ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage FA617NTR-N3010W – Powers up, no display.

Hi everyone, my first post here.

When pressing the power button, laptop starts, fans spin at fast speed, keyboard backlight illuminates but have no display on screen, no screen backlight. Laptop restarts after exactly 1 minute. Stays on for exactly 1 minute then shuts down for 15 seconds, then powers up and stays on. Nothing on screen. Caps lock light does not illuminate when pressed. Keyboard seems to be unresponsive, other than the power button. Have to hold power button down to force shutdown. Connect external monitor via HDMI, no display. The issues occur whether charger is connected or not. Disconnected battery, removed RAM and SSD, but same issue.

Have checked coil voltages and resistance to ground, see attached image. All of the coils which are in a row above the CPU and GPU have a voltage which is fluctuating between 0 and 0.02V.


Identification number on motherboard is FA617-PMV-GBM 6050A3460902-MB-A02.

Would like to check the VRM controller to see if it is getting a VR_ON signal from the EC chip, but can’t find a datasheet anywhere.
The chip just above and to the right of the CPU is numbered MPS2328 MP2845A R5602798X. The chip just above and to the left of the GPU is numbered ISL69247 IRZ W348B2U. Photo’s of both chips are attached.



Any help and advice you can give would be greatly appreciated.

Hello. I would try to reprogram BIOS. You can prepare it yourself using the EZ Flash file on Asus site or try to use dump from the internet. Do not forget to save the original dump, as this is crucial to copying DMI data from original BIOS to the one You will program. Also post the motherboard marking as it is missing.

Measure the voltages on all the coils when the laptop is left on for a longer period of time.

tekort ha scritto:Hello. I would try to reprogram BIOS. You can prepare it yourself using the EZ Flash file on Asus site or try to use dump from the internet. Do not forget to save the original dump, as this is crucial to copying DMI data from original BIOS to the one You will program. Also post the motherboard marking as it is missing.

Hello. The BIOS chip (Winbond 25R256JWEQ) on this board is a WSON-8 8x6mm size. Unfortunately, I don't have an adapter for this type of chip. I have ordered one, just waiting for it to arrive. As soon as I get the adapter, I will de-solder the chip and try to reprogram.
There is another Winbond chip on this board, it is a 25Q16JVSIQ. I'm not sure what this is, maybe a second BIOS? I've attached a photo showing both chips.

The marking of the motherboard is in the first post.

Machine ha scritto:Measure the voltages on all the coils when the laptop is left on for a longer period of time.

I have measured the coil voltages after the laptop has been on for 30 minutes. There is no change. I have discovered that the voltage fluctuation on the CPU and GPU coils was my fault. I wasn't making a good contact with the multimeter probe. They all measure exactly 0V.

The main BIOS is Winbond 25R256JWEQ. If You are crafty enough, You can try to solder wires to the BIOS pins on MB and then connect it to programmer. Be sure to use isolated wires, so they do not make contact with each other. But if You are patient, wait for the adapter
The GPU BIOS is inside 25Q16JVSIQ, so far there is no need to touch it.

Impatience got the better of me
I soldered some wires directly to the board and have been able to read the original BIOS. I've also downloaded the latest official BIOS from the ASUS website.
Next thing is how to copy the DMI data from the original BIOS to the new one. I have never done something like this before, so have spent the afternoon reading some of the threads on the forum to try and understand what I need to do.
I've found the serial number for the laptop in the original BIOS at offset 0101:09A0. There is data preceding this, starting at offset 0100:0000 and ending at 0105:1453. In the official BIOS from ASUS, the data between these offsets is just FF's. Do I copy all the data from 0100:0000 to 0105:1453 into the new BIOS?
I can also see the windows product key is within this block of data.
I've noticed that the two BIOS files are slightly different in size. The original is 33,554,432 bytes, but the one from the ASUS website is 33,556,480 bytes. Not sure if this is normal, but thought I would mention it.

I apologise in advance if my terminology is incorrect

MendUsThis ha scritto:how to copy the DMI data from the original BIOS to the new one (...) Do I copy all the data from 0100:0000 to 0105:1453 into the new BIOS?

The answer is: "not sure at the moment". In terms of DMI data copying, even within the same laptop model the DMI blocks may be sitting at the different addresses of BIOS chips. Also, there are other data which have to be copied at the same time (like checksum, encryption bytes etc.) in order to DMI to be displayed correctly and trigger no errors. I would advise you to post both BIOS files - original dump read from 25R256JWEQ chip and the latest official file from Asus website - to the DOCUMENTATION AND BIOS/EFI REQUESTS subforum, requesting to move DMI and prepare the correct BIOS file for programming. Please make sure that you have read Forum Rules of that subforum before posting as it contains crucial information about what information you have to add to your post.

It is also worth mentioning that 25R256JWEQ flash is a low-voltage memory (1.8V), meaning that you may need some extra adapter for some programmers in order to read/write this chip without damaging it (eg. CH341A programmer and all other low-cost 3.3V programmers require 1.8V adapter or level shifter). What programmer do you have, actually? Please also do NOT read/write the BIOS chip in circuit as it may be unsuccessful or the data read may be corrupted (not usable). Please desolder the BIOS chip from the logic board to read/write it.

MendUsThis ha scritto:The original is 33,554,432 bytes, but the one from the ASUS website is 33,556,480 bytes.

Yes, the update file from Asus website contains an extra information used by Asus' EZ Flash utility (built in BIOS). This 2kB excess code should be removed from the file - either from the begin or from the end of an official update file. Not sure what is the case here as there are no other websites hosting BIOS dumps from 6050A3460902-MB-A02 logic board to compare, but I believe those EZ instructions are at the begin of the file (from address 0x000 to 0x7FF).

Thank you for your input Vogelek23. I will post both BIOS files as suggested once I have the required information stated in the forum rules.

My programmer is a Revelprog-IS. I appreciate your advice on removing the BIOS chip from the board. I will do this once my WSON8 adapter arrives.

Revelprog-IS supports 1.8V Flash memories natively, including W25R256JW. You do not need any additional adapter apart from DIP8 to WSON8 one. If you ever did a DIY PCB, you may be interested in this project: adapter-wson-8-do-dip8-do-programatorow-tl866x-rt809x-ch341x-itp-t53131.html

Unfortunately, programming the BIOS chip with the latest official ASUS BIOS file with the DMI data copied across has not had any effect.

With fans blaring at maximum and no changes after BIOS re-flashing, the CPU is very likely faulty.

Thank you for everyone's input. I'll close this thread as replacing the APU is beyond my limited capabilities. I'll add the laptop to my ever growing collection of items I wish I hadn't bought