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Hi there, everyone. I've gotten my self into a bit of a dilemma. In my attempt to flash a modded BIOS onto my friend's GA-M61SME-S2 (rev. 2.x) mobo, I seem to have bricked the thing. I turn it on and the fans spin, the LEDs shine, but there is no display output or hard drive access.
Strangely, I did not make the mistake of using Windows to flash the BIOS, I used the built-in flashing tool, and it still bricked the machine. I've tried a variety of recovery methods, and none have worked successfully. I've tried recovering from CDs and DVDs, and I even went out and bought a pack of floppies to use, and none of the methods involving those things worked either. It's an Award BIOS, and unfortunately, it seems as though it's not removable, so I can't attempt a hot-flash or send it somewhere to have it flashed.
I've been searching the Internet, and I may have stumbled upon a clue, if anyone's willing to help me. I'd really appreciate it. I used a hex editor to search through the BIOS file from Gigabyte's site, and I found the string "BIOS Auto-Recovering .Scanning BIOS Image in Hard Drive" inside of it. Upon further searching, I found this forum thread at http://www.motherboardpoint.com/awar...e-t158156.html. Although it's for a different motherboard, the two seem to have similar BIOSes. From there, I found a link to a Russian forum http://forum.rom-by.com/viewtopic.php?p=86823 where someone seems to have figured it out. Unfortunately, much of it is still beyond my level of skill.
Upon further searching, I found out that a backup of the BIOS is stored on the hard drive in a special area called the HPA (Hidden Protected Area). It seems as though if I could get someone who has the same (or similar) motherboard as me to send me a copy of their HPA, I might be able to recover the BIOS
Perhaps I could use the original CD that came with the motherboard and extract the HPA from there? Or is that too far-fetched? Thanks in advance, to anyone who helps me 
-Drew Carey Buglione
Strangely, I did not make the mistake of using Windows to flash the BIOS, I used the built-in flashing tool, and it still bricked the machine. I've tried a variety of recovery methods, and none have worked successfully. I've tried recovering from CDs and DVDs, and I even went out and bought a pack of floppies to use, and none of the methods involving those things worked either. It's an Award BIOS, and unfortunately, it seems as though it's not removable, so I can't attempt a hot-flash or send it somewhere to have it flashed.
I've been searching the Internet, and I may have stumbled upon a clue, if anyone's willing to help me. I'd really appreciate it. I used a hex editor to search through the BIOS file from Gigabyte's site, and I found the string "BIOS Auto-Recovering .Scanning BIOS Image in Hard Drive" inside of it. Upon further searching, I found this forum thread at http://www.motherboardpoint.com/awar...e-t158156.html. Although it's for a different motherboard, the two seem to have similar BIOSes. From there, I found a link to a Russian forum http://forum.rom-by.com/viewtopic.php?p=86823 where someone seems to have figured it out. Unfortunately, much of it is still beyond my level of skill.
Upon further searching, I found out that a backup of the BIOS is stored on the hard drive in a special area called the HPA (Hidden Protected Area). It seems as though if I could get someone who has the same (or similar) motherboard as me to send me a copy of their HPA, I might be able to recover the BIOS
Perhaps I could use the original CD that came with the motherboard and extract the HPA from there? Or is that too far-fetched? Thanks in advance, to anyone who helps me -Drew Carey Buglione
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