds to the imprint of the old chips and the other at position U604 is a completely different. Maybe this will help you even further.

Greetings dermosi

U48 Location:

U604 Location:

[Mishra]

So what did you find out? :-)

[freddy24]

Hello guys,
My alienware m14x r2 is bricked
I did the blind flash and while i was doing it i had the power cut and i lost everything.
Now i heard that it can be reprogrammed bios chip.

i took picture of my motherboad, but i see there are 2 chips
One is : W25Q80BVSIG 1303 on U604
the second is: W25Q64FVSIG 1301 on U48

And i dont know which one is bios installed
Do i need to update the second one only or the first or even both?
Please help.

 

Edited December 19, 2015 by freddy24

[H658tu]

W25Q64FVSIG contains the bios, W25Q80BVSIG (most likely) contains the EC. The 64 and 80 are a dead give-away; 64 = 64Mbit/8MB and 80 = 8Mbit/1MB (don't ask ...). You'll want to try the bios first and, failing that, the ec.
 

A problem you may run into is that Dell supplies packed bioses, not plain binaries. The 'isflashWin.bin' is 9.44MB, so there's an 8MB bios + 1MB EC inside (plus some fluff). It isn't difficult to separate them, since they trail side-by-side after the header. Only thing; forgot how and my notes are on a different system, either wait till tomorrow or google-fu yourself.



 

[freddy24]

HI  H658tu

First thank you to answer to my questions. i thought so that the second on is th EC

I have the .bin file extract from bios.exe from DELL

I would lilke to repgroamme bios chip w25q64 first, then if i will fail i would like to reprogramm the Ec thew25q80, but i dont have the EC binnary file, 

How can i extrat it from bios.exe ? 

How can i extract bios and ec from .bin. 

I will wait thank you!

please help.

thank you for all info!

here is the .bin file from extract from exe:

https://mega.nz/#!8do1maBQ!ccVxZMiHwr1BzJgwDHAxNqbS1Qumt4Ip_LguCdjzU0k

Edited December 19, 2015 by freddy24
file

[H658tu]

Is that .bin 8MB exactly? That is, 8x1,024x1,024 = 8,388,608 bytes? Otherwise you'd be flashing the wrong file; the programmer expects a 1:1 byte-size match to the eeprom.

Anyway, remembered just now to extract the packed payloads. Here's both A14 bios and ec:

M14x R2 - A14 bios and ec (plus the downloaded Dell .exe)

Mind that you use a multimeter to verify the pins make good contact after re-soldering. Set it to Ω and place one connector on the soldering pad and one on the eeprom's pin:

 

It should measure '0.00' for all eight pins.




 

[freddy24]

Hi H658tu

thank you very much!!!! 

i will try to reprogrammed them

here is the pic with size of the bin file i have. 

 

I want to ask can i reprogram both chips without taking from motherboard and re soldering back? 

i was wondering if i can flashed on the board with claps , them with this tool ?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 19, 2015 by freddy24

[H658tu]

Quote

here is the pic with size of the bin file i have.

Better use my files then; the 'isflashWin.bin' is a packed bios and wouldn't do any good.
 

Quote

 can i reprogram both chips without taking from motherboard and re soldering back
 

Only ~5% of eeprom chips support this method and then only if the motherboard's wiring matches. So ... don't count on it; solder.

Quote

if i can flashed on the board with claps , them with this tool ?
 

The clamp is still useful; you place the de-soldered eeprom inside it, then attach the clamp's cable to the blue pcb, which, in turn, can then be placed in the black 'grill' thingy of the programmer.

[freddy24]

Thank youuu!!!!
I will do it and please i wiill write here more till my bios is flashed, please can you visit here more days so i can find some answer from you!!!!

This will be very nice if you'll do so and i cant say what grateful i am 

 

So first i flash the w25q64 chip on location u48 witht he bios bin and then w25q80 chip that is with ec bin file ? 

Ill try first to flash it on motherboard directly if not then ill try de-soldered as you said 

[edeiel]

Hey. i`m need dump chip u604. Have it ? Sorry for my English)

[H658tu]

22 hours ago, freddy24 said:

I will do it and please i wiill write here more till my bios is flashed, please can you visit here more days so i can find some answer from you!!!!

Sure, if the new forum behaves as expected ...

 

22 hours ago, freddy24 said:

So first i flash the w25q64 chip on location u48 witht he bios bin and then w25q80 chip that is with ec bin file ?

Yes. Make sure to wipe the chip first (zero all bytes) before writing the new firmware. Existing bios has a protecte, read-only portion you want to overwrite as well, this is the best way to make sure that happens.
 

5 hours ago, edeiel said:

Hey. i`m need dump chip u604. Have it ? Sorry for my English)

Yes, it's the 'M14xR2_A14_ec.bin' in the file I've linked earlier.
 

[edeiel]

7 hours ago, H658tu said:

Sure, if the new forum behaves as expected ...

 

Yes. Make sure to wipe the chip first (zero all bytes) before writing the new firmware. Existing bios has a protecte, read-only portion you want to overwrite as well, this is the best way to make sure that happens.
 

Yes, it's the 'M14xR2_A14_ec.bin' in the file I've linked earlier.
 

Thx.!

I flashed the chip, after pressing the main switch is turned on for about 2 minutes. What could be the problem?

[freddy24]

2 hours ago, edeiel said:

Thx.!

I flashed the chip, after pressing the main switch is turned on for about 2 minutes. What could be the problem?

Did you flashed it on motherboard or you de-soldered and then re-soldered?

thx 

[edeiel]

desoldered chip, and pierced the programmer

[freddy24]

2 minutes ago, edeiel said:

desoldered chip, and pierced the programmer

Did you try first to flash bios and then EC? 

So you mean it was working only 2 minutes and then it shut down ? 

[edeiel]

Sorry for my English. I desoldering and prog both chips in 1 MB and 8 MB. After pressing the power button, LED lights, but the image is presented after 2 minutes. laptop and works as it should work.

[freddy24]

 

1 minute ago, edeiel said:

Sorry for my English. I desoldering and prog both chips in 1 MB and 8 MB. After pressing the power button, LED lights, but the image is presented after 2 minutes. laptop and works as it should work.

did you try to restart it? and see 

[edeiel]

Yes, in this state, it is already a couple of weeks. After a complete shutdown is necessary to wait 2 minutes. A restart work as it should)

[edeiel]

GbE and PDR - not present ?

[H658tu]

That's fine, just means the bios doesn't have those included (optional roms). Everything else looks good, too.
 

Check bios options for 'extended boot' or some-such and, if you're using Windows 10, disable Fast Startup. Also check boot order, just in case it attempts network boot before hdd/ssd.


 

[nicholaslimck]

So last week I had a bad blind flash--laptop beeped for a couple of minutes, with the beep frequency speeding up and slowing down a few times. After the beeping stopped, the fan continued to spin for more than 10 minutes. I gave up and disconnected the power cable, ending up with a bricked motherboard.

 

I ordered a new BIOS chip (25Q64FVSIG) off eBay and just swapped the chip for the one at U48, but still get no response of any sort after pressing the power button. Any idea what might be the issue here? Will I need to reprogram the EC chip?

Edited February 27, 2016 by nicholaslimck

[H658tu]

Was the 25Q64FVSIG pre-programmed ($25) or blank ($2)? If blank then you'd have to program it yourself before soldering. If it already had a bios programmed, then the bios version may have to match the EC version to be compatible. Also make sure to measure all eight soldering joints with a multimeter.
 

And yes, it's possible that the blind-flash corrupted the EC instead of the bios, provided the switch you've used took that into account. Remember that the file-to-flash as supplied is both bios+ec in one; the ' M14x R2 - A14 bios and ec ' file I've linked earlier has them separated, only these can be flashed directly to the eeprom chip. Flashing the bin as downloaded from the Dell site is futile.

Edited February 27, 2016 by H658tu

[nicholaslimck]

The seller claimed it was pre-programmed with the latest BIOS, so I assume A14. I doubt the EC version would be compatible even if it was functional, since I was on A13 before the blind flash and tried to flash to A11.