How can I fix a FUBAR'd BIOS?

[chuckboothe]

A friend gave me a pile of dead computers in assorted states of disrepair to fix and keep (yeah, I'm the chronically broke friend). So far I've got two up and running- I will run nothing but Linux on these. The one I'm using now is an old Compaq Presario with crap for a video card, so I've moved on to a bigger challenge.I have an HP dv9815nr with a 64 bit processor and 4GB of ram.It should be sweet if I can ever get it running.
My problem- the BIOS (Phoenix) is messed up. It can't find the primary hard drive or the dvd drive- kinda a problem. I've dl'd the OEM Cinnamon64-bit. It works. I checked it on this box and it booted up at boot. The message on the HP says to check the media cable- which I did to no avail. Also, it can't find the primary hd. I took the hd out of the primary slot and put it in the secondary slot, and the BIOS picked it up just fine. Ran the self-check on it- passed 100%.The computer just restarts if I try to boot with the hd in the secondary slot
So, all this gibberish just to ask if there is some way to fix the BIOS?
Any and all help is appreciated!! TY in advance!!

[xenopeek]

That perhaps is a question that will get better answers on a DIY hardware forum, like AnandTech or Toms Hardware.

[homerscousin]

You can try resetting the BIOS if you haven't yet. It's easy. Older mobo's had a header with 3 pins and a jumper. Just had to move the jumper from 1&2 to 2&3 or reverse to clear the BIOS back to factory defaults. Or remove and replace the battery does the same thing. If that doesn't work and the BIOS needs to be reflashed or replaced, yeah Tom's is a better place to ask.