Is it safe to bypass the SSID check when flashing new vbios?

[Groovymama]

Hello, I have an ASUS-manufactured ATI Radeon HD 5850 1G and it has the awful gray vertical line crash. After doing some investigating, I'm told that a fix to the vbios fixed this problem for the 5800-series cards. (I got my machine in 11/2009, and apparently the fix for the vbios was released just a few months after that. As to why I went almost two years without really experiencing this problem, I can't say, but I sure as heck got it now.)

So I went to TPU's awesome video bios page and found the available vbios files for my card. Oh! First, I actually opened my case and looked at the card to confirm the manufacturer and model. And yes, definitely ASUS, definitely a 5850.

So anyway, both vbios files that I've tried have given me an error stating that the SSIDs don't match.

Is this normal? Is it safe to use the -fs flag to force flash bypassing the SSID check? I really don't want to end up with a bricked card. Someone, please reassure me.

 

[Red_or_Dead]

2 years and just getting the display corruption now? did you clean the cards cooler/fan? could be heat related you know. Doesn't seem like a BIOS flash would fix this if its shown up after so long.

 

[Groovymama]

That's a good point. Here's some history:

I started running the machine in 11/2009. No problems for about a year. Last year, I did have the vertical gray line problem, only when playing Left 4 Dead/Left 4 Dead 2. I fixed it by upgrading to a new (but not TOO new) version of the Catalyst driver - I think it was 9.12.

Just recently, I was playing a lot of WoW, and started having the problem again. I upgraded to the newest drivers (11.8). Same problem. I downgraded back to 9.12 or whatever. Same problem. I tried multiple versions in between, including 10.2, which supposedly included a fix for this issue. No dice, always crashes.

I tested my hard drive, memory (memtest86), etc. to make sure it wasn't something else. Machine was not overheating. I posted on AMD Game forums and got the suggestion to upgrade the vbios. Quote one of the active users there:

"Grey screen crash's were sorted out via Vbios updates from cards respected manufacturers according to several mods. Probably best you send your card in for either an RMA , or ask for the appropriate Vbios update that should resolve the issue.

You shouldn't be getting greyscreens period.. with any driver."​

So that's why I'm trying to update the vbios. HOWEVER, realizing that the simple solution is usually the best, I did clean the case today with compressed air (the fans WERE pretty dirty). Tonight I will try running WoW and see if I have the crash problem again. Hopefully, I won't. But if I do - back to my original question: is it safe to bypass the SSID check?

(Thanks for your reply, btw.)

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

first off and MOST important backup your original bios using GPUZ available in TPU downloads(sorry if you know that but it is deff the first thing todo)

so long as the board type(GPU) is the same with same power cicuits and mem ie refference or the same card but newer bios then the ssid dosnt overly matter.
but it does due to the error sugest their may be an incompatibillity between the bios and your card so backup and be sure of compatabillity then do it, sure, i did my vtx3d 5870(with 900 top clock limit and both were refference type cards/bioses) to a asus with 1200 as its high point on gpu nice 1050 24/7 365 as it folds when not gamein

 

[Groovymama]

Well, after cleaning the fans and such I ran really great for a whole evening. Played WoW, no crashes, all seemed like it was fine. But this morning after about an hour of WoW I got the gray line crash again. So I booted to my thumb drive with atiflash, and forced the flash to the newer bios.

Good news: flashing worked
Bad news: no signal from my video card, I'm looking at black screen
Good news: I backed up my old bios onto my thumb drive so I can blindly type the command to flash it with that old bios
Bad news: can't seem to get my computer to boot to thumb drive anymore, instead it's booting to windows normally (I can hear the little start up song)
Good news: I figured I could hook up a VGA cable to my onboard graphics and get this fixed up in a jiffy
Bad news: my PC has no such port for onboard graphics, if there are any
Good news: I have an old PCIe card I can install for now
Bad news: even if I do that, I'm not sure how I can then flash my old card back to its old bios, and even if I do, I'm still going to have gray line crashes.

Summary: I am ordering a new card today and will install it when it gets here, and hope for the best. Any suggestions? I'm leaning towards a Sapphire Radeon HD 6570 1 GB.

 

[Red_or_Dead]

remove PCIE card, install PCI card, boot into PC BIOS, set primary display adapter to PCI

shut down, install PCIE card (along with PCI card), reboot, you now have display via PCI card

flash your PCIE cards BIOS, remove PCI card, boot into windows, voila.

i say voila - but its easier to write it than do it

EDIT i just saw its another PCIE card, well if you have 2 PCIE lanes for fitting 2 cards, you can still do it (just remember to flash the correct card, atiflash -i gives you adapter numbers)

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

as he said ive done and it worked well 3870 and few others saved
its deff easier with 2 very diff cards as its easier to be sure which is which

on the grey lines have you tried refitting some fresh Tim on it it may have got old/unseated and you could also bake the card a while that works well

 

[AsRock]

Just RMA it, i do believe ASUS do give 3 year warranty's on there cards.

 

[Groovymama]

I contacted Asus but have not heard anything back from them. I was kind of fed up after the last two days so I just went out and bought a new card, installed it, and so far so good (fingers crossed). I picked up an XFX Ati Radeon HD 6770. Games look good and I haven't had any problems. It is much quieter than my last card and also only took one power connection (vs. the two that my last card took).

At this point I'm still pretty paranoid, even though reasonably, I shouldn't have any problems with a brand new card!

 

[Red_or_Dead]

couldn't you have upgraded (not downgraded) the card at the same time? or not too bothered, just needed another card?

 

[Groovymama]

I thought the 6770 would be fine for my needs (which is mostly work, WoW, and occasionally other games like L4D2 and Fallout 3). Plus it was readily available locally. I'm also thinking I will try to pursue an RMA with Asus on the other card (although is that possible now that I've bricked it?) and if I get a replacement, just keep it as a backup or maybe sell it to a friend (cheap!).