BIOS was bricked most likely from setting editing tertiary timings on RAM. laptop does not post and bootloops.
resetting CMOS does not work (it worked when previous BIOS edits caused bootloop) so i’m confident the BIOS is bricked.
tried flashing .fd file extracted from correct driver page (cannot post link, search for "Aspire A715-75G" in drivers page)
there are 2 .fd files but both are of identical size, 18MB seems too large but when read with UEFItool +IFRextractor both seem to contain BIOS settings information, the download description for the .exe is "1.Update ME FW 14.0.37.1165 for CML and Update Intel ME 12.0.65.1567 for CFL." so i assume each file does one update. platform.ini confirms that existing filenames are correct.
flash method of Fn+Esc does make my laptop fans spin up, using 4gb USB stick with indicator, but USB blinks only once and indicator turns off , laptop continues to bootloop when fans stop. tried all ports, one file at a time and also with SSD removed (no HDD), RAM swapped/removed/one at a time on both slots nothing works.
also tried with various USB format tools like wincris and rufus (FreeDOS), and using an extractor tool to lower filesize of .fd files.
ordered an SPI programmer and SOIC8 clip, should arrive in a week, but i do need to access some files on my SSD and don’t have any other device capable of reading an NVME SSD, buying a reader will now take longer to arrive than the programmer. nothing super urgent, but will be preferable to get access as soon as possible.
any suggestions and help with the .fd flashing will be appreciated. i will research how to use the programmer but hope i can clarify doubts on this thread.
Edit by Fernando: Thread title customized
Hi, update to moderators to close this thread. I learned to BIOS edit myself.
also Fn+Esc flashing does not work when existing BIOS is corrupted, tried using the method after recovering BIOS with CH341A Programmer, and it works like a charm, apparenty modern crisis boot block is stored in the BIOS, which is bad design if you ask me. i hope people will stop wasting thier time with this method when thier BIOS is already bricked, flashing with programmer/replacing chip seems to be the only option.
I am facing the same problem at the moment, I got the programmer, but don’t know how to use it. Any tips is much appreciated.
Hey btw, for this did you use the SOIC clip method to program the chip in bios? I mean the part where you connect the black clip directly to the bios chip in laptop motherboard?
SOP8, identify the IC model and respective voltage, clip it, read the content, it contains the system board original data.
Hey there @MeatWar. Greetings, and thank you for your response. Im aware of the c341a method of writing or programming bios chips as I have once modded and fixed my old nvidia graphics card once. My concern here of doing the laptop to my laptop motherboard in future is that if this can cause powerbleeding and lead to incomplete writes or detection issues in case..
As long as the IC is correctly identified and no overvoltage to IC or SPI circuit, all it needs is the right app, a good clip and stable grip to IC Pins…not much to add here, you have the skills/steady hands for it or not. Similar to GPU card flash…