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Dimension E510 - BIOS Upgrade DISASTER!
I really hope someone can help - google/bing couldn't :-(
I'm fixing my boss' family computer. They bought it refurbished and do not have access to any original disks or manuals. It's a Dimension E510 with Windows XP Media Center.
I was asked to install a new DVD drive and make sure the machine is up-to-date software and configuration-wise.
The Dell drivers download page recommended BIOS A07 for the machine (I entered the service tag). When that was installed and I rebooted it beeped twice and the message: Incompatible processor detected! Press F1 to continue... pressing F1 allowed the computer to continue booting, but I could not return the machine to my boss in this condition.
So I checked the forums and someone suggested working backwards until reaching a BIOS that does not give that error. The next available BIOS was A05 - still received the same message. I then tried A04 - and now I get System halted! Alert! Incompatible processor detected.
What can I do about this? I do not have access to any spare parts and am strapped for cash at the moment.
I have to face my boss in the morning (legal holiday notwithstanding) so any suggestions will be gratefully received.
Thanks,
Mrs. Z
mrs.z
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February 21st, 2011 22:00
Woo Hoo!!! Got it to boot... :emotion-2:
Based on your suggestion I started swapping out the motherboards - then decided (also based on your suggestion) to first swap the CPUs - IT WORKED - I was able to boot on A04 past the POST (with some "hit F1 to continue" minor errors) and into Windows.
I really do not want to swap CPUs permanently, though, so I would like to just revert back to Rev A00 (the original rev) and return the CPUs to their rightful mother(board)s. I've got that Rev as well as A02, but now I'm skittish. Should I just flash to A00 and leave well enough alone (I hope) or go for the upgrade to A02? (Interestingly enough, the other motherboard indicates its Rev A01 but I can't find that on the download site)
Anyone want to weigh in on this? - I thank all of you who've steered me in the right direction :-)
Mrs. Z
mrs.z
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February 22nd, 2011 20:00
Thank G-D, I was able to revert to A00 and boot using the original CPU. :emotion-2: I am going to close up the case and not touch anything else (maybe).
Just for completion sake:
For some reason the link in your previous post did not work, but I Googled CPU-Z and downloaded it from there
Yup. That I did know about. Here are the results for each CPU:
E510 (original machine):
And here is the CPU from the 5150 (my "spare" machine)
So even though the E510 seems to be an older computer its processor is faster. I'm glad I didn't swap them... Is there anything obvious that explains why the E510 CPU could not handle A04?
Oh, and I decided to just go back to A00 because A04 did not solve the forever-Standby issue, so I doubted A02 would.
Thanks again to all who helped get me on the right track. I hope this thread is helpful for someone experiencing a similar issue.
Mrs. Z
rdunnill
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February 20th, 2011 21:00
Can you get into the BIOS? If you can, I'd suggest installing A07 and entering the BIOS configuration screen so that the BIOS configuration can update the CPU settings.
mrs.z
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February 20th, 2011 22:00
Unfortunately I can not get into the BIOS (as far as I know) - I don't even get to the Dell logo when it boots now.
Is there a key combo to hold down when booting to get into the BIOS?
Besides, the trouble started with A07 - I think my best bet would be to get back to A00...
Would resetting the CMOS help? (I saw mention of it on another site - don't know if it's applicable here or even do-able)
Thanks for replying, though :-)
fireberd
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February 21st, 2011 03:00
I have an E510.
There were several motherboards used in the E510 (and identical 5150) models. The unit will accept upgraded CPU's (up to a D945) however if the CPU was upgraded ALL the motherboards except the 0HJ054 model will give an "incompatible CPU" notice at POST and require F1 to continue. We have many posts that confirm this.
This sounds like what is happening in this unit. Can you confirm?
mrs.z
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February 21st, 2011 06:00
Thanks for replying.
I don't know which motherboard it is (yet - will hopefully check when I return from work)
But that is NOT what's happening now. The "Press F1" appeared at A07 and A05
It's now on A04 and the system is HALTED - does not get beyond the error.That's the disaster :-(
I found BIOS recovery instructions on another site for a different mobo manufacturer that mentions a key combination to hold down to force the boot from a diskette to flash the BIOS that way. 1
. Does this option exist for a Dell? If so, anyone know the key combination?
2. I've downloaded the A00 BIOS but it's an exe - how do I get it to a floppy image?
3. Will resetting the CMOS via jumpers help? (haven't tried it yet)
Thanks,
Mrs. Z
fireberd
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February 21st, 2011 07:00
You can try the CMOS reset - just remove the CR2032 CMOS backup battery for about 10 minutes.
There is no BIOS recovery on a Dell motherboard if the BIOS is corrupt. The ONLY recourse is to replace the motherboard.
The A07 was needed for Vista, but not for XP.
fireberd
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February 21st, 2011 10:00
The circuit board is typical multi-layer board with surface mount technology, you would need another Dell BIOS chip, but they are not sold separately, and the specialized equipment to work on SMT mounted componnents and boards. Cheaper to just buy another motherboard if it turns out the BIOS is corrupt. If it's the CPU that is the problem, I don't know what that particular model came with. My E510, which was a later model and has the 0HJ054 motherboard, came with a D805 CPU, which was the base model CPU offered with this model.
mrs.z
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February 21st, 2011 10:00
OK, I popped the battery and am waiting now.
In case that does not work..., the manufacture date is 050306 - is that considered a "later model"? Where do I find the model number for the motherboard?
I have a Dimension 5150 (manufactured 112905) sitting here, waiting for me to reformat it for personal use. In the interest of saving time would I be able to put its processor on the E510 just to get it to boot so I can flash it back to A00? I ask because Dell seems to treat the 2 models interchangeably when searching on the site.
Thanks again - I'm a lot more optimistic now than I was at 2am!
Mrs. Z
mrs.z
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February 21st, 2011 10:00
Thanks for the enlightenment :-)
I don't know that it's corrupt per se - after all, the installation indicated it was a success. It just does not like my processor... Can the BIOS chip be replaced without replacing the entire motherboard? If I can find another processor that it likes to temporarily swap in would it boot normally?
I realize (now) that A07 was not needed - I was looking to upgrade the BIOS because the machine would not fully wake from sleep - the power and fans would restart but the video card (ATI Radeon) would not resume. There was mention that the updated BIOS fixed the problem.
I'm really impressed that people are taking the time to answer my plea for help!
Thanks,
Mrs. Z
mrs.z
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February 21st, 2011 11:00
Popping the battery did not seem to do the trick - the BIOS is still version A04...
RoHe
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February 21st, 2011 11:00
Popping the battery won't change the version of BIOS that's installed. But it will force BIOS to "look around" and see what's installed in the PC so it can tell the CPU how to interact with everything.
The key question is if you're still getting the 'incompatible cpu" message.
Perhaps whoever reburished it installed the wrong processor..?
As for the original issue, not waking from hibernation, that is common problem on desktops with XP. It's possible an updated video card driver might help that problem, but that's down the road, after you get the other issues fixed.
I"m actually surprised that it let you revert to an earlier version of BIOS. Most times the update refuses to run when it's older than what's already installed.
Ron
RoHe
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February 21st, 2011 13:00
There should be a sticker on the motherboard with its model number. Or, there are some freeware utilities available on the net that will tell you what model number motherboard you have, eg cpu-z, but you have to get it to boot. So you may have to flash back to A05
The Dimension 5100, 5150 and E510 can all use the same motherboard as shown here, here, and elsewhere.
Assuming this motherboard still works, would it be cheaper to install a CPU that's compatbile with BIOS rather than swap motherboards...??
Ron
mrs.z
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February 21st, 2011 13:00
Ah, that makes more sense than my original understanding that it would revert to factory settings. But the problem remains -still getting the "System Halted, incompatible processor detected" message.
I don't know how refurbished this really was - it came from a local authorized Dell dealer and was purchased shortly after the manufacture date.
Any ideas about the 5150? Is it really compatible with the E510 or is that just conjecture on my part?
Where do I look for the Motherboard model?
Thanks again,
Mrs. Z
mrs.z
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February 21st, 2011 19:00
I would love to flash it back to A05 - how do I do that if I can't get it past the "System Halted" error?????
Both motherboards have etched on them E187242 but I don't think that's the model number.
The stickers that I found have the rev on it (A00 for the E510, A01 for the 5150) and respective serial numbers. On the E510 both stickers are to the left of the expansion slots (like the picture of the HJ054 0HJ054 model in the link above). On the 5150 the Rev sticker is to the left (same spot) but the s/n sticker is above the two longer off-white slots (like the picture of the WG261). Any suggestions where else to look?
Thanks for confirming my assumption on the motherboards. I'm going to try the swap and see what happens...
How would I go about finding which CPU is supported by the motherboard (assuming I figure out what that is...) and Rev A04? If I swap the motherboards now and it works for my boss' computer then I can worry about getting the other one to work, and buying a new CPU might indeed be cheaper...
Thanks,
Mrs. Z.