Mobo bios chip screwed up?!?

[Mïcrösöül°V³]

Quiet some time ago, I asked all around for a solution to a problem i was having (some of you may recall). I had an issue with the date in windows changing the year by itself and messing up my pc. Well, I replaced the bios battery, and updated the bios with a new one released by asus. Prior to the flash, my year in windows would change to 9999, now it will change to 10009, but the part that stays consistent is the bios clock....It resets to year 1999. I am assuming that the bios is screwed somehow. The last time it did it was yesterday. I was typing when all the sudden, my pc just froze. I immediatly looked at the clock in the bottom corner of windows, and it said 12-30-2004, then in a few moments, it said 12-30-10009. Even task manager couldnt shut the pc down after that, so i hard booted, looked at bios, and sure enough, the year had reset to 1999. Does windows talk back and forth with the bios clock? and if yes, can windows alter the bios clock? meaning, if i change the date in windows, will it also change the bios clock date? or is the bios clock READ ONLY?

[Snee]

Hmm, I can tell you this:

Setting your bios to "write protected" removes the possibility of any tampering from external running software I think. if that's what you are after :huh:

Otherwise i think it's possible.

[Mïcrösöül°V³]

ahhh, Im just trying to narrow down the problem to be either hardware or software. I lean more to hardware cuz i have never seen this happen on any computer, ever. Im thinking the BIOS clock is resetting, and when windows reads it, it freaks out.

[peat moss]

Mabye not the Cmos or Battery, but the Bios update is faulty . Can you revert back to old bios ? I always save mine first . Asus has a bios update program , try that?

[Chewie]

Which version of Windows are you using?
Changes to the time/date in Windows are applied to the system clock and therefore the same time will be read by the BIOS.
This sounds like virus/trojan activity to me, or possibly booby-trapped software that's detected a crack or blacklisted serial number.

[Mïcrösöül°V³]

see, ive tried it with several different OS's. The one I am using now is legit XP pro.
although i do use a few *less than legit programs*

[peat moss]

see, ive tried it with several different OS's. The one I am using now is legit XP pro.
although i do use a few *less than legit programs*



eh too brutus ! :lol: Made make think of chewie's post . Bios virus?



Oh love the avatar ! Is n't that Stump the weiner dog? :)

[Mïcrösöül°V³]

its lump from joe cartoon. BIOS virus, how could i check for that?

[HailAntonLaVey]

eh too brutus ! :lol: Made make think of chewie's post . Bios virus?



Oh love the avatar ! Is n't that Stump the weiner dog? :)


i would have to say its the BIOS update,just as peat said.OR the EPROM was destroyed in someway during the BIOS flashing.In which case a new motherboard would have to be bought to fix the problem.Tell then adieu

P.S. its "Et Tu Brute" Peat.Just thought i might clear that up.

[Chewie]

Personally I don't think it is a problem with the BIOS.
If the date had changed to 1999 in Windows then I could understand it but it didn't... I think that something/someone had changed the year to 10009 and when the computer was reset the BIOS couldn't cope with that so defaulted to 1999.
Try going into BIOS and changing the year to 10009, just to see if the BIOS would support it.

[dreamy]

Hi,

saw somting similar some time ago with a buddy of mine....
Date change and even spontaneous typing !!

In that case only the bios was affected.
I unhooked the HDD and booted from floppy.
Flashed the BIOS.... shit, 2 sectors are not overwritten ?
Oh well, let's see what happens .... you guessed it : same thang.
I found out the BIOS had an update util aboard that flashes the BIOS the standard way - and that did not work, obviously.
I got me the dos flash tool which is freely available on the net.
It had a /F option to force a complete overwrite, and this time around it worked. Including the 2 sectors that would not work the first time(s).
And those contained the virus.

Most antivirus programs scan for and find various BIOS viruses.
BTW, do not give up on the board too quickly - usually there is a fix or workaround for your kind of problem.
I work in IT and i have seen only 2 unrecoverable mainboards in 10 years.

If the BIOS is onboard it cannot be replaced. If it is seated in a socket it can be replaced for a few bucks.
Even if regular BIOS flashers do not work there are more powerful programs on the net to be found. Ask someone for help if not sure.... and STILL think a few times before messing with your BIOS though.

I have found technicians from 4 big manufacturors that were willing to let me have BIOS software only factory technicians are supposed to posess.
Got those per Email, under strict orders NOT to spread them.
Just be nice to them :-)

Also, i would recommend to scan your disk in another system.
Just add the disk to a working pc which has a fully updated av-scanner.

And if you have the option, jumper the mobo to write-protect the BIOS.
(after flashing, ofcourse)

I love Asus mobos and have found the Asus people helpful in the past.
I would not give up on that board.

Hope this helps.

[Smurfette]

Hi,

saw somting similar some time ago with a buddy of mine....
Date change and even spontaneous typing !!

In that case only the bios was affected.
I unhooked the HDD and booted from floppy.
Why unhook the HDD?

[lynx]

Why unhook the HDD?Because the HDD is still accessed when booting from floppy, to check for any HDD bios mods. If there's a virus hiding in there it could get loaded.

[Mïcrösöül°V³]

ok, ill try a dos reflash of the bios, then only time will tell. :)