I was trying to flash the BIOS on my new Shuttle computer when the
programming software reported a verification error. This was definitely not
a good sign! While the computer would continue to function when running XP
(NT and XP do not use the BIOS), I could not turn the power off since the
computer could not boot. I tried to restore the old binary file to the BIOS,
but each attempt continued to return a verification failure.

To solve my problem, I had to call Shuttle tech support and have them send
me a new BIOS chip. Incidentally, while Shuttle tech support was rather
difficult to get through to (took two attempts and 20-minute on hold), once
I got hold of them, the technician was easy to deal with and did not even
charge me for the part of shipping. I also had tried to contact them via
e-mail, but that took over a week before they responded and that contact
asked for a $5 fee to reprogram my chip - still a reasonable cost, but would
take too long considering slow mail.

Now for my question to the list. Since I do not have a flash ram programmer
for this BIOS chip, is it possible to pull the chip while power is on to the
computer, insert another chip and then program it? What I am really asking
is whether it will damage the flash RAM chip by removing and inserting it
with the power turned on. Obviously, I can't turn the power off before
placing a blank chip in since the computer will not boot then.

Thank you for sharing any experiences on this - good or bad.

Peter
----------------------------------
[log in to unmask]

         PCBUILD maintains hundreds of useful files for download
                     visit our download web page at:
                  http://freepctech.com/downloads.shtml