can i just replace this - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / beginners

author: littlebill
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:39:31 am
content: i have a laptop not working, after looking at replacement boards i have notice all have stickers over this chip. the board i have and pulled used boards, don't have this sticker, telling me this is all they are changinghttp://www.ebay.com/itm/10-PCS-MXIC-MX25L3206EM2I-12G-SOP-MX25L3206E-M2I-12G-MX-25L3206EM2I-12G-MX25L320-/301232130259?hash=item4622d588d3:g:VUwAAOxyLm9TFTbkthat appears to be the chip, the concern though is this chip the bios? if this is true i prolly need to flash it, and i don't have the tools to do itcan anyone confirm this is the case?

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:45:46 am
content: Before I answer, lets go about showing how I would get to that answer.Question : What is the part?Answer: Macronix MX25L3206EM2I 32Mbit Serial Flash. (4MB)http://www.macronix.com/Lists/DataSheet/Attachments/3199/MX25L3206E,%203V,%2032Mb,%20v1.5.pdfSo 4 Megabyte flash chip. So yes being a flash chip, it will have to be programmed before use.Is it the bios chip? 99% possibility.And as for your assumption that they changed the flash chip because the sticker is missing, that's probably wrong. They probably just peeled the sticker off.Some laptops can have a password lock on them and that could be stored in the flash chip. So if they did replace it, that would be the most likely reason. So unlikely to fix your laptop. The reasons for changing a flash chip would be that it failed, had an incomplete flash and the laptop won't boot, or trying to bypass password security.Unless your laptop stopped working after you flashed the bios, you're not going to gain much by changing the chip.

author: littlebill
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:49:05 am
content: i did look the chip up, i did notice it was a flash chip, but since i am such a noobie, i was hoping someone was going to tell me i could just replace it and be on my way, the chip is 5 bucks, a new used board is 85, was hoping i could just change it, i don't have the tools or ability to flash the chip

author: littlebill
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:53:02 am
content: actually you misread what i said. the replacement mb from china, HAVE stickers over this chip, the original board (what i have) and pulled working boards from the usa DON't have this sticker.this laptop does not boot, i thought it desoldered the video card but a reflow didn't fix it. close inspection on this chip did appear to have a burn mark, but i can't see the burn after wiping it off

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:53:26 am
content: Quote from: littlebill on December 27, 2015, 12:49:05 amOr... You could give us some more information and maybe we could figure out how it failed.Laptops from around 2005 until around 2010 that had Nvidia chips on them frequently had issues where the chip came up from the board a bit because of lead free solder being more brittle than leaded solder.It has happened to other things as well such as frequently with HP printers.Those can be sometimes fixed by baking the board in an oven. Not all boards have connectors that will allow them to be reflowed so you might google that.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:54:39 am
content: Quote from: littlebill on December 27, 2015, 12:53:02 amOk, then it could have burned up somehow.

author: wraper
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:58:18 am
content: Quote from: Stonent on December 27, 2015, 12:53:26 amChips made from 2006 till the end of 2008. Chips made in 2009 are not affected.QuoteThose chips can be revived by heating in 95% of cases but they will die again in a few months maximum, more likely in a few weeks. Huge numbers of clueless idiots have baked their boards making them irreparable.

author: littlebill
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 12:58:44 am
content: Quote from: Stonent on December 27, 2015, 12:53:26 amwhat temperature do you do in your oven, i did one a while back at 350 for about 40 minutes, with about 5 bucks in quarters sitting on the gpu, working for a while but the board did end up dying anyway, chip had some serious burn marks

author: _Andrew_
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 01:10:43 am
content: You mentioned that the laptop fails to boot but you did not mention how fare it gets or if a message is displayed. Are you able to access the BIOS utility when starting up the computer. F1, F2, Delete are common keys to use to access the BIOS utility. Also some computers have a BIOS backup with bootable drive default sometimes accessed by pressing F10.It is also worth checking if there are any BIOS flashing utilities available to download from the computer manufacturer as some computers as long as it can power up to the point where the flashing utility can operate of cd-rom or usb.

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 01:11:18 am
content: Quote from: wraper on December 27, 2015, 12:58:18 amWell I didn't bother to look up the exact dates which was why I said "around"

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 01:12:11 am
content: Quote from: _Andrew_ on December 27, 2015, 01:10:43 amAt this point I think he's going to need to give us some details about his computer, such as brand, model etc.

author: alsetalokin4017
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 01:17:06 am
content: Have him watch some Louis Rossmann videos about reflowing boards!

author: littlebill
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 02:40:55 am
content: Quote from: _Andrew_ on December 27, 2015, 01:10:43 amThe laptop is dead. pushing the button powers the unit for about 3 seconds. the fan spins up, the power light, lights. then it turns off. the screen does not power or POST.its a toshiba laptop p775-s7320

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 02:41:33 am
content: Quote from: alsetalokin4017 on December 27, 2015, 01:17:06 am"Look at the sh!tstain that tried to reflow this!"

author: Stonent
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 02:46:59 am
content: Quote from: littlebill on December 27, 2015, 02:40:55 amRemove hard drive, optical drive, unplug LCD cables, unplug keyboard. Remove wifi, and other modules. Unplug power, battery and cmos battery.Hit the power button several times to discharge anything.Put in one DIMM and try to power it on using AC power only.If not, move the DIMM to the other slot.If not, remove that DIMM and install the other DIMM.If not, move that to another slot.Reseat the processor, try again.If at any time it seems like it is powering on, connect an external monitor OR plug the LCD back in.One by one start plugging things back in and testing it each time.

author: littlebill
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: December 27, 2015, 03:19:41 am
content: Quote from: Stonent on December 27, 2015, 02:46:59 amyep i did all that