A78M-E45 V2 - bricked after unsuccessful BIOS update

[Martin78]

Hello everyone!

I'm looking for some help or tips how can I get my FM2+ motherboard A78M-E45 V2 working again after unsuccesfull BIOS update from version 5.1 to version 5.4.

What I did:
- I checked in BIOS the current version is 5.1
- I downloaded BIOS 5.4 from support page (https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/A78M-E45-V2/support#bios)
- I've put the E7721V54.exe file on the USB flash drive and executed it (contents of that drive can be seen on the attached images, drive is formatted as FAT32).
- The initial checks in flash application went fine but when I clicked on "start" the application hanged. I left the PC as is for about 45 minutes, but nothing changed, so I held the power switch to turn it off.

The sympoms are:
- When power button is pressed, the fans start spinning, but there no image on screen and there's no usual "blink" of keyboard LEDs.
- After couple of seconds, the motherboard speaker beeps twice and then nothing happens anymore.

I already tried:
- Removing all components (GPU, HDDs) and peripherals (mouse, USB wifi adapter).
- Clearing CMOS with by shorting a MB jumper while power cord was disconnected.
- Removing the CMOS battery for about 20 minutes while power cord was disconnected.
- Putting BIOS file on a flash drive and connect it to MB internal USB port (I tried all of them), powering on while holding CTRL+HOME keys (I Googled it...). But that doesn't seem to do anything.

I'd appreciate any ideas how to restore the BIOS back to a working version.

I know the motherboard isn't super recent, but it served me well so far.

Thank you very much in advance!

-----

Rest of my components:
- AMD A4-7300 APU
- 2x8 GB DDR3-1866 RAM (Kingston)
- nVidia GeForce GTX750

 

[citay]

Not super recent is putting it mildly, this is eight years old. Anyway, this board has no onboard way of recovering from a corrupt BIOS. You will have to use this kind of method with an external flash programmer to flash the latest BIOS to the BIOS chip and hopefully resurrect the board.

Of course, there's a chance that something else interefered with the flash process, and might cause you further trouble, for example old/bad PSUs could be a candidate for that. After 8 years, many low-end PSUs will have their best ways far behind them (because of the deteriorating electrolytic capacitors inside PSUs). So if you mention the rest of your hardware as well, i could make a more specific comment on that.

 

[Martin78]

Not super recent is putting it mildly, this is eight years old. Anyway, this board has no onboard way of recovering from a corrupt BIOS. You will have to use this kind of method with an external flash programmer to flash the latest BIOS to the BIOS chip and hopefully resurrect the board.

Of course, there's a chance that something else interefered with the flash process, and might cause you further trouble, for example old/bad PSUs could be a candidate for that. After 8 years, many low-end PSUs will have their best ways far behind them (because of the deteriorating electrolytic capacitors inside PSUs). So if you mention the rest of your hardware as well, i could make a more specific comment on that.

Thanks a lot for reply. My PSU is Corsair VS450, which I bought brand new about one year ago. I never had stability issues with my setup in the past.

Rest of my components:
- AMD A4-7300 APU
- 2x8 GB DDR3-1866 RAM (Kingston HyperX)
- nVidia GeForce GTX750 2048M GDDR5 128B

-----

I've never flashed BIOS externally before, but if it is the only way to resurrect my MB, I'd like to give it a try. Maybe such skill will come in handy in the future. Please correct me if I'm wrong - I assume I'd need:
1) Locate BIOS chip on my MB
2) Buy CH341A programmer and possibly some adapters
3) Unsolder BIOS chip with hot air (or find cable that can be used to connect to JSPI1?)
4) Re-program the chip
5) Solder it back to motherboard

I'm already lost at step 1 though. Is the BIOS chip above to JSPI1 connector? Do you have some idea what should I be looking for? See photo of my motherboard below.

 

[citay]

The old orange label Corsair VS450 was among the worst PSUs ever, classed as "Tier F • Replace immediately" on the PSU tier list. A more recent gray-label or black-label model is a bit better, but it shouldn't be sold new anymore, it has been discontinued. So i wonder who sold off their old stock of that last year. When those were still on the list, they were rated "Tier D • Only for iGPU builds" though, below low-end, which isn't good. Just barely suitable for even your old system, the saving grace is that the 9-year-old GPU only needs around 55W or so. I wrote a Guide: How to find a good PSU by the way.

I assume I'd need:
1) Locate BIOS chip on my MB YES
2) Buy appropriate programmer YES
3) Unsolder BIOS chip with hot air NO
4) Re-program the chip YES
5) Solder it back to motherboard NO

You clamp onto the BIOS chip, then you program it (with power from the board removed). Like so:

 

[Martin78]

The old orange label Corsair VS450 was among the worst PSUs ever, classed as "Tier F • Replace immediately" on the PSU tier list. A more recent gray-label or black-label model is a bit better, but it shouldn't be sold new anymore, it has been discontinued. So i wonder who sold off their old stock of that last year.

That's great source of information, thank you! I think the previous PSU was just 350 W, so I figured taking some cheap one with 100 W more will be enough to replace it. I think at a time it was recommended to me by the local PC shop employee.

Anyway, I've just ordered the programmer with a clamp, so once it comes I'll test it and try to reflash the BIOS. I will keep this thread updated about the results. Thanks a lot for useful information!

 

[citay]

I think the previous PSU was just 350 W, so I figured taking some cheap one with 100 W more will be enough to replace it.

The quality is much more important than the wattage up to a certain point. Of course if you have a CPU and GPU with a high power draw, the PSU's rated wattage should be adequate with some headroom to spare, but for most PCs with average components, quality comes first. Admittedly, for your aging components, it would be overkill to get a high-end PSU, but you should still make sure it fulfills some minimum requirements, at least be no lower than Tier C on the tier list.

I think at a time it was recommended to me by the local PC shop employee.

That's the problem sometimes when you're in a PC or electronics store and they realize you're completely depending on their recommendation. They might recommend something they need to get rid of, old stock, or stuff that they know a knowledgeable customer might avoid. Whenever you want to buy something in such a store, especially something expensive like a TV or so, i wouldn't come in unprepared. Ideally you ask on some forum what people think, there's bound to be some people who know what to look for in such a device, depending on your budget.

 

[Martin78]

The programmer finally arrived today and I was able to bring the motherboard back to life! Thanks a lot for you help @citay!

This is the model I bought: CH341A 24 25 Series EEPROM Flash BIOS USB Programmer Module + SOIC8 SOP8 Test Clip For EEPROM 93CXX / 25CXX / 24CXX

I had some tough time making it work at first, because I connected the programmer incorrectly to the clamp. So whoever will read this thread in the future - keep in mind that the red cable must always go to pin #1 (maybe obvious, but for me it wasn't). This is true for both the clamp and the reduction PCB (the blue one on picture above).

For the sake of completeness, here is what I did:
1) I've unplugged the MB from power and removed CMOS battery.
2) I downloaded latest AsProgrammer 2.0.4 from here (too big to be attached, sorry).
3) I installed drivers CH341SER.EXE and CH341PAR.EXE (ZIP attached to this message)
4) I read the text on the BIOS chip to find out its type. It was Winbond 25Q64FVSSIG. I've selected this chip in AsProgrammer:

5 ) I connected the clamp so that the red cable is connected to PIN 1 of the chip (the one next to a small circular hole on the chip surface)

6) I've plugged in the AS341a programmer with clamp already attached into USB port of my other PC
7) After some fiddling with the clamp to position it correctly on both sides I was able to finally get some reading when pressing the "Read ID" button in AsProgrammer. That gave me confidence the chip is now connected properly.

8) I clicked on "Open file" and selected the bios binary file (E7721AMS.540). Then I clicked on "Unprotect ->erase -> program -> verify" button and waited for programming to finish (around 2-3 minutes).

9) When everything was done, I've returned the CMOS battery back to its case and plugged in motherboard. It booted on the first try!

Hopefully it helps someone in the future.

 

[citay]

Good job! And that is a useful guide.

 

[kleaverj15a102ec]

So I have followed the instructions, and it could READ the BIOS chip, but when it comes to writing it, it "starts" but then NOTHING. Is this BIOS Chip beyond repair?

Ken L

 

[citay]

Could you find your BIOS chip in the program's database?

 

[kleaverj15a102ec]

Yes. And I think i figured out the problem. This looks like a 1.8V chip, and i hope I didn't fry it by using this CH341A device that was for 3.3-5v. I just have ordered a 1.8V "adapter" but it won't get here until friday. I seem to keep making more mistakes. UGH.

Ken L

 

[kleaverj15a102ec]

How likely have I burned out the BIOS chip?

I ask this because the last time I did a "READ" of the Chip, it does read data, but it's all "FF" in all the bits.

Ken L

 

[citay]

They're usually quite robust. But you could even buy such a chip for cheap and have it soldered on by someone that knows a bit of soldering.

 

[kleaverj15a102ec]

They're usually quite robust. But you could even buy such a chip for cheap and have it soldered on by someone that knows a bit of soldering.

OK. I ask this because the last time I did a "READ" of the Chip, it does read data, but it's all "FF" in all the bits.

Thanks

Ken L

 

[citay]

We'll see once you can write to it using 1.8V.

 

[kleaverj15a102ec]

We'll see once you can write to it using 1.8V.

So continuing to try to use the BIOS UPDATE button on the MB is moot? I did try to do it with 7 different USB drives, but I have a friend who has a couple old USB 2.0 drives and was thinking of borrowing them, but won't bother if I am past the point of no return to using the CH341A device.

Ken L

 

[citay]

You can still try the button too, sure. Doesn't hurt trying, would be less hassle than with the flash programmer.

 

[kleaverj15a102ec]

It says it can read the BIOS but when I go to Unprotect-erase-program, it returns an error:

Verification Error on address 00000000

What am I doing wrong now, or is this chip fried?

Thanks again!

Ken L

 

[citay]

This you would have to google yourself, i'm afraid, i personally haven't had to use such a BIOS programmer yet. But whatever problem you have, there's usually other people who had it before you. And as i said, even a fried chip could be replaced for relatively cheap. You can even buy pre-programmed BIOS chips for all kinds of board models, you'd just have to solder the new chip on and it should boot.