Reader/Writer for System ROM

[stonee]

Hi,

Does anyone know of an application that can be used the system ROMs throughout the system? Like an application that will tell me the address of the BIOS, keyboard ROM, etc... I have a feeling that someone has been changing my system's ROM, and I would like an to use an application that will allow me to view the various ROMs in my system. Does such an application exist or do I need to write one?

As an example, sometimes the hyphen on my keyboard stops working, or other random characters. Also, at other times my computer does not boot up, saying that the operating system cannot be found on the system. I reflash the BIOS, but I feel like there is still some data that shouldn't be there in the remaining area of the BIOS. I would like to go in and take a look at it.

Thanks for any tips and advice.

Best Regards,

stonee

[nihil]

Hi,

Can we have details of your system, operating system(s) and its age? also have you added or installed anything before this started happening?

I am afraid that what you describe sounds like a hardware problem to me.

Assuming that it is not malware/a prank, I would say that flashing the BIOS will get rid of anything anyone might have done.

Get the diagnostics software from your HDD manufacturer and run that; also memtest86, to check your RAM.

http://www.memtest86.com/

[stonee]

Thanks for the reply. I am currently running a on a Knoppix livecd, but was previously running linux. I know it is possible to read devices in /dev, and grab information from /proc, but it would be nice if an application already would allow me to view the data for the various ROM devices throughout the system.

The system I am running is an IBM 300 GL. Its an old computer, running at only 700MHz. I know that after I have said this, you will immediately tend to believe it is a hardware problem. However, I obtained this machine only a few weeks ago, and when I got it I ran memtest on it for a few days just to make sure the memory was OK. It passed all tests.

I did not run any kind of test on the hard drive, though. I'll have to try that next.

Besides that, do you know any software that will allow you to view the contents of the ROM devices in your system? I've tried searching google, but can't find the right terms.

[Und3ertak3r]

Reflashed the BIOS.. ?

OK .. I take it you've tried a different Keyboard..
HAve you fully cleared the CMOS.. remove the BAttery and set the clear jumper..
As for reading the MoBo BIOS ROM.. most BIOS Flash utilities allow you to create a backup of the BIOS file.. I am sure you can do the same with the GPU BIOS..
Or are you also wanting to view the ROMs in every thing CD/DVD/HDD NETROM and all..

Yes there are tools.. but only allow you to one type of device and sometimes only one or two models or brands.. that is manufacturer specific..

[stonee]

I want to be able to view everything CD/DVD/HDD...

[SirDice]

There is such a thing as to much paranoia....

It's either a driver problem and/or a hardware defect.. Forget about "somebody" hacking one of your ROMs and inserting code.. Way to complicated.. There are easier ways if someone really wants to... Even hackers/crackers work according to the KISS principle..

[mohaughn]

Yeah.. It sounds like you get a bum piece of equipment. memtest isn't going to find every problem. Mainly because it only tests memory I/O. It does nothing to test the state of the motherboard.

If your keyboard is acting up I would suspect a bad connection into the motherboard, or issues on the motherboard itself. I've had equipment that was hit by lightening that would work fine for weeks, and then go crazy for a few days, then back to completely normal.

Nothing short of busting out a multimeter and checking resistance on resistors and traces will find all problems on a motherboard. I've run the high end HP diagnostic tools on servers for days and never found a problem. However, once the machine is booted up into an OS it will crash. Replace the processor cache modules, problem goes away. IMO, most hardware diagnostic tools sucks.

And no, you will not find a tool that allows you to view the ROM information on every piece of hardware on your machine as other members have already stated.