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Guide to Radeon X800/X850 bios modding

pictures

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/brybell10/good2.jpg ---the front of the card

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/brybell10/good.jpg ---the back of the card

i found out, i do not have onboard video. I was going to try and reflash using a friends computer that has onboard and an agp slot, but im not too sure exactly what to do. I have a dos bootable usb drive, which works, i was going to try and relfash with that. I have my original bios on the usb saved as bios.bin. Would typing "-f -p 0 bios.bin" work?
 
beebs said:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/brybell10/good2.jpg ---the front of the card

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b294/brybell10/good.jpg ---the back of the card

i found out, i do not have onboard video. I was going to try and reflash using a friends computer that has onboard and an agp slot, but im not too sure exactly what to do. I have a dos bootable usb drive, which works, i was going to try and relfash with that. I have my original bios on the usb saved as bios.bin. Would typing "-f -p 0 bios.bin" work?
Click to expand...

You have done the "classic" mistake flashing PCI-E BIOS on AGP card. Your GTO in fact is X800XT (PE) VIVO AGP. You can use my automated bootable flash utility for X800PRO VIVO AGP (this time you can read the flash instructions file) if your card boots: http://www.savefile.com/projects/670063

Most porbably every PC with your VGA card pluged in won't even boot. Your card is NOT dead (you have to know that) and probably the only way to fix it is unsoldering of the card's EEPROM (flashed with wrong BIOS), re-programming it (X800PRO VIVO AGP or X800GTO VIVO AGP BIOS both for R420) on external programmer and soldering it back to the card's board.

The other way is to RMA it.

The conclusion should be: Read carefully before to attempt flashing of every BIOS (motherboard, VGA ...........) and don't do nothing before to be sure what are you doing. If you can't understand just ask and for sure somebody will help you.

I hope that the above will help you anyhow.

Good luck
 
alright....

what exactaly do you mean by "if the card boots". Do you mean if it is able to have the monitor recognize it and turn on? All my card does when i turn on my computer is spin the fan. THE MONITOR DOES NOT TURN ON. I dont know if it is booted or not. Where would i find more info on doing the eeprom, and how would i reprogram it. hmm. Thanks a lot for your help, im gonna try a few more things, and then i guess ill try to return it to newegg. I tried doing your automated flash. i made the bootable disk, which i made sure worked using my old video card, then i tried to do flash my new one, i wait and push enter but i dont think anything happens. Thanks for helping a noob like me
 
beebs said:
what exactaly do you mean by "if the card boots". Do you mean if it is able to have the monitor recognize it and turn on? All my card does when i turn on my computer is spin the fan. THE MONITOR DOES NOT TURN ON. I dont know if it is booted or not. Where would i find more info on doing the eeprom, and how would i reprogram it. hmm. Thanks a lot for your help, im gonna try a few more things, and then i guess ill try to return it to newegg. I tried doing your automated flash. i made the bootable disk, which i made sure worked using my old video card, then i tried to do flash my new one, i wait and push enter but i dont think anything happens. Thanks for helping a noob like me
Click to expand...


I am talking about that. "Nothing happens" means that your PC refuses to boot with the AGP card in. If you didn't see the image on the monitor but OS loads that isn't problem because you can flash blind. With PCI-E BIOS in AGP card usually you can't even boot.

Now you can try something else:

Boot from the flash cd with your old card. Remove your old agp card without switching off the PC and plug the X800GTO (first without external power supply for the card) in the agp slot (you don't need monitor). Press enter and look for cd activity. If you see that something happen with cd restart. If the operation is successfull plug the monitor (you will see message that the external power is not connected) switch off the pc and connect the external power.
You can do the same with preliminary connected external power but only in case that no succes following the first method.

Be very careful when unplug/plug in the cards because the pc will be on all the time.

Success
 
"I was very stressed out by this since it was a Christmas gift from my parents." "im gonna try a few more things, and then i guess ill try to return it to newegg"
"With PCI-E BIOS in AGP card usually you can't even boot."
save yourself the trouble"im gonna try a few more things" send it back to the 'egg'
 
i was messing around with me gto and flashed a corrupt bios to it.
got it working in 10 mins.

1.the DFI nforce3 bios is set to boot PCI first, not agp
2.put in my old SiS 305 pci card
3.agp card still in
4.boot and use atiflash -f -p 0 bios.bin
 
thanks!

Thank you for everyones help, im going to try all those options today. And frogger, you should be a little more optimistic. :D
 
beebs said:
Thank you for everyones help, im going to try all those options today. And frogger, you should be a little more optimistic. :D
Click to expand...

If you have PCI VGA you can try the "hot swap" with it not with the old AGP card. But for sure you have to boot without yor X800GTO flashed with PCI-E BIOS.
 
beebs said:
And frogger, you should be a little more optimistic. :D
Click to expand...

:laugh:" optimistic" been there done that and i'v removed chips from many boards!! and killed quite a few in the process
;) :ohwell: :ohwell: live an learn :cry: :cry:
 
allrighttt

im going to try and find a pci card to do it with. im hoping this will work. I really dont want to go through the trouble of returning it. Thanks for everyones help i owe you one dolf. :respect:
 
dolf said:
If you have PCI VGA you can try the "hot swap" with it not with the old AGP card. But for sure you have to boot without yor X800GTO flashed with PCI-E BIOS.
Click to expand...

i am slightly confused about the last part..."But for sure you have to boot without yor X800GTO flashed with PCI-E BIOS"

i am getting a pci card today. So the procedure is to boot up with the pci card, but also have the agp plugged in also, and then do i take out the pci card as i am about to reflash the agp?
 
beebs said:
i am slightly confused about the last part..."But for sure you have to boot without yor X800GTO flashed with PCI-E BIOS"

i am getting a pci card today. So the procedure is to boot up with the pci card, but also have the agp plugged in also, and then do i take out the pci card as i am about to reflash the agp?
Click to expand...

Most probably you can't boot with the AGP card plugged in. You have to boot from the PCI (without the AGP card) one in DOS (my bootable flash utility will flash your adapter 0 which will be the PCI card - then don't use it) from your bootable floppy with atiflash and your original GTO BIOS (or X800PRO AGP BIOS). When you are in DOS (don't turn off your PC) but plug the GTO and type:

atiflash -f -p 1 x800gto.bin (you can type that before to plug the AGP card) then press enter

If you get confirmation for successfull flash everything is OK you can remove the PCI card and to check the result. If you get your card back let us know and we will help you further with the unlocking.
 
beebs i hope you get positive results:toast:
 
yeah, it didn't work. i think the card is completely dead now :banghead: haha thanks anyways.
ill be rma'ing it asap. thanks for everyones time and effort....live and learn right?!
 
beebs said:
yeah, it didn't work. i think the card is completely dead now :banghead: haha thanks anyways.
ill be rma'ing it asap. thanks for everyones time and effort....live and learn right?!
Click to expand...

yea life's a b*tch:banghead:
 
beebs said:
yeah, it didn't work. i think the card is completely dead now :banghead: haha thanks anyways.
ill be rma'ing it asap. thanks for everyones time and effort....live and learn right?!
Click to expand...

The card isn't dead. And if you think that it will be OK at your first attempt you are wrong. Now you know why it is better to read and if necessary to ask before to flash. Hope that next time everything will be OK and that you will receive another X800XT like the first time (your X800GTO in fact was and still is X800XT AGP). I would like to have that "dead X800GTO" card in my hands ;) .

Successfull RMA :toast: (and when you get back your card come here if still desire to mod)
 
i actually attempted it many times. This is exactly what i did:

1. Install PCI card
2. Boot using my USB drive with atiflash
3. typed in the command "atiflash.exe"
4. saw list of commands
5. typed in "atiflash -f -p 1 bios.bin
6. put in agp card, pushed enter
7. Sometimes, the screen would just go blank as soon as the agp card was in. Other times, the screen would stay on
8. after i pushed enter, a little white blinking bar appeared. YES! i thought, though nothing happened. I left it for over 10 mins, it was still blinking.

if you are so confident it is fixable and i am too noob...what is it you would do differently?
 
beebs said:
i actually attempted it many times. This is exactly what i did:

1. Install PCI card
2. Boot using my USB drive with atiflash
3. typed in the command "atiflash.exe"
4. saw list of commands
5. typed in "atiflash -f -p 1 bios.bin
6. put in agp card, pushed enter
7. Sometimes, the screen would just go blank as soon as the agp card was in. Other times, the screen would stay on
8. after i pushed enter, a little white blinking bar appeared. YES! i thought, though nothing happened. I left it for over 10 mins, it was still blinking.

if you are so confident it is fixable and i am too noob...what is it you would do differently?
Click to expand...


I am 100% sure that the card is OK. But as I told you the only 100% method to revive it is to unsolder the EEPROM and to program it on external programmer.

For the last time try: atiflash -sst 1 gto.bin (I am not sure whether is necessary to have your external power connector pluged when you are flashing but you can try that like a last resort).
 
alright, ill tried the -sst flash. but still, nothing happened. unfortunatley, i am lacking an external programmer...so i will be rma'ing it. wish me luck. i dont even think newegg carries the same card. Ill let you all know. thanks again
 
beebs said:
i actually attempted it many times. This is exactly what i did:


3. typed in the command "atiflash.exe"
4. saw list of commands
5. typed in "atiflash -f -p 1 bios.bin
6. put in agp card, pushed enter


if you are so confident it is fixable and i am too noob...what is it you would do differently?
Click to expand...

don't you have to put the agp card before you load atiflash
atiflash -i ...to see if it detects the RV*** chip
then flash it to the device number.
 
Rip

RIP X800 :( RMA'ing process will start tommorow....err tuesday. Happy New Year everyone
 
Hello I Bad Speak To English (И ЕСТЬ КТО НИБУДЬ ИЗ РОССИИ)
Maby Is X800gto Pci-e (r480) 12p =======>x850xt 16p, Or Not?????
I Can not :)
 
guess what!?! i sent back the card from n**egg. I just bought an x850pro on ebay. I am really apprehensive about the whole flashing thing now, but if i want to, ill be sure to ask lots of questions and get all your guys input first. ill repost as soon as i get it!
 
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