[RESOLVED] Dell BIOS Flash Killed My Dimension E521

So a few weeks ago I was looking around the Dell support site and thought I'd check out their Drivers & Downloads page.

I found a new BIOS update so downloaded and ran the .exe file (says you can do it from within windows or DOS) and it successfully update my bios from version 1.0.03 to 1.1.04

All was well until last night when I tried to boot from a USB stick and nothing happened. :confused:

I then tried to get into the BIOS and found the keyboard didn't respond and noticed that it didn't get power until windows was almost loaded ie just before the Account selection screen appeared.

I decided to run the BIOS flash again and it informed that it was going to upgrade from version 1.1.04 to 1.1.04.

I clicked OK and the progress bar moved merrily along until it reached 100% at which point it displayed a box stating

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Failure! Failure! Failure!

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:eek:

Of course when I rebooted my machine it had now been reduced to a very expensive doorstop. :(

I tried removing the battery for 15 minutes and powered on with no power cord to try clearing NVRam, but it made no difference (which I knew).

Came into work today and got onto the Dell forums and bugger me if there's not heaps of people reporting cases of flashes gone bad using this particular update (referred to as 1.1.04 or 1.1.4) :mad:

So I got on the phone to Dell support and after explaining what had happened, what I had done to investigate, that I had seen the similar cases on the Dell Forums, that I work for applications support area at the company I work for and that I felt the flash had corrupted the BIOS, the woman went off for about a minute and then came back and told me that her supervisor had given here approval to send a technician out to my hours to replace the mobo. :)

All up I was on the phone for about 10 minutes with maybe another 5 of wait time initially.

So the dude is scheduled to come out Monday.

Maybe running it from within windows was not a good idea and I should have run it from a bootable CD (I don't have a floppy).

So after all that I forgot to ask a Question.:p

When My mobo gets replaced, will I need to reactivate XP ?

After I reinstalled XP from the Dell provided DVD (when I accidentally wiped my HDs playing around wih Raid), it didn't ask me for a serial number or require activation and that was on 24th Novembr 2006.

So I'm presuming that it's a Dell OEM version of XP and as such maybe doesn't need activation or something ?

If the dell restore cd finds everything right, then no, you should not need to reactivate.

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Originally Posted by Train

If the dell restore cd finds everything right, then no, you should not need to reactivate.

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I don't plan on using the restore DVD, I'm hoping that after the mobo is replaced, it will just boot into windows as normal ??

It may just do that with the CORRECT Dell mobo.

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Originally Posted by Train

It may just do that with the CORRECT Dell mobo.

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Now you'ev got me worried, presumably they can get that right ???:confused::o

We hope !

I would be asking the Dell tech this question. I can't believe he'd come out, replace the mobo, then leave without making sure the computer was in working order! Maybe barricade the exits and take his vehicle keys until you're back to rights.;)

The woman from Dell said that he will replace the mobo and test the system.

So presumably it will all be working fine.

I was just being cautious about whether XP would need to be recativated because of the motherboard chaneg but I guess it's not my problem.

If it needs to be reactivated - it needs to be reactivated. No big deal.

Nix, I feel your pain. Bios updates always scare the hell out of me. Especially when they come from Dell, Gateway, HP, and Compaq. I killed a Gateway motherboard by running a Bios update. I will never attempt any bios updates again on any of those computers. Especially when there aren't my computer.

Now, myself I personally have an Abit AV8 Third Eye motherboard that has a neat little utility called a Guru clock that includes a Bios Flash Menu. I have updated the bios on this motherboard at least 3 times with no problem. You basically click onto update and it takes care of everything for you. No booting up off of a disc.

As far as your dead Dell goes, once the tech reinstalls the same motherboard you will not have to reactivate windows. It does have to be the same exact motherboard or you will have to run an over the top install of Windows with reactivation.

In any case there is no problem with reactivation where a mobo has to be replaced because of early failure - MS make a specific exception for that with OEM versions.

I hope you learned a lesson Nix, reflashing the BIOS can be a dangerous business, and you should only do it if the update addresses a specific need. And I've never done a BIOS reflash from within Windows, I don't think I would trust doing it that way. The tried and tested way is from DOS using a floppy (which shows that they still have their uses).

Dell will replace like for like.

In all the dell mobos I've replaced for customers I have never had to reactivate xp.

Also if you have a bootable usb flash drive you can stick the latest bios on there and run it instead of CD. I have never corrupted a bios doing it that way.

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In all the dell mobos I've replaced for customers

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That sure doesn't fill me with gobs of confidence! Are Dell OEM mobos really that prone to failure??

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Originally Posted by lgbpop

That sure doesn't fill me with gobs of confidence! Are Dell OEM mobos really that prone to failure??

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When I say all dell mobos I mean mobos I've replaced in all the dell range (Desktops and Notebooks). Occasionally I don't see a faulty mobo for weeks, and when I do it's mainly on the older systems.

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Originally Posted by SuperSparks

And I've never done a BIOS reflash from within Windows, I don't think I would trust doing it that way.

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Well according to the information on this page http://support.ap.dell.com/support/d...&fileid=190574 it's a viable option, so that's why I did it from there.

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Originally Posted by P3-450

Also if you have a bootable usb flash drive you can stick the latest bios on there and run it instead of CD. I have never corrupted a bios doing it that way.

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Well yes in hindsight that should have been what I did.

Or better still not try and flash a second time.

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Originally Posted by lgbpop

That sure doesn't fill me with gobs of confidence! Are Dell OEM mobos really that prone to failure??

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Well potentially if they are putting out dodgy BIOS flashes that destroy the BIOS.

One thing we should all learn from this is that if you don't have a problem then leave bios updates alone.

With a recent new build of mine, I had to update the bios as it had compatibility problems with my Ram. I updated that with no problems from within Windows using software I downloaded from the Gigabyte website. Looks like Dell messed up here, I wonder if they will remove the update.

I bet the Dell technician will be worn out travelling all the way from India :D

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Originally Posted by Philgo

One thing we should all learn from this is that if you don't have a problem then leave bios updates alone.

With a recent new build of mine, I had to update the bios as it had compatibility problems with my Ram. I updated that with no problems from within Windows using software I downloaded from the Gigabyte website. Looks like Dell messed up here, I wonder if they will remove the update.

I bet the Dell technician will be worn out travelling all the way from India :D

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And Philgo wins the money Sam was from India.

He rang me at 9.01am and said will you be home today and I said that my wife would be.

He said "I'll be there between 1pm and 3 pm".

At 1.30pm he rings me and says "how late can I come there" and when I say "that's up to you", he says "I'll be there at 3.30pm".

According to my wife he turned up at 5.30pm.

She said he hardly spoke English, was rude and seemed like he didn't have a clue.

When she asked him if we would lose any data he said "I don't know, hopefully not" - that was my worst fear that he would wipe the drives or something.

He called me on my mobile at 6.00pm whilst I was on the bus and said "Did you have Windows98 on your PC becuase it's hanging".

I say "No, that's on the 2nd drive and I can't get it to install. XP is on the first drive".

He says "OK I'll change the drive boot sequence in the BIOS". So basically he's reconnected the drives in the wrong order, luckily they are SATA. :rolleyes:

When I got home at about 6.15pm he'd left.

The PC was on and in XP :)

After helping getting the boys to bed, I logged on and immediately notice that my card reader was not showing up - I shutdown, opened the box and saw that the cable was left unconnected at one end. :rolleyes:

I swapped the HD cables around whilst I was in there and got into the BIOS which is now back at 1.0.03 and swapped the HD boot sequence back.

Happy days.

Irony of irony.

After submitting that post a little window popped for the Dell Support application that runs in the background.

Guess what it told me:

That's just toooooooooooooooooooooo funny !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ROTFLMAO.

How much am I gonna get :D

As a matter of interest did he do a good job by tidying the wiring etc. or was it just thrown in.

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Originally Posted by Philgo

As a matter of interest did he do a good job by tidying the wiring etc. or was it just thrown in.

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Philgo is on a roll, the wiring was semi thrown in I think that's how the card reader became disconnected. It was disconnected at the reader itself not on the USB connection on the mobo.

If I didn't know better Philgo has some inside information on these Dell technicians.

Also my wife told me that at one stage he was holding the case in his hands and tipping it from side to side and something was rattling around.:rolleyes:

So he probably dropped a screw or something.

Apparently when he showed up my wife told him he was late and he said "I rang you to tell you I was coming" and she said "that was an hour ago from somewhere that is 10 minutes drive away".

He said "I was delayed" to which she replied "well you originally told my husband you'd be here between 1 and 3", he replied "I called him" she said "yes when it was already 1.30pm".

He said "I was delayed, anyway it's fixed now, sign here".

She said "I'm not signing anything until I've checked to make sure it's working".

He said "It is I've tested it".

She said "Oh right I heard you asking my husband if we had Windows98, why was that ?".

He said "Doesn't matter it's fixed now".

She quickly checked she could log in and started up the modem to make sure email was working etc, then she signed and he left.

She later said to me "You should have got Dell to courier the motherboard out to you, you could have replaced it I'm sure.

Your wife offered him a cup of tea and he said no thanks......

I don't think he was offered one.

That's why he left your wires messy then :D

Oddly enough the GPU is now running 5C cooler