Asus N56V BIOS problem

[Verrrtigo]

Greetings. I bought an Asus N56VV(I7-3630QM, 8GB RAM, GT750M) on Friday, but I was only able to check it out today.

Naturally, I went into BIOS(UEFI?) to check the parameters and see what's good and nice in there. I came across something called "Asus Animated BIOS logo" or something similar. I'm normally a form over function guy, but here I went for more aesthetics and paid the price for it. I turned on the animation thing, saved changes to BIOS and restarted. Lo and behold, it starts to a black screen, and nothing happens, not even the ASUS splash screen that normally comes on during POST, that screen where you can press F2 to get into BIOS. From what I understand, it's "bricked", in some way or another.

I regret this stupid decision, but I think it's even more stupid to have something in the BIOS that can upset the system so easily even though it seems as harmless as changing boot priority.

The computer is basically the same as a N56VZ/VM/DP, just with different components. I'm pretty sure BIOS is either the same or very similar, so I've tried troubleshooting for the mentioned models also.

Anyway, things I've tried:
-taking out the battery, pressing and holding the power button to drain any residual electrical current. Did no less than three 15 second holds, no change.
-frantically pressing F2 after turning on the computer, holding F2 before turning it on. Also tried this with pretty much every F key and Esc/Del.
-taking out the HDD and booting without it, no change.
-connecting an external monitor.
-blindly trying to reset BIOS settings, no change.


I've come to a conclusion that it's either something that could be fixed by removing the motherboard battery to reset the BIOS. Or the motherboard somehow died.

Neither of which I can or want to fix myself. It's a brand new laptop, so I've got warranty. But it's Sunday and the service center won't work until Monday. I've searched for a solution, and I've found several, none of which worked for me. But it's hard to find someone with the exact same problem, so perhaps that's why.

I've now calmed down, but initially I was very upset, somewhere between angry and sad. It would make me very happy to find a solution that doesn't require me to bring it it for warranty repairs - it's a brand new laptop and I would rather avoid having it completely disassembled and re-assembled. Besides, it would take precious time, I'd be left without a laptop for a few days at least, for sure.

BIOS version is 2.15.xxx - didn't get the last numbers, unfortunately, because I didn't expect to not be able to get back into it.

 

[alexoiu]

Hi,
Check for the reset hole, or better wait for Monday and contact the reseller or ASUS:
http/support.asus.com/Troubleshooting/detail.aspx?SLanguage=en&m=N56VV&p=3&s=390&os=8&hashedid=gkZkEJm0zLZmHgu0&no=1028

 

[Verrrtigo]

Thanks for the reply. I've checked for some kind of reset hole, but I've found nothing that would seem apparent.
What exactly am I looking for? Something like on a calculator?

 

[alexoiu]

Yes. Or on a router.

 

[rounakr94]

That was a defective board. You should get a new one from the shop even if you get it working.

 

[jarotech]

Hi, take out the battery and boot, if you get nothing, try to boot in safe mode. Without the battery try to go in BIOS.

 

[Verrrtigo]

Hey, thanks for further input, guys. I have found no open reset button, but there are some holes plugged by rubber pads. I'm pretty sure there are only screws covered by them. I don't want to take those off, as they don't always easily stick back and could raise suspicion of tampering, which would void my warranty.

Jarotech- I've tried booting with the battery only, with the battery AND the power adapter, and with just the power adapter. All yield the same results. I've tried to get into safe mode, into BIOS, but it's impossible as the POST splash screen with the ASUS logo does not even appear.

EDIT: I've talked with my father's friend who's worked with computers for over 10 years. He said that he's had it happen to him in the past and that it was most likely a factory motherboard/BIOS defect and that any change, even something as simple as boot order, would save incorrectly and mess up the BIOS. That, and rounakr94's answer on this very thread, confirms my own fears about the situation.

I'll try to contact the reseller for a replacement. But I'll probably have to contact the warranty service also, as the reseller will probably have to get an expert conclusion regarding the quite likely irreparability(is that even a word?) of the device.

Either way, if there's anything else I can try without disassembling the laptop, I'd appreciate more input.

 

[Verrrtigo]

Marking it solved because there's nothing else I can do before trying to get it to the warranty service tomorrow. Thanks everyone, too bad I can only pick one best answer.

 

[Verrrtigo]

Hello again. I went to the reseller and they replaced the computer with a new one. In this one I refrained from changing anything in the BIOS(UEFI) and just booted from USB to install the OS (it came with FreeDOS). I deleted the 918 GB FreeDOS partition and the weird 13.5GB second empty partition and created two partitions, a 150 GB one for Windows and the rest for data.

Windows is now installing, but so far everything looks fine.

Do you think it's worth trying the same thing again to check if it happens again? I'm understandably apprehensive about this, and there isn't something I really NEED to change in the BIOS to use the computer, so I'm more inclined to go with the "why fix what's not broken" route.

 

[rounakr94]

Dude please dont try that thing in the bios again, there is 80% chance it will brick again. What is the use of an animated logo? Useless! So why waste your time and money on it?

 

[Verrrtigo]

Dude please dont try that thing in the bios again, there is 80% chance it will brick again. What is the use of an animated logo? Useless! So why waste your time and money on it?

Indeed. By all means, you're right. But I am curious. Was this an isolated case or does ASUS literally have an easily accessible killswitch for their motherboards.

I am not about to try it again, but I'm worried that it might happen again, should I ever have to change anything on the BIOS.

 

[rounakr94]

Probably a bad bios chip on the current batch of the lappy's caused this.