BIOS flash problem with laptop card

[kanenas]

Hello.

I updated my mobile HD4670 with 2-3 different BIOSes trying to change the clock values and the device ID.
Updates were done by booting from a USB stick and running ATIflash in DOS mode.

The drivers were installed in Win7 x64 but couldn't start so I kept reverting back to the original BIOS.

In my last try, the system powered up, the disk tried to start up and couldn't, while the monitor stayed dark.
No lights on the USB stick either so I guess the system died early on.

The original BIOS run the boot at 625/500 (GPU and RAM, respectively) at 1.2 volts.
My last update had it at 700/500 at 1.25 volts (I actually forgot to put it down to 1.2).
1.25 volts was in the voltage table of the original BIOS but not used.

I suppose it's a power problem because of the modified parameters.

Does it sound like a valid assumption? It seems too small of a difference to cause this.

In any case, I removed a memory stick and tried to remove the two internal hard disks so I can use the USB stick only.
I managed to remove one of the disks but the system still wouldn't boot.
With the second disk I still have a problem.
Two of its screws are worn out and I can't find a way to remove them and pull the disk enclosure out.
Are there any tools for this that I can buy?

Anything else I can try?

Thanks for any help.

 

[streetfighter 2]

Wow, thats very unfortunate.

I suppose it's a power problem because of the modified parameters.

Does it sound like a valid assumption? It seems too small of a difference to cause this.

I do not think it's a power problem. I believe it is either a bad flash or the card is unable to boot with those settings.

Two of its screws are worn out and I can't find a way to remove them and pull the disk enclosure out.
Are there any tools for this that I can buy?

It's called a screw extractor. Common brand names in the USA are "Grabit" and "Easy Out". I've used Grabit before several times with great success but never on a computer...

Here's a howto:
http://homerepair.about.com/od/interiorhomerepair/ss/screw_extractor.htm

 

[FreedomEclipse]

mobility components are usually clocked down for a reason. and even though they maybe remotely possible to overclock, the end result isnt always worth the amount off effort put into doing it ontop of that you risk writing off the whole laptop which is what happend here im guessing. the new voltage very possibly burnt your graphics card out hence nothing coming on screen - did you test the card stable at 700/500 ?

 

[kanenas]

Thanks for the link to the screw extractor.

I had tested the card with Rivatuner to see how the temperature holds up. It was good up to 750/550 with only a degree of more heat after running Furmark for a while.
But I only tested it while the system was running. I didn't test the boot up process (my mistake).

I'll see what happens when I manage to remove the boot hard disk. It's more efficient than what I had before but it still might draw that extra bit of voltage the graphics need.

Thanks for your comments. I'll post the results later.

 

[kanenas]

No luck.
Even with all hard disks disconnected, the card doesn't work.

It looks like I need another card, unless I can find someone who has the hardware to reflash the BIOS chip (unlikely), or has a laptop that takes MXM III cards and can supply for sure 1.25V to them (even more unlikely). All this assuming the card is not completely cooked.

Last question:
Can I tell if the card has an insufficient-power-to-boot problem, or is completely dead?
Is there something I can measure?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

if it doesnt work - the likely hood of it being cooked are highly probable, you overclocked the card and ran furkmark and furmark has been know to kill GPUs (it killed 1 of my 4870s) so that coupled with poor ventilation even though your laptop does have a fan and it was probably running fast enough to blend some carrot juice while you were at it, the overall ventilation probably wasnt good enough to cope with the extra heat that furmark creates especially for the VRMS (if it has them on the MXM chips - sorry im not expert in this)

if you had another laptop with the same MXM slot you could test it in there, otherwise get ebay up n go have a look for a replacement card. but MXM cards can be really really hard to find, and you will often have to contact the manufacturer or the OEM who built your laptop because afaik MXM chips are just supplied to OEM builders and generally arent made available to be sold on by re/e-tailers to the general consumers.

you probably wont find a suitable replacement on ebay, as most people dont try to kill a decent spec'd laptop so the parts you will find will either not fit the slot (MXM I,II & III etc etc) or wont be as powerful as the 4670.

so your options are very limited.

best chance really is to contact the OEM who made your laptop and see if they are willing to replace your laptop. there are no easy ways around this unfortunately unless you have money. in which case you can just trash the old laptop n get a brand new one

 

[Mathragh]

Whoah, that sucks dude, hope you are able to fix it nevertheless.

Maybe a tip for you if you are able to fix it all again, or anyone else wanting to overclock his/her 46x0:

Just use the default bios, and overclock with AMDGPUClockTool (version 0.9.26.0),
its the newest version you can dowload at TPU.

I've used it to succesfully overclock my Mobility4650 to a perfectly stable 710GPU and 936Mem on the default voltage of 1.1V.

The only downside is you gotta reclock everytime you reboot, but for me it was worth it since its just starting up the program, and filling in the clocks, and I dont risk screwing up the bios or chip in any way now.

 

[streetfighter 2]

if it doesnt work - the likely hood of it being cooked are highly probable, you overclocked the card and ran furkmark and furmark has been know to kill GPUs (it killed 1 of my 4870s) so that coupled with poor ventilation even though your laptop does have a fan and it was probably running fast enough to blend some carrot juice while you were at it, the overall ventilation probably wasnt good enough to cope with the extra heat that furmark creates especially for the VRMS (if it has them on the MXM chips - sorry im not expert in this)

if you had another laptop with the same MXM slot you could test it in there, otherwise get ebay up n go have a look for a replacement card. but MXM cards can be really really hard to find, and you will often have to contact the manufacturer or the OEM who built your laptop because afaik MXM chips are just supplied to OEM builders and generally arent made available to be sold on by re/e-tailers to the general consumers.

you probably wont find a suitable replacement on ebay, as most people dont try to kill a decent spec'd laptop so the parts you will find will either not fit the slot (MXM I,II & III etc etc) or wont be as powerful as the 4670.

so your options are very limited.

best chance really is to contact the OEM who made your laptop and see if they are willing to replace your laptop. there are no easy ways around this unfortunately unless you have money. in which case you can just trash the old laptop n get a brand new one

I don't know about England but we have a couple companies like Spare Parts Warehouse in the states that are authorized resellers of factory/OEM parts for a lot of major brands. I didn't check availability of an MXMIII HD 4670, but it's a good place to check if the subby is stateside.

A word of warning though, their customer service and order tracking is non-existent but they do often have rare parts at reasonable prices.

Just use the default bios, and overclock with AMDGPUClockTool (version 0.9.26.0),
its the newest version you can dowload at TPU.

I've used it to succesfully overclock my Mobility4650 to a perfectly stable 710GPU and 936Mem on the default voltage of 1.1V.

The only downside is you gotta reclock everytime you reboot, but for me it was worth it since its just starting up the program, and filling in the clocks, and I dont risk screwing up the bios or chip in any way now.

It also disables any power savings features (last I checked) which makes it more than just a little bit inconvenient. Good suggestion though.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I don't know about England but we have a couple companies like Spare Parts Warehouse in the states that are authorized resellers of factory/OEM parts for a lot of major brands. I didn't check availability of an MXMIII HD 4670, but it's a good place to check if the subby is stateside.

England is terrible for replacement parts for laptops.

and the site you linked to only stocks these:

* Laptop AC Adapters
* Laptop Batteries
* Laptop Batteries: Backup RTC
* Laptop DC Power Adapters
* Laptop Drives CD DVD RW
* Laptop External CD DVD Drives
* Laptop External Floppy Drives
* Laptop External Hard Drives
* Laptop Fans
* Laptop Firewire and USB Cards
* Laptop Floppy Drives
* Laptop Hard Drives
* Laptop Inverters
* Laptop Keyboards
* Laptop LCD Screens
* Laptop Memory
* Laptop Miscellaneous
* Laptop Motherboards
* Laptop Network Interface (NIC)
* Laptop Power Cords
* Laptop Processors (CPUs)

you can get replacement power adaptors, ram and 2.5" laptop hard drives & optical drives very easily over the counter. everything else there you can pretty much get off E-tailers but MXM modules are very rare to come across and when you do find them (like i said) will either be old MXM I/II or a complete downgrade from the module you intend to replace. not the mention the fact that you NEED to make sure or know that the HSF that attaches to the MXM module is compatible with the part you intend to replace it with.

therefore to minimumise the risk of getting a part thats incompatible, you need to order the same part or speak to the guys who made your laptop who may or may not be willing to help as help desk doesnt really deal with such indepth issues,

there are too many things that could go wrong, and the best option is to go back to the OEM that made the laptop and see id they are willing to send out a replacement part or willing to RTB your laptop for repairs.

you could of course go to private laptop repair shops but chances are they'd run into the same trouble getting MXM modules unless they have contacts that can source it for them.

 

[kanenas]

The OEM that built the laptop (Fujitsu-Siemens) has really pathetic support. The computer is off warranty period, its BIOS is replaced by another company's that supports 4GB, the disks in it are both replaced as is the video card.
They don't fix their originals and I doubt they'll fix this.

In any case, I might be able to get a new card from the same supplier I got this one, assuming they have one in stock. They are in Belgium and probably the best known supplier of MXM cards.
In the meantime, I'm expecting a response from somebody that presumably fixes these cards. The price sounds reasonable and I might try it if he ever gets back to me.

I've read in some forum that there's a way to attach a PCI-16 external video card (feeding an external monitor) through an ExpressCard. They say it works great even though it's slower than through its native interface.
Could there be something like that for MXM III cards? It might be easier to reflash a card this way.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I've read in some forum that there's a way to attach a PCI-16 external video card (feeding an external monitor) through an ExpressCard. They say it works great even though it's slower than through its native interface.
Could there be something like that for MXM III cards? It might be easier to reflash a card this way.

there was - Asus tried it first. They called it the XG station - but for some retarded reason some mofo in marketting decided it was best to retail it in Australia ONLY where it went on sale for a year then totally withdrawn from Asus's catalogue.

BUT

I do think there is a similar product to come possibly made by Gigabyte or something. I read about that ages n ages ago and i cant exactly remember the details.

lets just say, if you do manage to find one it wont be cheap. so long as your 4670 module is still functional then it wont be a total waste of time

 

[kanenas]

Back to business!!

I found a shop that managed to reanimate the card's BIOS.
The laptop came back today and it seems to work as it used to.
It cost around 100 euro (half the price of the card) but beggars can't be choosers.

Thank you all for the help.