said by koitsu:said by C0deZer0:What, boards today don't have socketed BIOS chips anymore?
Many desktop boards don't. Some desktop boards (Gigabyte for example) have "dual BIOSes" (non-socketable), so that if one fails you can switch to the other manually (or automatically, I forget how that works). Server-class boards tend to have socketed PLCC BIOSes.
But for sake of point: when was the last time you actually had a total BIOS failure? I know when I did (my first and only) -- it was in 2006, when I was upgrading the BIOS on one of my yet-to-be-deployed Supermicro servers when the city lost power for a few seconds. I had to order a replacement BIOS chip (saved 4-5 days on shipping time) from badflash.com or some such place. And yeah, I have UPSes, but normally I don't hook up yet-to-be-deployed systems to them.
It doesn't sound like you actually pulled/reinserted the BIOS at all, although it's possible the BIOS was slightly ajar and some some thick dust or metal shaving during your cleaning got wedged between the pin and the socket. For those curious, the BIOS on the eVGA 680i SLI is PLCC and at the bottom of
this picture. Quite a big socket compared to
what my board has (M_BIOS and B_BIOS at bottom). Probably the same size (capacity) too, just that flash chips are now smaller than before (no not the same kind used in SSDs :P).
I wish I could get my gigabyte board to work again
One day it just went out (took a hdd with it) and it does nothing but makes this non slandered beep.. Well it's not really a beep but a long tone.
I took everything out and the board out of the case and it still did it.. so it's in the closet.. it's seems like now a days you have to keep extra boards on hand..