CMOS(?) Problem

[LeMarchand]

Foolishly decided to update the BIOS on my home machine (Medion MD8828 - no jokes, please) as there were a couple of niggly USB issues and the update was supposed to address non-specific USB issues. Anyway, stalled part way through the process, left it a couple of hours and decided to reboot. After this if I held down the power button, the HDD span, as did the fan, but that's all that happened. Medion Customer Support used their disclaimer to basically tell me to get lost , so rather than get stuck with a 6 month old doorstop that cost a few hundred, I tried everything I could.

 

I tried resetting the CMOS jumper to no avail and then (in desperation) tried booting with the CMOS battery removed - whereupon it booted up (obviously the clock was wrong); though if I restart the machine, it will only turn on if I flick the mains switch off and then press the power button. So, it's liveable with but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas on how I could get it working properly...

[kmount]

If the removal of the battery makes it work, it suggests the settings are wrong more than the actual bios version. - Might be worth running the update again and seeing how it fares this time.

[srochford]

Check the make of motherboard (quick Google suggests it's an ASUS) and then check the motherboard web site for bios recovery - many modern motherboards seem to come with ways of recovering from a failed BIOS update.

[SYNACK]

Probably best to try the update again but download a fresh copy to make sure that it is not corrupted. If this fails and it is only 6 months old warranty it, tell them it just stopped working and demand that they repair or replace it (after backing up your HD of course).

[LeMarchand]

If the removal of the battery makes it work, it suggests the settings are wrong more than the actual bios version. - Might be worth running the update again and seeing how it fares this time.

 

Yeah, was leaning towards this, but didn't want to mess with it further. However, now i'm using it I finding more things that aren't working .

 

Check the make of motherboard (quick Google suggests it's an ASUS) and then check the motherboard web site for bios recovery - many modern motherboards seem to come with ways of recovering from a failed BIOS update.

 

It's some sort of bespoke MSI (MS-7502) that (needless to say) I can't find on the MSI site . There's nothing in the manual I found online . (If only I could find a replacement mobo online - not that I'd be particularly happy about having to buy a new one).

 

Probably best to try the update again but download a fresh copy to make sure that it is not corrupted. If this fails and it is only 6 months old warranty it, tell them it just stopped working and demand that they repair or replace it (after backing up your HD of course).

 

Good idea - downloaded, but I probably won't try tonight (bit of thunder, don't want the power to go whilst it's flashing). Unfortunately I've already let Medion know that it was thier update that screwed the pooch and their response was "tough luck, sucker". They might get suspicious if I claimed it had been cured and then went mysteriously down...

[LeMarchand]

SUCCESS!

 

I finally stopped prevaricating and reflashed the BIOS (admittedly, to my saved copy of the original BIOS) and, barring a few possibly non-related quirks, everything seems fine.

 

So a big "Thank You" to the folk who helped - you rock! A big "**** You" to Medion's non-existent customer support - you suck!

 

Why Medion's CS team couldn't have spent a few minutes outlining a solution, I don't know. Now, instead of a customer who will tell people who ask that when he had a problem Medion's team dealt with it efficiently, they have someone who is going to take every opportunity to point out their shortcomings. Way to go, Team Medion!

[lupu]

can I ask how did you recover? I have now the same problem: update bios on ms 7502 mobo in a medion pc, and winflash got stuck 32% in for hours; reboot, clear cmos without success, don't even have a screen (monitor states "no signal") from a graphics card (NVidia GeForce 9500GS); I have saved "oldbios.bin" obviously on the hdd now inaccessible; how did you manage to recover from this disaster?

[LeMarchand]

I always meant to post exactly what I did on the Medion forums, but never got around to it!

 

IIRC the key was that removing the CMOS battery allowed the machine to boot, and once the machine was booting the BIOS could be reflashed as normal. Try removing the CMOS battery and booting without it in; if this is successful you should be able to access your hard disk to retrieve your old BIOS and flash back to it. Post back or reply to my PM if it works and I'll get off my backside and post on the Medion site.

 

P.S. Apart from having to replace the graphics card, which gave up the ghost a few months back and necessitated a new PSU, the machine is still going strong.

Edited December 30, 2013 by LeMarchand
Typo