BIOS Update cancelled, computer won't start

[jbrownsts]

Hi everyone, last night my Asus laptop randomly started updating my BIOS, I had no idea what it was so I cancelled it. I restarted my laptop but only the LEDS work, no display, no keyboard function...this is a brand new laptop, please help.

 

[Sedril]

Any way you could get the latest bios onto a CD and try to flash it again, letting it finish this time?

 

[Sub Styler]

unlikely your gonna be able to boot a CD or HDD or USB or anything!

A failed flash leaves you with a dead BIOS! To me automatic BIOS updates are unheard of and they should give you clear warning not to power off a machine when an update is in progress.

Since your machine is new and if this update truely was automatic and you were not advised of the consiquences of aborting it they should be sending you a replacement machine pronto!

If you thought you'd get the latest BIOS for kicks n giggles then forgot to charge your battery and pay your utility bill then yeah your screwed. On a desktop it's possible you would have a dual bios which would save you or even a bios reset jumper which probably wouldnt work but would be worth a try but on a laptop these features are not mainstream if existent at all.

If you bought it on the high street you should take it back ASAP and not leave without a replacement. For online shops follow the RMA procedure and you will get another one.

 

[simmo]

You will have to attempt to RMA it...Failed Bios Flash = Dead Mobo...and unless you have a dual bios board which is unlikely then you're pretty much screwed is my belief.

First time I ever heard of a Bios auto updating itself btw..If that is the case it's pretty pathetic that you didn't get some form of warning as in DO NOT POWER OFF YOUR MACHINE lol.
And it should have asked
politely first.

 

[Comp Cmndo]

You will have to attempt to RMA it...Failed Bios Flash = Dead Mobo...and unless you have a dual bios board which is unlikely then you're pretty much screwed is my belief.

First time I ever heard of a Bios auto updating itself btw..If that is the case it's pretty pathetic that you didn't get some form of warning as in DO NOT POWER OFF YOUR MACHINE lol.
And it should have asked politely

That's how they're doing it now. Download the BIOS update along with all the other updates. Surprised the hell out of me. It did save the install for last & gave all the appropriate warnings once the install commenced. My HP laptop has the BIOS backup function, what you refer to as the dual bios, so it can be rolled back.

Looks like Asus doesn't do this. Return the laptop for warranty replacement.

 

[Archer1978]

I had a similar situation to this when i bought my MSI gx740 gaming laptop, but i updated the bios threw windows (Not Adviasable) and it said it passed, but after i restarted the laptop it was dead, only the LED's would work.

So what i did because it was still under 12month warranty, i pleaded ignorant and said it just died when i was gaming. Obviouslly they tested it and was found to be a dead Mobo (According to them) hehehe.

I got a replacement 3 days later as it had to come from London somewhere.

So find your reciept, pack your latop up, take it back to the shop and plead ignorant (DONT TELL THEM YOU TRIED TO FLASH BIOS) they probably blame you and wont replace it.

I wont tell them that you turned it of because like a couple of posts said, you should of got at least some warning it was updating bios.

 

[sygnus21]

First time I ever heard of a Bios auto updating itself btw..If that is the case it's pretty pathetic that you didn't get some form of warning as in DO NOT POWER OFF YOUR MACHINE lol.
And it should have asked politely

That's how they're doing it now. Download the BIOS update along with all the other updates. Surprised the hell out of me.

Hmmm.... I've never seen/heard of an "auto" update for a motherboard BIOS. That can be dangerous and costly if a user didn't know they were updating a BIOS and shut down the PC

Anyway a BIOS update will always warn about shutting the PC/item down before the flash is finished, or else trouble awaits. In addition there are warnings that you have to acknowledge before proceeding.

@ Archer1978

While it's generally not recommended to flash through Windows, it's actually the easiest way to do so, and the way I've done mine for awhile now.

 

[Comp Cmndo]

.... I've never seen/heard of an "auto" update for a motherboard BIOS...

Proof enough for you?

 

[Golden]

Hi,

HP can do some odd stuff sometimes - I use a ZX800 workstation at work, and as part of the installation (unbeknownst to me and our support technicians) there was a software suite that ran an invisible health check on the PC, and then rebooted the PC at 00:01 on the 1st of every month. Since my work involves running a lot of modelling that can take several days, you can imagine my annoyance at coming to work on the 1st on each month to discover the PC rebooted, and all my work corrupted.

I spent some time in GPEDIT.MSC disabling automatic updates without luck, and then by chance found the HP health check software and its schedule. Turning off the schedule didin't work - it just turned itself back on, so a....ermmmm....."enforced uninstallation" of the health check software "happened" with a good bout of solid cursing of HP and all and sundry associated with it, and all was well again.

Regards,
Golden

 

[Bill2]

Not limited to HP. Sony has something similar called Vaio updater and I have seen a bios update included in its list on at least one VPC notebook. Being a control freak, I immediately uninstall such useless apps.

 

[sygnus21]

.... I've never seen/heard of an "auto" update for a motherboard BIOS...

Proof enough for you?

OK, but does it "auto" update? Meaning does it download and install itself without user action? That's what I mean when I say auto.

Contrast that to Windows Update which "automatically" updates the OS (provided you allow this), but will never "automatically" updates drivers, and does not include BIOS updates.

Anyway my point is the automatically updating a BIOS without user intervention.

 

[DeaconFrost]

Add me to the club of "never saw it before" There had to be some kind of user intervention to cause a BIOS to update. What if the laptop was running on battery and didn't have enough juice to get through it?

I've used many HP laptops in the past, but I'll be the first to say they get wiped clean and none of the bloatware gets reinstalled. I wouldn't need a software app updating drivers or the BIOS for me. OEM's make that process simple enough already.

That all being said, you should have let the update go through, rather than canel in the middle. It looks like you'll be getting an RMA (hopefully) to return your laptop.

 

[theog]

.... I've never seen/heard of an "auto" update for a motherboard BIOS...

Proof enough for you?

Is the BIOS update for the EFI BIOS partition on the Hd Drive, or the BIOS chip on the MOBO?

 

[legacy7955]

Wow this is sort of scary stuff to me!

While most users are pretty ignorant even the most basic PC users probably have never seen a auto update for the BIOS, and it would maybe surprise them or catch them unaware, resulting in a significant chance of damage to the computer.

Folks like us are vigilant about checking the settings for updates, and also blocking something like this from automatically occuring, but many users would have no clue about how potentially damaging a failed BIOS update can be.

 

[djl47]

To me automatic BIOS updates are unheard of ...

Automatic BIOS updates should remain unheard of. Even with a manual update the warnings should be very clear about the consequences of a bjorked BIOS update.

 

[Dwarf]

To me automatic BIOS updates are unheard of ...

Automatic BIOS updates should remain unheard of. Even with a manual update the warnings should be very clear about the consequences of a bjorked BIOS update.

Agreed.

If your system is working properly, there is generally no need to install a BIOS update. Most of these updates just extend the board's compatibility with CPUs and RAM, although some also fix errors in the existing code. It is very important to read the documentation that comes with the upgrade prior to applying it to see what fixes are implemented and if it pertains to your situation. If it doesn't, and you aren't having any problems, then leave well alone. A botched BIOS upgrade can render your system an expensive paperweight. This sort of update is one where you should be notified first, and given the option to install or not.

 

[Comp Cmndo]

.... I've never seen/heard of an "auto" update for a motherboard BIOS...

Proof enough for you?

OK, but does it "auto" update? Meaning does it download and install itself without user action? That's what I mean when I say auto.

Contrast that to Windows Update which "automatically" updates the OS (provided you allow this), but will never "automatically" updates drivers, and does not include BIOS updates.

Anyway my point is the automatically updating a BIOS without user intervention.

No, it does not "auto" update. Never said it did.

 

[sygnus21]

That was the point I was making with my post. It wasn't meant as a personal attack

 

[sygnus21]

Wow this is sort of scary stuff to me!

While most users are pretty ignorant even the most basic PC users probably have never seen a auto update for the BIOS, and it would maybe surprise them or catch them unaware, resulting in a significant chance of damage to the computer.

Folks like us are vigilant about checking the settings for updates, and also blocking something like this from automatically occuring, but many users would have no clue about how potentially damaging a failed BIOS update can be.

I think if you install a program like the one Comp Cmndo shows here, or something like say Gigabyte has which shows all updates available for your motherboard, than yeah, those will show you BIOS updates as well, but they won't (shouldn't) install without user intervention. And as I said, you won't see BIOS updates in Windows Update (at least not yet, though though UEFI might change things. Just a wild guess).

 

[simmo]

BIOS updates aren't always necessary or of any benefit for the end user unless you are having some issue with the board. If its doing this as some part of an auto update run by some POS software installed by the manufacturer then I,personally would remove said software asap to the rubbish bin.