Vaio VGN-AR840e - Phoenix R2090J8 - 02/26/2008

[AHMED HOSSAM]

HI RICHARD ,

don`t think that i gave up cause i didn`t
after searching in alot of bios forums i have found that :-
- flashing a sony vaio is like the russian roulette ..............no key combination works to enable the crisis recover .
- it`s a well known issue that in alot of vaio notebooks the external boot is disabled by default and no one was able to boot from usb and the sony support center didn`t provide any solution for this issue .
- in this pic taken from your original backup , the external boot is disabled by default and my modified bios depends on this backup image .
- i have attached this flash utility ( made specially for vaio notebooks ) to flash from windows

  VAIO FLASH UTILITY.rar (Size: 1.13 MB / Downloads: 41)
don`t rename any file ,,,,,,i have renamed the bios files to flash properly ,,,,,,,,,,,you will just need to click run as administrator on the WBFLASH.exe then follow the instructions to flash the bios ( these bios files are the original one attached with the flash utility )

- if the previous one failed ,,,,,try this one
  ORIGINAL and Flash Utility.rar (Size: 1.39 MB / Downloads: 52)
also just click on the WBFLASH.EXE and follow instructions.




here is an image from the original backup :-



i think flashing from windows is the last choice ,,,,,,,we just need the right flash utility and if the previous tools failed , i will give you another tools but try this first .

- ALSO NOTE THAT USING CRISIS DISK RECOVERY METHOD DIDN`T HAVE ANY RELATION WITH THE EXTERNAL BOOT OPTION OR ANY BOOT ORDER ........... THE CRISIS METHOD FORCE NOTEBOOK TO FLASH FROM USB WHATEVER THE SETTING ARE SELECTED AS IT`S DESIGNED TO FLASH BRICKED BIOSES ...................THE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT NO KEY COMBINATION KNOWN FOR VAIO NOTEBOOKS TO MAKE THE CRISIS RECOVERY WORKS ,,,,,,,,JUST TRY THIS METHOD DROM WINDOWS AND I`M WAITING YOUR REPLY .

also i will be in a vacation from tomorrow and i thaught to fix your problem before traveling so post your reply and i will reply when i have some time or when i`m back again after 4 or 5 days .

Ahmed

---

ALSO I HAVE CONTACTED KIZWAN AN HE SAID THAT SAMOZEN HAS RECOVERED FROM BADFLASH USING NO COMBINATION KEYS ,,,,,,,,JUST REMOVE HDD , BATTERY ..etc THEN ONLY INSERT THE USB WITH THE CRISIS DISK THEN POWER ON AND IT WOULD FLASH AUTOMATICALLY ...............TRY THIS IF FLASHING FROM WINDOWS FAILED .

[nesnfsn]

HI RICHARD ,

don`t think that i gave up cause i didn`t
after searching in alot of bios forums i have found that :-
- flashing a sony vaio is like the russian roulette ..............no key combination works to enable the crisis recover .
- it`s a well known issue that in alot of vaio notebooks the external boot is disabled by default and no one was able to boot from usb and the sony support center didn`t provide any solution for this issue .
- in this pic taken from your original backup , the external boot is disabled by default and my modified bios depends on this backup image .
- i have attached this flash utility ( made specially for vaio notebooks ) to flash from windows

don`t rename any file ,,,,,,i have renamed the bios files to flash properly ,,,,,,,,,,,you will just need to click run as administrator on the WBFLASH.exe then follow the instructions to flash the bios ( these bios files are the original one attached with the flash utility )

- if the previous one failed ,,,,,try this one
also just click on the WBFLASH.EXE and follow instructions.

here is an image from the original backup :-

AHMED - This IMAGE file explains what I had been trying to explain. Your last MOD on Saturday/Sunday (can't remember now) removed these 3 OPTIONS under ADVANCED. Without them, the computer does not recognize USB while posting before Linux or Windows appears. ADVANCED does contain OPTIONS, but not these 3.

I will try your suggestions, and also, need advice from you or Kizwan on the CD-ROM method. Apparently HIMEM.SYS interferes with PHLASH16.EXE.

i think flashing from windows is the last choice ,,,,,,,we just need the right flash utility and if the previous tools failed , i will give you another tools but try this first .

- ALSO NOTE THAT USING CRISIS DISK RECOVERY METHOD DIDN`T HAVE ANY RELATION WITH THE EXTERNAL BOOT OPTION OR ANY BOOT ORDER ........... THE CRISIS METHOD FORCE NOTEBOOK TO FLASH FROM USB WHATEVER THE SETTING ARE SELECTED AS IT`S DESIGNED TO FLASH BRICKED BIOSES ...................THE PROBLEM HERE IS THAT NO KEY COMBINATION KNOWN FOR VAIO NOTEBOOKS TO MAKE THE CRISIS RECOVERY WORKS ,,,,,,,,JUST TRY THIS METHOD DROM WINDOWS AND I`M WAITING YOUR REPLY .

also i will be in a vacation from tomorrow and i thaught to fix your problem before traveling so post your reply and i will reply when i have some time or when i`m back again after 4 or 5 days .

Ahmed

---

ALSO I HAVE CONTACTED KIZWAN AN HE SAID THAT SAMOZEN HAS RECOVERED FROM BADFLASH USING NO COMBINATION KEYS ,,,,,,,,JUST REMOVE HDD , BATTERY ..etc THEN ONLY INSERT THE USB WITH THE CRISIS DISK THEN POWER ON AND IT WOULD FLASH AUTOMATICALLY ...............TRY THIS IF FLASHING FROM WINDOWS FAILED .

[AHMED HOSSAM]

Just try flashing from windows and if this failed, use the crisis disk after removing hdd , cdrom , battery .,,,,etc
Its sure one of these two method will flash your bios .

---

Use crisis disk wothout any key combination

[kizwan]

UPDATE - Opened CD-Rom successfully, with DOS black screen with two (2) bios files and PLASH16.EXE. However, get the following message from dosbootdisk.isp


Richard

To prevent this error, run phlash16.exe with /x parameter:-
(/X : Ignore XMS memory manager check.)

Example (these parameters are more than enough for programming BIOS):-

Code:

phlash16.exe /x /s BIOS.WPH

(/S : Silent operation (turn off speaker))

Make sure both battery & AC are plugged in when flashing BIOS (for safety precaution).

[nesnfsn]

Kizwan:

Battery Pack has to be re-inserted? No problem, just had been running on AC only without Battery Pack inserted into laptop's casing. Will try tonight, unless you advise that I do not need Battery Pack.

BTW - Thank you for the explanation of the flags for PHLASH16 to disable HIMEM.SYS' XMS memory manager checking feature from Phlash. Missed this, as it is within the Autoexec.bat file and did not think of using /X after booting from the CD-Rom disc and typing PHLASH16, followed by the ENTER KEY.

NOTE - I did have to create a larger disk Bootable.img file to hold the dosboot.iso IMG file and PHLASH16, and then create new bootable ISO image to hold the larger ISO file. Existing 1.44M not sufficient to hold the initial files within the Bootable.img file, with the BIOS.WPH (approx. 1M itself). Only approx. 3MB in the new ISO file, with tremendous room still on CD. Wonder if I could store other BIOS related files on CD? Another day, another thought. Will first flash the BIOS with PHLASH16 /x. Play with creating a new CD Rom with other apps and utilities another day.

---

Just try flashing from windows and if this failed, use the crisis disk after removing hdd , cdrom , battery .,,,,etc
Its sure one of these two method will flash your bios .

---

Use crisis disk wothout any key combination

Will try your suggestions, only if I cannot get the CD-Rom to work with Kizwan's suggestions. Why go to Windows, if DOS might work????? Let you know what happens. Enjoy your vacation my friend.

Richard

[kizwan]

When flashing BIOS always make sure battery & AC are plugged in to notebook. What happen if suddenly power failure/blackout while flashing BIOS? BIOS will corrupted because flashing did not finish.

/x parameter should work. I always use it. BTW, regarding the ISO, I use UltraISO to add BIOS file in the ISO. I tried on my computer, when boot with CD-ROM drive support, I can change to D: & access the BIOS file. I already mentioned UltraISO in my earlier post though (previous page).

[nesnfsn]

BTW, regarding the ISO, I use UltraISO to add BIOS file in the ISO. I tried on my computer, when boot with CD-ROM drive support, I can change to D: & access the BIOS file. I already mentioned UltraISO in my earlier post though (previous page).

Kizwan - From your earlier posting, it is my understanding that I should insert Phlash and the BIOS files into the Bootable IMG file (Bootable_1.44M.IMG) which resides within the [BOOT] directory/folder that is nested within the dosboot.iso. CORRECT?

In my case I had copied over the Wiin98DOS files from the Bootable_1.44M.IMG file, plus Phlash16.EXE and BIOS.WPH into a new IMG file, saved as Bootable_2.88.IMG, created [BOOT] directory/folder, copied the new IMG file into the new [BOOT] directory/folder, and then made a new ISO containing that [BOOT] directory/folder.

Correct procedure/process?

[kizwan]

Right now, the most important is, you can see the BIOS file when booting with the CD.

(I just want to explain my earlier post.) As you can see the sentence start with "Another alternative is ...". You already did the primary/first solution - copied BIOS file into the ISO. So I didn't mentioned it again in the below post. In the below post, I just explain how to access the CD & the alternative solution. You're using different software which probably yield different result.

When boot with "Start with CD-Rom Drivers", at the end of the verbose message, it should tell you the drive letter the CD-ROM drive is assigned to. Usually D:

Another alternative is modify the ISO boot file. UltraISO able to dump the boot file from the ISO. You can open the boot file using UltraISO. Put the BIOS image & BIOS flash utility in it. Save the boot file & using UltraISO, load the new boot file to the ISO.

[nesnfsn]

Right now, the most important is, you can see the BIOS file when booting with the CD.

Just got home from work a little while ago, reinserted the CD (with Win98DOS files and my PHLASH and BIOS.WPH files, booted into CD-Rom disc, changed from A: to D:, ran PHLASH16 /x /s BIOS.WPH.
SUCCESS!!!! Thank you Kizwan for getting me over the hump.
THANK YOU AHMED for all of your support, efforts and skills in modding the BIOS.WPH files.

Now, I would love to learn what it is that Ahmed did to achieve my BIOS.WPH file. I have all of the options opened, including his reenabling of the External Device setting so that I can boot from USB Flash drives.

Richard

[nesnfsn]

Now that Ahmed and Kizwan have helped me flash my BIOS and unlock all features for this Sony VAIO VGN-AR840e, I was wondering whether there Is any way to move this entire thread to the UNLOCKED PHOENIX BIOS forum?

Richard