Aspire One BIOS of DOOM – the Saga Continues
Well, the last time I left this topic, it appeared that UPS had destroyed my netbook. Today, I found that it had actually made it to Acer in one piece. Not only that, but they replaced the motherboard (even though I added RAM, stripped a screw, and voided the warranty) and shipped it back priority overnight!
So now I sit working on my next project – Windows 7 on the Aspire One. I’ll post the results later!
One of those moments
I was sitting down for lunch today, eating a steak sandwich and reading a news paper, when it struck me: when did I grow up?
Seven years ago I graduated from high school. Five years ago I moved out for the first time, going halfway across the country in the process. Four years ago, I moved back. Three years ago I fell in love, and Two years ago I got married. One year ago I was layed off and had to take a job I hated. Eight months ago a Neurologist confirmed that the pain I’ve experienced episodically for the past eight years has a name: Cluster Headaches. Six months ago I quit that job and moved to a better one. Three months ago I quit that one for my dream job.
Even after breaking it down, I still can’t figure out when I grew up. Does it even matter?
Aspire One BIOS of DOOM: Conclusion?
Well, this may be the end.
When I last left you (See Aspire One BIOS of DOOM – Update), I had discovered a write-error on the flash chip. After a little more poking around, I found the ‘/e’ switch for the flashit.exe program included with the BIOS ROMs.
WARNING! BIG MOTHER-OF-ALL-FUCKING WARNINGS!
****DO NOT RUN THE FOLLOW COMMANDS – THEY WILL BRICK YOUR LAPTOP WITH NO CHANCE OF RECOVERY****
****I AM NOT RESPONSIBLE IF YOU FUCK IT UP BY TRYING WHAT FOLLOWS HERE****
The Insyde H20 BIOS flashing program, flashit.exe, has a switch that allows you to specify extra options when flashing. The command is as follows:
flashit romname.fd /e: offset,filesize,address
Offset: In hex, the start of the ROM file (typically 00000000)
Filesize: In hex, the size of the ROM file (for the 1MB Acer ROMs, 00100000)
Address: In hex, the memory address on the flash chip where the ROM resides (on the Aspire One, it appears to be FFF00000)
So, after putting two and two together, I decided the following must be true:
1) The memory location with the write error seemed to be the first block of writable flash memory (FFF00000)
2) The command syntax of the command above allows for you to specify where the start of the ROM file is, and the start of the writable memory is
3) If I skip the first block, I’ll bypass the problem!
So I ran the following command:
****LAST WARNING: THE WILL BRICK YOUR LAPTOP!****
flashit zg5ia32.fd /e:00000001,00100000,FFF00001
The flash process proceeded as normal, then promptly errored out with “Error: IHISI 14h write failed. Address: FFF00000″ (Or something close to that), and turned off.
Sighing, I inserted my Recovery Flash Drive, held Fn+Esc, then hit the power button.
Nothing.
I tried again, with the same result. Starting to worry, I unplugged the power and removed the laptop. Leaving it for a few minutes, I plugged the AC adapter back in.
The power and battery lights light a beautiful orange, and then promptly faded. And that was that.
Apparently, in skipping that first block, I completely mangled the BIOS to the point where it didn’t even know what to do with electricity. Sweet.
So I called Acer, explained to them that my laptop wouldn’t turn on, and got a service request number so I could send it in for repair. I shipped it off yesterday using UPS, and upon checking the tracking number today, found the following:
CONTACT UPS FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION / ALL MERCHANDISE DISCARDED. UPS WILL NOTIFY THE SENDER WITH DETAILS OF THE DAMAGE
I called them, and they told me another local delivery computer had the box, and they didn’t know what had happened because the local office was already closed for the day. I have to call the local guys tomorrow to find out what happened, but it’ presumably a write-off.
I think I’ll replace it with an MSI Wind.
Update: UPS is pissing me off!
Apparently the local shipping company never touched the box, and they think it was just a scanning error, but no one at UPS has any idea what the actual status of my package is, as it’s now in transit again. I suppose I’ll find out Monday when Acer gets it.
Getting Neverwinter Nights running in Windows 7
Please refer to my new blog for this post: http://www.laslow.net/?p=12
Dear CHBC
If you can’t show un-bias political segments, split from Canwest Media and shack up with Fox. You’ll enjoy each other’s company.
Bah.
Sometimes I wonder why I bother watching. I guess I’m just a bit of a sadist.
Overheard
Today at Wendy’s:
Customer: What’s that awful beeping?
Manager: Well, either the deepfrier is reversing or we’re all going to die.
Customer: *Runs screaming from the restaurant*
Manager: …
Dust Masks and Danger Pay
I used to train call center agents how to troubleshoot technical issues with a specific piece of software (a tale for another time), and one class a particularly outspoken agent (who had a tendency to ask rather personal questions) asked me “Do you like grilled-cheese sandwiches?” Please keep in mind that the subject of the moment had nothing to do with grills, cheese, or eating.
I stood in front of the class, slightly perplexed, and pondered for only a moment before answering, “Yes….”
Undeterred by the skeptical look on my face, she asked another question: “If I made you a grilled-cheese sandwich, would you eat it?”
This time I didn’t hesitate before answering with a firm, blunt, “No.”
Everyone laughed. The girl didn’t seem at all surprised, and dropped the subject. I honestly have no idea why she asked (I never did ask her), but based on some of her other questions (again, a story for another time) I can only assume she had a mild crush on me.
I did, however, explain to the girl, and class why I wouldn’t eat the offered sandwich, and why I no longer take my shoes off if someone else me not to.
Computers Imitating Politics
While looking through Event Viewer logs on a few servers today, I came across this gem:
The master browser has received a server announcement from the computer COMPUTERNAME that believes that it is the master browser for the domain on transport NetBT_Tcpip_{AF4FC9E2-13C7-E47B-A. The master browser is stopping or an election is being forced.
It seems the server was trying to keep in line with Canadian Politics, however it got the outcome a little wrong.
