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re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Monday, November 26, 2001 at 12:55 pm Posted by Larry (276 messages posted) Hi Bruce - Just a thought -- updating the system BIOS may be an idea to consider. Many sites (i.e. Dell, Intel, etc.) periodically post updates -- I may be wrong, but I think the message you're getting is related. Hopefully, some other users will comment. Good luck. On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 1:39 am Posted by Bruce Pellowe (6 messages posted) Thanks, Larry. I should check it out. I just can't figure out why it started... virus perhaps? And what if the CMOS settings have changed, what would I look for? On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 12:55 pm, Larry wrote: >Hi Bruce - >Just a thought -- updating the system BIOS may be an idea to consider. Many sites >(i.e. Dell, Intel, etc.) periodically post updates -- I may be wrong, but I think >the message you're getting is related. Hopefully, some other users will comment. > Good luck. > > > > > >On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 4:10 pm Posted by Larry (276 messages posted) Hi Bruce - I would suspect either a battery or possibly virus possibility.... On Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 1:39 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >Thanks, Larry. I should check it out. I just can't figure out why it started... virus >perhaps? And what if the CMOS settings have changed, what would I look for? > > >On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 12:55 pm, Larry wrote: >Hi Bruce - >Just a thought -- updating the system BIOS may be an idea to consider. Many sites >(i.e. Dell, Intel, etc.) periodically post updates -- I may be wrong, but I think >the message you're getting is related. Hopefully, some other users will comment. > Good luck. > > > > > >On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 11:55 pm Posted by amaralliya e. thenardier (3194 messages posted) i've been doing a little reading... it appears that the problem may be due to a corrupt bios chip. it's probably best to contact the motherboard manufacturer... they might suggest a bios flash or chip replacement. in the meantime, you could try clearing escd/configuration data and loading defaults via the bios setup. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 9:45 am Posted by Bruce Pellowe (6 messages posted) Thanks for your input. My local computer store has suggested a "flash" but I'll try the default settings first. If these people who write such code would put their brains to a good cause... just think... Oh well. Bruce On Tuesday, November 27, 2001 at 11:55 pm, amaralliya e. thenardier wrote: >i've been doing a little reading... it appears that the problem may be due to a corrupt >bios chip. it's probably best to contact the motherboard manufacturer... they might >suggest a bios flash or chip replacement. > >in the meantime, you could try clearing escd/configuration data and loading defaults >via the bios setup. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 10:19 am Posted by amaralliya e. thenardier (3194 messages posted) good luck. i'm curious to see how this turns out... would you mind coming back and telling us what fixes it? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 4:15 pm Posted by Bruce Pellowe (6 messages posted) I will definitely let you know - as long as I can figure out how to keep this going. I'm new to these discussion groups. My computer store said they'd flash the BIOS for $15 so it seems cheap enough to fix; but I just realized I have a CD that came with the motherboard... I wonder, does it have what I need or should I pay the expert? I'll let you know. On Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 10:19 am, amaralliya e. thenardier wrote: >good luck. i'm curious to see how this turns out... would you mind coming back and >telling us what fixes it? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, November 28, 2001 at 7:43 pm Posted by amaralliya e. thenardier (3194 messages posted) to do it yourself all you should need is about 10 minutes, the correct rom file (the actual image to be placed on the bios chip) and flasher on a bootable diskette, and a little luck. the catcher with flashing the bios is that if the flash goes bad, you have an unbootable system on your hands. this normally doesn't happen, though. if you don't want to deal with it, $15 is a small price to pay - especially if something goes wrong on their time, not yours. make sure to inquire about what they would do if the flash doesn't go as expected. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Friday, January 25, 2002 at 6:49 pm Posted by Boe Brown (1 messages posted) Hello Mr. Pellowe, I can't believe someone else has the same problem! Can you, or anyone involved in this thread tell me how it was resolved. I can also be reached at:phunktek@earthlink.net Thanks so much, Boe On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Saturday, March 30, 2002 at 7:12 am Posted by Chris Groggins (1 messages posted) Hello My PC has the same problem. Windows loads & works normally. I wonder if (& how) anyone has put it right Chris On Friday, January 25, 2002 at 6:49 pm, Boe Brown wrote: > >Hello Mr. Pellowe, >I can't believe someone else has the same problem! Can you, or anyone involved in >this thread tell me how it was resolved. I can also be reached at:phunktek@earthlink.net > >Thanks so much, > >Boe > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 4:37 am Posted by Ivan Shipkov (1 messages posted) I have the same problem. Before 6 months this problem has appeared to me. I have Asus P2B motherboard from year 1998. I have updated my BIOS four times. This doesn't helps in my case. One friend said to me that i can trie to remove CMOS settings by removing motherboard battery. This was not in my help too. ESCD settings are kept in flash not in CMOS (i think so). Then i find on ASUS site that this problem can occur from bad flash chip or incorrect settings in BIOS. They recommend to reset BIOS settings to setup defaults first. I have tried this. This doesn't work too. I have tried BIOS flash update, and it was working but checksums were incorrect. And at the end i understand that jush my BIOS flash chip is probably partially broken in ESCD part of the chip. I think that this is so because ESCD is much more frequently updated than the whole flash image, and flash memories doesn't have unlimited write cycles. After 1000 writes they became unuseful. For me it is unusedul to change BIOS flash chip. For me it is too expensive to fix old motherboard with no future. I recommend motherboard upgrade if your motherboard is old. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 9:27 am Posted by Bruce Pellowe (6 messages posted) Yes! that was my final solution - I bought a new motherboard and upgraded the processor at the same time. An expensive solution, but worth-while. Thanks for your input! Bruce On Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 4:37 am, Ivan Shipkov wrote: >I have the same problem. Before 6 months this problem has appeared to me. I have >Asus P2B motherboard from year 1998. I have updated my BIOS four times. This doesn't >helps in my case. One friend said to me that i can trie to remove CMOS settings by >removing motherboard battery. This was not in my help too. ESCD settings are kept >in flash not in CMOS (i think so). Then i find on ASUS site that this problem can >occur from bad flash chip or incorrect settings in BIOS. They recommend to reset >BIOS settings to setup defaults first. I have tried this. This doesn't work too. >I have tried BIOS flash update, and it was working but checksums were incorrect. >And at the end i understand that jush my BIOS flash chip is probably partially broken >in ESCD part of the chip. I think that this is so because ESCD is much more frequently >updated than the whole flash image, and flash memories doesn't have unlimited write >cycles. After 1000 writes they became unuseful. For me it is unusedul to change BIOS >flash chip. For me it is too expensive to fix old motherboard with no future. I recommend >motherboard upgrade if your motherboard is old. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Monday, April 22, 2002 at 9:14 pm Posted by Emidio Iacobucci (1 messages posted) I have the same motherboard and same problem. I updated the bios and also got the checksum errors. As far as I know, windows works just as it always did. I just live with the error message on boot-up. On Wednesday, April 17, 2002 at 4:37 am, Ivan Shipkov wrote: >I have the same problem. Before 6 months this problem has appeared to me. I have >Asus P2B motherboard from year 1998. I have updated my BIOS four times. This doesn't >helps in my case. One friend said to me that i can trie to remove CMOS settings by >removing motherboard battery. This was not in my help too. ESCD settings are kept >in flash not in CMOS (i think so). Then i find on ASUS site that this problem can >occur from bad flash chip or incorrect settings in BIOS. They recommend to reset >BIOS settings to setup defaults first. I have tried this. This doesn't work too. >I have tried BIOS flash update, and it was working but checksums were incorrect. >And at the end i understand that jush my BIOS flash chip is probably partially broken >in ESCD part of the chip. I think that this is so because ESCD is much more frequently >updated than the whole flash image, and flash memories doesn't have unlimited write >cycles. After 1000 writes they became unuseful. For me it is unusedul to change BIOS >flash chip. For me it is too expensive to fix old motherboard with no future. I recommend >motherboard upgrade if your motherboard is old. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Saturday, May 11, 2002 at 9:57 pm Posted by Arlen Paula (1 messages posted) Is my doubt that would be possible to change the chip Bios? Is it very expensive? Difficult to find? I already tried to change of old motherboard, but they were burned. Here in Brazil stores that sell the chip EPROM the p2b doesn't exist. Tks in advance. >I have the same motherboard and same problem. I updated the bios and also got the >checksum errors. >As far as I know, windows works just as it always did. >I just live with the error message on boot-up. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 2:16 pm Posted by Robin Howard (1 messages posted) Same error message 'can't write to ESCD' began intermittently a couple of months ago. Last month the error message was always predominant at start up. Motherboard - Asus A7V KT-133 with Bios version 1004d I decided to try and flash the update to see if that would help. Tracked down Bios 1011 , created the appropriate boot floppy, used aflash.exe, followed the instructions and the procedure went smoothly. Got one small error message at the end which I ignored. Turned the system off.....back on and waited with anticipation as the system rebooted. THIS FIXED THE PROBLEM- SUCCESS!!!!!! On Saturday, May 11, 2002 at 9:57 pm, Arlen Paula wrote: >Is my doubt that would be possible to change the chip Bios? Is it very expensive? >Difficult to find? I already tried to change of old motherboard, but they were burned. >Here in Brazil stores that sell the chip EPROM the p2b doesn't exist. Tks in advance. > > > >I have the same motherboard and same problem. I updated the bios and also got the >checksum errors. >As far as I know, windows works just as it always did. >I just live with the error message on boot-up. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Saturday, August 31, 2002 at 3:11 pm Posted by James (1 messages posted) The chip itself is not expensive. Their like pennies. It's just an EEPROM. Unfortunatley the reason why people charge a lot is because the end-user (you guys) don't know how to do it, and you need an EEPROM programmer. Here's the deal. If the EEPROM is removable, it shouldn't be that big of a deal. The hardest part is finding the same model EEPROM and finding the right flash for it (often times older motherboards are a pain to find the flash for it) The bigger problem is --> If the EEPROM is actually integrated into the motherboard (not socketed, but just sotter [sp] onto the motherboard) Then they have to unsotter [sp] it flash a new one, and sotter that onto it. Which is a whole bunch of liabilty. So it's easier to just send it back to the motherboard manufactorer to get it fixed. James Computer Technician On Saturday, August 24, 2002 at 2:16 pm, Robin Howard wrote: > > >Same error message 'can't write to ESCD' began intermittently a couple of months >ago. Last month the error message was always predominant at start up. Motherboard >- Asus A7V KT-133 with Bios version 1004d >I decided to try and flash the update to see if that would help. Tracked down Bios >1011 , created the appropriate boot floppy, used aflash.exe, followed the instructions >and the procedure went smoothly. Got one small error message at the end which I ignored. >Turned the system off.....back on and waited with anticipation as the system rebooted. >THIS FIXED THE PROBLEM- SUCCESS!!!!!! > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 8:15 am Posted by Arnan de Gans (3 messages posted) I bought yesterday (31-8) a A7V266-C motherboard. And i have the error immediatly :( i dont know how to fix it but i just was letting you know its not error due to much use i think, cuz this board is brand new from store :))) I some has a sollution though let me know at arnan17@hotmail.com On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 8:52 am Posted by Arnan de Gans (3 messages posted) I solved my problem , when i pulling hardware out, MY LANCARD WAS CORRUPT !!!!! SO MAYBE ITS SOMETHING LIKE THAT WITH YOUR COMPUTERS ALSO On Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 8:15 am, Arnan de Gans wrote: >I bought yesterday (31-8) a A7V266-C motherboard. And i have the error immediatly >:( i dont know how to fix it but i just was letting you know its not error due to >much use i think, cuz this board is brand new from store :))) > >I some has a sollution though let me know at arnan17@hotmail.com > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Thursday, September 5, 2002 at 5:46 pm Posted by theabstract (1 messages posted) Yup, I had the same problem on a asus a7s333. I tried flashing but to no avail. I removed my lan card and all was good... Now i just cant seem to get my computers networked. I am runnin in Advanced server on one and XP on another. I have network cards in both, but the comp running XP refuses to recognize the correct IP.. On Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 8:15 am, Arnan de Gans wrote: >I bought yesterday (31-8) a A7V266-C motherboard. And i have the error immediatly >:( i dont know how to fix it but i just was letting you know its not error due to >much use i think, cuz this board is brand new from store :))) > >I some has a sollution though let me know at arnan17@hotmail.com > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Tuesday, October 8, 2002 at 2:14 am Posted by hheenz (1 messages posted) hi all ''Error, can't write ESCD'' comes if your bios chip is broken. final (and only?) soloution is to replace the chip with a compatible, mean same size chip. why i am so sure? cause i have p2b with this error. if i boot my a7v, hot-unplug the bios chip, hotplug the one from p2p and flash it with a7v bios i also get checksum error. boot a7v....and yes, same ''Error, can't write ESCD'' :) if you are having problems (like i had) find a chip wich is compatible to the one from p2b, and need escd corectly written because of O's needs it, just take the bioschip from a newer board (p2b-ls, a7v..) witch has SAME SIZE and do this: boot p2b with original chip, backup it using ie. amibios "aflash" tool. hotunplug it, hotplug the good one and backup it too. now flash the backup from old, broken chip in the new one. boot your p2b ---> "escd written succesfull". after the setup of new O's (or whatever..) just boot p2b and write back your backup of the other board p2b-ls, a7v..). note: the "hotplug" procedure works also if you have board which does not boot at all, ie. cause bios virus (had one some time before..), in this case you have to flash the chip in a board which you can boot (and has compatible chip type of course). hmm, yes, take care, you can destroy your hardware, i am not responsible for what you do. (if anybody knows a vendor for blank bios chips in switzerland, europe please tell me. atmel deals not as easy with free samples or private buyers like national or maxim does :( ) hheenz [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Sunday, October 13, 2002 at 5:28 am Posted by B_man (1 messages posted) Not completely true. I had the same error-message, and it disappeared after restoring my BIOS and setup defaults. So probably the error message can come from a broken chip or a wrong value in your BIOS or setup. On Tuesday, October 8, 2002 at 2:14 am, hheenz wrote: >hi all > >''Error, can't write ESCD'' comes if your bios chip is broken. final (and only?) >soloution is to replace the chip with a compatible, mean same size chip. > >why i am so sure? cause i have p2b with this error. if i boot my a7v, hot-unplug >the bios chip, hotplug the one from p2p and flash it with a7v bios i also get checksum >error. boot a7v....and yes, same ''Error, can't write ESCD'' :) > >if you are having problems (like i had) find a chip wich is compatible to the one >from p2b, and need escd corectly written because of O's needs it, just take the bioschip >from a newer board (p2b-ls, a7v..) witch has SAME SIZE and do this: >boot p2b with original chip, backup it using ie. amibios >"aflash" tool. hotunplug it, hotplug the good one and backup it too. now flash the >backup from old, broken chip in the new one. boot your p2b ---> "escd written succesfull". >after the setup of new O's (or whatever..) just boot p2b and write back your backup >of the other board p2b-ls, a7v..). >note: >the "hotplug" procedure works also if you have board which does not boot at all, >ie. cause bios virus (had one some time before..), in this case you have to flash >the chip in a board which you can boot (and has compatible chip type of course). > >hmm, yes, take care, you can destroy your hardware, i am not responsible for what >you do. > >(if anybody knows a vendor for blank bios chips in switzerland, europe please tell >me. atmel deals not as easy with free samples or private buyers like national or >maxim does :( ) > >hheenz [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Friday, October 25, 2002 at 7:06 pm Posted by Bill Ellswiorth (1 messages posted) What I would like to know is how you did you restore your BIOS and setup defaults? Was it in the BIOS setup when you first boot up? I purchased this PC with ASUS P2B MB in November, 1998, and by May, 1999 I started having the error problem. I have reflashed my BIOS from 1005 to 1011, and that did not eliminate the error message. I do know that I changed the hardware configuration around the time that the error began appearing. Bill On Sunday, October 13, 2002 at 5:28 am, B_man wrote: >Not completely true. I had the same error-message, and it disappeared after restoring >my BIOS and setup defaults. So probably the error message can come from a broken >chip or a wrong value in your BIOS or setup. > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Friday, November 22, 2002 at 8:27 am Posted by Arnan de Gans (3 messages posted) just for the record: I replaced my card i pulled out an 3com etherlink II and replaced it for an REALTEK 8139 And all worked ;) and still does !!!!!! At my mb it had nothing to do with an broken BIOS CHIP it's just an incompatiblity with the system......... good luck y'all On Sunday, September 1, 2002 at 8:52 am, Arnan de Gans wrote: > >I solved my problem , when i pulling hardware out, MY LANCARD WAS CORRUPT !!!!! SO >MAYBE ITS SOMETHING LIKE THAT WITH YOUR COMPUTERS ALSO > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, April 16, 2003 at 6:11 pm Posted by Bruce Pellowe (2 messages posted) After all is said and done I have discovered that the problem is a bad chip. I wasn't able to get a new one as the board is "so old" now. I've bought a new board and upgraded to a faster cpu (who hasn't?). Live & learn! Thanks to all your interest & input. Bruce On Monday, April 22, 2002 at 9:14 pm, Emidio Iacobucci wrote: >I have the same motherboard and same problem. I updated the bios and also got the >checksum errors. >As far as I know, windows works just as it always did. >I just live with the error message on boot-up. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Saturday, July 26, 2003 at 7:22 pm Posted by joe (4 messages posted) I had this problem appear when onboard LAN adapter started to malfunction. Disappeared when I disabled the onboard adapter and put in a new PCI adapter. I have Asus P4T533-C with 2.533 GHz P4 and XP (sorry, no mention of this error in the XP forums). LAN was hit by lightning and damaged onboard adapter, at which point error started to appear. Conclusion after reading these threads - there are probably several causes for this error, including hardware malfunction, bad BIOS chips, etc. On Friday, October 25, 2002 at 7:06 pm, Bill Ellswiorth wrote: >What I would like to know is how you did you restore your BIOS >and setup defaults? Was it in the BIOS setup when you first boot up? > >I purchased this PC with ASUS P2B MB in November, 1998, and by >May, 1999 I started having the error problem. I have reflashed >my BIOS from 1005 to 1011, and that did not eliminate the error >message. I do know that I changed the hardware configuration around >the time that the error began appearing. > >Bill > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Monday, July 28, 2003 at 11:49 pm Posted by Nelson C. Cueto (1 messages posted) sir, Good day... i'm using pentium 2 300mhz processor but during boot up it hangs on the error message can't write on ESCD. Please help me to solve this problem. best regards, ysoncueto@yahoo.com On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Tuesday, July 29, 2003 at 1:09 am Posted by Bruce Pellowe (2 messages posted) The problem is a "chip" on the mother-board. If you're lucky, you can have it replaced at reasonable cost. Otherwise it's a whole new board. Bruce On Monday, July 28, 2003 at 11:49 pm, Nelson C. Cueto wrote: >sir, >Good day... i'm using pentium 2 300mhz processor but during boot up it hangs on the >error message can't write on ESCD. Please help me to solve this problem. > >best regards, >ysoncueto@yahoo.com > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Sunday, November 9, 2003 at 9:42 am Posted by Jack Rowland (1 messages posted) At www.badflash.com we replace bios chips. Most often this message is received on older motherboards when the bios chip wears out. Older motherboards used flash chips that were only good for around 1000 flashes. Depending on your bios, the ESCD may be updated each time you boot up. When this happens you will normally see a message stating "UPDATING ESCD.... Success" or in your case, failure. The ESCD is stored in the bios chip. This usually causes no harm unless you change hardware in your system, but it will take longer for the system to boot up. If you attempt to update you bios, the process will likely fail and you will have a dead motherboard. The chip can be replaced if it is in a socket. That is what we do. On Monday, July 28, 2003 at 11:49 pm, Nelson C. Cueto wrote: >sir, >Good day... i'm using pentium 2 300mhz processor but during boot up it hangs on the >error message can't write on ESCD. Please help me to solve this problem. > >best regards, >ysoncueto@yahoo.com > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Friday, November 14, 2003 at 8:13 pm Posted by jimmy (1 messages posted) hi all, i had this problem, after i read possible solutions on this thread, i tried to load default settings for the bios, and the problem was fixed. instead of error, it said "ECSD updated sucessfull". On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, February 4, 2004 at 3:10 am Posted by james (1 messages posted) Hi all, I recently upgraded my hard drive and added a fire wire card and started getting this error message too. I have an ASUS A7S333 board. Found a very simple solution to the problem as it relates to PnP. see http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci213947,00.html Went into BIOS setup and on Boot Menu changed Plug & Play O/S setting from default of No to Yes. On rebooting system received message ESCD updated successfully and have not received any error messages on subsequent boots. Hope this helps. James On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] All the answers: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Saturday, March 27, 2004 at 5:33 pm Posted by iceman (1 messages posted) I have corrected this problem by: Warning: High Risk of Permanent Damage to your motherboard. Safer (and more expensive) method follows further below. Start of High Risk Method: 1) If you have an ASUS Motherboard get AFLASHxxx.EXE from www.asus.com.tw (xxx is the version for your Motherboard, don't ask me, look on the ASUS website to figure it out) 2) Rename the .exe to .doc 3) Do a text search on ATMEL 4) Do you see other manufacturers and part numbers on that page? There is a good chance that some or all of these devices are suitable substitutes for your (now worn out) FLASH chip. Check the device dimensions. For example, if it is 256K X 8 bits than any listed device with the same dimensions should work. 5) Cannibalize a damaged/discarded motherboard for its FLASH device as defined above. 6) Turn computer power supply off 7) NOTE THE POLARITY OF THE DEVICE – Pin 1 has a dot in the plastic. Draw yourself a picture of the device orientation on the Motherboard. 7) Loosen the BIOS device or remove it completely being very careful NOT to bend the pins. 8) If the pins are too widely opened, you may choose to correct this by laying the device on its side and rolling it towards its underside 2-3 degrees, thus bending the pins inwards slightly. This will make live extraction slightly safer. Do the same for the replacement device so that the pins exactly line up with the socket. 9) Put the original device back into the motherboard but do not seat it all the way, just enough for the pins to make firm contact with the socket conductors leafing a space to pry it loose again. 10) Boot from a boot floppy containing i) the ASUS FLASH utility AFLASHxxx.exe as well as ii) the BIOS file that you plan to load to your FLASH. Note: This file should be downloaded from the ASUS website. ON SOME VERSIONS of AFLASHxxx.exe you can create this file from your installed FLASH BIOS device. You are on you own here, best to get the file from ASUS. Example ASUS P2B use BIOS version 1012. 11) After booting, note the polarity of the FLASH device and remove the FLASH device being careful not to short anything and try to disconnect all pins at the same time. 12) Insert the new FLASH device, same rules, all pins make contact at same time. 13) Use AFLASHxxx.exe. (Note the name of the new BIOS file before you begin since you will need to type it in. If AFLASHxxx.exe recognizes your FLASH device (part number in blue box at top of screen) you are good to go. Example: Original device ATMEL AT49F002T Cannibalized Device SST29EE020. Blue box now shows the latter. 14) Flash the BIOS. 15) Reboot, press DEL, reset you BIOS to defaults, set you BIOS up again. 16) ESCD now updates without complaint Notes: A safer method is to copy the contents of the old device to the new device using an EEPROM programmer. Then the computer power can be kept off when inserting and removing devices. This could cost you money unless you have a EEPROM programmer. If you do this, it is still a good idea to re FLASH your new BIOS chip after the device swap, but that is only if you know that the latest BIOS will work as good as the current one. You can use AFLASH to save the current one so you can revert to it if need be. The reason you have to do this repair is that the authors of AWARD BIOS decided to store card config info in the FLASH. This is not updated every time you boot, but is periodically updated apparently. According to the ATMEL datasheet at http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/DOC1017.PDF this device will not wear out until 10,000 cycles. Hmmm..... I put AT49F002T on an EPROM programmer and it would not erase. That is how I determined that this was the problem. AFLASH.exe says that it is rewriting the ESCD data so this data is definitely stored in FLASH and NOT in CMOS NVRAM. Comments from AWARD/AMI engineers on this design decision would be interesting no doubt. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: All the answers: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Tuesday, May 24, 2005 at 3:03 pm Posted by Kevin Irving (1 messages posted) Hi, In most cases this is really quit simple, (not totally related to updating your BIOS, though doing so can knock your settings) The problem comes when the ESCD will not refresh itself after hardware has been changed. Since your computer allocates memory access and checks bootable resources, it cannot write to/read from certain parts of your motherboard ROM that are "LOCKED". Its a simple case of getting your ESCD to refresh itself. To do this you must 'FORCE UPDATE' the ESCD, which makes it re-detect your hardware. follow the steps below and it'll sort the problem for good. 1) go into BIOs setup and find PnP/PCI Configuration 2) find " Reset configuration data" and set it to "YES" or "ENABLED" 3) "SAVE & EXIT" and the system will reboot. You will notice that the first time it loads afterwards will take a few seconds longer, but that is just down to the computer scanning all hardware. Once this has completed it will save itself and reset the BIOS values to default, as they have done their job and scanning the hardware isn't necessary for every boot. Happy Computing On Saturday, March 27, 2004 at 5:33 pm, iceman wrote: >I have corrected this problem by: > >Warning: High Risk of Permanent Damage to your motherboard. Safer (and more expensive) >method follows further below. > >Start of High Risk Method: > >1) If you have an ASUS Motherboard get AFLASHxxx.EXE from www.asus.com.tw (xxx is >the version for your Motherboard, don't ask me, look on the ASUS website to figure >it out) >2) Rename the .exe to .doc >3) Do a text search on ATMEL >4) Do you see other manufacturers and part numbers on that page? There is a good >chance that some or all of these devices are suitable substitutes for your (now worn >out) FLASH chip. Check the device dimensions. For example, if it is 256K X 8 bits >than any listed device with the same dimensions should work. >5) Cannibalize a damaged/discarded motherboard for its FLASH device as defined above. >6) Turn computer power supply off >7) NOTE THE POLARITY OF THE DEVICE – Pin 1 has a dot in the plastic. Draw yourself >a picture of the device orientation on the Motherboard. >7) Loosen the BIOS device or remove it completely being very careful NOT to bend >the pins. >8) If the pins are too widely opened, you may choose to correct this by laying the >device on its side and rolling it towards its underside 2-3 degrees, thus bending >the pins inwards slightly. This will make live extraction slightly safer. Do the >same for the replacement device so that the pins exactly line up with the socket. >9) Put the original device back into the motherboard but do not seat it all the way, >just enough for the pins to make firm contact with the socket conductors leafing >a space to pry it loose again. >10) Boot from a boot floppy containing > i) the ASUS FLASH utility AFLASHxxx.exe as well as > ii) the BIOS file that you plan to load to your FLASH. >Note: This file should be downloaded from the ASUS website. ON SOME VERSIONS of AFLASHxxx.exe >you can create this file from your installed FLASH BIOS device. You are on you own >here, best to get the file from ASUS. Example ASUS P2B use BIOS version 1012. >11) After booting, note the polarity of the FLASH device and remove the FLASH device >being careful not to short anything and try to disconnect all pins at the same time. >12) Insert the new FLASH device, same rules, all pins make contact at same time. >13) Use AFLASHxxx.exe. (Note the name of the new BIOS file before you begin since >you will need to type it in. If AFLASHxxx.exe recognizes your FLASH device (part >number in blue box at top of screen) you are good to go. Example: Original device >ATMEL AT49F002T Cannibalized Device SST29EE020. Blue box now shows the latter. >14) Flash the BIOS. >15) Reboot, press DEL, reset you BIOS to defaults, set you BIOS up again. >16) ESCD now updates without complaint > >Notes: > >A safer method is to copy the contents of the old device to the new device using >an EEPROM programmer. Then the computer power can be kept off when inserting and >removing devices. This could cost you money unless you have a EEPROM programmer. > If you do this, it is still a good idea to re FLASH your new BIOS chip after the >device swap, but that is only if you know that the latest BIOS will work as good >as the current one. You can use AFLASH to save the current one so you can revert >to it if need be. > >The reason you have to do this repair is that the authors of AWARD BIOS decided to >store card config info in the FLASH. This is not updated every time you boot, but >is periodically updated apparently. > >According to the ATMEL datasheet at > >http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/DOC1017.PDF > >this device will not wear out until 10,000 cycles. Hmmm..... > >I put AT49F002T on an EPROM programmer and it would not erase. That is how I determined >that this was the problem. AFLASH.exe says that it is rewriting the ESCD data so >this data is definitely stored in FLASH and NOT in CMOS NVRAM. Comments from AWARD/AMI >engineers on this design decision would be interesting no doubt. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: All the answers: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Tuesday, June 14, 2005 at 2:24 am Posted by Sandy (1 messages posted) Hey all, I have the same problem with you all, i use ASUS P28F Motherboard with Pentium III 400 MHz proccessor. After I formated my harddisk and want to install a new OS (windows xp or windows 98) just before booting there come a message reads "Can't write ESCD" and then setup cannot continue after choosing the drive letter in the disk we want to install. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: All the answers: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Wednesday, August 31, 2005 at 10:45 am Posted by Soulcommander (7 messages posted) Kevin this may have worked for you but not me... I have an Asus A7V266-E mobo...I wanted to update the processor to an AMD 2400 with the Thouroghbred core and knew I needed bios version 1011 for that. So I ordered it. First time Asus sent me 2 chips that wouldnt even post! Then a different tech sent one that posted but gave me the error message: ERROR: Can't write ESCD Asus thus far has not returned my calls or been helpful. This problem is now over a month old. I wish someone would explain what the Etended system configuration data error message is coming up for. I'm wondering if reformatting the Hard drive will fix the problem with a fresh Install of Windows XP? Many techs including Asus seem to not know what this is or what to do about it. But I have had 4 techs tell me to have Asus send another bios chip with the Beta version 1015.002 on the chip. I have searched the internet, called Microsoft and have gotten no real answer as to what is causing this error message. On Tuesday, May 24, 2005 at 3:03 pm, Kevin Irving wrote: >Hi, In most cases this is really quit simple, > >(not totally related to updating your BIOS, though doing so can knock your settings) > >The problem comes when the ESCD will not refresh itself after hardware has been changed. >Since your computer allocates memory access and checks bootable resources, it cannot >write to/read from certain parts of your motherboard ROM that are "LOCKED". Its a >simple case of getting your ESCD to refresh itself. To do this you must 'FORCE UPDATE' >the ESCD, which makes it re-detect your hardware. follow the steps below and it'll >sort the problem for good. > >1) go into BIOs setup and find PnP/PCI Configuration >2) find " Reset configuration data" and set it to "YES" or "ENABLED" >3) "SAVE & EXIT" and the system will reboot. > >You will notice that the first time it loads afterwards will take a few seconds longer, >but that is just down to the computer scanning all hardware. > >Once this has completed it will save itself and reset the BIOS values to default, >as they have done their job and scanning the hardware isn't necessary for every boot. > >Happy Computing > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: All the answers: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Sunday, October 9, 2005 at 4:16 am Posted by Esteve (1 messages posted) It worked for me, thanks Kevin On Tuesday, May 24, 2005 at 3:03 pm, Kevin Irving wrote: >Hi, In most cases this is really quit simple, > >(not totally related to updating your BIOS, though doing so can knock your settings) > >The problem comes when the ESCD will not refresh itself after hardware has been changed. >Since your computer allocates memory access and checks bootable resources, it cannot >write to/read from certain parts of your motherboard ROM that are "LOCKED". Its a >simple case of getting your ESCD to refresh itself. To do this you must 'FORCE UPDATE' >the ESCD, which makes it re-detect your hardware. follow the steps below and it'll >sort the problem for good. > >1) go into BIOs setup and find PnP/PCI Configuration >2) find " Reset configuration data" and set it to "YES" or "ENABLED" >3) "SAVE & EXIT" and the system will reboot. > >You will notice that the first time it loads afterwards will take a few seconds longer, >but that is just down to the computer scanning all hardware. > >Once this has completed it will save itself and reset the BIOS values to default, >as they have done their job and scanning the hardware isn't necessary for every boot. > >Happy Computing > > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: All the answers: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Thursday, January 26, 2006 at 7:27 pm Posted by PinoyAko (1 messages posted) Ei... i had the same problem. i am using an Asus p4s800 motherboard and a P4 2.4Ghz processor. i just changed the settings of "Plug and Play OS" to "Yes" from its default "No"(tnx james). and updating of the ESCD was successful. but, my other computers use the same board but it is working fine even if Plug n Play OS is set to NO. anyway, its OK. as long as its working. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: Question: Re: ''Error, can't write ESCD'' Saturday, February 4, 2006 at 12:25 pm Posted by Neil McPhee (1 messages posted) I had it too. Checked CMOS settings - no info about HDD C:. In getting to the HDD to see heads, sectors, etc. re-seated ribbon cable. Hey presto! It booted normally. On Monday, November 26, 2001 at 10:04 am, Bruce Pellowe wrote: >When booting up, I receive the error message "Error, can't write ESCD" >ESCD stands for Extended System Configuration Data. > >My question is why, suddenly, this error occurs. >Windows appears to load successfully. > > [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows 98 Discussion Forum