P170HM - black screen, lapstop boots up. 7970m blind flash

[Magnusson2004]

Hi All

I am new here to this forum.

I have a question..I bought a 7970m (Clevo version) for my P170HM from eBay...The seller did list it as faulty/not working and explained that it had worked but after an update it did not work...I bought it hoping that I was lucky

But all I get is a black screen, the laptop boots up ...but gives me nothing. No beep or lights flashing. Black screen and the laptop starts up. I have tried blind flashing, but did not help.

Is there anything I can do to "save" it or is it actually dead? I actually think it has been baked/reflowed, as the stickers look burnt. Can a wiz in here do some magic so that it works again?

It is v. 1.2 with a vbios: BR43595.003 and was used in an Alienware M15x...but I did blind flash it.

Here is the card from eBay:

Thanks in advance!

Michael

[yoshey791]

if you know some1 with a crossfire laptop put it in as the secound card and then see what happens and what info you can bring up on the screen. then try to flash it that way..

[Khenglish]

What vBIOS did you flash on? There is a specific vBIOS that must be flashed for the 7970m to work on HM series, otherwise it's a black screen as you describe.

[Magnusson2004]

What vBIOS did you flash on? There is a specific vBIOS that must be flashed for the 7970m to work on HM series, otherwise it's a black screen as you describe.

Hi

I used the 7970m modded vbios fil from Notebookreview...from Jaybee: (hope it is ok that I mention a name and link to the site!)

[GUIDE] - Blind-Flashing AMD 7970M modded vBIOS for Clevo P1xxHM Laptops

[yoshey791]

yes khenglish is correct. try this vbios i posted here:

http://forum.techinferno.com/clevo/2059-excellent-upgrade-p150hm-7970m-4.html#post100602

its the modded vbios that was on my MYTHLOGIC clevo 7970m

[Magnusson2004]

Hi Yoshey

Thank you very much..I will give it a try:)

Just being curious, would it also work on a MS-1761 (MSI)?

[Magnusson2004]

So..have tried to use Yohsey´s vbios and others...nothing happens Guessing the card is bricked from the beginning. Have tried in the 2 laptops that I own...they do start up, no dangerously blinking lights or sounds..normal start up..but totally black screen.

If the card is bricked...is there a kind soul on here, that lives in Europe and is capable of soldering a new vbios chip on the card? (Will pay of course!!)

[H658tu]

It's a rather large chip with only 8 pins, so you could do it yourself (svl7 has made a nice guide). But if you want, I could do it for you; have a programmer, so you won't need a pre-programmed chip, a blank would do (=cheaper). Don't think I can test it for you though; customized my 7970m heatsink for a Dell model, the Clevo has a different IC arrangement. No cash required, just shipping costs, unless you want it tested; takes me an hour or so to hacksaw all the little heatsinks.

Of course, there's no guarantee that a new vbios will actually do the trick, something else could be amiss.

For the record, you did test non-EUFI boot?

Oh, and think this is the most recent vbios for this model (and the one I'd flash):

v024_ne_7970M_clevo_BR43595.003.zip

[Magnusson2004]

Hi H658tu:)

Thanks for your reply!

Where are you located?

I have not tried Non-Uefi boot....would that help?

I have a spare heatsink which the card is already attached to...would not mind shipping it back and forth with the extra weight:)

[H658tu]

Europe, email me and I'll send you my address.

And not sure, but non-EUFI might help if it's a modified vbios, iirc the UEFI section isn't affected when modifying (so perhaps enduro is still enabled on uefi part?). Try non-uefi and a bootable usb, make sure the correct boot order is set. Hm, though you would have done so anyway, otherwise blind-flash is impossible ... And sure, send heatsink along, have a different Clevo, but same layout, think it'll fit.

Do you have a new vbios chip yet? If not; see if you can still make out the part nr. and order a new one, a blank one is about $2 (inc. shipping). The old one might still be flashable with a programmer, but better to rule out a faulty chip for that price ...

[Guest]

A Dell AMD card won't work in a Clevo no matter what vBIOS. It uses a different thermal sensor which the Clevo EC can't read which in return results in a thermal shutdown.

Also only the old 7970M Clevo cards work in HM shells, the newer ones even with correct vBIOS result in a permanent driver crash.