frosty15

Occasionally, either through a bad flash or corruption ie through a virus, you could be left with an unusable mobo.
One way round it is to buy a replacement bios chip, another is to Hot Flash it.

What is Hot Flashing and how do you do it?

What is it?

Hot Flashing is a way of using a running mobo with a compatible bios chip as a host for your corrupted bios chip. Your corrupted bios chip obviously won't allow you to run POST, therefore won't allow you to re-flash it normally, so you need to use another mobo to get you there.

What to do

You'll need a mobo with a compatible bios chip.
A tool to remove the bios chip
A DOS boot disc with a flashing utility and the required bios image

You'll be using a live running mobo, so extreme care should be taken!

Here's how:

The easiest way to remove the working bios chip is to remove it whilst the mobo is disconnected, then put it in just enough so that it is connected but not fully inserted.
Another method is to either attach some dental floss with a little superglue to the top of it, or run a piece of dental floss under it, so that when the ends are pulled it comes out easier.
If you have a bios removal then the above isn't necessary.

Using the working mobo, create a DOS-boot disc on a spare floppy.
Copy the bios image file for your corrupted bios chip from the manufacturer's website it usually has a .bin or .rom extension.
Most manufacturer's have a downloadable flash utility which can be copied straight to the floppy.
Make note of the orientation of the bios chip on your working mobo, one corner is angled.
Disconnect any unnecessary hardware such as Hdd's, Opticals etc. to prevent loss of data.
Set your primary boot device to Floppy, then reboot.

When the screen says "INSERT SYSTEM DISK AND HIT ENTER TO RESTART", you need to swap bios chips.
At this point the bios chip has done it's job and is no longer required, so remove it carefully and replace it with the corrupted bios chip. Make sure you orientate it correctly!

Now insert the floppy containing the bios flash utility and flash as you would normally.
When the flash is complete, remember you don't want the mobo to boot with the newly flashed bios chip in, unless it is the same mobo!
Switch off and switch bios chips, your corrupted bios chip should now be fully working, time to make sure.

Bios chip compatibility.

PeDrO305

Nice Guide Frosty ! If anyshould happen to my bios, ill be sure to refer to this guide !

Krlll

Hi,nice guide.A question though,what do you call the tool for removing the bios chip?

frosty15

Krill, it's got a very technical name ... BCET - Bios Chip Extraction Tool. lol
Here's one for reference - http://www.biosman.com/Merchant2/mer...tegory_Code=BE
You can make your own with an old pair of tweezers,(remember to insulate all but the ends!), or if you buy a computer tool kit they usually come with one.

Witchfire

Radio Shack has them.

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