Unable to flash new bios to my AH530 - Any recommendations?

Hi folks,

Just like it says in the title... I have a Fujitsu AH530 laptop and I'm trying to update the bios firmware with a newer version (v1.07 to v1.14) that I got from Fujitsu's Support page. It didn't take and I've no clue what to do next . It gave me an error code -120, and says "New BIOS part number doesn't match system BIOS part number". I called their Tech Support and they had no explanation after exhausting their trouble-shooting steps. Their last recommendation was to restore the laptop to its factory default settings, and the try flashing the bios. Any recommendations you guys can provide is greatly appreciated.


Thanks!

-grecinos

No, It's a Phoenix BIOS.

hmmm.. Seems legit. I'll give it a shot.

wish me luck

I tried it, but it didn't take. You think I should try the DOS method?

Edit: Aww that's only for the Award BIOS.

Tried it in Safe Mode, tried it in Diagnostic Boot Mode (ie, msconfig). No go on both

Yea, same message. Fujitsu Tech Support suggested to restore to factory default settings like you mentioned. I'm thinking I'll make a system image to a USB drive, reset it, and try flashing it...

*sigh*

Ok, well, here's what happened.

I made a system image to an external HD. I then restored the computer to its factory default settings. Afterwhich I tried flashing the bios with the 3.14 version. It gave me the same error message, but said I should click on the Help button for more assistance. It said, to access more options, click on the advanced button. I had to modify an .ini file to get it to show up the advanced button. So, in their, there was an option to disable something that would help with the flashing procedure. After doing that, I tired flashing the BIOS again. This time, it said that my BIOS was eiher the same version or later. Not sure how this is, being the my bios version is 1.07 and the new one is 1.14. Then I decided to try the 1.16 bios using the same procedure. It went through about 32 steps and got down to the last step afterwhich the laptop shutdown. After that, the laptop was dead. No BIOS screen, nothing...

I called their tech support and explained what happened. The guys told me that under these circumstances, they normally don't do warranty repairs. But he made an exception this time. The laptop was RMA'd and I sent it out within the last hour. Turn-around time is about 2 to 3 business days.

This laptop was my Web Development staging server. The good news, and the reason why I'm not flipping out, is that I have 2 spare laptops that I use in cases such as this. I made backups of my website and will migrate it to one of my backup laptops.

The reason why the BIOS didn't take was because the version 1.16 patch was for the UK and not USA.

The lesson learned is, I should have checked with their tech support to see if the patch was compatible with what I currently have.

All in all, I'll get a new motherboard and hopefully the latest BIOS. And the good news is that I won't have to pay a penny. THANK YOU FUJITSU!


-grecinos

Ok, just to follow-up... I got my Lifebook back today and all is well. I was able to migrate all my web development stuff on to it without any problems. Curious though, that according to the BIOS, it's version is still 1.07 and not 1.14. I have no intention of updating it. I'm going to leave it as is until I have a good reason to upgrade with the advice of a Fujitsu Techie. One hard lesson learned.