BIOS flash results in lack of IDE

[me(who else?)]

This is a rather long story:

A friend of mine (who owns a computer store) got a bunch of Gigabyte GA-7VM400M mobos at a good price, so I picked one up for my new computer. However, the onboard sound was broken. He only had one board left, so I installed that. However, when I flashed the BIOS (bad idea), the motherboard now fails to recognize the IDE channels. I have a feeling that this is because of the fact that it has 2 SATA ports. However, it won't accept a BIOS flash for the motherboard that it looks exactly like (and has the same features as). It looks like the GA-7VM400M Thus, I cannot use my computer. Any ideas on how to repair this? Gigabyte tech support doesn't list a phone number, and I don't trust that they'll email me back promptly.

Any ideas?

 

[IronDuke]

This is a rather long story:

... a BIOS flash for the motherboard that it looks exactly like (and has the same features as).

Sounds like the wrong Bios.

 

[zephead]

gigabyte has a pathetic tech support system, don't waste your time there.

if your onboard sound is broken it is probable that the rest of the board was adversely affected. try disabling the onboard sound option in the bios, if you are able to.

 

[me(who else?)]

Ok, let me restate:

-OLD mobo had sound problems
-Got a New Mobo
-Flashed the BIOS with the image from Gigabyte for the number on the board
-BIOS lost the ability to see IDE drives
-Tried BIOS flashes for other boards with SATA, which had all the same chipsets/features

I'm trying to find out if:

1) ANyone has had this problem
2) If I can find a BIOS flash to work with the board properly
3) Where the board came from(my friend got it from his Supplier)

I have tried some older BIOSes, they don't work either. Please help, I've sunk several hundred $$$ on this box.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

Why don't you take the BIOS-chip from that mobo with the broken sound, and put it in your current mobo? They should be identical.
Then keep your dirty mitts off any BIOS-updates, unless absolutely necessary, and you are SURE you have the correct BIOS-update for that revision of mobo.