ATIFlash "ROM not erased"

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon Drivers Section' started by Saul, Mar 23, 2011.

  1. Saul

    Saul Guest

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    GPU:
    MSI R6950/OC 2GB
    Hi all,

    I recently bricked my MSI Twin FrozR II R6950 by flashing it to a 6970, only to realise that you can only "upflash" if you have a reference card, so my PC now won't even POST; fortunately I have the backup BIOS. At the moment, I have an old ATI card in the master PCI-E slot, with the broke R6950 in the secondary slot, so then I can boot into FreeDOS, or Windows safemode. However, in DOS when I do:
    Code:
    atiflash -unlockrom 1
    atiflash -f -p 1 backup.bin
    I get the following error:
    Code:
    ROM not erased
    Error [COLOR="Red"]0FL01 [/COLOR]- press 1 to continue
    Any help is much appreciated, thanks!

    EDIT: less verbosely, ATIWinFlash also fails with:
    Code:
    ROM programming FAIL
    (see http://screencast.com/t/9yHGVDqAd)

    NOTE: MSI Twin FrozR II's do NOT have dual BIOS switches
     
    Last edited: Mar 24, 2011
  2. GaBBa-Gandalf

    GaBBa-Gandalf Member Guru

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    what does it say when u use "-ai"
    and try to use the newest atiwinflash in dos
     
  3. Saul

    Saul Guest

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    I removed all installed VGA drivers in safe mode and now I've got into "real mode" again. So I'm using atiwinflash now, the program that was originally used to flash it to an R6950 in the first place. Here's the result of -ai:
    [​IMG]

    And this is weird... now the flash type is "Unknown", whereas before it was AT something (the ATMEL one). Also you can't use atiwinflash in DOS, can you? :eek: if you mean atiflash, I was already using the most up to date version :)
     
    Last edited: Mar 23, 2011
  4. GaBBa-Gandalf

    GaBBa-Gandalf Member Guru

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    Yes u can use it...

    open cmd as admin
    type:
    atiwinflash -unlockrom 1
    atiwinflash -f -p 1 backup.bin
     

  5. king-dubs

    king-dubs Ancient Guru

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    You're confusing him.

    Command prompt != DOS
     
  6. Saul

    Saul Guest

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    I've tried this but I get:
    "ROM programming FAIL"
     
  7. TwL

    TwL Ancient Guru

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    Last edited: Mar 24, 2011
  8. sarditia

    sarditia Member

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    Do not worry , follow this steps:

    1.Safe Mode , or System Restore - uninstall all drivers.
    2. Boot windows normali ,and start RBE (Radeon Bios Edtior)
    3.Download AtiWinFlash 2.0.1.14
    3.Load your bios in RBE and click, ...Flash
    4.Select AtiWinFlash folder , and click the "tick" button "FORCE FLASH"
    5.Then click FLASH and restart your computer after finish.


    Hope i help and sorry for my English.
     
  9. MadelineX

    MadelineX Guest

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    Maybe Skip the -unlockrom 1 command. Focus on just getting it un-bricked by replacing your backup. Or go online to techpowerup and grab the original bios from the archives there. http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/

    No worries. You can never bust a card without being to undo what was done.
     
  10. davetheshrew

    davetheshrew Guest

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    maybe ask unwinder nicely at the msi afterburner thread to help you, this card is not meant to be touched bios wise.
     

  11. beppe_7

    beppe_7 Master Guru

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    6950's dont have the bios switch by the crossfire connector like the 6970's?
     
  12. Saul

    Saul Guest

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    There is no BIOS switch on the MSI R6950 unfortunately, and yes I am using that version of Winflash.
    Same problem again:
    http://screencast.com/t/9yHGVDqAd

    Thanks for the advice though!
    Still the same issue without the -unlockrom command :( It seems even if I do:
    atiflash -lockrom 1 I still get the same error, so maybe it's not unlocking correctly?
    Afraid not :(
    And thanks Dave I will! :)

    Thanks for all the replies and suggestions again people it's really helpful!
     
  13. tomigun

    tomigun Guest

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    Hi Saul I know this thread is a bit old, but I have just recovered from a similar disaster.
    I have a Sapphire 6950 1gb that I tried to unlock the shaders on . BSOD Dead.
    I was using winflash and had modded a bios using RBE to unlock extra shaders.
    I had saved the bios as a .rom and I think that may have been an issue?
    Lucky for me I had just dumped the original bios using the sapphire software Trixx.
    in .bin format.
    I restarted using my intergrated graphics and tried to flash with winflash.
    I keep getting "cannot read Rom " error.
    after following this link http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2134576&postcount=19 using the command prompt like yourself and the original .bin bios I managed to restore my card.
    I tried again foolishly to unlock the shaders , but with no luck.
    lucky to still have a working card I guess.

    Regards
     
  14. thatguy91

    thatguy91 Guest

    try the W1zzard script, RBE unlock doesn't play nice with some non-reference bioses, whereas the W1zzard script does. Asus DirectCU II HD6950 for example (as I found out)
     

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