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Popko37197

4 Posts

14913

July 30th, 2006 00:00

Pc wont boot after bios upgrade

Hi, I have a Dimension 2350. It came with Bios version A00. I decided to download the A02 update and put it on a floppy. After I put it on a floppy i rebooted and booted to the floppy. The bios update showed up and when it tried to update it gave me a disk read error. I decided to try formating the disk and putting the bios on it again, but I got the same error message. I decided to try using a different floppy drive, but I got the same error. I decided to make a stupid choice by choosing ignore in the bios update. It updated bios and it said it updated successfully, but after I rebooted I got nothing but a black screen. The pc wont boot at all. I looked at the leds on the back and I looked online what it meant and it says that its in bios failure recovery mode. I tried removing the battery and reinserting it, but that didn't work. I'm guessing the pc is a goner? I hope someone has a solution.

Message Edited by Popko37197 on 07-29-200608:55 PM

Message Edited by Popko37197 on 07-29-200608:59 PM

fudgieguys

1.3K Posts

July 30th, 2006 02:00

Nascar Nut72

319 Posts

July 30th, 2006 07:00

An easy to try and reset the BIOS is as follows. Turn off your system, unplug it from the wall. Open the case and ground yourself (touch power supply) and then locate the battery on your motherboard that is about the size of a quarter. Remove the battery and wait about 10 minutes and reinstall the battery and close the case and replug the computer cable and restart your system. If this works you may need to enter the BIOS on start up and recheck all the settings and make sure they are correct for your system.

Good luck

Majestic

9.4K Posts

July 30th, 2006 15:00

Popko37197,  Dell solders the BIOS chip to the motherboard which makes replacement very difficult even if you could find another BIOS chip.  I don't know if Dell has replacement boards for this model yet, but another on-line supplier wants $250 for a new board which is a little pricey considering some of the low end Dell systems are going for $299.

Majestic

9.4K Posts

July 30th, 2006 15:00

Popko37197, try these trouble-shooting steps.......

Try clearing the NVRAM (CMOS) to see if it resolves the boot problem.  Possibly the information stored in the NVRAM (CMOS) became corrupted or has a conflict with the newer BIOS version which is not uncommon.  Normally you would clear the NVRAM (CMOS) by entering the BIOS Setup, but it would appear that you can not do so.  The alternative would be to remove the battery from the motherboard to clear the NVRAM.  With the machine unplugged from the wall remove the battery from the motherboard.  Then with the machine still unplugged press the On button for 15 seconds to dissipate any remaining electrical charge on the motherboard.  Then re-install the battery, plug the machine back into the wall and see if it will boot normally.

If the machine still fails to boot then strip the motherboard down to the bare minimum.  By bare minimum I mean remove all expansion cards, disconnect all drives and leave just the processor, memory and graphics card in the machine. On models that have integrated graphics, remove the graphics card and use the integrated video port.  If the computer boots this way then start connecting each device one at a time until the no boot scenario returns.  This would then indicate which device has a conflict with the newer BIOS version.  Also try booting the system without the keyboard, mouse or any other device plugged into the rear of the system.  If this procedure doesn't resolve the problem then you maybe looking at a situation where the motherboard has failed due to a bad BIOS flash and needs to be replaced.  Considering the cost of some of Dell's low end systems it maybe cheaper just to purchase a new machine.  Any of the low end systems will outperform the model you have now.  

Popko37197

4 Posts

July 30th, 2006 15:00

No, nothing is working. I left the battery out for a good 20 min and I even pressed the power switch for a min.

Popko37197

4 Posts

July 30th, 2006 15:00

Well I tried the suggestions but they didn't work. Your right about how it isn't worth buying a new motherboard for this pc since its a low end pc, but I did get this pc for free. My friend gave it to me. I'm guessing theres not a removable bios chip on this motherboard? I looked and I couldn't find the chip. By the way, thanks for replying and giving me all of the suggestions. I appreciate the help.

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