Extract bios from exe samsung. How to restore the BIOS of a computer and laptop if it crashed. What is BIOS

Universal program for removing BIOS firmware and backups from any models of laptops and personal computers.

A dump should be done whenever we want to make a firmware, update, update or rollback of the BIOS. Sometimes they ask to make a copy of the BIOS of a laptop or motherboard personal computer, for the repair of similar equipment.

And what is BIOS and how this abbreviation stands for it.

BIOS is an abbreviation for the English words Base_Input_Output_System and translates it as base_input_output_system

Dumping the BIOS of laptops and computers using this program is very easy and simple.

Brief instructions on how to use the Universal BIOS utility Backup ToolKit 2.0 to create a bios damp, and in Russian a backup copy.

Video instruction on how to work with this program.

Many antiviruses identify this program as a virus, but this is not the case.

After downloading, you can check this archive on the site www.virustotal.com, which will say that half of the antiviruses will find various viruses in it, and the other half will not.

My AVG detects it the same as a virus. And on the beech, Casper says that everything is fine.

After checking this file, see if your antivirus finds a virus in it. If so, disable it while the program is running.

Then we unpack the archive and run the resulting file named Universal BIOS Backup ToolKit 2.0.exe

If your system says you need administrator rights. Then click right key mouse over this file and click run as administrator.

After that, the program window opens, in which we see information about the type, version, size, manufacturer and date of your BIOS.

After that, press the Read button and wait until the BIOS reading process ends.

After that, a plate will appear with the inscription that the BIOS reading has been completed successfully.

Click OK. Then press the Backup button.

We are offered to choose a place where we will save the BIOS dump. Select the desired folder and press the save button.

We all made a backup copy of the BIOS, you can update the version, sew a new or old stable version of the BIOS.

Actually, the original method, equipment and microcodes can be found (directly the AMI instruction), and in most cases the use of this method does not pose any problems and has no pitfalls, but in my practice I regularly encountered the following problem:

Those. there was a banal lack of free space inside the image. When you modify the BIOS for yourself for a specific processor, you can ignore this, because You can always load just one microcode just for your processor, or delete some old microcode to free up space, but when you modify it with a stream, you need to look for another compromise solution.

As a compromise, I chose the following solution - we take the latest microcode versions for all processors of the CORE generation in all constructs (Celeron E, Pentium E, Core 2 Duo, Core 2 Quad, Xeon * 3xxx / * 5xxx) and replace them with everything that came before ... The set of microcodes turned out to be the following:

The volume of this set is only 76 kilobytes. This file was obtained by combining these files:

cpu00010676_plat00000001_ver0000060f_date20100929.bin
cpu00010676_plat00000004_ver0000060f_date20100929.bin
cpu00010676_plat00000010_ver0000060f_date20100929.bin
cpu00010676_plat00000040_ver0000060f_date20100929.bin
cpu00010677_plat00000010_ver0000070a_date20100929.bin
cpu0001067a_plat00000011_ver00000a0b_date20100928.bin
cpu0001067a_plat00000044_ver00000a0b_date20100928.bin
cpu000006f2_plat00000001_ver0000005d_date20101002.bin
cpu000006f6_plat00000001_ver000000d0_date20100930.bin
cpu000006f6_plat00000004_ver000000d2_date20101001.bin
cpu000006f7_plat00000010_ver0000006a_date20101002.bin
cpu000006f7_plat00000040_ver0000006b_date20101002.bin
cpu000006fb_plat00000001_ver000000ba_date20101003.bin
cpu000006fb_plat00000004_ver000000bc_date20101003.bin
cpu000006fb_plat00000010_ver000000ba_date20101003.bin
cpu000006fb_plat00000040_ver000000bc_date20101003.bin
cpu000006fd_plat00000001_ver000000a4_date20101002.bin

The modification procedure itself has also changed slightly and has become, if not simpler, then faster:

Step 1- open the BIOS image in the MMTool program:

Step 2- to check, go to the last tab (CPU PATCH) and look at the number of microcodes. Here, for example, there are 31 of them:

Step 3- go to the Replace tab and look for the item "P6 Micro Code" on it:

Step 4- by selecting the "P6 Micro Code" item, press the Ikschtsyu button, select the ncpucode.bin file described above and replace it with the Replace button:

Step 5- to check, go to the last tab (CPU PATCH) and look at the number of microcodes. After the replacement of microcodes, there are 17 left, the latest version:

There is no fundamental difference with the modification order described on delidded.com. In most cases, the output is of course not the same, but the processor receives the required microcode. Of the subjective positive aspects, I would like to draw your attention only to the fact that the microcodes are guaranteed to be updated for all current processors, be they "civil" or "server" ones, as well as there is practically no risk of receiving a message about a lack of space. Although, in my practice, even for such a set of microcodes, there was not enough space a couple of times, it was with the BIOS for the ECS P4M900T-M and ECS P4M900T-M2 boards, which are generally compatible with the Xeon E5450.

By tradition, I publish a link to the archive with tools - (zip, 234KB). The archive contains the executable file MMTOL.exe(version 3.22 BKMOD), microcode file for all 45 / 65nm processors of the core / xeon generation ncpucode.bin, as well as two files 45nm.bin and 65nm.bin with microcodes only on 45nm processors and only on 65nm. The use of these files can be useful in cases where it is necessary to free up additional space in the BIOS, for example, for new firmware of some controller, network, disk, etc.

! NB: Neither ncpucode.bin file nor 45nm.bin / 65nm.bin files support Pentium 4, Celeron (without letter indices), Pentium D, Celeron D and Xeon W processors (Xeon 5080 for example). These are the NetBrust generation processors.

Hello, dear readers of the site! My name is Roman Navat and I present to your attention the third and final part of the article on restoring a damaged BIOS firmware(using a laptop as an example Acer aspire E1-532). Before reading this part of the article, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with and, in which we disassembled Acer laptop Aspire E1-532, removed the motherboard from it, connected the CH341A programmer to the BIOS chip and saved the damaged BIOS firmware to a separate file. Let's continue our work by preparing a new BIOS firmware file and then write it to the BIOS chip.

Recovering a damaged BIOS firmware on a laptop with a programmer, if the laptop does not boot. Part 3. Extracting BIOS firmware from exe file to update BIOS. Editing the firmware file in the HEX editor and writing it to the BIOS chip

Let's go to the Acer website to the support page for the Acer Aspire E1-532 laptop.

And we will download all available BIOS firmware.

For example, let's open the folder with firmware version 2.10.

In this folder, we see a regular exe file, run it.

After starting the V5WE2210.exe file, we get this error window, which says that this BIOS firmware is not suitable for this laptop or a computer. Do not press the OK button yet, since we need to extract the BIOS firmware file for our laptop Acer Aspire E1-532 from the V5WE2210.exe file.

Go to section C: along the way

C: \ Users \ Username \ AppData \ Local \ Temp (username can be anything depending on what name was created Account). In the Temp folder, we see the 7zS2C4E.tmp temporary folder, which appeared after the V5WE2210.exe file was launched.

Open the 7zS2C4E.tmp folder and see the isflash.bin file in it, which is the firmware file BIOS chips. Let's copy this file to a USB flash drive.

The isflash.bin file copied to the USB stick.

The size of this BIOS firmware file is 9.45 MB.

When we try to open this firmware file in the CH341A-USB program, we get a message that the file is larger than needed, that is, this firmware file is too large to be used for flashing the Winbond W25Q64FV microcircuit (namely, this microcircuit is installed on the motherboard of the Acer laptop Aspire E1-532).

Microcircuits can be of different sizes, consider this using the example of Winbond microcircuits. As you can see from the table, the volume of the microcircuit can be 512, 256, 128, 64, 32 Mbit and so on.

The W25Q64FV microcircuit has a capacity of 64 Mbit (or 8 MB).

Since our BIOS firmware file isflash.bin extracted above from exe file weighs 9.45 MB, and the volume of the BIOS chip on the motherboard of the Acer Aspire E1-532 laptop is 8 MB, then in order to successfully restore the BIOS firmware, we need to reduce the isflash.bin file from 9.45 MB to 8 MB. For these purposes, we will use a hex editor, for example HxD. Go to the address

https://mh-nexus.de/en/downloads.php?product=HxD20

and download the installation file of the hex editor HxD

Click on the downloaded file and start the installation.

Install.

Installation completed.

Click on the HxD hex editor shortcut and launch it.

Main window HxD.

Click on File-Open.

Select the isflash.bin file and click "Open"

We get the following.

In the same way, open the file of the damaged BIOS firmware isflash01.bin (which we saved in the second part of the article).

Let's take a closer look at the structure of the isflash01.bin file. As you can see, the firmware file isflash01.bin starts with FF values (line 00000000), and line 00000010 contains the values 5A A5 F0 0F.

Now let's look at the structure of the isflash.bin file. We see that this firmware file starts with the values 4D 5A 00 00 (line 00000000). We need to make the isflash.bin file start exactly the same as the isflash01.bin file, that is, so that the isflash.bin file starts with FF values (line 00000000).

V open file isflash.bin click Search-Find.

And we search for the value 5A A5 F0 0F.

We see that the value 5A A5 F0 0F in the isflash.bin file is in line 0001F340, and above in line 0001F330 we see the FF values.

Select the line range 00000000-0001F320 in the isflash.bin file. To do this, select Edit-Select block.

We indicate the start (00000000) and end (1F320) lines of the selected range.

The selected range of strings is 00000000-1F320.

Delete the selected range of lines from the isflash.bin file by clicking Delete.

As you can see, after deleting the selected lines, the firmware file isflash.bin now starts in the same way as the isflash01.bin file, namely, line 00000000 contains FF values, and line 00000010 contains 5A A5 F0 0F values.

Let's go back to the firmware file isflash01.bin. Scroll to the end and see that it ends with the line 007FFFF0.

If you scroll to the end of the isflash.bin file, you will see that it ends with the line 009548F0.

Let's delete all lines from the isflash.bin file that are in the range 00800000-9548F0, that is, we will make the isflash.bin file end with the line 007FFFF0. Click on Edit-Select block.

We indicate the range of selected lines.

The selected line range is 00800000-9548F0.

Delete the selected range 00800000-9548F0 by clicking Delete.

As you can see, now the firmware file isflash.bin ends with the line 007FFFF0.

Let's save the BIOS firmware file under a new name by choosing Save as ...

Specify a name, for example isflash_new and click Save.

The new BIOS firmware file isflash_new.bin.

Please note that the isflash_new.bin file weighs the same as the isflash01.bin file that we saved in the second part, namely 8 MB.

Since the W25Q64FV microcircuit, as mentioned above, has a volume of 64 Mbit (or 8 MB), and our edited firmware file isflash_new.bin weighs 8 MB, then we can proceed with the flashing. We connect the CH341A programmer to the BIOS chip in the same way as we did in the second part of the article.

We launch the CH341A-USB program. We indicate the manufacturer and model of the microcircuit and delete old firmware BIOS by clicking "Erase".

There are probably no users today who have not heard of BIOS. Novice users (some are in the beginner's state all their lives) are afraid of this BIOS itself like a fire and do not even know how to enter it, let alone configure it. Well, experienced users, or, as they are called, computer enthusiasts, not only configure the BIOS, but also reflash it. It should be noted that the procedure for flashing the BIOS even for specialists causes an adrenaline rush, since it is by no means safe and often poses a threat to life. However, the procedure for flashing the BIOS is just a small matter. Much more extreme is modding, or editing, the BIOS, which will be discussed in this article.

Before we start talking about how to edit the BIOS, let us briefly recall what a BIOS is, what capabilities it provides to the user and why update it, let alone edit it.

What is BIOS

BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) is the basic input / output system. More precisely, BIOS is a system for configuring and managing memory, processor, chipset, on-board controllers and devices connected to the board. Unlike most other programs, the BIOS is not located on the hard disk, but on a special self-powered microcircuit on the motherboard.

A lot depends on the BIOS in a computer. In fact, the BIOS determines the system setting, which determines the functionality and performance of the PC. Often, the first BIOS versions, with which motherboards appear, are replete with "bugs" that disappear only in subsequent versions.

BIOS is found on any motherboard (excluding those for Apple computers), whether it is for a desktop or laptop. However, traditionally it turned out that the BIOS for a laptop has a minimum of settings and is rather informational in nature. As for the BIOS of a desktop motherboard, it allows you to perform a fairly large number of settings that affect both the performance of the system and its functionality. In particular, the traditional overclocking of the system, which implies increasing the processor clock frequency, changing the processor voltage, changing the clock frequency, timings and memory voltage are performed in the BIOS settings. In addition, in some cases, the BIOS allows you to adjust the high-speed operating mode of the fan installed in the processor cooler and additional fans installed in the system, and to configure the RAID array. hard drives if this array is created on the basis of a controller integrated into the chipset, as well as perform a lot of other fine-tuning of the computer.

The BIOS is located in a ROM (Read Only Memory) chip, which ensures that the BIOS is always available regardless of the functionality of components external to the motherboard (for example, boot disks). Since access to RAM ( random access memory) is much faster than to ROM, many manufacturers provide for automatic copying of BIOS from ROM to RAM at power on. The area of RAM involved is called Shadow ROM.

Currently, most modern motherboards are equipped with Flash BIOS chips, the code in which can be rewritten using special program... This approach provides the ability to update (firmware new version) BIOS.

There are not so many manufacturers of the BIOS kernel. The most common BIOSes are from AMI (American Megatrends, Inc.), AWARD, and Phoenics Technologies. Other BIOSes (from FirmWorks, Micro Firmware, etc.) are much less common. And currently AMI BIOS dominates the market, so in the future we will concentrate on the methods of flashing and modifying it.

Naturally, each manufacturer makes its own changes to the basic BIOS version, and, of course, this or that BIOS version is intended only for a specific product (computer or laptop) and is incompatible with other solutions.

Finally, note that currently BIOS chips use two interfaces to connect to the motherboard: either the LPC (Low Pin Connection) bus, or the new SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus.

Why flashing BIOS

All manufacturers of motherboards and laptops strongly discourage flashing the BIOS unless absolutely necessary. Moreover, representatives of service centers constantly turn to motherboard manufacturers with a request to block the user from flashing BIOS altogether. Of course, this idea is absurd and this will never happen, but we emphasize once again that the operation of flashing the BIOS is unsafe and can be life-threatening. If the board or laptop is working fine, then there is no point in updating the BIOS.

At the same time, there are often situations when a BIOS update is necessary. For example, you purchased a motherboard with a processor and found out that they are incompatible with each other. Most likely, the problem is that your motherboard is flashed old version BIOS that does not support new processor... The only option in this case is to find the old processor and update the BIOS on the board.

In addition, each new BIOS version fixes errors in previous versions, so the BIOS update procedure is very helpful.

The safest in terms of flashing procedures BIOS boards Gigabyte, ASUS and MSI companies that have implemented protection against unsuccessful BIOS flashing. Gigabyte motherboards have two BIOS chips (DualBIOS technology), and if the BIOS is flashed incorrectly and the system cannot start, the BIOS emergency recovery procedure from the backup chip starts automatically.

On new ASUS motherboards, the BIOS emergency recovery technology is called ASUS CrashFree BIOS 3. The essence of this technology is that in the event of a BIOS crash or a checksum mismatch after an unsuccessful firmware, a program is automatically launched that looks for BIOS on a CD / DVD, floppy disk or flash drive (with the FAT / FAT32 file system). If the file is found on some media, the recovery procedure starts automatically.

A similar technology called M-Flash is found on MSI boards. The only difference is that the BIOS file must be located on the flash drive.

BIOS flashing methods

All motherboard manufacturers, along with new BIOS versions, publish utilities for their firmware, as well as detailed instructions how to flash BIOS. Alas, there is simply no universal toolkit for flashing the BIOS. In general, there are three ways to flash the BIOS: from under DOS, from under operating system Windows and directly from under the BIOS.

Actually, about the methods of flashing the BIOS from under the BIOS and using the proprietary utility from under the operating room Windows systems there is nothing special to tell. Everything is simple and clear here. Moreover, the method of flashing the BIOS from under the BIOS is the simplest and safest, however, alas, not all manufacturers support this function... The only exceptions are ASUS and Gigabyte.

Moreover, not all manufacturers complete their motherboards with utilities for flashing BIOS from under Windows, and in some cases the method of flashing from under DOS is the only possible one.

The way to flash BIOS from under DOS can be called classic, but also the most inconvenient. The fact is that, in addition to the presence of the appropriate DOS utility, this method of flashing involves booting the computer not from hard disk and with external media... Previously, ordinary 3.5-inch boot floppies with DOS were used for this, and, along with the operating system, the BIOS file itself and the DOS utility for flashing it were written to this floppy. However, nowadays, 3.5-inch floppy disks, like the floppy drives themselves, can be considered obsolete devices. Many modern motherboards do not even have a floppy connector, and laptops with 3.5-inch floppy drives have not been produced for a long time. However, the problem this method flashing the BIOS is not even about that. Eventually you can find a 3.5-inch USB floppy drive, but this is unlikely to solve the problem. The fact is that a modern BIOS can be several megabytes in size and simply cannot fit on a floppy disk.

In principle, you can try to solve this problem by using instead of boot floppy bootable flash drive with DOS kernel. But even in this case, complications arise. First of all, you need to find a utility that will make the flash drive bootable, and the system files of the DOS operating system. On the Internet, you can find several utilities that allow you to make bootable flash drives from DOS, the most famous of them are the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool and BootFlashDOS, which are freely available on the Web.

The HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool allows you to create bootable flash drives if you have DOS system files, that is, it also requires the files themselves. However, on torrents you can find assemblies that include DOS system files.

If you use flash drives with a capacity of less than 4 GB when formatting and creating a bootable flash drive using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool (Fig. 1), you can use the FAT or FAT32 file system, but if you use a flash drive with a capacity of more than 4 GB, then you need file system FAT32.

Rice. 1. Creating a bootable USB flash drive with DOS
using the HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool

The BootFlashDOS utility allows you to create bootable DOS flash drives by pressing just one button, since all the necessary system files are already included in the utility itself (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2. Creating a bootable flash drive from DOS using the BootFlashDOS utility

In principle, if a bootable DOS flash drive is created, then there will be no problems with flashing the BIOS. It is enough to copy the DOS utility for flashing the BIOS and the BIOS file itself to the bootable flash drive and boot the computer from the flash drive. To boot a computer from a flash drive, you need to insert it into the PC, reboot or just turn on the computer and enter the BIOS at the boot stage to set boot from USB in the settings Flash Drive... Next, saving the settings, restart the computer and, after loading DOS, execute in command line the command you want according to the BIOS manufacturer's instructions.

Examples of execution a similar team we will give a little later, but for now we will consider another way to flash the BIOS from under DOS. It consists in the fact that instead of a bootable flash drive, a bootable CD / DVD is used. It is hardly worth reinventing the bicycle here - it is better to use the ready-made Hiren's BootCD (current version 10.4), the image of which can be downloaded from the site www.hirensbootcd.net. In case of use boot disk Hiren`s BootCD will additionally need a flash drive (with a FAT or FAT32 file structure), on which a DOS utility for flashing the BIOS must be written, and the BIOS file itself.

Now let's look at the procedure for flashing BIOS from under DOS using an example MSI laptop GX640 with AMI BIOS. On MSI laptops, there is only one way to flash the BIOS from under DOS using the proprietary DOS utility attached to the BIOS file. Actually, all that is needed for flashing the BIOS is to create a bootable flash drive, download an archive with all the necessary files from the MSI website, which includes a BIOS file, a flashing utility and an executable file flash.bat with a prescribed sequence of all actions. After that, you should unzip this archive onto a bootable flash drive and, after booting from the flash drive, run the flash.bat file for execution. The main thing is that all unzipped files are in one folder (you can unzip them to the root directory of the flash drive).

In general, it should be noted that for each type of BIOS (AMI, Award) there are specialized utilities for flashing from AMI and Award companies. For example, from the AMI website, you can download the amiflash package, which includes the afudos and afuwin utilities, which allow you to flash the AMI BIOS from under DOS and from under Windows, respectively. However, keep in mind that AMI BIOS can be either classic AMI BIOS or AMI Aptio BIOS. Aptio is a kind of AMI BIOS, but the main thing is that various afudos and afuwin utilities are used for AMI BIOS and Aptio AMI BIOS.

In addition, many motherboard manufacturers make such significant changes to the BIOS for their products that the universal AMI or Award utilities simply do not recognize them, and therefore cannot be reflashed. In particular, in the previously considered example with the AMI BIOS of the MSI GT640 laptop, the afudos and afuwin utilities do not recognize it as an AMI BIOS and, of course, cannot reflash it.

In general, the situation when it comes to modified versions of AMI BIOS, which are defined as AMI BIOS by the AMI utilities themselves, is quite common. This includes many MSI motherboards and many Gigabyte motherboards. So far, only ASUS motherboards have not been noticed in this "show off", the BIOS on which can be flashed with utilities from AMI (although, of course, utilities supplied by ASUS itself are better suited).

Why modify BIOS

So, we examined the main ways of flashing the BIOS, and now we will discuss how you can modify it. Naturally, the question arises: why modify the BIOS at all? You can argue about this endlessly, as well as about whether you need to overclock your computer. Actually, if the BIOS modding procedure is in principle possible, there will always be enthusiasts who will do it.

A few years ago, few people thought about the possibility of self-editing the BIOS. Recently, however, this procedure has become popular, and there are many resources on the Internet about BIOS modding. The interest in this issue can be explained by the fact that recently many users have begun to flash the SLIC table in their BIOS, and this is one of the options for modding, or editing, BIOS. By itself, the procedure for flashing the SLIC table in the BIOS is quite legal, but what they do it for, of course, is already illegal - this explains the popularity of this procedure.

Let us briefly explain what this is about. Flashing the SLIC table in the BIOS is used to implement the Windows 7 OEM activation mechanism in the same way that Microsoft OEM partners do to activate preinstalled copies of Windows without Microsoft verification. This method allows you to activate the system if three conditions are met: the use of a special OEM key and OEM certificate, as well as the presence of a SLIC table in the computer BIOS.

Windows 7 requires v2.1 SLIC tables in the BIOS, and there is no strict binding of the OEM key to the SLIC table and certificate. The key is tied only to the Windows edition and allows you to activate both x86 and x64 versions of the OS. The file certificate and SLIC tables are interconnected, and for successful activation, both components must be from the same OEM partner.

We will not tell you how to illegally activate Windows 7, but we will focus on the procedure for inserting a SLIC table into the BIOS. We note right away that this is far from always possible and not all BIOSes lend themselves to any kind of editing.

On the Internet, you can find a package of software tools (AMITool) containing both the SLIC tables themselves and a utility (AMI SLIC Mod) for flashing them in the AMI BIOS. However, for this you need to use the AMI BIOS on your board, but even in this case there is no guarantee that the procedure for flashing the SLIC table in the BIOS will be possible. As we have already noted, many manufacturers modify the BIOS for their products in such a way that the AMI SLIC Mod utility simply does not recognize it as an AMI BIOS, and therefore cannot modify it.

However, even in this case, do not despair and run to the store for another motherboard... Before trying to flash a SLIC table in the BIOS, you should check the fact that it is not present in the BIOS. If you bought a motherboard or laptop recently, it may well turn out that the version of the SLIC table you need (version 2.1) is already in the BIOS.

You can view the version of the SLIC table in the BIOS using a specialized utility RW - Read & Write Utility (current version 1.4.7), which can be downloaded from the website http://rweverything.phpnet.us. This utility is also called RW-Everything.

By setting this utility, launch it and in the main window of the program on the toolbar, click on the button labeled ACPI. In the ACPI Table window that opens, click on the SLIC tab. Next, you need to look at the table in hexadecimal format and find in it a line starting with byte 53 20. If the next four bytes are 00 00 00 00, then the BIOS has flashed the SLIC table of version 2.0, and if - 01 00 02 00, then the SLIC is flashed. version 2.1 table (fig. 3).

Rice. 3. Determining the version of the BIOS SLIC table

Of course, inserting a SLIC table into the BIOS is far from the only option possible modding. Another modding method is to unlock some of the BIOS functions. Indeed, motherboard manufacturers often deliberately block certain functionality BIOS to simplify the setup BIOS setup procedure. They also disable those functions that are absent in a particular motherboard, but can be used in the following modifications.

Using specialized utilities, you can try to unlock all disabled features and options in the BIOS. It is also possible to change the logos (some motherboard manufacturers such as ASUS, they even supply special utilities for changing the BIOS logo), as well as some names, so that, for example, when loading, not the real name of the processor is displayed, but something like “AMD Core i9-995”.

There is another example of BIOS modding. Some craftsmen manage to unlock the ability to use the SLI mode for NVIDIA video cards through the BIOS on those motherboards where this mode is not provided. Actually, if a motherboard officially supports SLI mode, then its BIOS contains a corresponding key from NVIDIA. The idea of modding is to cut this key from the BIOS of the motherboard on which SLI mode is officially supported, and insert it into the BIOS for the card on which SLI mode is not supported (that is, in the BIOS without an NVIDIA key). In particular, there are examples of how, due to such modding, the SLI mode was activated on motherboards based on the Intel P45 Express chipset.

However, let's move from theory to practice and discuss editing BIOS, in particular, editing AMI BIOS as the most common one.

Editing AMI BIOS

To edit the BIOS with the AMI kernel, you will need the AMIBCP utility, which, by the way, is released by the AMI company itself. This utility can be downloaded either separately or as part of the AMI BIOS ROM Utilities package. It should be noted that since, as we have repeatedly emphasized, manufacturers of motherboards and laptops make changes to the AMI BIOS for their products, there is no guarantee that the AMIBCP utility will recognize the BIOS. Alas, not every BIOS can be modified. As practice shows, BIOS can be edited without any problems. ASUS boards and ECS, while the AMIBCP utility is powerless in relation to motherboards from Gigabyte and MSI.

So, back to looking at BIOS editing when possible. The AMIBCP utility (version 3.x) is launched from under the Windows operating system, but it should be noted that there are variants of the same utility for DOS.

After downloading the utilities, you need to open the BIOS file. In our example, we will consider editing the AMI BIOS for the ASUS P6X58D-E motherboard using the AMIBCP v.3.37 utility. We will edit the P6X58DE.ROM file.

So, in the main window of the program, load the BIOS file, which we will modify (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. The main window of the AMIBCP v.3.37 utility

First of all, the Setup Configuration tab is interesting, in which, in fact, the BIOS settings are modified. The main menu of BIOS settings is displayed in the left window of this tab. If you uncheck a menu item, it will not appear in the BIOS menu. In the considered example (see Fig. 4), we unchecked the Ai Tweaker and Advanced items, thereby blocking all overclocking options. That is, the BIOS menu items, in which you can view information about the processor and memory, as well as change frequencies, supply voltage, etc., will simply be absent in the modified BIOS version.

The situation is similar when expanding the tree structure of each item in the BIOS setup menu: if you uncheck a sub-item, it will not be displayed in the BIOS menu. For example, if we do not want the Intel PPM Configuration item to be displayed in the Advanced settings menu, we just need to uncheck the corresponding item (Fig. 5).

In order to block any option in the BIOS setup menu, just set the value No. in the Show column for the corresponding item. Such locked elements will be (after saving the made changes) highlighted with a green stripe.

For example, if our system does not have additional fans in the case and we do not want the BIOS to display their settings, then we enter the Power menu, then open the Hardware Monitor menu and for the options Chassis Fan 1 Speed, Chassis Fan 2 Speed, Set the Chassis Fan 3 Speed, Chassis Q-Fan Profile and Power Fan Speed to No in the Show column (Fig. 6).

Rice. 6. Blocking the display in BIOS of various setup menu options

It should be noted that BIOS P6X58DE.ROM for ASUS P6X58D-E does not allow any improvements using the AMIBCP v.3.37 utility. All options are unlocked in it, so the maximum that can be done is to block what is not needed (although it is not clear why this should be done).

You can also try to change some of the labels, but keep in mind that the labels will not be displayed in Russian. For example, if we want the ComputerPress P6X58D-E BIOS Edition line to be displayed instead of the ASUS P6X58D-E ACPI BIOS Revision 0106 line at boot, then it is enough to find the ASUS P6X58D-E ACPI BIOS Revision 0106 line on the BIOS Strings tab and change it to the specified ...

It remains for us to consider one more type of BIOS modding - changing the background image (logo) of the BIOS. At the same time, ASUS even equips its motherboards with a special utility that allows you to implement this feature. Of course, this utility is the easiest to use for ASUS motherboards. However, for AMI BIOS, you can also use the OEM LOGO utility from AMI itself (Fig. 7).

Rice. 7. Changing the BIOS logo using the OEM LOGO utility

The interface of this utility is very simple and requires no comments. It is enough to load the BIOS and specify the path to the file with the new logo. The only limitation is that the picture must be of a certain resolution and format.

Guess the riddle: it stands like a beehive hums. But smoke does not come from the chimney, because this is not a native plant, but a computer on which the BIOS is damaged. And he hums because he is only capable of this now. Without bios, it's just a bunch of lifeless iron. Is it worth worrying about this? Of course not. After all, now you have a great bedside table!

A system unit as a bedside table? Well, I do not! We know how to make it work. Today we'll talk about how to restore the BIOS if it crashed.

What leads to a BIOS flashing

B IOS and its "descendant" UEFI, which are stitched with modern motherboards, are special computer programs, essential for initial setup and control PC devices until the operating system starts up. They are stored in special flash memory chips on the motherboard, one of which is shown in the picture above. It seems to be a good storage place, reliable, but sometimes the BIOS becomes uncomfortable there and escapes. More precisely, it gets damaged and stops performing its tasks.

There are not too many reasons for damage to the BIOS, in some cases they are obvious, in others they are not. Here is a list of the most common ones:

During a power outage of the computer.
The flasher program (flasher) does not interact correctly with the firmware or flash memory microcircuit.
The BIOS version is flashed, not suitable for this motherboard. Yes, .
If the update is carried out from under a running operating system - a system failure or software interference, for example, antivirus blocking.
Incorrect user actions, for example, restarting the computer before the update installation is complete.
Failure of the flash memory chip.
Hidden BIOS firmware errors. Sometimes this explains the spontaneous "gatherings" occurring for no apparent reason.
Electrical problems on the motherboard.

How damage to BIOS is manifested

In most cases, the BIOS firmware is partially damaged, so the symptoms of a failure can vary:

When you press the PC power button, only the cooler turns on, which immediately starts to rotate with maximum speed... Sometimes light up LED indicators on the case and keyboard.
One or several seconds after switching on, the cyclic reboot... Outwardly, this is manifested by a cycle of spinning up and stopping the cooler, which are repeated while the power is supplied.
When turned on, the power indicator lights up, the cooler does not spin.
The computer shows no signs of life. This happens when the boot block, the BIOS boot loader, is damaged. This is the most difficult case.

There is no image on the screen. Not even the manufacturer's splash screen appears.

There are other forms of damage to the BIOS, more precisely, its area, which stores the configuration of the ME controller (part of the chipset) on motherboards working with Intel processors- the so-called ME-region. If there is a problem in this area, a computer or laptop may:

Incorrectly loaded or not included at all.
Shut down or restart at regular intervals.
It is incorrect to adjust the rotational speed of the cooler, for example, to turn it at high revs regardless of the load.

Elimination of such failures consists in reading the BIOS dump, replacing the ME-region with a clean one and re-flashing it using the programmer. Since this is usually done by repairmen, and not by computer owners, we will not dwell on this. Better to do something that can be done at home without special equipment and the risk of finally sending your "iron pet" to the kingdom of eternity.

BIOS recovery without a programmer is possible only if you save the bootloader. It is sometimes possible to determine whether it has survived or not by indirect signs: blinking of the screen backlight, sound signals from the system speaker, the motherboard's reaction to switching on without RAM (sound or blinking of indicators), etc. If the BIOS bootloader is intact, the first moments of the computer work normally, the failure appears a little later.

How to restore functionality to a motherboard with a failed BIOS

Asus

Many Asus brand desktop motherboards support USB Flashback, which is designed to quickly update and restore BIOS in case of failure. This does not require anything except a USB flash drive with a capacity of up to 4-16 GB and the BIOS file itself, which must be downloaded from the manufacturer's website from the section about your mother's model.

After downloading, the firmware must be renamed. For example, the file "Sabertooth X79" (model name) is renamed to "SABERX79.ROM", the file "Sabertooth Z77" to "Z77ST.CAP". Information on how the firmware file for your model should be named is most likely on the Asus website, but if you don't find it, check it out on the forums or in support.

Next, save the renamed BIOS on a flash drive formatted in FAT32 and connect it to USB port marked " Flashback" or " ROG Connect". It is advisable to turn off the computer before this, this will increase the chance of a successful recovery.

After connecting the flash drive, turn on the PC and press the " BIOS". Hold it down for about 3 seconds until the indicator light on the board starts flashing. Blinking indicates that the file has been successfully read and is being stitched into memory. When the firmware process is completed, the indicator will turn off.

If your fee is from budget segment or not too new, that is, does not support USB Flashback, most likely you can restore it in another way. If the computer is equipped with a floppy drive or optical drive, write the renamed BIOS file to the root directory of a blank floppy disk or CD, place it in the drive, turn off and then turn on the PC. The firmware will be completed when the drive indicator turns off. If there is no drive, use a USB flash drive.

Gigabyte

On Gigabyte motherboards with Dual (dual) bios, failures rarely occur, since in case of damage to the firmware in the main microcircuit ( M ain_ BIOS) the dump from the backup ( B ackup_ BIOS). As long as the main flash memory is functional and contains firmware, even damaged, the board remains operational.

Problems with starting the board with Dual_BIOS are possible in the following cases:

The main microcircuit is missing or out of order.
The microcode in the main microcircuit is completely erased.
The contents of both microcircuits are damaged.

Some Gigabyte mothers are able to boot from the backup flash memory and use it as the main one. Another group of boards from this manufacturer uses a dedicated area on the hard disk as a backup media for BIOS. This is a less reliable option, but also better than nothing.

Restoring the Gigabyte BIOS from a backup is usually done automatically, but if this does not happen, try turning off the computer from the outlet, wait a little and turn it on again.

MSI and others

Most Micro-Star motherboards use a firmware recovery technology very similar to ASUS's - using a flash drive, floppy disk or CD. Copy the BIOS to a blank media, connect it to the PC, press the shutdown button for 4 seconds, hold down the combination on the keyboard leftCtrl +Home(or Alt +Ctrl +Home) and, without releasing the keys, turn on the computer. The beginning of the firmware process can be judged by the blinking of the flash drive or drive indicator.

BIOS on MSI board. On the right is the JSPI1 port for firmware on the programmer

On motherboards from MSI and some other brands that are more than 8-10 years old, the BIOS is flashed from a floppy disk. The instructions for AWARD and AMI BIOS are slightly different.

To recover the AMI BIOS, do the following:

Rename the BIOS file downloaded from the motherboard manufacturer's website to AMIBOOT.ROM.
Transfer it to the root of a blank floppy disk. Insert the floppy disk into the drive of the turned off PC.
Press the left Ctrl + Home on the keyboard and turn on the computer.

To restore AWARD BIOS:

Place the flasher and BIOS files on a floppy disk (usually downloaded in one archive).
Create on floppy disk Text Document, which contains the name of the BIOS file with the bin extension. Rename the document to autoexec.bat.
Further actions are similar to those given above.

By the way, some motherboard manufacturers post BIOSes on their websites only in exe format - in "one bottle" with a flasher for updating from under Windows. Sometimes it is possible to unpack such a file as an archive, but users often do not understand which of its contents is the firmware. There is no universal solution for such tasks. In order not to aggravate the problem, it is better to consult the specialized forums or the manufacturer's technical support.

On some boards, before restoring the BIOS, you also need to remove the real-time clock (RTC) battery from the socket or rearrange (remove) the jumper clear CMOS... It is important to clarify these points before starting the procedure.

Features of BIOS recovery on laptops

On laptops, like on Gigabyte boards, the BIOS is also often stored in two flash memory chips. But it is not Dual and backups he doesn't. Both chips contain different parts of the firmware, or one contains the main BIOS, and the other contains the multicontroller program. To prevent the device from turning on, it is enough to damage the microcode in at least one of them.

The recovery method for a failed BIOS on laptops is approximately the same as on desktops. The firmware file and the flasher program downloaded from the manufacturer's website (the latter is not always needed) are placed on a clean USB flash drive formatted in FAT32 / 16, connected to a de-energized device (just turning off the laptop is sometimes not enough, you need to disconnect the power supply and remove the battery), insert a charged put the battery back in place, turn on the device and hold down the key combination. Different laptops use different keyboard shortcuts for this, for example:

Ctrl (left only or both) + Home
Windows + B (this and other letters are in the Latin keyboard layout)
Windows + F
Windows + M
Windows + Esc
Fn + B
Fn + F
Fn + M
Fn + Esc.

The main work is to unpack and rename the BIOS files. Again, there is no single rule. In most cases, you have to get the firmware from exe-files, but! Many manufacturers include BIOSes in the program for different revisions of one platform or a whole series of platforms, and choose the only one desired file it can be very difficult. In order not to be mistaken, read the instructions for the firmware of your particular model and the platform revision on the specialized forums. And feel free to ask questions.

I deliberately do not include in the article instructions on how to restore BIOS's by flashing on a programmer with and without unsoldering, closing various contacts, hot swapping removable flash memory, etc., since all these methods are unsafe and require certain knowledge. However, among the readers, there are likely to be those who have done something similar on their PC and got good results. It will be great if you describe your actions in detail in the comments to the article. You are also encouraged to share negative experiences so that other readers can avoid mistakes thanks to you. In the comments, be sure to include the model name and revision of your motherboard, as well as the BIOS version you worked with.