Acer Aspire 3 A315-41-R6VQ ACNXGY9ED012 BIOS recovery

Albert1st1

I upgraded my "bios" EFI and the bios update went to 100% and the "EC update" started and the screen went black it should and i went away to get something to eat and when i came back the laptop was turned off.
When i tried to start my laptop i only got the black screen indicating a failed bios update.
So i know needed to recover the bios.
I extracted the isflash.bin from the DH5JV111.exe by running it and navigating to C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Temp and copying 7z*.tmp folder that includes the isflash.bin.
I opened isflash.bin with UEFITool then "Action>search" or ctrl+f and then choose the text tab and typed .fd to search for .fd "Search scope, header and body" "Text search options, Unicode" double-clicked the result in the lowest field and then right-clicked the marked up name in the main field and choose  "Hex view...".

I then looked for the .fd filename.

I now know that the fd-filename is DH5JVx64.fd

The instructions for recovering insyde bios that i found for Acer is removing the battery and disconnect the AC adapter, plug in the usb-stick press and hold Fn+esc then plug in the ac adapter and the recovery should start.
Acer Aspire A315-41 battery is built in so it can't easily be disconnected, i need to take the bottom apart.
I tried without unplugging the battery and the fans spins up to max but looking at the led on my usb it only blinks once for power and it isn't indicating that it reads anything from the usb-stick.
I hope that someone with access to an service manual would be able to check if the battery needs to be disconnected and whats the right procedure to recover the bios on this laptop.
I also wonder what content that should be on the Fat32 formatted USB-stick since my research has shown different results some info says only the isflash.bin renamed to DH5JVx64.fd while other sources says everything from the unpacked DH5JV111.exe?
What should a proper recovery usb look like and should the partition or label be empty or named to anything specific?

Procedure of opening laptop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0S9BIghFnU
Bios download https://www.acer.com/ac/sv/SE/content/support-product/7540?b=1&pn=NX.GY9ED.012

The laptop is brand new and i wonder if recovering a failed bios flash is covered by warranty in Europe if i send it in?
I also wonder if opening the laptop and disconnecting the battery if needed to restore the bios would void warranty?

There are no warranty void stickers and one should be able to replace the battery if needed without voiding warranty but i have no idea whats Acers policy.

This laptop also has an built in M.2 so it needs to be opened to change the drive.

This is my second attempt to post this since in the first post i had a lot of whitespaces and when i edited the post it was placed in a queue for approval and i have waited many hours for it to appear.

JackE

>>>The laptop is brand new >>>

If still within the seller's returns policy period, return it as defective ASAP for a refund or replacement. If not, arrange for an ACER warranty repair of a failed video adapter or screen. https://www.acer.com/ac/sv/SE/content/support  Have your machine's serial number id (SNID) ready. Jack E/NJ

JackE

Yes, DH5JVx64.fd is the correct filename about 9MB size. If there are any other extracted files with the .BIN, .ROM or .WPH extensions about 9MB size, they should also be re-named and tried. Jack E/NJ  

JackE

>>>The laptop is brand new >>>

If still within the seller's returns policy period, return it as defective ASAP for a refund or replacement. If not, arrange for an ACER warranty repair of a failed video adapter or screen. https://www.acer.com/ac/sv/SE/content/support  Have your machine's serial number id (SNID) ready. Jack E/NJ

Albert1st1

It's within the return police period but i bought it because i want that laptop.

I don't believe that it has any defective hardware only a failed bios update and i rather try to recover the bios if possible.

JackE

The FN+ESC cold boot flash method with a FAT32 stick having only the FD file in the root directory is correct. If it fails, the BIOS boot block is likely defective. Return the machine to the vendor as defective for a replacement A315-41 ASAP. Jack E/NJ

Albert1st1

Doesn't the battery need to be removed/disconnected?

What does the service manual say about bios recovery?

JackE

>>>Doesn't the battery need to be removed/disconnected?>>>
No.

>>>What does the service manual say about bios recovery?>>>
With the machine off and charger plugged in, press and hold the FN+ESC keys. Then while still holding the FN+ESC keys press the power button. Hold the FN+ESC keys till you see stick LED activity. The system should automatically shut down after completion within about 5mins. If it doesn't try it at least 2 more times.

Jack E/NJ

Albert1st1

The fd-filename DH5JVx64.fd is correct for that model?

Was it correct to rename the extracted isflash.bin to DH5JVx64.fd?

JackE

Yes, DH5JVx64.fd is the correct filename about 9MB size. If there are any other extracted files with the .BIN, .ROM or .WPH extensions about 9MB size, they should also be re-named and tried. Jack E/NJ  

Albert1st1

I was hoping to be able to recover the bios but since it doesn't read the usb flash drive it's not possible.

I will contact the seller and see how to go from there, i do want this laptop model.

Thank you JackE for taking time to help and guide me with my questions, in the end it's not the solution i hopped for but at this stage after testing an bios recovery i have no other choice then to contact the seller for a solution.

Thank you so much and have a nice day, your help is very appreciated.

JackE

The fact that the BIOS failed to update initially, and later respond to crisis mode recovery, suggests a hardware defect to begin with. Your request for a vendor exchange seems reasonable. Good luck. Jack E/NJ

Albert1st1

I might as well write an update, i did send it to Acer.

I called Acer support in my country and opened a case and i got a shipping label in my email that i printed out and put on the package and also an ADR sticker that needed to be on the package.

I didn't need to pay for any shipment or anything it was all covered by warranty.

I recieved it back with the technician report as follows:

"Bios reflashed, system reinstalled (factory settings), Intel VGA driver updated. Test run and hardware test error free"

I did laugh some over the Intel VGA driver update but then i thought that it's something done by default.

As expected i got a bios reflash to fix the problems caused by my failed bios update, to bad i didn't put a little sticker over a screw so i could have seen if it was was just flashed or opened.

Very close to receiving my A315-41 there was another bios update available v1.13 so i once again updated the bios, this time flash was successful.

Bios v1.13 is much better then earlier bios updates for me as an Linux user but there's still some minor nitpicks but nothing that cripple usage.

JackE

>>>Bios v1.13 is much better then earlier bios updates for me as an Linux user >>>

Thanks for the report. However, in what way is it "much better"? Jack E/NJ

gtomas007

Hi 

Can i reflash same or lower version bios on my acer a315-41 ? Now bios in 1.13. I forgot my bios pass. I want to flash same or lower bios.. I extracted fd file.. i have 2  questions 

1. I have 2 files (platforms and platforms.ini) wich file i must change i waht excact i must change. 
2. Can I flash bios with fat32 bootable usb and wich files i put to usb

Thanks 

gtomas007

where is on this laptop located cmos batery? i looked video but i don't see cmos batery

Albert1st1

JackE said:

>>>Bios v1.13 is much better then earlier bios updates for me as an Linux user >>>

Thanks for the report. However, in what way is it "much better"? Jack E/NJ

Sorry for the late reply but it's better late than never.

Well linux use more bios tables then Windows but the support has improved with each bios update.

With v1.13 my laptop is usable and everything seems to work like hibernate and so on but i do need to override IVRS tables.

There was a lot of changes in v1.13 they don't post a changelog the size of v1.11 is 6.2MB and v1.13 is 10.0MB so i guess the update was quite extensive.

v1.11 was also better than earlier bioses.

It's like small steps with every bios update.

In earlier bioses there was problems with freeze and lockups, but i haven't tried every bios update.

There are still problems with bios v1.13 like the IVRS table doesn't list the correct IOAPIC IDs and that causes linux driver to disable interrupt-remapping support provided by HW IOMMU this still needs to fixed in the bios.

As a temporary fix i can override IVRS tables on boot with "ivrs_ioapic[4]=00:14.0 ivrs_ioapic[5]=00:00.2" but it should really be fixed in an bios update so it boots linux by default, it won't boot linux by default and needs these extra parameters that is hard to find and use for many linux users.

JackE

Thanks for the report Albert1st1  Most of us are still saddled with hardware & firmware that are primarily designed to try to achieve compatibility and functionality with the increasingly troublesome and rapidly changing Win10 version life-cycle policies. Accordingly, I believe the GUI status quo in PCs is in fact on the cusp of changing to an alternative GUI. I'm currently using a GUI distribution on my machines that's easily configured to have almost the same look, feel and functionality of the last half-way decent Win7 OS. And yes it default boots with a simple re-arrangement of the Win and Grub boot managers in the boot order of the existing UEFI boot strapper, no updates needed.  I think many manufacturers are starting to see the handwriting on the wall and adjusting to the impending new PC GUI environment. Jack E/NJ

Albert1st1

JackE said:

Thanks for the report Albert1st1  Most of us are still saddled with hardware & firmware that are primarily designed to try to achieve compatibility and functionality with the increasingly troublesome and rapidly changing Win10 version life-cycle policies. Accordingly, I believe the GUI status quo in PCs is in fact on the cusp of changing to an alternative GUI. I'm currently using a GUI distribution on my machines that's easily configured to have almost the same look, feel and functionality of the last half-way decent Win7 OS. And yes it default boots with a simple re-arrangement of the Win and Grub boot managers in the boot order of the existing UEFI boot strapper, no updates needed.  I think many manufacturers are starting to see the handwriting on the wall and adjusting to the impending new PC GUI environment. Jack E/NJ

There's a new bios v1.15 and it solves the last problems, i don't need any overrides any more after bios upgrade and things now work as expected.

I'm very pleased with v1.15 bios.

I only got one thing that's not working optimally when i run a Linux distribution and that's brightness not working but that's a software bug and not related to any bios.

https://bugzilla.kernel.org/show_bug.cgi?id=203525