I tried to update my BIOS using the firmware from the MSI website, but my laptop shut off at 5% update. I suspected that the BIOS was damaged, and this was the cause of my laptop's failure to start.
- EC reset didn't help
- After turning on, the black screen hangs indefinitely
- Heat gun
- Solder
- Active flux
- Soldering iron
- CH341A programmer (may be on the CH341B chip, this is a new revision)
- QFN8/DFN8 chip adapter
I had to completely disassemble the laptop, the chip was on the opposite side of the motherboard (relative to the CPU and GPU).
BIOS Chip
Next, I attached aluminum foil around the BIOS chip
BIOS chip with foil
I tried to flash the chip via NeoProgrammer and the clip that came with the programmer - nothing worked. Don't do this!
Unsuccessful firmware attempt
I bought a QFN8/DFN8 chip adapter, soldered the chip on it.
Adapter with chip
But even after this, the chip didn't flash. Reading the chip after flashing returned a mess.
The registers looked like this
Registers
Program log
Programmer, for MCU, AVR, SPI FLASH/EEPROM, I2C, Microwire,2.2.0.10 (15.10.2021)
chiplist.dat Version: 29.09.2021
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Currently selected: MX25L25673G [3.3V] 256 Mbits, 32 Mbytes
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Using programmer: CH341 Black
0:43:25
Erasing flash...
The process can take more than a minute on large flash drives!
Success
Execution time: 00:00:03.417
Using programmer: CH341 Black
0:43:37
Reading flash... Main Memory
Success
Execution time: 00:04:45.732
CRC32 = 0xEA0DDEFA
Done
Using programmer: CH341 Black
0:51:13
Reading flash... Main Memory
Success
Execution time: 00:04:47.578
CRC32 = 0xFE5CF682
Done
Protection Register was: 01000000(0x40),
Protection Register became: 01000000(0x40),
I needed to rework the programmer. Rework guide
Programmer before and after rework
Then the chip was successfully flashed.
- NeoProgrammer
- Choose the MX25L25673G chip (I had the MX25L25673GZ4I-08G in my laptop)
- Firmware from the MSI website. An archive of versions is located here
- Dump the chip
- Erase the chip
- Choose the firmware file
- Flash the firmware into the chip
Next, I had to solder the chip back onto the board and assemble the laptop, which I successfully did.
Chip before and after soldering
And the laptop turned on
Turned on laptop
Since I successfully erased my serial numbers, I needed to restore them.