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Alienware Aurora R6 BIOS Update Problem
I received a new Alienware Aurora R6 system with Windows 10 Home, 8GB of RAM, a 1TB hard drive, and an ATI RX480 8GB graphics card. I have been trying to update everything to the latest drivers, but I cannot flash the BIOS. It currently has version 1.01 of the BIOS, but 1.04 is the latest one.
The pre-installed Alienware Update software first told me that the BIOS needed an update, when it popped up with a message on the screen. So I first tried that method when 1.03 was the current version last week. It would reboot my computer, then just sit there for a few hours without doing anything. I would finally turn it off, and I had to unplug the power cord and wait a few minutes, then plug it back in before everything would start up again normally. But I still had version 1.01 of the BIOS.
Next I tried creating a USB boot disk using Rufus and FreeDOS. The USB drive booted just fine when I changed the boot to legacy mode and pressed F12 during the startup to select the drive. But when I tried to run the BIOS update file, it gives me an out of memory message.
I have tried both procedures again with version 1.04 of the BIOS, and still the same results. I'm not sure if I have a hardware issue that Dell needs to resolve, or if something else is screwed up. Maybe I need to do a clean install of Windows 10? But that would not explain the failure of the update when booting into FreeDOS.
I would appreciate any advice that anyone can give me before I contact Dell support.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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March 23rd, 2017 12:00
Try using the new "BIOS Flash Update" option from F12 Boot-Menu.
I suggest connecting computer to a good UPS (like APC).
Take your time with limited distractions. There is always a chance of "bricking" or killing your motherboard.
The steps should be:
- Download the BIOS Updater File
- Go to the file's Properties in Windows File Explorer, and UnBlock the file.
- - While not Required, it would not hurt to verify the file's checksum (if you know how to use those tools).
- Write down all your existing BIOS options or take phone pics.
- Copy the file to an empty FAT/FAT32 formatted USB flash drive
- - You might make to extract the contents first.
- Reboot the computer and tap F12 a few times as it boots
- Select "BIOS Flash Update" from menu
- - No mouse here, so Tab-key switches fields/options/buttons
- Load the BIOS Firmware file from the flash drive
- Perform the upgrade and look for a "Successful" message
- Carefully, do exactly what it tells you to do.
- Maybe it will reboot itself. Windows should load.
- Would probably be a good idea to shut-down, and double-check your BIOS version and options on boot-up
I have not actually tried it this way yet, so please post any required changes in steps. Especially, if this option works with the downloaded .EXE file as is, or if the actual firmware file(s) inside needs to be extracted first. Remember, if you just double-click and run the .EXE file from Windows, I'm pretty sure it's just going to reboot the computer and try to install it the normal way (inside the UEFI DOS-like workspace, outside of Windows).
I'm thinking this feature will work with your existing BIOS options (likely UEFI, SecureBoot=ON), but if not, let us know. I wanted to get this posted ASAP for you. I might get a chance to try it later.
My Aurora-R6 came with BIOS v1.0.1
I am currently running v1.0.3
I haven't actually applied v1.0.4 yet (it's very new ... just released)
I suggest that ALL released BIOS versions be applied to machine in order (in case there are any prerequisites) .
Yes, a few other Aurora R5/R6 users have reported BIOS update trouble (not sure what's going on there) but I think most (if not all) have been able to recover. Props for trying FreeDOS method, but thankfully ... the Alienware Aurora R6 apparently finally has proper BIOS Firmware Flashing and Recovery (outside of Windows). Between this and the normal way (even it happens from UEFI-workspace) no other procedures should be required.
Alienware-Eimy
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
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4.4K Posts
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March 23rd, 2017 10:00
Hi ,
Try this: open Device Manager > System firmware and delete UEFI firmware (restart) and try the BIOS update again.
nexus444
5 Posts
1
March 23rd, 2017 12:00
Thanks so much for the suggestion! It worked! I did not know that this option existed under the UEFI boot by pressing F12, to apply a BIOS update directly from a USB drive. I just used the same drive I had prepared with FreeDOS, since the file was already there, and it worked like a champ. I am now running 1.0.4!
Now I need to get everything else set up and think about some possible upgrades (Already ordered a stick from Crucial to get my RAM to 16GB, and am thinking about trying the system with an Oculus Rift). Also thinking about what to do with those empty SSD drive bays as well as the M.2 socket..................can the system natively support a RAID array (2 mirrored SSD drives)?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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March 23rd, 2017 13:00
Excellent! Good work.