[request] unlocked bios for fujitsu celsius h710

[Brancomat]

Yay, thanks

The difficult parts were the connection between the bios chip and the ch341a. The chip looked kind of fragile and the ch341a I ordered didnt seem to have very high quality (I couldnt order the one you advised in austria so I bought one that looked similar^^). And then I wasnt sure if the connection was established or not. After a while I found out that the laptop needs to be plugged in haha. And then I had some trouble with asprogrammer. and finding a proper driver for the ch341a.

[Sml6397]

Yeah, that's pretty much the process I had to go through getting mine to work, minus the power cable needing to be plugged in. In my case, the connection issues were so bad that I had to order the Pomona 5250 clip in order to reliably read from/write to my test machine's BIOS chip.

I should have the BIOS mod to you very soon, possibly within the next 45 minutes!

[Sml6397]

Alright, the BIOS mod is ready. This should be the one!

This contains the mod previously uploaded plus a modified FD (Flash Descriptor) region that allows writing to/reading from the BIOS region of the BIOS chip. This will allow you to flash future mods if we find that something is not showing up as it should.

This mod shouldn't create a brick (I did do a direct edit to the UEFI image not using UEFITool because it wouldn't repack the Descriptor region, but I don't think there are any signature/checksum checks there - UEFITool usually fixes checksums/etc during the repacking process), so if you do get a brick, it was probably due to a bad connection and can be recovered for sure with one of the BIOS dumps you recently uploaded for me to check for consistency.

[Brancomat]

Bad news on my end: it seems like I damaged my laptop.

I replugged the ch341a, no problem with the connection, and flashed your modded bios. Then I closed the laptop and pushed the power button but nothing happend. For me it seems as if it had lost the connection, but I cant tell why or how that could had happened.

An odd thing is the battery. When I put it in, it takes 2-3 seconds, then the little battery led turns orange (sign for loading), blinks two times, turns green, then goes out. This happens with or without power cord plugged in. So there seems to a problem with the connection, because normally the led would always be on when the power cord is plugged in.

Yea I dont know what to do now (know nothing about electricity) but apparently the project is at a dead end. So thanks for all your time, effort and energy. Sadly the result was not so good^^ I just want to state out that I dont blame you or so, I was aware of the risk and fortunatly the laptop is already quite old and not that valuable anymore.

[Sml6397]

Don't despair! We are still almost certainly are in business!

As you stated previously, you had some connection issues when getting the BIOS dumps. I suspect that the cheap clip that is included with the CH341A is creating connection issues again. I had this same issue with what I thought was a dead laptop initially. I got it fixed though.

You have a good backup, so the laptop should absolutely be recoverable. The BIOS mod should also be able to recover the laptop as well. You will need to purchase the Pomona 5250 clip and some small jumper cables. This will probably be around 25-30 dollars USD. I will post further instructions later in the morning. I just wanted to post this now so you aren't worrying further.

[Sml6397]

Okay, you have two options. I recommend the second one.

1.) Use the current clip you have that came with the CH341A. This clip oftentimes does not get a good connection with the BIOS chip, and as such often reads/writes garbage from/to the BIOS chip. Since you did at one point get a good backup, we know it is possible to get a good connection to the chip - it's just difficult.

To verify that you have a good connection, you need to take two BIOS dumps with the programmer. In the AsProgrammer window each time you read the BIOS chip, make sure there aren't all FF bytes or 00 bytes (there may be a bunch of them, but the BIOS dump shouldn't exclusively consist of them). Then launch HxD hex editor and press Ctrl+K to compare the two BIOS dumps. If HxD does not say that the dumps are identical, then you have a bad connection with the BIOS chip. Unclip the clip and reclip it and then try again with 2 more dumps. When you get to the point where you have consistent dumps, then try flashing one of the backup images you took previously that you uploaded here.

We can also set up a time where you take dumps and upload them for me to compare. We can do this until you get consistent dumps.

2.) But of course, the most reliable sure-fire way to accomplish a BIOS flash is to purchase the Pomona 5250 clip. Here is one: https://www.valuetronics.com/product/525...cwQAvD_BwE

You can also get them off Amazon and other sites. I haven't used the site I linked to above before. They range from $13 USD and up.

You will also want to order 8 female-to-female jumper cables. I recommend 40cm or longer for convenience. Here's an example of what I mean (you'll want to be sure to select at least the 40cm option): https://www.amazon.com/EDGELEC-Breadboar...3?dchild=1&keywords=female%2Bto%2Bfemale%2Bjumper%2Bcables%2B40cm&qid=1628819528&sr=8-3&th=1

Most of them come with 40+ cables, which is extra... These packs, regardless of number, usually are around the $8-$12 USD range.


Let me know which option you choose.

[Brancomat]

Hey!

Thanks a lot for still believing and helping to fix the issue.

So I already tried your first option and I managed to create two consistent dumps. I flashed the chip with my first backup and then again created a dump and compared it with this backup. Not consistent. So I erased all the data on the chip and flashed the backup dump afterwards. Consitent! Yay. I put the battery back in and then the ac adapter and there was a first change, the battery was loading now! Unfortunately, there is still no reaction when I push the power button. Nothing. I also tried pushing it for 10 seconds - but still, nothing

Here is a thought that came to my mind. Is it possible that I discharged the bios battery by not having the ac adapter plugged in at first?

[edit] after i took out the battery trying to start the laptop with the ac plugged in only (didnt work), the battery wasnt charging anymore. but maybe its just fully loaded^^ so maybe the battery loading thing wasnt a change after all but just a coinsidence

[Sml6397]

Hmm...

And then I wasnt sure if the connection was established or not. After a while I found out that the laptop needs to be plugged in haha.

So you were able to get the consistent dumps that you uploaded here ONLY when the laptop was plugged in (in addition to having a good connection)? If so, then the laptop probably needs to be plugged in when you try to flash the BIOS mod or original backup as well (let's try the original backup for now and the mod later).

The charged/uncharged state of the CMOS battery shouldn't impact whether the system boots. The system may restart upon turning on once or twice or it might beep at you if the CMOS battery is uncharged or not present, but that shouldn't in itself result in a brick condition.

[Brancomat]

So you were able to get the consistent dumps that you uploaded here ONLY when the laptop was plugged in (in addition to having a good connection)?

Yes, exactly.

If so, then the laptop probably needs to be plugged in when you try to flash the BIOS mod or original backup as well (let's try the original backup for now and the mod later).

This is exactly what I was doing. I flashed the original bios while the ac was plugged in.

The charged/uncharged state of the CMOS battery shouldn't impact whether the system boots. The system may restart upon turning on once or twice or it might beep at you if the CMOS battery is uncharged or not present, but that shouldn't in itself result in a brick condition.

Ok, good to know.

So, do you have any more ideas what this could be? A short circuit maybe?

[Sml6397]

I am not 100% sure.

Without being physically present, I can't guarantee that it isn't a bad connection with the BIOS chip at the wrong time (ie: during the actual flash). In fact, I would still say that this is most likely the case.

My recommendation would be to purchase the aforementioned Pomona 5250 clip with the jumper cables to attach it to the CH341A SPI Programmer. You'll need to unplug the old clip from the CH341A programmer and plug in the 8 jumper cable wires from the CH341A to the Pomona 5250 clip.

You'll want to refer to the "Pin details" section of this article for the CH341A pinout: https://www.win-raid.com/t4175f16-GUIDE-...ammer.html

Connect the jumper cables to the Pomona clip such that it becomes a mirror image of the pins on the CH341A (ie: pins 1,2,3,4 on one side in a row and pins 5,6,7,8 on the other side in a row, with pins 1 and 8 exactly across from each other. Pin 1 from the CH341A corresponds to Pin 1 on the BIOS chip (denoted likely by a small dot by the pin on the BIOS chip itself).

Let me know if you choose to continue with the hardware you have or purchase the Pomona 5250 clip. I find this clip to be very highly reliable, so I would recommend it.