Spin SP515-51GN-82UU laptop stuck on Black screen after BIOS downgrade attempt. Need help

Hi, I seem to have managed to brick my laptop by trying to downgrade my bios in order to be able to undervolt the cpu to prevent high temps while gaming. In order to be able to downgrade my bios, I had changed the platform.ini file so that it no longer checks if the version is the same or lower then currently installed.

My original Bios version was 1.14, and I wanted to go to Bios version 1.10, hoping that this would give me back the option to undervolt the CPU (which was disabled due to the 'Plundervolt' remedy).

So I ensured that the AC power supply was plugged in, then I started the Bios downgrade from Windows, the laptop rebooted, went into the Bios upgrade (downgrade) screen, started loading the new bios and after about 40 seconds the progress bar was at 100%. The laptop then rebooted again. It then made 2 beep sounds, the keyboard keys where illuminated but it never showed the green Acer logo... So I left it powered on like that for about 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, it still was not proceeding, so I then powered it off by holding the power button. After I powered it back on again, still only the black screen and illuminated keys, the hard disk spins up for a couple seconds after that only the fans are slowly running.

I've checked with a flashlight to see if the screen is unlit, but perhaps still showing the acer logo, but nothing. Also a second screen, connected through HDMI, didn't show anything.

I've already tried the following things:

1) unplug the CMOS battery and Lithium battery from motherboard and leave unplugged for about an hour.
2) Put an extracted bios file for v1.10 so BuzKL110.fd on different size FAT32 formatted usb-sticks (512MB, 2GB and 16GB) and then inserted in the powered down laptop with inserted ac adapter, pressed and held fn + esc and then pressed the power button and released all keys at start up. The laptop boots untill the black screen, stays powered on for 30 seconds, then reboots again to the black screen and illuminated keys and then does nothing. Left it for 30 minutes, but nothing happens.
3) I've done the same with the original bios version so v1.14 and BuzKL114.fd.
4) I've also tried renaming the *.fd files to bios.fd
5) I've tried adding the wincrisis files MINIDOS.SYS and PHLASH16.EXE to the usb-sticks both with the *.fd files and also with the renamed bios files with extention *.wph.

Not sure what else there is to try, but I really would appreciate help. I hope anyone can help me!

Accepted answers

ErwinK

So, unfortunately I wasn't able to get my laptop up and running again, using the recommended Acer Bios Recovery methode (fn+esc while switching on laptop with a USB thumbdrive inserted containing an .fd file). But, stuborn as I am, I wasn't going to accept that my laptop was now a fancy paper weight...

So I went and bought me a CH341A USB programmer together with a SOIC SOP8 Flash-Chip-IC-testclips Socket Adapter. This way I didn't have to desolder the bios chip, but I could easily place the clip over the bios chip and make good contact to all pins of the bios chip.There are numerous How-To videos on Youtube, I found that a video from Adamant IT was very helpfull (but I didn't change the output voltage of the CH341A): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ0rAM-N7tY&list=WL&index=1&t=1005s

I used the fd file that you need to extract from the bios file that I downloaded from Acer. But this fd file is 9MB while the bios chip is only 8MB. So I first read the Bios chip and saved the buffer to a file called bios.org and opened that file in HxD. Then I opened the .fd file from the downloaded bios in HxD and searched for the first line similar to the first line of the bios.org file and removed everything above it. Then I did the same for the last line of the bios.org file and removed everything after that from the .fd file. Now the .fd file was exactly 8MB large.

So I then loaded the now 8MB large .fd file in ASProgrammer, wiped the bios chip and then wrote the .fd file on the bios chip. And now my laptop is back to life! YES!!

Hope this helps anyone with a bricked laptop...

Disclaimer, I am not responsible for any bricked or fried bios chips. The above short description of how I got my laptop back to life again is purely for educational purposes only, do not try this at home

All comments

StevenGen

ErwinK said:

Hi, I seem to have managed to brick my laptop by trying to downgrade my bios in order to be able to undervolt the cpu to prevent high temps while gaming. In order to be able to downgrade my bios, I had changed the platform.ini file so that it no longer checks if the version is the same or lower then currently installed.

My original Bios version was 1.14, and I wanted to go to Bios version 1.10, hoping that this would give me back the option to undervolt the CPU (which was disabled due to the 'Plundervolt' remedy).

So I ensured that the AC power supply was plugged in, then I started the Bios downgrade from Windows, the laptop rebooted, went into the Bios upgrade (downgrade) screen, started loading the new bios and after about 40 seconds the progress bar was at 100%. The laptop then rebooted again. It then made 2 beep sounds, the keyboard keys where illuminated but it never showed the green Acer logo... So I left it powered on like that for about 10 minutes. After the 10 minutes, it still was not proceeding, so I then powered it off by holding the power button. After I powered it back on again, still only the black screen and illuminated keys, the hard disk spins up for a couple seconds after that only the fans are slowly running.

I've checked with a flashlight to see if the screen is unlit, but perhaps still showing the acer logo, but nothing. Also a second screen, connected through HDMI, didn't show anything.

I've already tried the following things:

1) unplug the CMOS battery and Lithium battery from motherboard and leave unplugged for about an hour.
2) Put an extracted bios file for v1.10 so BuzKL110.fd on different size FAT32 formatted usb-sticks (512MB, 2GB and 16GB) and then inserted in the powered down laptop with inserted ac adapter, pressed and held fn + esc and then pressed the power button and released all keys at start up. The laptop boots untill the black screen, stays powered on for 30 seconds, then reboots again to the black screen and illuminated keys and then does nothing. Left it for 30 minutes, but nothing happens.
3) I've done the same with the original bios version so v1.14 and BuzKL114.fd.
4) I've also tried renaming the *.fd files to bios.fd
5) I've tried adding the wincrisis files MINIDOS.SYS and PHLASH16.EXE to the usb-sticks both with the *.fd files and also with the renamed bios files with extention *.wph.

Not sure what else there is to try, but I really would appreciate help. I hope anyone can help me!

This is what you do for your SP515-51GN in case of a corrupted BIOS and/or what you have done. You have to do a "BIOS Recovery" as is instructed in the SP515-51GN SG,

Note: only do this if YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING and are experienced with this sort of BIOS recoveries!!!

Below is a caption of the instructions but be careful as Acer warns every consumer on the BIOS sections of their laptops and that is specifically written in RED lettering that "Upgrading your system BIOS incorrectly could harm your Acer product. Please proceed with caution" as downgrading a BIOS update is very dangerous if done incorrectly as it causes problems like you are having, next time don't touch and/or modify the BIOS as a BIOS UPDATE NOT DOWNGRADE is only done for specific reasons and what that specific BIOS update fixes for a specific problem(s) and what the BIOS title says that its specifically for, also don't presume anything as far as a BIOS update is concerned as you will end up bricking your system like you have. These are the instruction please proceed with caution, otherwise you will need to have the BIOS chip replaced by an experienced technitian that has all the proper tools. Good luck and hope this helps you out.

ErwinK

Hi StevenGen, thanks for your response. But if you look closely at my initial post, you'll see that I've done exactly what you suggest (points 2 and 3) and different variations of that (points 4 and 5). So unfortunately, the standard solution doesn't seem to work.

billsey

What format is the flash disk? IIRC it needs to be FAT (if <= 2GB) or FAT32 (if > 2GB) before the recovery system will recognize it. If you are exFAT or NTFS that might be the issue.

ErwinK

I've tried with FAT and FAT32 on all my USB sticks whih rang from 512MB, 2GB, 4GB and 16GB. But none have worked so far.

I did see a light on my 4GB stick come on. I start the laptop with AC cable attached and fn + esc keys pressed. Then after a short while the usb stick light starts flashing. Directly after that the laptop reboots and after that no more lights on the usb stick and the screen remains black...

ErwinK

krookjakal11 said:

The black screen with the spinning sign on our product is to make sure that the user is still there, and not in a position that he is blocked by some firewall or the VPN is not working. Once the connection is established, the spinning sign auto-stops and the full video loads. In case you have any problems with using this product, do not hesitate to contact us. We are ready to help you.

I'm not really sure what your post has to do with my issue... I think you've replied to the wrong topic

billsey

@ErwinK as you can see now (or maybe not see), that message has been removed. It was just a spammer putting some random message up with their link hidden in it.

ErwinK

billsey said:

@ErwinK as you can see now (or maybe not see), that message has been removed. It was just a spammer putting some random message up with their link hidden in it.

Ah, thanks! 👍🏻

ErwinK

So, unfortunately I wasn't able to get my laptop up and running again, using the recommended Acer Bios Recovery methode (fn+esc while switching on laptop with a USB thumbdrive inserted containing an .fd file). But, stuborn as I am, I wasn't going to accept that my laptop was now a fancy paper weight...

So I went and bought me a CH341A USB programmer together with a SOIC SOP8 Flash-Chip-IC-testclips Socket Adapter. This way I didn't have to desolder the bios chip, but I could easily place the clip over the bios chip and make good contact to all pins of the bios chip.There are numerous How-To videos on Youtube, I found that a video from Adamant IT was very helpfull (but I didn't change the output voltage of the CH341A): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJ0rAM-N7tY&list=WL&index=1&t=1005s

I used the fd file that you need to extract from the bios file that I downloaded from Acer. But this fd file is 9MB while the bios chip is only 8MB. So I first read the Bios chip and saved the buffer to a file called bios.org and opened that file in HxD. Then I opened the .fd file from the downloaded bios in HxD and searched for the first line similar to the first line of the bios.org file and removed everything above it. Then I did the same for the last line of the bios.org file and removed everything after that from the .fd file. Now the .fd file was exactly 8MB large.

So I then loaded the now 8MB large .fd file in ASProgrammer, wiped the bios chip and then wrote the .fd file on the bios chip. And now my laptop is back to life! YES!!

Hope this helps anyone with a bricked laptop...

Disclaimer, I am not responsible for any bricked or fried bios chips. The above short description of how I got my laptop back to life again is purely for educational purposes only, do not try this at home

DrIsaacAndy

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1094716#Comment_1094716

Anyone able to successfully recover using this guide?

Mine reboots automatically after powering ON with FN+ESC , and released 2 seconds after it boots up.

Not sure if that suppposed to happen, but the laptop remains blank screen with the keyboard litted up. With no changes

billsey

The key part of that process is the file has to be named correctly, and the name required isn't published in most cases. The internal model designation was Buzz_KL, so maybe buzzkl.fd or buzz_kl.fd would work. This is one of the big reasons they make it difficult to downgrade a BIOS, it's so easy to brick it, requiring a trip to a service center to get it reflashed.

DrIsaacAndy

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1100168#Comment_1100168

@ErwinK where exactly is the bios chip anyways.

Ive taken a photo of my motherboard. And I would really appreciate if you can point me where is the chip.

Also is it SPI or BIOS?

billsey

Here is the layout:

So, SPI ROM chip.

DrIsaacAndy

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1314650#Comment_1314650

@billsey this is for which model? Doesnt look the same as mine.

Mine is SP515-51GN-54XS

billsey

You are right, that was for the version that didn't have the discrete GPU. Here's the correct one:

Sorry about that…

StevenGen

https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/comment/1314585#Comment_1314585

From the photo that you have above this is the bios chip circled in red below as shown in that mobo diagram above, good luck and hope this helps you out further.