Bricked Asus FX502VM-DM261T

[microphoned]

Hi, everyone!

I bricked my ASUS laptop a couple of weeks ago. Product link here.

Long story short, the laptop rebooted and started to automatically install a BIOS update. I got scared -- thinking it was some sort of virus -- and forced the power off. (Later I’ve learned that Windows 10 has started to install BIOS updates on its own. That’s crazy.)

The result? No HDD light. No keyboard backlight. No USB activity. And of course, the black screen of death. But... at least the laptop powers on…

So I decided to buy ch341a + soic 8 clip to try and salvage my computer. But I’m no expert in these things and I hope some of you guys can help me out.

I’ve done a bios backup and verified it in the program. All good so far. When I look at it in a hex editor I see a couple of pages of FF’s, but I’m not sure if it’s a bad dump. What’s confusing me even more is when I compare my dump with the one from the ASUS support page (it’s the BIOS called GL502VMZ)


When I compare the two files...

• GL502VMZ-AS.307  ....   6.00 mb
  
• My_bios_dump.bin  ...    8.00 mb
  

… their sizes don’t match and they’re not exactly identical when compared in a hex editor. The sticker on my motherboard says GL502VMZ, so I'm pretty sure I'm using the right one from ASUS.

So where do I go from here? I’d greatly appreciate some help with this. Thanks!

I’ve attached my bios dump here:


  My_bios_dump.bin (Size: 8 MB / Downloads: 2)

[Lost_N_BIOS]

This post sounds strangely familiar! Have I helped you before on this same issue?

Ahh, I found it, here same story different model
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-a...ly-bricked

Similar complaints here, we discuss, but at least it didn't kill his system
https://www.bios-mods.com/forum/Thread-R...ock?page=3

Anyway, Yes, I can help you fix this. DO NOT write or erase anything until I give you a file and tell you it's time

Do you want to be put back on 301 BIOS, from 2017 - same will happen with windows updates unless you find out how to block it
Or do you want to be put on 307 (latest - 2019)?

[andrewjs18]

your story is exactly like mine was - Lost_N_BIOS linked to it above.

you'll be in good hands there! good luck!!!!

[Lost_N_BIOS]

Someone needs to get on Microsoft publically to stop this from going on!!
They need berated in public on Facebook, Twitter and hardware review sites for this, continuously, until they put a stop to this kind of carp

[microphoned]

andrewjs18: Wow, yeah... I have the exact same problem as you. Those sneaky Windows updates need to stop! I'm glad your computer turned out OK in the end

Lost_N_BIOS: Thank you so much for taking your time to help me. Use the newest BIOS, please (the 307). So my dump looks OK then and you can work with it? I haven't written or erased anything yet and will wait for your go-ahead.

[Lost_N_BIOS]

You're welcome! Yes, I can use the info in your dump, it's OK for what I needed.
I will get you BIOS made tonight that you can write to chip and then all will be fixed!

[Lost_N_BIOS]

Here is fixed BIOS (W/ original NVRAM + Board specific details), if this fails, then I will remove original NVRAM as it may be corrupted (looks OK though)
http://s000.tinyupload.com/index.php?fil...8982958032

[microphoned]

Posting from my newly revived laptop

Everything seems to working perfectly! To think I considered buying a new (and super expensive) motherboard...

Thanks, Lost_N_BIOS! You're a life-saver! This is my main computer and I'm so happy to see it up and running again.

[Lost_N_BIOS]

Great deal, glad to hear it all went over smoothly, and you're very welcome!!

Even though it may not help next time around, if you see this happening again, let it finish the update. Sometimes it's going to brick anyway, just because windows updates shouldn't be installing a BIOS, and sometimes stock BIOS simply can brick too, but at least there is a chance it will be OK if you let it finish. Virus would never look anything like that process, at least not anything currently out there that I've seen/heard about.