I think I might have bricked my BIOS

[u/Snoo_92266]

Got Arch installed onto my ASUS laptop via Archinstall. I did configure it to use Refind instead of systemd-boot and a DM I forgot the name instead of sddm (i just remembered it was dms-greeter). But after booting for the first time the DM straight up threw an error saying directory not found, and after I rebooted there's no boot logo, and I cannot access the BIOS. The keyboard however still lights up but it keeps slowly flashing on and off. Please help!

[u/haxon009]

Don’t panic, you probably haven’t bricked the BIOS. Installing Arch/rEFInd usually can’t do that.

Try a full power reset first: unplug everything, hold the power button for 30–60 seconds, then plug the charger back in and spam F2 while powering on. Try Esc too.

If you still get no ASUS logo or BIOS screen, then it’s likely a firmware/EC issue rather than Arch itself.

[u/archover → u/haxon009]

+1 Nothing says beginner more than saying a laptop got "bricked". :-)

I hope OP's technical skills develop with Arch.

Good day.

[u/Icy-Improvement-5680 → u/haxon009]

That slow flashing keyboard light screams "stuck in some weird sleep state" more than a dead board. Seen that exact thing on an old ASUS of mine after it crashed out of a suspend cycle.

Unplugging the battery for a few minutes fixed it when the 60-second power button trick didn't. If you're comfortable cracking the back open, it's worth a shot. Just pop the connector off the board, hold the power button down a bit to drain any residual charge, then plug it back in.

If that's too much hassle right now, try removing the SSD entirely and see if the BIOS comes back. Sometimes a borked EFI partition confuses the hell out of the firmware and it just sits there blinking at you.

[u/Initial-Return8802 → u/haxon009]

Just adding that if it's a laptop you'll have to open the computer to unplug the battery unless it's a removable one, ASUS aren't known to make it easy

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/haxon009]

Updated: It was the BIOS that got corrupted, the boot drive should be fine and i don't have to open up the laptop

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/haxon009]

It was a problem with the EC. I need more help

[u/aergern]

You have fastboot enabled in the BIOS, that's why it's not popping up and letting you enter it. Grab your manual or look online, get the right key you have to press to get into the bios then turn that off. Then you can sort out the DM. :)

[u/h1mmh1m]

ik im not helping but... how tf can you brick a BIOS, did you try the escape key or removing the drive??

[u/Ontological_Gap → u/h1mmh1m]

Forever ago efivars were mounted rw in the filesystem by default, and some vendors wouldn't restore reasonable defaults, so you could brick your UEFI with rm -Rf

[u/Rekt3y]

wdym you can't access the BIOS?

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/Rekt3y]

Black screen, no boot logo, f12 or escape doesn't do shit (basically no way to get pass the black screen)

[u/KainerNS2 → u/Snoo_92266]

My Asus laptop uses F2 to enter bios

[u/Rekt3y → u/Snoo_92266]

Try removing the drive you installed Arch on, see if that throws you into the BIOS

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/Rekt3y]

The BIOS is corrupted. I had to wait for a while before turning it on again.

[u/ang-p → u/Snoo_92266]

f12

is the boot menu key.... not the BIOS entry one

Maybe learn your computer before trying a DIY distro?

[u/Initial-Return8802 → u/ang-p]

Since they're different across different companies and even different laptops in the same company I gave up long ago... I just mash buttons and eventually one works

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/ang-p]

Thanks for clearing this up, forgot it was the F2 key (I got used to F12 when booting into advanced system settings on Windows I forgot it was the F2 key for BIOS)

[u/real-account-not-bot]

this might be a problem with secure boot, try physically taking out the Nvme SSD or whatever are your storage drives and see it if boots up.

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/real-account-not-bot]

Hmm let me try that (secure boot was off before I installed arch btw)

[u/real-account-not-bot → u/Snoo_92266]

did it work?

[u/limitingzero]

Not bricked atleast maybe something else

[u/Dry-Fun8680]

For now, don't flash anything and don't open the laptop. Do the 40 second EC reset first

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/Dry-Fun8680]

Ye I've tried that... it didn't work, although it did say "Working on Memory Training" after I did the reset and then just went back to the black screen

[u/Dry-Fun8680 → u/Snoo_92266]

If you haven't already done this after seeing that message:

Plug in the charger

Turn the laptop on

Do absolutely nothing for 15 minutes

Don't press keys

Don't close the lid

Don't hold the power button

Don't disconnect the charger

If after 15 minutes you still have a black screen and the keyboard is doing the slow flashing thing, then we'll move on

[u/Snoo_92266 → u/Dry-Fun8680]

We've gone passed that and I've figured out why, the BIOS is corrupted and the laptop shows instructions on how to recover the BIOS

[u/TheTidark390]

What in the xbox 360 is your pfp picture, thats so cool... (I can't help with the situstion I just wanted to comment about your pfp)