Well, I recently had my laptop repaired. It's a Toshiba Portege M400. The motherboard had kicked the bucket, and as a result I had to get it replaced, in doing so I got a newer motherboard with a newer BIOS version.

After getting it back, I found out that there was a problem with the BIOS in that the CPU fan speed could not be adjusted, and as a result the thing was loud as hell all the time. I checked with Toshiba's support thing and found that a BIOS update or downgrade might solve my problem, because apparently the problem started with a certain BIOS version and never really got fixed.

So I checked up on what the different BIOS versions did, and noticed that one was released right about the same time that I had bought the laptop last year, and the release notes said that it supported Yonah-Celeron processors. The processor in my laptop happens to be a Yonah and so I figured that might be the BIOS version that the laptop came with originally. I flashed it, the system rebooted, and now it would appear as if I have bricked my laptop, as it won't post.

The desired result was to have a laptop that I could take notes with in class, but with the CPU fan loud as hell that wouldn't exactly be an option. I'm still at the same stage, only I can't use the laptop at all now.

Would anyone happen to know if it is possible to flash the BIOS to a later version, where i'm at? Or do I need to get yet another new motherboard for the thing? I'm at the point where I want to say, "Fuck it" and buy a new goddamn laptop.

MysteryByte used to have a BIOS reflashing service but I'm not sure if it applied to laptops... or if they even still do it but that is something to look in to. The other option is to get a new motherboard.

Buy an EEE. They look sweet

I could'a sworn I had responded to this, damn forum vortex. If the BIOS chip is socketed, aka removeable, there are sites on this big WWW that sell BIOS chips with whatever you want on them. As Flama brought up, some shops can reprogram them, even some freelancers, I've done a few recoveries for people(having access to a universal programmer rules!). And of course, there's always hot swapping, not that I'd recommend that.

Well I've decided to simply ship the thing to Toshiba. I've been planning to do so to have them install a higher-resolution screen, too, so it's actually sorta convenient.

Thanks for the advice, once the warranty expires on this thing I'm definitely going to learn the layout of the motherboard. My next laptop purchase is going to be one of those ASUS barebones notebooks. My understanding is that one can use a desktop processor in them, which makes finding parts so very much easier. There's some company like Alienware that does it too, but I forget the name.

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Heh, if only this was like my desktop motherboard, it's got two BIOS chips on it- the active one, and a restorative one in the event that the active fails or is flashed improperly.

Systemax? I believe they sell laptop chasis and barebone kits as well.

+1


I LOVE mine

Alrighty I arranged for my parents to ship it to Toshiba before I left for school. Apparently I can't get any upgrades done without voiding the warranty, which is total bullshit because it simply means they don't want to sell parts to consumers, which is somewhat legit. Sucess, thus-far. I am much appreciate for the help.