Updating BIOS causing problem

[firmex]

I have a Compaq Evo D310 that is rather slow. Also it has a 40G disk to which I have added a slave 160G disk. If I try and make the 160G master or the only disk then the PC comes up with a disk read error on startup. Someone recommended I update my BIOS to possibly help here. On startup hitting F10 I have noted that the bios is v3.13 and the rom is 68602.

From the HP web site I have downloaded a rompaq to upgrade to v3.18.

After I did this and installed it via a floppy I noted on startup that the new version v3.18 was sucessfully installed.

After continuing on to Windows the PC ran ok for a few minutes but then went down. Now it won't start at all, if I press the power on button the light goes green for a second or two and then flashes red every one or two seconds.

I've searched the web but can find nothing concrete to help, any body got any ideas what went wrong?. The only clues I found were power failure or ROM fail??? but I don't know how to narrow this down and resurrect the PC back to life.

[Goku]

Hello Firmex. I can't stress enough the risks involved in updating the BIOS without expert supervision. The upgrade might have caused more problems than it solved and definitely hasn't made things clearer. It might well be that the motherboard is now ... dead. :(

 

On the other hand, I know nothing about Hardware so the experts might chime in to state their views on it. All I can say is that hold on tight.

 

-- Goku

[Dalo Harkin]

Right - when you 'flash' the BIOS all the settings that were stored in it get reverted back to factory

 

Pop the CMOS battery out and leave it 30 seconds and then reinsert it, and power up the PC

 

- enter the BIOS and check that all the settings are correct - you need to set the first BOOT device to HDD.

SAVE and EXIT - and post what happens

[Tootech]

Disconnect your hard drives and CD/DVD drives, unplug any USB devices - will it start up now?

 

If not, switch off the mains power at the wall, disconnect the power leads from the PSU unit to the mainboard - there may be 1 or 2, the second one being a 4 pin connector. Then reconnect them.

 

Remove the memory from the slots, and refit it.

 

That reseats all the connections, sometimes a dirty connectoion will cause you intermittent faults.

 

Leave the drives disconnected for the moment.

 

Will it start now?

[firmex]

Suggestions tried so far from Dalo

 

I've done what you said by removing the circular battery and leaving it out for a long period of time. Now when I switch power on the power light on the front goes immediately green (doesn't need me to press the power on button) and then after a few seconds flashes red at about 1 to 2 seconds delay and thats it! nothing more happens. There is power on the board as I can see green lights but the fans don't run, there is nothing on the screen - any ideas what else I can try?

[Dalo Harkin]

It sounds like you have either put the battery in the wrong way round - you need the FLAT side of the battery with all the writing on facing the side case panel that you took off

Failing that when you installed the MOBO into the case - did you connect the CASE wires to the MOBO in the right pins?

[firmex]

CMOS Battery

 

Regarding the previous post the battery you describe seems different to the one I have, the battery is like a large version of a watch battery that locates into a holder with a connector in the base and a clip on the side holding it firm. There are no pins/wires etc

[Tootech]

you need the FLAT side of the battery with all the writing

 

LOL - I had to read it twice, as I thought it said wiring the first time I read it!

 

Dalo is simply explaining that the battery has to be put in with the flat side up, so that you can see the top of it when its installed.

 

You will be able to see this side of it when it is installed......

 

[ATTACH]346[/ATTACH]

Edited September 27, 2009 by Tootech

[firmex]

Still not working

 

Ok, I tried what was suggested above. I isolated the motherboard from all drives, memory and power connections, and with no battery. I then replaced the battery, the large power connector and the 4 pin power connector. I reconnected the power supply but still get the same problem, when I press the button the green light appears immediately but no fans start. After a short time the green light goes out and becomes a red flashing light at a rate of about 1-2 seconds.

Any ideas of what else I can try please?

[Dalo Harkin]

The wires from the case to the MOBO are in the wrong positions, or the MOBO or PSU is toast.

 

I refer to these, make sure that they are all the right way - notice the + signs on some of the pins for positive.

http://www.data.sg/pics/front_panel_connectors.jpg

[Tootech]

I'm a little confused here, Firmex did you ever remove any of the wires that Dalo is referring to? I can't find mention of you doing that.

 

You have taken your unit back to basic parts, and checked the connections. It still doesn't start so there is no doubt some kind of hardware fault.

 

It does seem odd that has happened directly after a BIOS update, I'm wondering if the update was the right one.

 

Having a look at the Evo D310 models, there are a few. Do you have reference to the update you used and your mainboard model and version number. It may be worth a little bit of investigation to check the BIOS update you have done.

[firmex]

Response

 

To confirm that I have not touched any wiring.

 

I got the rompaq from http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=nl&cc=nl&prodNameId=97106&prodSeriesId=96284&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEnvOID=1093#120

 

 

and selected ROMPaq for Evo D310/D320/D510 and W4000 SFF DDR (686O2 ROM)3.18

12 Jun 20030.8156K: 1m

512K: <1m3.16 A

7 Apr 2003

 

The version I had was 3.13

 

Can't give motherboard version etc till tonight but it is something like MS-XXXX v2.1 - definitely version 2.1

[Dalo Harkin]

Green light and then a red light appears:-

 

Wiring on case wires to MOBO wrong - ruled out

MOBO toast - not ruled out

PSU toast - not ruled out

 

BIOS chip toast (More likely) - this is an easy process to add a new BIOS chip although sourcing and cost of one is more expensive than a new board.

Most BIOS chips have protection on them to prevent the above.

 

Are you 100% positive ALL the wires are in the correct place?

[firmex]

Feedback

 

To confirm that I have not touched the wiring, in fact Im at a loss to know where the wiring is.

 

The MOBO is MS-6541 v2.1

[firmex]

Next Step

 

Any ideas what I can do next. What's the most cost effective (cheap) way

to resolve which, or if any, of these components has been burnt out?

 

If I use the current chassis, power supply, disks etc what options do I have to rebuild the pc, can I only use the MS6541 motherboard or are their substitutes that I can use?. Performance as such is not a requirement (although the initial problem was that the PC was too slow to be acceptable).

[Dalo Harkin]

The most cost effective way is a new MOBO - I would say thats the most common component to fail.

But just to make sure - use the PSU on another PC first just to rule that out