[Problem] Bricked ASUS Transformer Book T101Ha PC BIOS

BIOS/UEFI Modding BIOS Modding Guides and Problems
1

Good morning, guys.

I have an ASUS T101 PC that has been stationary for several years now.

It worked until a bios update came from the asus, downloaded and installed via windows.

The PC, while it was updating, crashed, and then never left.

Basically, I am sure that this is the only problem.

I bought at the time a bios chip programmed with the latest version available from a well-known sales site and Flash Bios.

Thinking about making the PC work again, but soldering the chip didn’t solve anything, the PC didn’t start anyway.
Then reading various forums including this one, I read that bios probably need to be “personalized,” that is, they need to be compiled with a PC serial number, etc.

Now my question is, since I bought a ch341a, I was able to solder the chip to an adapter, I downloaded asprogrammer, I was able to make a copy of the bios.

The only thing, given that this PC has been stationary for several years and even the bios chips, I don’t remember if the chip in question is the original one or if it is the second chip purchased on the site.
Now, no matter what, since I still managed to make a copy of the contents of the chip, how can I check/check if it’s my original chip?

Through reading serial number maybe?

The only thing I have no idea how to do, I ask someone for help to continue with the repair.

If all this is useless, and there is no need to retrieve the “old” bios, I could download the bios from the asus site (only in .cap format) or download a bios uploaded here on the forum by another user (only then I don’t know if the serial fields need to be modified etc…
Sorry for the long message, thank you.


Edit by Fernando: Thread moved into the “BIOS Problems” Category and title customized

2

This is a pure English language Forum! Please translate your post.
You certainly don’t want, that I answer in German, which is my home tongue.

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3

Well… the ORIGINAL one (dump) should have Asus original info…not the one bought.
Anyway, with the correct programming… the system should be alive even without this info (SN, Mac, UUID etc).

4

The problem is that I’m not sure if this bios that I used for the dump was the original one, now after a long time I don’t remember if I had reworked the original corrupted or not…

For that, if there’s a way to see if the correct PC serial is inside the dump I did?"

Regardless, the dump I created, even if it was original, is now corrupt, and I don’t know where/how to intervene…

5

An HEX editor is a handful tool…

6

I downloaded

HxD Hex Editor

Which fields exactly should I copy and where do I find them?

Assuming it’s the original bios, what data is needed to be copied?

7

Can you plz research a bit and being not so lazy, plenty of info and examples in the forum, besides labels on a system… it’s your task and time not mine to lose.

8

I did some research, but with my skills I couldn’t solve it.

The label on the computer OK… but maybe I didn’t explain myself…

I’m not sure I extracted the original bios dump, I might have extracted the later purchased bios dump, so I wanted to check that it matches mine.

Otherwise, should I independently delete and rewrite the bios downloaded from the asus site, should it work anyway or could I have problems?

9

Labels can be on chassi and/or system board.

And not going to repeat myself anymore:
"Anyway, with the correct programming… the system should be alive even without this info (SN, Mac, UUID etc)."

Nothing more to add, good luck.

10

All right, thank you, I just don’t understand why I bought a bios already written with the latest asus version available for the PC, but it didn’t turn on anyway.

I’m going to try to download the latest version from the ASUS website and write it down.

Okay, don’t enter the parameters, but it has to be converted to .bin, right?

Why is “on Asus”?"

11

There’s no official “conversion” sir… it’s all resumed to data container…
The Asus bios files are not complete firmware images to program directly, it’s only bios region and it needs a merge with other regions/ME Firmware.

Why is “on Asus”?"
Dont understand what you’re asking or referring to…
..and by the way T101 is not enough neither correct specific model identification.

12

Good morning, I apologize for my English; I wasn’t clear enough; I’m using the translator.

I downloaded the latest BIOS available from the Asus website (T101HAAS.306).

As already suggested, the BIOS can’t be flashed as is because it’s incomplete.

Now the problem…

I’m using the Asprogrammer software.

I also have other HxD configurations.

I soldered the BIOS to the CH341 adapter, and I was able to read the chip and perform a complete dump.

What’s the problem?

I’m not sure if the BIOS chip is my original one (the corrupt one). It could also be the one I bought online (which I tried to solder onto the board, but it didn’t work).

To find out, since I have the PC’s serial number on the case, I wanted to compare the data to at least figure out which chip it is.

To do this, I used the HxD software, but I can’t find this data.

Can you help me? How can I find it?

Please be patient; it’s difficult to make myself understood with the translator.

13

SN should be @ offset 0x23000 / 0x26000

WLic @ offset 0x233000

A bios dump vs Asus bios file, understood now?

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14

So let’s see if I understand…

Basically, the original bios taken from the asus site lack “Description region” and “me region,” right?

Then… trying to find out the offsets you pointed out to me, I can’t find anything.

So I deduce that the problem might be that, I can’t find anything because maybe this is the bios chip that I bought online, and so the programmer didn’t enter this data, and my original was lost…

Also because I tried to search for the serial code directly, but I can’t find it…
Now I ask, since there is an original dump of a loaded user here on the forum, it might help us in some way to understand if I’m wrong to do something, or if it’s just as I said before.

This is the discussion: Asus Transformer T101HA bricked - Preparing to flash CH341a

15

US??? …no sir, i’m not losing more of my time with this, use and flash whatever dumps you find or want.
The system may now have other issues at hw level, other than bios corruption.
These are the kind of products that get “death” just for being stored… they are made for working 24/24h, they do their job for a decade or more…or just a few months/couple of yrs.

The rest seems you understood it all, and again, the programing of a bios without original data is usually not an issue to bring the system alive, good luck and all the best.

EDIT: So many reading so i cant remember everything… ok this was failure due to bios by WU.

16

I understood part of what you told me, in the sense that, I didn’t understand what you were referring to.

The PC no longer started after the BIOS update was attempted by Windows.

So it’s easy to get corrupted.

Before the update attempt, it worked very well.

Now, back to the discussion, my request was formulated to see if the chip I was analyzing was my original chip
Since we have probably realized that it is not, there is no point in continuing beyond…

Finally, since I’m not an expert (otherwise I wouldn’t have asked for your help), I still haven’t figured out if the bios I download from asus just remove the capsule and save it in bin and flash it, or if there are other changes to be made.
I don’t want to waste your time, I just want to know what to do to solve the problem.

17

No you cant… that’s why i posted the images to see the differences and told you, i thought you understood this already…, that is not a complete firmware to program, you can only use the “blank” bios region from the Asus file.
It should be merged after 0x200 000, if possible, with the “corrupted” one from the original IC, because supposedly the one bought is just blank like an Asus file but its indeed complete… keep in mind that no dumps were shared here by you, to sustain this.
Where is the original IC dump, not the one bought?

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18

Yes, that’s why I was saying…

Since I’m not an expert on the subject, I’m also having trouble understanding all these new terms and procedures…

Anyway, sure, I’m attaching the bios dump I made.

To clarify, because I don’t know if I explained myself well:

This dump is the only one I have at the moment, it was made from the bios chip (probably the one purchased online) I say probably because it’s a reasoning by exclusion.

A few years ago, while updating the BIOS from Windows, the PC froze and would not boot.

Since I thought I could solve it this way, not knowing how to operate the BIOS via software, I preferred to buy the chip already ready-made.

The specialized website offered the free possibility of flashing the new chip with the latest version available from Asus, I accepted.

So I got this chip at home and soldered it in place of the original brick one.

Then the PC still wouldn’t turn on (this is where I don’t remember exactly what I did) and I put it aside.

So I don’t remember if the chip left on the motherboard was the new one (from the website) or the old one (original brick). Maybe now I’ve explained myself better… at least I hope so…

Bios1.rar (3.5 MB)

So finally, what I have now is most likely the dump of the new bios chip (the one from the website) and not my original one. In any case, I’m attaching it here.

19

Then nothing more to add than already stated is this thread, use or flash whatever dump you can find, you may have lucky.

Asus files cant be used directly as you already know, i also do not believe the bios data seller had sold you a bad programmed IC, System data is blanked, as expected and as all sellers do.

Assuming that all soldering operations and all SPI programmer operations, using the correct voltages, were done correctly… it only leads to the remaing suspicious… other hw issue failure not yet detected that has emerged.
You may wait for other users PoV, Over_n_OUT.

20

Good news….

While I was waiting for replacement parts for my soldering iron, flux, and other things, I started looking for the old, corrupted BIOS chip.

After hours of searching I found it stored in an anti-static bag and sealed with the name “original chip”.

I haven’t tested it yet, as I said I’m waiting for the new welding material to arrive, so in the meantime I can at least study the issue carefully and figure out how to proceed perfectly.

I assume I’ll be able to read the chip, you advised me (I’m asking so we can see if I understood what you told me correctly).

I download the latest bios available from the Asus website for my t101ha model which is T101HAAS.306 (encapsulated) and extract it (size 6.146 kb) I open Uefitool, open the bios “T101HAAS.306”, right click on “AMI Aptio capsule” then “extract body” then “save” and create “T101HAAS306.bin” after doing this

I open Hxd editor, open “T101HAAS306.bin” and leave it intact up to 0x200 000, and at that precise point it merges with the “original chip” dump (for the merge I take all the contents from “original chip” from 0x200 000 to the end, right? For the merge, is it enough to copy/paste? Once this is done, “T101HA_Final.bin” must be saved.

I go to As programmer, delete and rewrite the chip with “T101HA_Final.bin” I imagine the file “T101HA_Final.bin” will then be the right size, otherwise As programmer would not allow writing of the file smaller than 8.192 kb, right?

Sorry if all this may seem trivial to you, but for me, since it’s the first time I’ve done something like this, it’s not.

Thank you in advance.