Pipo X7 won't start up anymore

[Frontier]

You will probably need an appropriate alligator clip. Some times you may have to desolder the chip. Be careful with the programming voltage. It may need adjustment. Some users have fried their chips.

The PiPO X7 uses the ATMEL 93C46D SOIC8 package which operates at 1.8V.
You can find the reference documentation here: http://www.atmel.com/devices/at93c46d.aspx

I've already ordered the following items in order to flash it:

- Programmer: http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Brand...520409364.html
- Clip adapter: http://www.****.com/itm/221650843919...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

The problem is that they will take considerable amount of time to arrive due to the Chinese New Year holidays.

If only I could have the clip adapter (I can't find anything like that in Greece and in any EU stores), I could also use my Radxa Rock board to flash the chip (all necessary singnals are available on it's GPIO headers, including 1.8v power).

[poul50]

have anyone tried this???

1. Download the latest version of your BIOS from your computer or motherboard manufacturer’s support site.
2. Rename the downloaded file to AMIBOOT.ROM. (NOTE: Please see paragraph 3 to make sure you pick the right name)
3. Copy the file to a floppy disk (or USB flashdrive).
4. Insert the floppy disk into the floppy drive.
5. Turn on the system.
6. The system should automatically access the floppy drive (indicator LED will light up). If no floppy access occurs, press Home to force update. Follow any on-screen instructions to restore the good BIOS from the floppy disk.
7. When the computer beeps four (4) times or a reboot prompt is displayed, you may remove the floppy disk.
8. Restart the computer.

Note: If a USB keyboard does not work, try using a PS/2 keyboard. Sometimes, taking out the CMOS battery to clear the configuration settings or resetting the CMOS jumper switch to clear the CMOS may help too. Only the BIOS file is needed. For AMI BIOS recovery, the floppy disk does not have to be bootable and no flash utility is required. This procedure is also applicable with USB drives on most newer systems that use AMI.


ore maybe try without rename the bin file and different keyes. i havent the pipo x7, but worth trying example f7, when booting or holding the powerbutton 10 sec, or crtl+ delete, all with the biosfile (x7_ms_logo.bin) on usb, try with or without renaming it to amiboot.rom. or amiboot.bin., and of course you must wait out after each try, so the bios have time to flash..... i would wait at least 3 minutes

[loko]

The PiPO X7 uses the ATMEL 93C46D SOIC8 package which operates at 1.8V.

As I understand, Teclast X98 uses Winbond 25Q64. Many users have programmed their corrupted Winbond 25Q64 with a programmer that costs under US $4.00.

As I can tell from the PiPo X7 PCB images, under the heatsink there is a chip above the processor having a blue dot, which seems to be a Winbond 25Q64 chip.

have anyone tried this???

PiPo X7 is not a PC, almost none of these procedures can be applied to this device.

[poul50]

PiPo X7 is not a PC, almost none of these procedures can be applied to this device.[/QUOTE]



its not a pc ???? i would say it is a low power pc, and do nearly all tasks like a pc except heavy cpu processing tasks, the only thing diffrent from normal pc as we know it ,is that it is booting from a compressed wim file because of the small disk space, the bios is a ami aptio uefi bios, so i would give it a try , it is free and you cannot damage anything

[Frontier]

have anyone tried this???
[...]

Tried this already using keyboard combinations like HOME, CTRL+HOME, CTRL+WIN, CTRL+DEL, CTRL+END and using the BIOS file either with the original name or as AMIBOOT.BIN/AMIBOOT.ROM.

Nothing

ore maybe try without rename the bin file and different keyes. i havent the pipo x7, but worth trying example f7, when booting or holding the powerbutton 10 sec, or crtl+ delete, all with the biosfile (

x7_ms_logo.bin) on usb, try with or without renaming it to amiboot.rom. or amiboot.bin., and of course you must wait out after each try, so the bios have time to flash..... i would wait at least 3 minutes

I tried all these without avail.
The problem is that this motherboard lacks the "usual" BIOS safety features that almost all PC motherboards have regarding BIOS recovery. Also, removing the battery for over 24 hours does not clear CMOS which means that settings are not saved on a battery backed-up memory but on the flash instead.

As I understand, Teclast X98 uses Winbond 25Q64. Many users have programmed their corrupted Winbond 25Q64 with a programmer that costs under US $4.00.

As I can tell from the PiPo X7 PCB images, under the heatsink there is a chip above the processor having a blue dot, which seems to be a Winbond 25Q64 chip.

You are right; the X7 has two serial EEPROM SOIC packages, the Winbond and the Atmel 93C46D (this one is on the other side of the board).

I've contacted a friend in Larissa that has both the programmer and the socket adapter and asked him to send them to me (he used them to unbrick his Teclast Χ98 Air 3G with great success).

One last note: my board version is v1.3 (date 2015-01-09) where fvdh's board is v1.2 (as shown in the pictures posted earlier). The most obvious difference is the fact that v1.3 lacks the OTG connector shown in the picture above; only the board connectors exist instead (cost saving?). Since v1.2 has an OTG port, someone could try to flash the BIOS using Intel Manufacturing Tools (you can get them from my repository here). The only thing required would be the PID/VID values of the device, that can be obtained from a running X7 under Device Manager > USB root hub device.

PiPo X7 is not a PC, almost none of these procedures can be applied to this device.

[Scooby-Doo]

I've had my Pipo X7 for a few days now. Managed to make it dual boot (Windows and Debian). Unfortunately, after fiddling with some settings in the BIOS/UEFI it won't boot at al. Red LED is on but no HDMI or other activity. Any ideas on how to proceed?

Are you really shure, that you have a bios problem. I had the same problem two times because i "hard modded" the box.

It has very sensitive contacts. Look that the plugs of the three flat cables, that "join" the mainboard with the front panel are placed well. Look that the mainbord is placed exactly, so that the plug of the power supply can be put completely into its socket.

Thes are the vulnerable parts of the assembly of the box.

[dashellmutt]

Same problem

Are you really shure, that you have a bios problem. I had the same problem two times because i "hard modded" the box.

It has very sensitive contacts. Look that the plugs of the three flat cables, that "join" the mainboard with the front panel are placed well. Look that the mainbord is placed exactly, so that the plug of the power supply can be put completely into its socket.

Thes are the vulnerable parts of the assembly of the box.

I have exactly the same issue and it's definitely a BIOS issue.

I was trying to figure out why it wouldn't sleep so I went into the BIOS and started mucking around. When I was done, I hit "save and reset" and it never came back up.

• I have tried de-solding the battery and shorting every contact in that area that looks like it might be for a clear CMOS jumper.
• I have tried to get it to boot to a USB key with the BIOS file on it
• I have tried holding various keyboard keys while powering on (more than one keyboard)
• I have tried various combinations of holding the power button or keyboard keys while connecting power
• I have tried a different power supply

Nothing has gotten me any video output and I don't think it's actually POSTing either because the keyboard lights don't respond and flash drives only blink once right at power on. I don't know what else to do. I hope somebody has a breakthrough.

I'm pretty upset since I've only had this thing for 2 days, was super happy with it, and now it's dead. I'm going to have to retract my recommendation of this thing to all my friends.

[lifeisfun]

I have exactly the same issue and it's definitely a BIOS issue.
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I'm pretty upset since I've only had this thing for 2 days, was super happy with it, and now it's dead. I'm going to have to retract my recommendation of this thing to all my friends.

Sorry to hear that, but I think that more reasonable would be to tell your friends not to allow you to touch their equipment ...

[slackstick]

Problem solved for me :-))

After a Bios change, (Sleep mode on Power up or so) my Pipo also did not start any more. I could reproduce it all four times that after removing and re-installing the main PCB the device started exactly once! The fourth time I reset Bios to default values and now it works.

When powering up, normally the red LED goes on for a short time, than you can press power button. With my problem, the LED did not went on at all.

Hope this helps.

[dashellmutt]

Sorry to hear that, but I think that more reasonable would be to tell your friends not to allow you to touch their equipment ...

Haha very funny. If you can brick the device just by changing accessible settings in the BIOS, it's clearly flawed. My friends are all technical folks as well and it's just a matter of time before they would have the same issue.

[dashellmutt]

After a Bios change, (Sleep mode on Power up or so) my Pipo also did not start any more. I could reproduce it all four times that after removing and re-installing the main PCB the device started exactly once! The fourth time I reset Bios to default values and now it works.

When powering up, normally the red LED goes on for a short time, than you can press power button. With my problem, the LED did not went on at all.

Hope this helps.

That's not the issue here. The LED comes on, there's just no video output and no reaction from USB devices or NIC. It looks like it's not completing POST.

[Frontier]

Pipo X7 won't start up anymore

After a Bios change, (Sleep mode on Power up or so) my Pipo also did not start any more. I could reproduce it all four times that after removing and re-installing the main PCB the device started exactly once! The fourth time I reset Bios to default values and now it works.

When powering up, normally the red LED goes on for a short time, than you can press power button. With my problem, the LED did not went on at all.

Hope this helps.

Did your device POST after the initial BIOS value change, when it won't start?
When you write 'removing and reinstalling the main PCB' you mean that you separated the main board from the front port board?

[slackstick]

Did your device POST after the initial BIOS value change, when it won't start?
When you write 'removing and reinstalling the main PCB' you mean that you separated the main board from the front port board?

No sign of life at all when it didn't start.

I only removed the PCB not the cables. I also would not belief it if it didn't happe to me reproducable.

[loko]

After a Bios change, (Sleep mode on Power up or so) my Pipo also did not start any more. I could reproduce it all four times that after removing and re-installing the main PCB the device started exactly once! The fourth time I reset Bios to default values and now it works.

When powering up, normally the red LED goes on for a short time, than you can press power button. With my problem, the LED did not went on at all.

Hope this helps.

No sign of life at all when it didn't start.

I only removed the PCB not the cables. I also would not belief it if it didn't happe to me reproducable.

Since there are many users having this issue, can you describe step by step what exact procedure you did follow to solve this issue?

What exactly do you mean by removing and re-installing the main PCB without unplugging the cables? Just removing the screws of the large PCB and detach it from the case?

That does not seem logical at all, unless touching some components with bare hands had something to do with resetting.

Anyway, since you claim that the procedure is reproducible, please describe it thoroughly.

[dashellmutt]

I think he's describing a similar but unrelated issue. Mine has been taken apart and thoroughly handled multiple times now and nothing has changed. This all started with a change to BIOS settings, nothing else.