Flash bios without Windows? TravelMate B118-M

Ravi45
Ravi45 Member Posts: 1 New User
edited November 2023 in 2020 Archives
My Acer computer looks like infected by bios virus. It sudden hangs. So I want to reflash the bios but going to the driver section I only find the bios driver to be install under Windows as it is a Windows executable file. It doesn't work after reflash so is there any idea so I can flash a clean bios without hard disk and possibly infected Windows?

Answers

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer
    Acer only supports BIOS flash under Windows environment, so no other way to do it as end user; official Acer support service will be able to do it.
    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • Logological
    Logological Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    IronFly said:
    Acer only supports BIOS flash under Windows environment, so no other way to do it as end user; official Acer support service will be able to do it.
    I'm in the same situation.  I have an Acer TravelMate B118-M which I bought new without Windows.  (I think it had Linpus Linux preinstalled.)  I would like to update the BIOS to the latest version but there is no obvious way of doing this.  If what you say is correct, why is Acer selling laptops preinstalled with Linux without giving the customer any way of updating the BIOS?

  • StevenGen
    StevenGen ACE Posts: 12,165 Trailblazer
    Do a clean install of Windows 10 Home is your only option, with the "Acer TravelMate B118-M" they mainly came with Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit pre installed.  
  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,234 Trailblazer
    Yes, the Travelmate B118-M was only shipped with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit. If they had shipped a SKU with Linux as the OS they would have an alternate BIOS install package. Perhaps you can get it working with a Windows emulator like Wine?
    Perhaps it would be worthwhile to spend a little time trying to diagnose the issue first though. It's very unlikely to have a BIOS virus with a system using UEFI like yours...
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Logological
    Logological Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    billsey said:
    Yes, the Travelmate B118-M was only shipped with Windows 10 Pro 64-bit.
    My laptop definitely didn't come with Windows. When looking to buy a laptop I specifically looked for one that did not come with Windows, and I found several retailers in my country (including big-name ones) that offered this particular model without Windows.  If what you say is correct, then all these companies must be buying Acer laptops wholesale, stripping them of their Windows install, loading them up with a bare-bones Linpus Linux or "Acer EShell OS", and then reselling them to the customers.  That seems like an awful lot of (potentially illegal or contract-violating) work for no benefit.

    billsey said:
    Perhaps you can get it working with a Windows emulator like Wine?
    I wouldn't want to risk flashing the BIOS from a Windows emulator.  Those sorts of programs need very direct access to the hardware.

    billsey said:
    Perhaps it would be worthwhile to spend a little time trying to diagnose the issue first though. It's very unlikely to have a BIOS virus with a system using UEFI like yours...
    I am not worried about a virus; my problem is with the laptop screen rapidly turning off and on for no good reason.  This points to something very low-level, like the video driver or the BIOS or maybe even a hardware problem.  I wanted to try upgrading the BIOS first, as that is normally something that is quick and easy to do.  Not in this case, I suppose.

  • billsey
    billsey ACE Posts: 34,234 Trailblazer
    Yeah, we typically don't recommend a BIOS update unless there is a specific problem that the update is supposed to address and I don't remember seeing anything about screen issues. What specifically is happening? The screen just randomly shuts off, or flickers on and off? If it's off does a keypress or mouse movement bring it back for a while? Does it seem to follow any app around, or does it not seem to have anything to do with a specific app? Does it happen if you sit in the BIOS screen, or only when in the OS?
    Click on "Like" if you find my answer useful or click on "Yes" if it answers your question.
  • Logological
    Logological Member Posts: 10

    Tinkerer
    billsey said:
    What specifically is happening? The screen just randomly shuts off, or flickers on and off? If it's off does a keypress or mouse movement bring it back for a while? Does it seem to follow any app around, or does it not seem to have anything to do with a specific app? Does it happen if you sit in the BIOS screen, or only when in the OS?
    This is all covered in a dedicated thread here.  Good news is that the problem has since been solved.

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