Alternate BIOS

[jpr0]

Hi

This is my first time posting here, so sorry if this in the wrong section...

I have an Asus X50N laptop, the BIOS on which is very minimal (hardly any adjustable options whatsoever). Asus don't offer any other firmware other than that what is already installed, and AMI only refer you to Asus.

I'm wondering if it's possible to find an "unlocked" BIOS for my motherboard - so if the board has some kind of generic equivalent, taking the BIOS from that board and using that. Has anyone ever tried something like this, or know if this is possible? If it is, where would I find a generic equivalent of my board?

The specs of the board are here:

BIOS Type: AMI
BIOS Date: August 16th 2007
BIOS ID: 63-0100-000001-00101111-081607-ATHLON64-F5N00001
BIOS OEM: BIOS Date: 08/16/07 Ver: 207 - 207
Chipset: Athlon 1100 rev 0
SuperIO: Unknown
Manufacturer: ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
Motherboard: F5N

 

[Big B]

While I suppose it's possible, I don't know if Asus is using an OEM laptop and slapping their own name on it. My guess is no, as I've not run across any references to the laptops being built by someone else.

In general, laptops are pretty barren when it comes to BIOS options, so unless you're able and willing to mod it yourself, the odds probably aren't good.

 

[jpr0]

Thanks for the reply Big B.

I'm currently in touch with someone who repairs BIOSs for a living it seems. If I manage to successfully replace my BIOS with a more functional one I'll give an update here.

It really seems strange that a laptop manufacturer would put such a dumbed down BIOS on their laptops. I had a Toshiba laptop in the past, which was always overheating. One way to stop it overheating was to turn "under clock" the processor. On this ASUS I can't even do that. I think I can change the boot order, and tell it whether I want a splash screen or not. That's about it.

It's definitely something I'll take account next time I'm buying a laptop...