bios recovery 17R 7720 se

Before you go down that route (which has only a slim chance of success), backtrack a bit.

Did the BIOS update properly complete, or did the system lock up during the update, requiring a power-off?

If the system powered off by itself after the flash, and started the reboot cycle, likelihood is the flash went fine.  Can you get into the BIOS setup (press F2 a few times after powerup).  If you can, the cause of the problem isn't the BIOS flash. Likelihood is a BIOS setting was changed by the flash process - does the system have an mSATA drive in it?  If it does, it needs to be set to boot from RAID (Intel RST).

it powered off, so i assume the flash was successful.

i also did a battery pull after i seen that it wouldn't post, just to lightly trouble shoot it.

also you mentioned that a Crisis recovery has a slim chance of success, why is that?

the SecureCore tiano bios supports it, I've read the Phoenix docs.

I'm left to believe that if its not possible, I'd have to remove & re-flash the bios with a programmer or buy a new mobo at this point.

I'm sure its a bad bios flash, that why I'm inquiring about a Crisis recovery how-to.

I read somewhere about booting off a USB with EFI 32 shell?

unfortunately I'm unable to get into the bios, nor do i even get a post screen.

the lcd doesn't power on, the Dell splash screen doesn't appear, no external video thru vga or hdmi.

the power didn't cycle, the unit  powered off.

I've removed the both sata & msata hdd's in hopes of getting the bios to post.

so, if i have a bad bios flash, what would be my course of action?

worst case scenario

does anyone know the location or chip name of the bios, before i pull out the main board?

Your best bet is to contact a shop that can remove the chip, flash it externally and resolder it.  The cost will be about $150 or so - half what a replacement board would cost.

www.aqstech.com is one shop that can do the job well.

Thanks a Million CyberMaxX360,

I believe I'm in a 1/2 bricked state as well, that's why i chose to seek information on a Crisis recovery method.

all help is appreciated

thanks for the reply EJN63,

I'm looking into making this a DIY project, but cant find any solid documentation to guide me.

micro soldering is not a problem, nor is using an external programer.

I've already pulled out the main board, but i was hoping not to go this route, since I've yet to identify the bios chip.

so back to the original question

Does anyone know the steps to recovering a bad bios flash in Crisis Recovery?

Just an FYI: About BIOS Flashing for the Future:

1) Always make sure you are Running off of AC and not the Battery alone, also make sure that the Battery is also Fully charged.

2) Though you start the FLASH process inside of the Windows OS itself when the unit shuts down and reboots that is when the REAL BIOS flash occurs, it will load the FLASH utility and run the process outside of windows. If you did not see this part of the Process, (there's a ASCII based Progress Timeline Shown) then more then likely the Flash failed and it's in a 1/2 baked state.

Yes the SecureCore Tiano Phoenix BIOS supports Crisis Mode Recovery read about it myself, but never had to do it just yet.  I'm sure you can get the Unit back into a working state without de-soldering the BIOS chip and putting in a new one.  I'll check around for more information, post back here when I can.

Cheers

I've been on the phone for an hour with Dell tech support, & they are oblivious to the issue.

i was told , without any attempt to trouble shoot the machine, to buy a new motherboard.

they claim to have way of doing a Crisis recovery or of Crisis Recovery mode.

I'm very disappointed in the lack of knowledge & support on the company's behalf at this point.

I know how to get the machine into Recovery mode, the only problem now is how to set up the usb key.

I'm searching a few of the MODDED Bios Communities, I recall seeing a few threads about the Phoenix SecureCore Tiano BIOS and creating a bootable BIOS off of a USB.  

Edit: I'll keep Editing this post and dropping links for you as I find them.

A Good reference the PhoenixWiki can be located HERE

On the Wiki section dedicated to Crisis Recovery HERE

Crisis Capsule Recovery Types are HERE (As in CD Rom, Floppy Disk, IDE Drive, USB)

Here's how the EFI PEI Recovery Module PPI works which goes along with the EFI PEI Device Recovery Module Here

All of the Above will help you understand the whole gist of Crisis Recovery HERE for a SecureCore Tiano Phoenix Bios.

Next - take a look at the Phoenix BIOS Developer Blog HERE lots of information, haven't had the time to digest it all myself yet, but it's now in my favorites

Here's a eHOW on what needs to be done, but dang everyone talks about a crisis recovery tool but nobody posts the stupid link to where you can find that allusive beast.  I'll keep Looking.

This Thread seems to be a Work in Progress on creating one, worth a read HERE

Even more information HERE in this thread from the MOD community with a discussion on how to do it see SECTION 3. CRISIS RECOVERY

Another Thread in the Mod forums on how someone created a recovery USB is HERE

That's All I have for now... hopefully something in all this may help you out.  I'll keep looking around see what I can come up with.

Cheers

Ok, I bit the bullet.

I ordered a new bios chip for the board & new motherboard for a little over 1/2 of what Dell charges.

the bios chip is pre flashed, so it shouldn't be a problem.

the new motherboard is just a safety precaution, in-case the bios doesn't work ( honestly the new mobo was plan A, the new bios chip is an experiment ).

lesson learned, but well worth it.......Stick with Asus

This is quite interesting. My bet is that the previous owner that sold it probably got it as a stolen laptop, especially considering the 7720 is a recent 2012 design to be sold so soon. Laptops are a very hot item to thieves as they valuable and relatively small.  That would be the only reason for not having a Service Tag as they are  marked as a pretty secure sticker underneath and there is also an entry in the BIOS screen, but it is configurable by the user.  If that Service Tag was deleted out of the BIOS or had a bogus number, my bet is that is why the flash failed.  My surprise is why would Dell even start the flash if the Service Tag was invalid or perhaps even marked as stolen by the original owner. Maybe Dell makes stolen Service Tags  into a brick purposely when reported stolen? You could very well be a victim of this sort of protection.

Hello. Did you were able to replace the bios chip? I am in the same situation as you. Can you tell me the location of the chip as well. Thanks