Re: [PLUG] BIOS Troubles

[Christopher Barry <christopher.r.barry@gmail.com>]

On Sun, 28 Aug 2016 23:30:21 -0400
Stephen R Guglielmo <srg@guglielmo.us> wrote:

>Hey all,
>
>I ran into an issue with my personal desktop system that I can't seem
>to solve: A BIOS upgrade gone wrong. This is a system I built about a
>year ago with an Intel Skylake processor, SSD, and a few HDDs. The
>main drive is the SSD with a UEFI dualboot Arch and Win10. The HDDs
>are btrfs raid6 (I know, I know; don't remind me) that are only used
>on the Arch system. It has an Asus "H170 Pro Gaming" motherboard and a
>Gigabyte Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 video card.
>
>A few days ago, I noticed there was a BIOS update (in fact, there has
>been several released since I last updated it). I followed the
>instructions of downloading/unzipping the file to a FAT32 USB flash
>drive, booting into the BIOS/UEFI setup, and selecting the options to
>update it. I went through the process same as I've done in the past.
>It took a few minutes but was seemingly successful. Reboot. Annnnnd,
>blank screen.
>
>I have since been completely unable to get to either the BIOS setup or
>boot from a drive.
>
>One of two things happen:
>
>If I boot with the FAT32 USB flash drive plugged in and/or any SATA
>disk attached, I get the normal "Asus - press Del for setup" splash
>screen, then it goes to a blank black screen. Pressing 'del' (or any
>other F key) doesn't make any difference.
>
>OR, if I do NOT have a USB drive plugged in, it boots into the bios
>setup (even if I do not press the del or F keys) and goes to a screen
>that says "To complete the BIOS upgrade, please select the bios file
>again." Except, I'm unable to select the file because it's on the USB
>drive.
>
>I've tried different USB drives. I've tried reformatting it. I've
>tried USB3 and USB2 ports. I've disconnected all my peripherals,
>disks, and even taking out the graphics card. If the USB drive is in,
>it gives me the blank screen. If it's not in, it asks for the file
>that I have no way of giving it. I've tried clearing the CMOS (by
>shorting the jumper), which has no affect. I've even tried another
>keyboard.
>
>I really don't want to RMA it (I don't even know if it's still under
>warranty?) but I've really given it some effort and I've tried all the
>tips given in the documentation provided by Asus to no avail. Does
>anyone have any tips? 
>
>Thanks,
>Steve

Hey Steve,

Just saw this, as this email was flagged as phishing and in my spam
folder for some reason. The tone of desperation /is/ similar to a
Nigerian financial conundrum though - maybe that was it? Dunno.

> Maybe throwing it out the window?

Instant gratification, yes, but you might regret it. Especially if it
hits a passerby...

Q: You don't mention this variant, but what happens when you boot with
no USB attached, it hits the BIOS "Complete upgrade, select file..."
message, and you /then/ plug in the USB drive? Does it detect the
insert and blank the screen, or will that allow selecting the correct
file?


-- 
Regards,
Christopher
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