[ale] bios chip removal?

[Doug McNash]

If the BIOS is socketed it is probably not rewritable in 
place.  Removing it or replacing it will probably not do 
what you want.  The active BIOS parameters are probably 
not stored on that chip but in some RAM, most likely on a 
RTC (Real Time Clock) chip.  The RTC will be powered by a 
battery or a capacitor, most likely a larger axial lead 
component and the only axial lead component on the board.

If you can find the capacitor, drain it by shorting it 
with a low value resistor.  If a battery look for a 
disconnect jumper or unsolder one of the leads for a 
second as it might not be rechargable. Otherwise, I would 
try to find the RTC chip, look up the data sheet for it a 
see if it has some RAM.  If I couldn't find a reset jumper 
near it, look on the data sheet for the RST pin and ground 
or pulse it depending on what the data sheet says.

Good Luck.


On Sat, 18 Oct 2003 07:57:41 -0400
  Geoffrey <esoteric at 3times25.net> wrote:
>Okay, a bit of hardware ignorance here.  I've got an 
>older mb that I need to reset the bios on, but there's no 
>jumper to reset or battery to remove.  I've noted there 
>is a removable ic that has a bios sticker atop it. 
> Anyone know if I remove this chip, will this do what I 
>want?  Or will it toast this puppy?
>
--
Doug McNash <dmcnash at yahoo.com>