Inspiron 660, BIOS update error for PCIe issue

Question

I have a Dell Inspiron 660 for a friend (out of warrantee of course). I've kept it going by adding a small graphics card and SSD. Everything has been working great until the Motherboard went out. First the SATA ports stopped working, then the board stopped powering on. The BIOS version of that board was A09 I believe.

So I purchased a new Motherboard, entered my service tag information, and ran into my first issue. The loading screen for the BIOS would hang for about 3-5 minutes while starting with a single beep every 60 seconds. Eventually the PC would turn on and work fine, but this is far from ideal. I checked the BIOS and found that it was version A00.

I went to Dell's driver page to update the BIOS but the installation failed. Error: "ME is not available now. Please check it." I then attempted to install the Management Engine located on their same driver page but failed. Error: "The computer does not meet the minimum requirements for installing the software." I have tried downloading different versions of the Intel Management Engine but none will install.

I was running all of this on a fresh install of Windows 10 x64. I thought that was the reason so I tried everything on Windows 7 x32, Windows 7 x64, and Windows 8.1 x64 (I pulled a few installs from my shop). Even after trying all of the installs on every OS I could, I am still unable to update the BIOS on this motherboard. Maybe you guys can help me with this issue. I've tried everything I can think of at this point.

Tesla1856 · Accepted Answer

If this was a 'UEFI class' system, you could just flash BIOS from UEFI menu. So, I guess it's an older NON-UEFI system so, try like this: https://www.dell.com/community/Vostro-Desktops/Vostro-460-XPS-8300-Upgrade-Adventures/m-p/6071757/highlight/true#M1311 If you can get past that, and it's completes a ePSA test, I would use Windows-10 64bit. Could also just be another bad board. Sounds like they are poor quality or fail with age. Yeah, many sell used parts on Ebay and pretend they didn't know they are not 100% working.

cloudd901 · Answer

Thank you very much!!! I've been searching for days constantly looking for a fix. I had no idea that these executables could run in FreeDOS. I followed the instructions from the link you posted and it worked great. I did get a 'No ME version availble" error at the end which scared me, but that didn't affect anything.

The BIOS is now set to A13 and is starting up fine with the graphics card installed.

THANKS AGAIN

Tesla1856 · Answer

@cloudd901 wrote:

1. Thank you very much!!! I've been searching for days constantly looking for a fix. I had no idea that these executables could run in FreeDOS. I followed the instructions from the link you posted and it worked great. I did get a 'No ME version availble" error at the end which scared me, but that didn't affect anything.

2. The BIOS is now set to A13 and is starting up fine with the graphics card installed.

1. You are welcome. Glad to hear it worked. :Yes:

2. And there is the payoff. So, it was just the old BIOS causing you problems with the new MB.

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Inspiron 660, BIOS update error for PCIe issue

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