MSI flash bios failed K9NBPM2-FID

[carsick]

I went to the MSI website and ran their Live Update 5 program which showed that I could update my Bios among other things. I selected the new bios for download, followed the instructions for the Windows flash (vs Dos flash). Seemed to go ok but now Windows 7 won't boot.

It does go through the boot process then comes to a screen that ask to start Windows normally or go into System Recovery Options. If I try to start normally, I get the windows logo where it says Windows and the four colored dots start moving, then it reboots.

If I go into System Recovery Options, and I go through startup repair i get the following in the Diagnosis and repair details: Root cause found: A hard disk could not be found. If a hard disk is installed, it is not responding.

All thoughts appreciated. Thank you.

 

[StrangleHold]

Reset the bios by the jumpper on the board or take the battery out for a few minutes. Do this with the computer off and unplugged. Then if it still ask the same, go into the bios and in the exit options pick Load Optimized Defaults, then Save and Exit. If it still does it, go into the bios and make sure your harddrive is set in the boot order.

 

[carsick]

Thx for the quick reply. Followed all your instructions, no luck. My system is setup with mirrored drives using the fastbuild utility. Could this be part of the problem?

In the CMOS setup Utility the IDE Primary and Slave along with SATA1 show up as Not Detected but in the boot sequence the hard drive shows up as RAIDDC42819 A

 

[carsick]

Well, I will never purchase anything MSI again. No support, they can't even comprehend basic english.

Can I just purchase a new motherboard, drop it in and be up and running again? or is it more complicated than that? Thx.

 

[johnb35]

Well, I will never purchase anything MSI again. No support, they can't even comprehend basic english.

Can I just purchase a new motherboard, drop it in and be up and running again? or is it more complicated than that? Thx.

Only if its the exact same motherboard. Anything with a different chipset in it will cause eithe a boot loop or blue screens when you try booting up. You will have to reinstall windows, possibly do a repair install depending on the license you have.

 

[carsick]

Can I reflash the bios using a bootable thumb drive? I don't know how to do that, but read that somewhere.

 

[johnb35]

Updating the bios requires being able to boot the computer. Since you can't boot, you can't update the bios. You either need to get a new motherboard or if its msi board is still within warranty, then send it in to get the bios chip replaced.

EDIT... oh wait, i'm thinking of another thread. Yes, you can update via usb flash drive if the board allows it.

 

[carsick]

So how do i do that? I've tried googling it but it's not clear. The netbook I'm typing on is XP, the PC in trouble is Windows 7. Can I format the usb on my XP netbook, then copy the bios files onto it?

 

[tremmor]

in the bios as boot device.

 

[johnb35]

I skimmed through the manual for your board and it doesn't say if it supports updating bios by usb, I doubt if it does.

Chances are when you updated the bios you, it changed some settings in the bios and its not allowing you to boot into windows. Make sure your raid settings are correct.

 

[carsick]

you may be correct. I just figured out how to make a usb dos boot device using the HP utility. I get to a dos prompt, then run the command afud408 a7252nms.550 and get the following:

ami firmware update utility ver.4.08 ...

bootblock checksum .... ok
module checksums...... ok
Error: ROM file size incorrect

 

[carsick]

Now I have problems with my array, drive one not responding.

I'm stuck. I don't know what "Error: ROM file size incorrect " means.

I'm not sure I understand the purpose or proper procedure for unpluging and removing the battery.

All thoughts greatly appreciated. thx.

 

[johnb35]

I wouldn't be messing with updating the bios by flash drive. If you have raid 1 then you can change to regular sata mode and hopefully it should boot to one of your drives. If it was raid 0, you would be screwed right now.

 

[carsick]

Is it safe to assume that flashing the bios is what screwed up my system? The reason I ask is that if all I need to do to be up and running is to go out and buy a new mobo, cpu and memory, then I will. But would hate to have the same problem after spending that money. tia.

 

[johnb35]

Yes, it was the bios flash that did you in. But like i said, its possible a setting is misconfigured in the bios.

 

[carsick]

I'm hoping you are right. I'm at the point where the cheapest option (if I get a bit lucky) is to buy a new motherboard. I pretty sure I have one bad drive, I really hope that other one is ok. Last backup was like 4 weeks ago. thx for your replies.

 

[carsick]

Well, I got the new motherboard, and at first it wouldn't even post. Took out a stick of ram out and it started up. Then it recommended I run startup repair. It certainly did a lot more tests than before, but to no avail. A long list of test were performed successfully but at the end it said:

Unspecified changes to system configuration might have caused the problem.

I ran through the startup repair on each drive (only one drive plugged in at a time) with the same results. When I try to boot windows it seems like it is just about to boot up (boots much further into the process) but in the end the computer reboots.

So what to do? Buy new hard drives and start from scratch?

 

[johnb35]

If this new motherboard is a totally different motherboard then what you had, you will need to do a fresh install of windows. The reason why its rebooting is because the hardware is all different on the motherboard.

 

[carsick]

Thx for the reply. I'm willing to do that on one of the drives since they were mirrored. Do you think I will be able to read the other drive somehow, at a later time, after I get things up and running?

 

[johnb35]

Yes, you will be able to read either drive if you put them in a system that boots to windows.