R9 280x Flash issue / failure

[halaberiel]

### FOLLOW UP ###

OK follow up

Originally I had a screen flicker issue with Flash videos, which is why I installed the custom BIOS XFX sent me (this was suppose to fix it). It didn't fix it & at the same time I was having problems with my screen going black when playing Witcher 3. I thought it was a Witcher 3 issue but it seems I'm getting the same thing playing EU4 as well. Anyway, I changed some drivers & other things at the same time so couldn't be sure what was causing it but decided to try fix the BIOS as it went "well" the first time (didn't realise at the time how serious messing with the BIOS was). I've since reinstalled Windows which funnily enough has solved my flicker issue with Flash but has left me with the black screen crashes.

I'm guessing it must be the BIOS then? Seeking some advice on this as I'm kinda scared to try flashing the BIOS again. The last time I did it I used the BIOS from here. Unfortunately I don't have the BIOS from before the XFX update as I didn't really know what I was doing (the XFX guy didn't tell me to back it up either). Last time I did it in Windows but I've since read that's a bad idea. Does the fact the BIOS update didn't work before suggest it won't work again? Why wouldn't it work (it's the correct BIOSfor my GPU afterall?) & what do you think could have gone wrong last time?

Is there anything else I should check before doing another BIOS flash?

Thanks

### ORIGINAL THREAD ###

So I flashed my GPU in windows to fix some problems with a custom BIOS from XFX, started getting crashes (which now I actually think were caused by something else) so I wanted to revert to the most recent BIOS which I downloaded online for my card. However that failed & now I can't get past the Windows screen although I can still boot in safe mode which is where I'm typing this from.

The error screen - http://i.imgur.com/jrmigJj.jpg

What I've done so far

1. Tried to flash my GPU back to the XFX BIOS with atiwinflash but I just get an error about using administrator mode plus this error "Critical file missing. Please, download and run video BIOS files again.". Followed advice here

https://forums.ebuyer.com/showthread.php/35250-HD-4870-14FPS-1024

"Force the flash (as long as you're sure the BIOS youre trying to flash the card to is correct) by opening the Run prompt and typing C:\Winflashdir\ATIWinflash.exe -p -f biosnamehere. Make sure the BIOS file youre using is in the winflsh directory."

It started flashing but another box came up saying I had to run it in admin mode, when I click OK the flashing stops & winflash closes without completing. Perhaps I can't use it in safe mode? I'm really a noob at this I literally have no idea what I'm doing...

2. Created a USB boot drive as described here

http://www.bjorn3d.com/2010/04/boot...-nvidia-gpu-bios-recovering-from-a-bad-flash/

Type in atiflash -f -p 0 <BIOS file name> & I just get a page file error

http://i.imgur.com/CzGWnJt.jpg

Now I'm lost, my googlefoo has totally failed me. Help ?!?!?

 

[R-T-B]

Try creating the same USB flash drive for a dos flash using Rufus, and copy and pasting the bios/atiflash files into it:

https://rufus.akeo.ie/

 

[MrGenius]

See here.

 

[halaberiel]

Try creating the same USB flash drive for a dos flash using Rufus, and copy and pasting the bios/atiflash files into it:

https://rufus.akeo.ie/

THANK YOUUUU. It worked I was at my wit's end lol, been trying to fix this for 5+ hrs!

 

[R-T-B]

No prob. Been there, done that, Rufus is by far the best USB dos environment I've found to flash inn (I'm guessing because it's stripped of all dos drivers but the keyboard)

 

[halaberiel]

OK follow up

Originally I had a screen flicker issue with Flash videos, which is why I installed the custom BIOS XFX sent me (this was suppose to fix it). It didn't fix it & at the same time I was having problems with my screen going black when playing Witcher 3. I thought it was a Witcher 3 issue but it seems I'm getting the same thing playing EU4 as well. Anyway, I changed some drivers & other things at the same time so couldn't be sure what was causing it but decided to try fix the BIOS as it went "well" the first time (didn't realise at the time how serious messing with the BIOS was). I've since reinstalled Windows which funnily enough has solved my flicker issue with Flash but has left me with the black screen crashes.

I'm guessing it must be the BIOS then? Seeking some advice on this as I'm kinda scared to try flashing the BIOS again. The last time I did it I used the BIOS from here. Unfortunately I don't have the BIOS from before the XFX update as I didn't really know what I was doing (the XFX guy didn't tell me to back it up either). Last time I did it in Windows but I've since read that's a bad idea. Does the fact the BIOS update didn't work before suggest it won't work again? Why wouldn't it work (it's the correct BIOS for my GPU afterall?) & what do you think could have gone wrong last time?

Is there anything else I should check before doing another BIOS flash?

Thanks

 

[Solaris17]

There are ways to fix this. most of the time these problems are caused by the bios in your case or a damaged card. since you got a bios from XFX im banking on the latter since the bios probably just doesn't run right.

I explained in the flash guide at the top of this forum why windows flashing is a bad idea. of course some people will swear by it and bad things can happen either way. the problem with windows bios flashing is that unlike DOS flashing there is ALOT of external variables that you cannot control that can interfere with the process.

As for sourcing you the right bios we first should start with the exact model of your card and a copy of the bios XFX gave you so we can look at it.

 

[OneMoar]

Try creating the same USB flash drive for a dos flash using Rufus, and copy and pasting the bios/atiflash files into it:

https://rufus.akeo.ie/

rufus ftw

 

[halaberiel]

There are ways to fix this. most of the time these problems are caused by the bios in your case or a damaged card. since you got a bios from XFX im banking on the latter since the bios probably just doesn't run right.

I explained in the flash guide at the top of this forum why windows flashing is a bad idea. of course some people will swear by it and bad things can happen either way. the problem with windows bios flashing is that unlike DOS flashing there is ALOT of external variables that you cannot control that can interfere with the process.

As for sourcing you the right bios we first should start with the exact model of your card and a copy of the bios XFX gave you so we can look at it.

This is the BIOS XFX sent me & the one I'm currently using (black edition)

This is the BIOS I tried & failed to use

My card is an "XFX Radeon R9 280X DD Black Edition 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card".

Cheers

EDIT: CPU-Z states it's an AMD Radeon HD 7970 although it didn't used to say that before. Some Googling suggests this is due to the BIOS incorrectly naming the card (although they're essentially the same card I think?). With the original BIOS it was a 280X as far as I remember.

 

[Solaris17]

ok try the bios located here again

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/155923/xfx-r9280x-3072-140219.html

I would strongly recommend using the dos method and naming it something simple. also it it a good idea to have more than 1 bios on the flash drive for these situations. I would put the xfx one on it as well since it is currently kinda working. Also make sure that if you have a bios switch it is in the position you want to flash in.

 

[halaberiel]

Sigh, so I flashed the BIOS in dos as advised. PC booted up fine, told me drivers aren't working any more (guide suggested this may happen). So I wanted to fresh install them, I went to uninstall the AMD catalyst drivers & all associated programmes from control panel. Went fine, restarted & installed new drivers (latest ver not beta). Restarted, windows loads then BSOD as below:

http://i.imgur.com/KeCinxF.jpg

Can't load up Windows now, I'm writing this from Safe mode Does this mean the BIOS is messed up again? Last time I didn't even manage to load up Windows to uninstall the drivers, so this is slightly better than before lol.

 

[Solaris17]

thats just an ATI BSOD its probably driver related id try to reinstall them again. try going into device manager and uninstalling the card checking the box that says delete driver.

 

[halaberiel]

Uninstalled display driver from device manager, restart, loads up fine, reinstall AMD driver, restart, BSOD again. I'm using the driver here

http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows 7 - 64

 

[Solaris17]

Did you use the force command during ATI flash?

this bios is dated a bit earlier try this

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/154490/xfx-r9280x-3072-140116-1.html

please look at the guide and flash using all the appropriate command flags.

I'm unfamiliar with your card does it have 2 bios switches?

 

[halaberiel]

That one seems to work, although the first time I did it I got a failure

http://i.imgur.com/hpxBUlX.jpg

Flashing seems so dodgy, why doesn't it just work every time you do it? Does the order matter with the commands btw? The first time I did it with the previous BIOS I wrote atiflash -p -f 0 xxx.rom & just now atiflash -f -p 0 xxx.rom as that's what it said exactly in the thread.

Will report back if I have the black screen crashes still.

 

[OneMoar]

That one seems to work, although the first time I did it I got a failure

http://i.imgur.com/hpxBUlX.jpg

Flashing seems so dodgy, why doesn't it just work every time you do it? Does the order matter with the commands btw? The first time I did it with the previous BIOS I wrote atiflash -p -f 0 xxx.rom & just now atiflash -f -p 0 xxx.rom as that's what it said exactly in the thread.

Will report back if I have the black screen crashes still.

congrats you have just bricked your card .. again
rom not erased is not good neither is the partial programming ...
all this messing around with the bios is unessary
install msi afterburner go into the options and check disable powerplay and disable ulps

 

[halaberiel]

congrats you have just bricked your card .. again
rom not erased is not good neither is the partial programming ...
all this messing around with the bios is unessary
install msi afterburner go into the options and check disable powerplay and disable ulps

It's OK I just typed it again & it worked, no idea why it didn't work the first time. No crashes so far so for now it seems fixed, let's hope I never have to flash a BIOS again in my life ha!

 

[Solaris17]

It's OK I just typed it again & it worked, no idea why it didn't work the first time. No crashes so far so for now it seems fixed, let's hope I never have to flash a BIOS again in my life ha!

The original problem was caused by the wrong bios being flashed to the card to begin with and winflash failing leaving some written address space. Simply forcing a reflash the correct way with the right bios in most cases should fix the issue. As you saw it stopped when it wrote to all the free address space and didnt see more. (probably write protected) In which case you reflashed and it did it all again and succeeded.

glad you got it sorted have a good day.

 

[OneMoar]

The original problem was caused by the wrong bios being flashed to the card to begin with and winflash failing leaving some written address space. Simply forcing a reflash the correct way with the right bios in most cases should fix the issue. As you saw it stopped when it wrote to all the free address space and didnt see more. In which case you reflashed and it did it all again and succeeded.

glad you got it sorted have a good day.

and this is why we don't use winflash ...

 

[Solaris17]

and this is why we don't use winflash ...

yup! "brb guys gotta flash my bios with photoshop installing in the background while i on a skype call"

 

[OneMoar]

yup! "brb guys gotta flash my bios with photoshop installing in the background while i on a skype call"

but wait my antivirus just flagged flashati.exe as malware