Acer Aspire 5560G is stuck in a boot loop at BIOS. I need help flashing the bios.

Hi,
After looking through lots of forums and trying to find out how to flash the bios on this laptop, I have decided to ask myself.
The laptop does not post, but restarts back to the Acer logo, and gets stuck continually like this.

I have downloaded the bios files from the Acer website, which contains a .bin file, along with other files. I have tried coping the DOS folder onto a USB drive, and booting while holding fn+esc.
I have tried renaming the .bin file to both .fd and.wph.
I have tried using wincris.exe to create a recovery usb.

Everything I have tried has ended with the same result. I have a black screen, the USB flashes for a few seconds and then stops, and the laptop doesn't appear to do anything else.

Can anyone give me any further guidance on what I need to be doing to recover the bios?

Thanks!

Accepted answers

georgebass

Just to update, I assumed the bios chip was so corrupted that it was unable to restore itself, so I ended up sending my motherboard off to have the bios chip removed and reflashed. I did this through biosmaster.co.uk, and they are very reasonably priced - only around £25 plus postage. After having this done, the laptop is now working perfectly again.

All comments

JackE

Did this happen suddenly for no apparent reason? What is the current operating system? Jack E/NJ

georgebass

There is not currently a hard drive installed. I am trying to fix this for a friend, and I believe he had Linux installed before it stopped booting.

JackE

The mere fact that you're seeing the ACER boot logo screen suggests the BIOS firmware is likely OK. Try this. Press and hold the power button till the laptop shuts off. 5-10 seconds. Turn the laptop back on and IMMEDIATELY start mashing the F2 key --- don't wait for the logo screen appear because it'll be too late and go into the loop again. Can you enter and see the BIOS menu OK? Jack E/NJ

georgebass

Unfortunately I still can’t enter the BIOS. I mash the key and it still comes up with the Acer logo. It beeps once and says please wait, but then still continues in a boot loop

georgebass

I’m going to try and put a hard drive in with windows installed to see if that makes any difference. I will report back with the results

JackE

Press and hold the F2 key first. Then while still holding F2, turn the machine on. Jack E/NJ

georgebass

I tried that and unfortunately I’m still getting the same result. I’ve now installed and hard drive with windows 7 installed, but this has also not made any difference. When you turn on the laptop and see the Acer logo, there is a loading bar which always gets to the same point before the screen goes blank and it starts again.

JackE

>>>When you turn on the laptop and see the Acer logo, there is a loading bar which always gets to the same point before the screen goes blank and it starts again. >>>

It has a phoenix not an insyde bios chip. Any crisis recovery has to be done by following various methods found by googling 'phoenix bios recovery'. But from your description, the crisis recovery methods will seriously risk completely bricking the machine, meaning the ACER logo won't even appear. Has the BIOS chip even been discharged and/or the lithium coin cell ever been replaced or its Voc checked to be at least 3.1V? The coin cells have a practical shelf life of less than 10 years. The wifi module must be removed to access the jumper and check the Voc. Jack E/NJ

georgebass

I have been told by the owner of the laptop that the cmos battery had been replaced when he was troubleshooting, but I have now replaced it just to rule it out. After doing that, I am unfortunately still getting the same result with the bios.

JackE

Has the KB connector been reseated a few times to the mainboard to help clean & secure its contacts? Jack E/NJ

georgebass

I’ve only reseated it once. Let me do it a few times to try and clean the contacts and I’ll give an update.

georgebass

Hi, reseated this about 10 times to try and clean up the contacts, but this has unfortunately still not made any difference. I’m still having the exact same symptoms. Anything else I can try?

JackE

>>>I’ve now installed and hard drive with windows 7 installed, but this has also not made any difference. When you turn on the laptop and see the Acer logo, there is a loading bar which always gets to the same point before the screen goes blank and it starts again.>>>

Do you get any BIOS beep error codes when you press & mash a bunch of random keys on startup with all your fingers & toes? Jack E/NJ

georgebass

No, nothing at all unfortunately. It only beeps once if you press either F2 or F12. Other than that, there is no error beep codes at all.

JackE

>>>It only beeps once if you press either F2 or F12. >>>

Do you have a Win7 installation USB boot stick? Jack E/NJ

georgebass

I do, I have just tried to boot off of it, but it still doesn’t make it past the Acer splash screen. I have tried spamming f2 and f12 but nothing changes. The only new thing is the battery indicator has started flashing orange, although I don’t believe the battery can hold any charge.