AAHD3-HB (Hibiscus) 655590-001 Motherboard BIOS Recovery / De-Bricking

Chris Bajumpaa

Welcome EEVblog viewers. ;-)

Recovering from a bad flash after the 7.16 Rev. A BIOS update.

Problem:

Sometimes (All the time?) after applying the 7.16 Rev. A BIOS update the motherboard is bricked. The following procedure shows how to de-brick.

Symptoms:

No Post.
Black Screen.
Power on with no power indicator led.
Post with keyboard error.
No usb functionality.
Unhappy user and/or machine owner.
        

Models affected:

HP Pav Slimline s5-1115kr PC KOR
HP Pavilion h8-1160jp AMD (Hibiscus) 3C
HP Pavilion p7-1102 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1108p Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1126 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1132 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1138 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1141 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1142 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1147c Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1148p Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1154 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion p7-1174 Desktop PC
HP Pavilion s5-1130jp AMD (Hibiscus) 3C        
        

Prerequisites:

• At least one HP PC with a dead AAHD3-HB 655590-001 Motherboard.
• A working Linux machine with USB.
• Arduino Uno
• Latest version of flashrom from SVN as of 4/4/2013
• serprog-duino
• avr-gcc, avr-libc, and avrdude to install serprog-duino
• AAHD3-HB Motherboard BIOS Update

Instructions:

1. Get the latest version of flashrom.

   $ svn co svn://flashrom.org/flashrom/trunk flashrom
   $ cd flashrom && make && make install
                   

2. Get the latest verson of serprog-duino.

   $ git clone git://gitorious.org/gnutoo-personal-arduino-projects/serprog-duino.git
   $ cd serprog-duino && make && make upload
                   

3. Connect the Arduino to the ROM_RECOVERY header.
   I used a 10 pin female to female ribbon and some breadboard jumpers to make the connection.
   
   
   

   The flash chip on this motherboard is a W25Q16V which is a 3.3V Part. I could only get it to flash using 5V. The motherboard was broken. It wasn't going to get anymore broken than it was. I figured I was spending a $100 bill on a replacement anyway. It was a last ditched effort and it worked for me. YMMV.

   
   

   
   Remove the SPI_CS# jumper from the ROM_RECOVERY header.
   
   Arduino Pin 10 (SS, PORTB2) to ROM_RECOVERY Pin 1 (SPI_CS#)
   Arduino Pin 11 (MOSI, PORTB3) to ROM_RECOVERY Pin 4 (SPI_MOSI)
   Arduino Pin 12 (MISO, PORTB4) to ROM_RECOVERY Pin 6 (SPI_MISO)
   Arduino Pin 13 (SCK, PORTB5) to ROM_RECOVERY Pin 8 (SPI_CLK)
   
   Arduino GND to ROM_RECOVERY Pin 7 (GND)
   Arduino 5V to ROM_RECOVERY Pin 5 (3VSB)
                   

4. Test the connection with flashrom. If you get any kind of error check the connections above. Try swapping ROM_RECOVERY pin 4 with ROM_RECOVERY pin 6.

   # flashrom -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyACM0:2000000 -r testdump.rom
   flashrom v0.9.6.1-r1666 on Linux 3.2.0-39-generic (i686)
   flashrom is free software, get the source code at http://www.flashrom.org
   
   Calibrating delay loop... OK.
   serprog: Programmer name is "serprog-duino"
   Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q16V" (2048 kB, SPI) on serprog.
   Reading flash... done.
                   

5. Extract the Flash image from sp56409.exe
   

   Use 7zip or whatever to extract HIB_716.ROM from sp56409.exe.
                   

6. Rewrite the flash.

   # flashrom -p serprog:dev=/dev/ttyACM0:2000000 -w HIB_716.ROM
   flashrom v0.9.6.1-r1666 on Linux 3.2.0-39-generic (i686)
   flashrom is free software, get the source code at http://www.flashrom.org
   
   Calibrating delay loop... OK.
   serprog: Programmer name is "serprog-duino"
   Found Winbond flash chip "W25Q16V" (2048 kB, SPI) on serprog.
   Reading old flash chip contents... done.
   Erasing and writing flash chip... Erase/write done.
   Verifying flash... VERIFIED.          
                   

7. Test the machine.

   Disconnect the Arduino from the ROM_RECOVERY header.
   Replace the jumper across SPI_CS# on ROM_RECOVERY header pins 1 & 2.
   Power on the Machine.
                   

8. Success! Good job.
   

   Drink frosty beverages.