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Unusual BIOS flashing issue - G751JY Bricked + Bios Failure Recovery

Edweird
Level 10
Hey, everyone.

So the sound issue of yesterday is long gone now and I'm happy to have been part of the whole thing.
Laptop has been working great for me but started acting funny, GPU drivers crashing regularly (I check regularly if I have GPU OC on, I don't) and blue screens every 1-2 weeks (I assumed this was XTU's fault with the dynamic undervolt, which was stable at -90 up until 1.5 months ago but appears to cause trouble now, so I changed it to -50).

So against my better judgment I decided to give the new 207 a go in hopes that some of the issues may be decreased and i wanted to see for myself if anything related to G-SYNC is working now (back when that driver came out it did, but flickered a lot).

So I took my trusty 2GB, FAT-formatted USB drive and popped the new .207 file onto it. This drive has been used to great success in this configuration in flashing several laptops, including my old N61Ja, which has been flashed with it upwards of 10 times.

The BIOS hardware and software in that laptop is very similar to the G751JY and the interface is literally the same.
I started up ASUS Easy Flash from the BIOS sicne that's known to be most reliable and it read the new .207 BIOS file just fine and asked for a go-ahead. I chose Yes.

Aaaaand...sigh. 10% in on the "Deleting Flash" or w/e procedure it just cut off, the laptop shut itself off and now it's in that all-too-familiar state where it turns on with no keyboard backlight and no screen backlight, restarting itself with the LEDs on and the fans running. It tries to read off the USB drive but it doesn't manage.

Now - I'm making it obvious - it never got to using the BIOS file on the flash drive. ASUS Easy Flash killed it before it was done removing the old one. I've already messaged Support and requested escalation as I've never seen this process fail like this before.

I know exactly how to disassemble the G751, there are several videos of it online, but the CMOS battery is hidden under the motherboard. You have to remove the keyboard section, which is a potentially damaging process as it is, remove the back speaker plate, detach the screen, detach the motherboard and everything attached to it, flip it and remove the battery. This trick used to work on the N61 when something went kaboom with the BIOS but the risk of damaging something this way is too big and I've read that these new models have memory backups for the BIOS, which the CMOS battery trick doesn't get around - and I want to preserve the warranty in case I absolutely must send it in.

So...anyone have any ideas? Blind flashing, some type of software-based recovery? Again, the machine never got to flashing the new BIOS, so it's unlikely that caused it, and is currently not POSTing. The old adage of "don't touch the BIOS unless you really must" stands true.

Thanks.

Specifications as per standard support standard:

Full model name under the notebook:
G751JY-T7065D


Bios version:
205, attempted update to 207

CPU:
i7-4710HQ

Memory amount in GB:
8

GPU:
nVidia GTX 980M, 4GB

SSD/HDDs/Optical drives:
1TB HD, Super-Multi DVD

AC Adapter:
Original ASUS 230w adapter

Operating system:
Win8.1 64-bit

Original ASUS factory image or clean install?
Clean install, own Win8.1 x64 copy received from MSDN through student program.

Microsoft Activated yes/no?
Yes

Drivers Installed (include version and especially any non-ASUS approved notebook drivers):
Original ASUS drivers, latest ones to date for everything.

Any third Party temp/voltage software installed:
No

System Overclocked (provide details)?
Yes, using Intel XTU. Multipliers set to x36 as permitted by BIOS version .205, Dynamic undervolt set to -50mV.
ASUS GpuTweak, latest, set off at time of issue.

Any hardware upgraded?
No, all factory original hardware.
26,920 Views
27 REPLIES 27

Bridger
Level 7
I think you won't have an option to either send it in or to open it up by yourself if the removal of the Bios battery will fix you problem.

I flashed my Bios yesterday in windows like I am doing it now since years on different machines and never had a problem.

Edweird
Level 10
I couldn't understand what you meant with your first sentence but I think removing the battery wouldn't work this time because Easy Flash must have completely screwed the file up. I don't know whether or not any possible solutions rely on at least a semi-intact BIOS.

I have had issues before due to my own errors that I was not aware of before, but this is a different problem altogether.

Unless G751's have a backup BIOS section (a dual bios), the BIOS probably needs to be taken out and re-flashed by a BIOS flasher.
Most of us cannot take the BIOS off a motherboard and have a flasher and can put it back without damaging something.....
Once a BIOS is corrupt to that point there is usually no return short of the above.

I would probably contact asus and send it in. 😞 Just my 2 cents.

Edweird
Level 10
Could be. Problem is, I have to ship it to the store I bought it from for them to make the decision of whether or not to fix/change it, not ASUS. I don't know what they'll say.

But that's a last resort, I'm waiting on ASUS Support techs to call it. I can't imagine what sort of unfortunate circumstance conspired against me. Perhaps that the drive was formatted in FAT instead of FAT32...but then what does that have to do with Easy Flash deleting the old data...especially since I can count at least 5 people used a less reliable method (I'm told it is, anyways, WinFlash etc.) that got away with it no problems.

About the second BIOS, it baffles me why after all this experience and tech that has gone into building these machines, they wouldn't have introduced a backup BIOS like the rest of their ROG products. Especially considering how valuable and expensive these are compared to a desktop of the same performance. I understand that these machines are not as accepting of overclocks but still - people who like to tinker (like us) are a large part of the userbase, same as how people who DON'T tinker are a large part of the userbase of the desktop motherboards with double BIOS setups who just want a reliable mobo.

It could very well be that your much used USB FAT is defective. It sounds like you have been using it for awhile and other files may have corrupted your 207.bin file.
I'm not sure on the 751 but the G75 have a last chance BIOS flash. You would have to still have the original BIOS file still on the Root of your Hard drive. then Control + Home hold these down boot the notebook hold until Ezflash starts. If you don't have that file still on the root of your OS Drive it won't work. You could pull your hard drive and add the BIOS file rename it G751.bin? that is how the G75 were set up. Hmscott or cl-albert would know for sure. PM cl-albert if he doesn't reply soon.
G752VY-DH72 Win 10 Pro
512 GB M.2 Samsung 960 Pro
1 TB Samsung 850 pro 2.5 format
980m GTX 4 GB
32GB DDR 4 Standard RAM

Z97 PRO WiFi I7 4790K
Windows 10 Pro
Z97 -A
Windows 10 Pro

I've already pm'd cl_albert, thank you for the advice, I didn't know this process existed. I doubt it's changed much.

The flash drive is quite old, yes, but I did a clean format on it before I copied the file over.

Yes I only assumed that it would still be current. The file name is critical in getting it to work. I only remember G75.bin but it could have been G75VW.bin. I don't really remember and I have never needed it.
G752VY-DH72 Win 10 Pro
512 GB M.2 Samsung 960 Pro
1 TB Samsung 850 pro 2.5 format
980m GTX 4 GB
32GB DDR 4 Standard RAM

Z97 PRO WiFi I7 4790K
Windows 10 Pro
Z97 -A
Windows 10 Pro

Edweird
Level 10
It appears a whole slew of ASUS laptops used this fix. According to popular opinion, putting a G751JY.BIN on the original HDD should do it with either CTRL+HOME or CTRL+ALT+HOME on the older models.

I distinctly recall there being a BIOS file on my harddrive on this laptop and my previous N61 that I am 100% sure was a BIOS flash file that i am sure I did not put there, must have been automated backup or something.

I'll try this first thing when I get back home from work.

Yes Asus put that file on there just for this purpose. It should still be there unless you deleted it or clean installed or course that would have overwritten it.
G752VY-DH72 Win 10 Pro
512 GB M.2 Samsung 960 Pro
1 TB Samsung 850 pro 2.5 format
980m GTX 4 GB
32GB DDR 4 Standard RAM

Z97 PRO WiFi I7 4790K
Windows 10 Pro
Z97 -A
Windows 10 Pro