Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/08 02:42I really have no idea if it's remotely possible, but that's why I'm asking. Basically my Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X no longer posts nor can it be found with ATIFlash. In fact I have used a PCI card to get a monitor output. The GPU fan just sits at 100%, and after many reboots, the fan will die down like it normally should, but then my computer doesn't post at all. So I'm wondering if there is a way to wipe out the BIOS on it or somehow forcefully flash it even though it's not detected. I have replaced it with a Radeon HD 5870 now but it would be nice to not have a paperweight...
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Mavke
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/08 09:49jdrom wrote: Basically my Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X no longer posts nor can it be found with ATIFlash. In fact I have used a PCI card to get a monitor output. So I'm wondering if there is a way to wipe out the BIOS on it or somehow forcefully flash it even though it's not detected. Sorry but what did you exactly do, cause that is most of the time also the first thing that could help us in getting the card to work again. This does seem still okay as although card doesn't get detected, the fan is still spinning which means it still works but somehow can't initiate itself as valid towards the mainboard when booting. So please explain what you did, or what bad flash you somehow performed?
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jdrom
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/08 23:55Well I was having issues with it not being detected with the stock BIOS, so I figured I would flash it with another Radeon HD 4890 BIOS. Went for the Toxic version, as I knew my card could run those clocks and it seemed pretty similar PCB wise as my card having also just a 6-pin PCI Express power, but the traces are still there. It said it flashed successfully using ATIFlash, but all hell broke loose after restarting, and thus the issues I'm facing currently. Looking back on it, I guess there could of been an underlying hardware issue to begin with?
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Mavke
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/09 09:13jdrom wrote: Well I was having issues with it not being detected with the stock BIOS, so I figured I would flash it with another Radeon HD 4890 BIOS. Went for the Toxic version, as I knew my card could run those clocks and it seemed pretty similar PCB wise. Sorry, but I am not interested in that part really cause that is a flash you did afterwards but what I am interested in is what happened before the card was net getting detected? Did the card ever work fine? And when it was working what do you recall as been doing before it was no longer getting detected? Cause that is what can shed some light on a solution.
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jdrom
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/09 13:19Yup card worked fine, only really had an issue with it not being detected if my PC was unplugged. Never made any sense to me. My friend actually has a very similar issue with his GeForce GTX 280 as well. However after a couple resets, it would pick up the card. Sometimes a reset was needed, or at least it expedited things.
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Mavke
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/09 19:52jdrom wrote: Yup card worked fine, only really had an issue with it not being detected if my PC was unplugged. Never made any sense to me. My friend actually has a very similar issue with his GeForce GTX 280 as well. Well I guess I am still not with you really, cause when you say not detected when my PC was unplugged what does that mean? When I unplug my PC in the pure logic sense it does nothing as it is simply unplugged? So what are you really trying to say or explain as you don't make much sense. If you unplug something it will never be detected as it is no longer there.
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jdrom
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/09 23:51Haha, sorry, I mean after the computer is unplugged and plugged back in, the graphics card was rarely ever detected. And that was the issue cause that means you just have to restart again and again to get the computer working finally.
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Mavke
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/10 20:46Okay thanks, that is now clear. Though when you say the card worked fine, does that mean that when you bought this Sapphire card it was not doing this at all and this started happening after some time? Cause if it did this from the start, it means it never worked fine, cause normal good cards just don't do that. In that case you should really not think much further and use your warranty to get it replaced.
Now if it has worked fine for quite some times and gotten detected just fine each day, than something will have happened that caused this issue. Either it is something with the graphics and the BIOS won't be the cause but rather an hardware issue. Or it could be a malfunction between mainboard and graphics card. Have you tried it already in another computer, to see if it has the same behavior or just works as it should?
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jdrom
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/11 04:14Worked fine originally when I bought it, only started doing this over the past few months I guess. And it always slips my mind to try in another computer. Don't know why, but I will give it a shot tomorrow. The Radeon HD 5870 I just bought works perfectly though in my same computer...
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Mavke
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Re:Radeon HD 4890 Vapor-X and how to recover from a bad flash? - 2010/03/11 22:28Okay, so that is good to know as that confirms it worked initially and only the last few months you are experiencing issues. First I would say to make sure the graphics card works in the best condition and that would mean as new, so first cleaning it and making sure all the dust is gone. But yes, first as I mentioned try it in another computer, to see if it works better in another or if you have the same behavior.
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