Acer Aspire E1-521 black screen after BIOS changes

[irish94]

Hello, I've just registered  to ask someone's help, after I've digged everywhere to find a solution.
I've changed some boot options on my notebook while I was reinstalling windows. I've switched from UEFI to legacy BIOS a few times and last time I saved and closed the notebook stopped booting. It powers on, cd reader tries to read whatever I put inside, but there it stucks.
I tried the fn+esc trick several times with two bios versions downloaded from https://www.acer.com/ac/it/IT/content/su...t/4277?b=1
the 1.12, properly extracted, comes with a .ROM and a .FD files. The 2.12 contains just a isflash.bin file (no .rom or .fd files)
I tried putting the whole folder content on a usb FAT32 formatted pen, changing the name of the .fd or .bin file to bios.fd or BIOS.fd, as I found out using UEFItool. I've just changed the extension of the .bin file to .fd, as I found no way to convert it.

Any other ideas?

[irish94]

Ok, I've managed to flash the 1.12 version of the BIOS, but now I need to update it back to 2.12, which was the one it used to have originally. I created a bootable usb drive using rufus, I copied the files extracted from the executable and I booted from it, entering DOS. How can I flash the BIOS if I don't have a .bat and .fd file to load?

[mclarke2355]

You can try with these files: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4NHIBM...QwOFE/view
Copy the files from the archive to the usb-stick.
Then, when you have booted DOS, execute the InsydeFlash.exe file.

The modification of the files (to disable the upgrade check) was done according to these instructions:
http://catchtito.blogspot.com/2013/05/ho...-bios.html

[irish94]

That's the problem. I get "Bad command or filename".
I'm typing C:\InsideFlash.exe, I put all the files in the root directory. I'm able to go to subfolders, but I can't run the .exe

[mclarke2355]

Leave out the "C:\" at the beginning, just type "InsydeFlash.exe".

Edit: The filename might have been shortened by DOS, use the "dir"-command to list all the files in the folder.
The Flasher might have a name like this: "insydefl~.exe". In that case, use that name to execute the flasher.

[irish94]

Leave out the "C:\" at the beginning, just type "InsydeFlash.exe".

Edit: The filename might have been shortened by DOS, use the "dir"-command to list all the files in the folder.
The Flasher might have a name like this: "insydefl~.exe". In that case, use that name to execute the flasher.

I get "This program cannot be executed in DOS mod. I tried to launch it in Hiren's mini XP, but nothing happens. If I launch the executable file I got from acer I get the wrong version error, but at least it starts.
Is it normal having a platform file and another one called platforms?

[mclarke2355]

Which file from Acer do you mean? The Q5WT6212.exe or the InsydeFlash.exe?
Due to the compression used I cannot directly edit the Q5WT6212.exe file.
You can try the recovery flash with this BIOS with slightly changed header: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4NHIBM...xUaDg/view

Normally there's only a platform file, the platforms file might be an older version of the configuration that was left there, but it doesn't matter.

[irish94]

The Q5WT6212.exe file, which launches the bios update. If I launch InsydeFlash.exe directly nothing happens.
What do you mean for recovery flash?

[irish94]

I tried flashing the BIOS.fd file you linked me using the fn+esc procedure, but I've gone back to black screen. It ended the flash, with a beep, rebooted, but still black screen. I'm trying to reflash the 1.12 version, which worked, but nothing happens. Just the fans going to full speed.

[mclarke2355]

The image I gave you was the stock 2.12 BIOS with just the version check disabled in the header.
The BIOS image itself was completely unchanged.

I've prepared three images that you can try to flash using the fn+esc procedure:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4NHIBM...NTQms/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4NHIBM...1PNWs/view
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B4NHIBM...M2QXc/view