• Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!

Use a PCI card to bring back a bad flash?

Overclockers is supported by our readers. When you click a link to make a purchase, we may earn a commission. Learn More.

Frumpco_

Member
Joined
Jan 4, 2003
Location
Great White North Eh?
Hello I am looking to see if I can use a PCI card to bring back a bad flash of a X800 Pro, one of my buddies accidently flashed the wrong bios and then restarted the computer after the Do Do Do niose of the good flash...
 
Hey Frumpco_,

I got this from some other site. Can't remember where but I'm waiting to get my own vivo so I've been doing some research.

You need to use the pci card with the x800pro still in the agp slot.

Then you boot up to dos using a boot disk with flashrom in it.

type flashrom -i

and it should tell you which adapter your x800 is in.

then you put in a command like

flashrom -p -f 0 bios_name.bin

where 0 is the adapter
-f is to force the flash
bios_name.bin is whatever the bios file is
*noting that 0 is the number zero

I think those are the steps to reflashing the original bios back onto there.
But I'm not sure so wait for someone more experienced to confirm this.

I take no responsibility in what happens. :-/

Good luck and let me know how it goes.

EDIT: What card does he have btw? Cause I'm looking to pick up a Sapphire X800Pro vivo non-toxic.
 
Last edited:
I have both of the cards in the X800 in the AGP slot and I am using the PCI card now but whent he X800 is in the comptuer just beeps its head off and will not post, so I think that he maybe SOL on this

I think once I get past hte POST I should be fine to flash but I am unable to get past the POST at this time
 
Sorry I am unable to help you further then. But on the side note, what bios did he manage to flash it to accidentally?
 
There was one guy on pcunleashed at http://www.pcunleash.com/bbs/zboard...n&sc=on&select_arrange=headnum&desc=asc&no=26

Read the messages by Thaiman

He states that when he inserts the x800, he can't post either. Nothing about beeps but he does say that the screen is blank when he tries to boot with the x800 in there.

Then he says that he would boot up the computer and after 4 seconds, he would insert the agp really fast. I don't know whether this could potentially short anything out. But he did manage to get it done in the end.

Here's what he writes:

A long storry, and no sleep (for tree days) But i am the type who never gives up
Yeahh, I could not boot on floppy -
Here is what I did :

1: Bios option, first bootdevice A: (floppy) and First device to display PCI/AGP - Ok, I could not boot as you know on floppy under this option with my x800pro in my mashine!!

2: With my Pci-graphic-card card in the mashine (I can boot) - So I desided to try a new way -

3: I turn on power, I wait 4 seccunds, and I "very fast" put in my x800pro in the AGPslot,, When I did like this, I noticed that "sometimes" my computer started to boot on floppy - But here I was out of luck, because everytime I tried my flashprograms (when I had a lucky boot) It just told me that, there was no ATI-card in my mashine "flashrom -i"? ? ?

4: But "one time" (after long time doing this process) I Finally got contact with my X800pro, but again just to tell me "Reg mapping error" everytime I tried my "many" flashprograms (command "flashrom -p -f 0 backup.bin" and many others)

4: Yeahh, after many, many times I did this process (this was the only way to have some form of contact with my x800pro) - And every time I had a contact with my X800pro, It was "always" a different contact, sometimes one flashprogram could see the x800pro, sometimes all flashprograms could see the X800pro - And moustly at all, I did "not" have a contact. Another thing "when" I have contact, the romsize of the bios was chainging everytime, and sometimes the bios was lucked, and somethimes unlocked ? ? ? ?

5: But one time, (day tree) I had a contact, and with this command "flashrom -i" everything saw normal - OK, and I flashed with "flashrom -p -f 0 backup.bin" ,,,,,,, AND ? ? ? YEAHHHHHHHH I had the "sweetest sound in my eare" - The bios was installed correctly

6 I rebotted my mashine, and my x800pro is back in life again ? ? ? ? Yeah

I must do something clear for all - When I start my computer, I have a PCI-graphiccard in a pci slot - and my monitor connected to that ! (I use the first pci-slot for this option) - AND, as I told before the "motherboard bios" is set to boot "first on floppy" with a Dos6.22 bootdisk and PCI/AGP (Read pci as primary) - If I start the computer "under this option" WITH MY X800PRO IN THE MASHINE, I THEN CAN BOOT FOREVER, BACAUSE NOTHING HAPPENS - But as I told, I desided to "Wait" about 4. sec (after turning "ON" the power) and then "very fast" putting in my x800 in the AGP-slot - That was the way I did it !!!!!


That may work but I'm not sure on whether by inserting the video card while the computer is on could potentially harm the card.
 
I was trying something along those lines last night I guess I just have to keep trying, porr guy never got any sleep well either did I tring to get to back for him. Thanks for the help Spyd3r I will keep you updated
 
Well after all day trying the dropping the card in and trying the same thing in 2 other boxes no luck Ithink this one is just going to be a paper weight, the odd time that I did get it to boot to the floppy and did the flashrom -i it would say no ATI cards detected ( what ever the saying is) so I was unable to flasht he card and that was the closest I was able to come
 
The guy above was saying he was getting the same thing but after trying for 3 days he did get it to recognize that the card was there. There's still hope if you keep trying.
 
I think that since it was flashed withthe PCI-Express bios and not the AGP is the reason I am unable to get back up and going.. I think if it was just a bad flash with an AGP bios I would be fine... he is going to be making a few phone calls this week to see if anyone has ran into this or if he can pay ati to fix it, and NO he WILL NOT BE making up so BS story and try and get it RMA'ed I told him I would kick his arse if he did that
 
His board is the same as mine the ABIT NF7-S and there is no option to "disable" agp atleast that I can find I did set PCI to the the default but it still will not boot with both cards in on power up, I tried to do the quickly put the card in after post but it just locks up when it goes to flashrom or when it is detecting the drivers
 
Back