Dell XPS12 messed up during BIOS update

Hello  Raging Black Lion,

Thanks for the advice at the link below.  Hopefully it works for some customers.  I believe that good1dave provided help with this information in this forum on August 9.  It did not work for him, let us know if it works in your case.

I followed the steps but unfortunately for myself and many others, we cannot get the machines to take the recovery.  When attempting the recovery, the fan runs at 100% and the USB LED flashes but the screen does not come back to life.  Note that I am using the XPS 15 method described but for an XPS 12 9Q33.

https://blog.jmwhite.co.uk/2015/08/09/dell-xps-9530-uefi-bios-recovery/#more-3238

Exact same thing happened to my XPS 12 over the weekend.  Froze at the same spot, crashed windows.  $800 brick I have now...thanks Dell!  Was running windows 10 if that matters.

In light of these continued failures I hope that Dell will accept responsibility and take the correct action to fix the hardware damage to customer's machines when applying the recommended update.

I noticed that they amended their web site in the last two weeks to add a new warning as shown below.

Unfortunately this warning will not help when the BIOS update creates a Windows crash.  In my case, I had a clean Dell factory image with a fresh boot and Windows crashed during the BIOS install.

It seems the BIOS posts continue for various Dell Customers.  There are some familiar screens and stories linked below.  Poor souls experience crashes and hangs during the Dell recommended update.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19630195

The picture of the BIOS error below looks familiar.

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/laptop/f/3518/t/19641233

I haven't received a cost estimate from Dell and I don't want to spend more money on my XPS 12.  I will likely salvage the hard drive and toss the remainder in the recycle bin unless someone from Dell can assist.  What a waste.

Hello,

today I tried to update to BIOS ver 08 for my XP 12.

Well, now my laptop is bricked too.... The process stucked, after long time windows crashed and then then end.... Exactly as it's mentioned from all other customers before.

The funny part is that the guarantee ends... today! And furthermore it's Sunday and I can't contact the support. But it seems that it doesn't matter. Dell doesn't cover this!

Trully amazing....

A BIOS update is risky, and  most DO NOT need them. Only do one if you are still under warranty. Dell will replace a non-functioning system board if under warranty. These updates rarely are useful. If the details do not show that it will solve a problem you have, never do them. Never use a driver download program which will install everything available. Most drivers also do not need to be updated, unless the update solves a problem.

Hello KirkD,

I agree (and many experienced customers in this forum probably agree) that applying BIOS updates can be risky; however many companies have reduced the risk over the years (including Dell).

There seems to be a higher frequency of BIOS update issues recently and I believe it is time to stop transferring blame to the customers. The company is responsible for their recommended updates and the design decision allowing/recommending BIOS updates to be applied easily in Windows.

I do not know the results of Dell's internal investigation but I hope that they have have found the root cause for the issues (across many models) and have put measures in place to reduce the frequency of computer damage.

I know that as a result of this specific thread, they have modified the content on their web site to include a yellow shaded area with a warning for the application of BIOS updates.  There was not even a hint of concern prior to this discussion.

I wish they would do the right thing and repair damaged computers free of charge for the updates that they are responsible for creating, recommending, and distributing.

I'm confident that other companies in this industry and other industries would take steps to retain their customers and maintain good will.  I have not received such an offer from Dell nor a formal quote to repair my XPS.  It is rendered useless and sitting in a box.

This is a DELL update, recommended by DELL, using the install program provided by DELL.  It failed and killed my laptop, it is DELL's fault!  I never unplugged the power or rebooted during the install so their warning is pretty much worthless.

I've moved on.  I got a few hundred dollars from my credit cards extended warranty and bought an Asus for my self, and an HP for my wife.  Sold the brick on ebay for $165 and was happy to get that.  I will NEVER buy another DELL product with my hard earned money again.  I doubt DELL cares, but they've lost my business forever.

GreenRed:

I agree with you on everything. The BIOS update should not be a risky operation. There are probably several ways to allow recovery from a bad update. I am not wrong warning people of the problem. There are some updates that are required, and just want people to understand the problem and then make an informed decision. I have had to make several BIOS updates on my six machines. One was for my M1530 that had the Nvidia problem GPU. The update modified the fan control program to keep the fan on low speed instead of off under mild operations. This allowed me to get a longer time before the GPU fried itself. I also had increased my warranty to five years.

I know there is at least one safe BIOS upgrade process. I had a Meade computer controlled telescope that needed a BIOS update; the update failed, and I got a free replacement telescope under warranty. However, the new version of the scope had a BIOS update procedure that allows recovery from a bad update. If you designed a BIOS system that had the BIOS as usual in an EEPROM but have the BIOS install software on a separate ROM that was protected from overwriting, then this could be foolproof process. Also, there are various procedures that people claim allows recovery from bad BIOS burns. However, I have not seen any of these to have worked in a Dell.

Yes I think some OEMs have made the updates safer. However if Dell has, why do they now have large warnings on the update pages? I think my ASUS tablet has a safe process, but can't obviously, prove it!

My big concern is that Dell and others now have a driver update program that determines what drivers are out of date and then proceed to update ALL the drivers and the BIOS. ASUS ONLY has this; you can't select what to update. This type of procedure makes it easier for non-technical users to effect updates. However, I am NOT a believer of continuous updates. I almost never use driver updates either. In olden days, the driver update descriptions usually contained info on what the update did. Not any more. I have made almost no driver updates, but my machines work fine without them. I have upgraded five so far to Win 10, with only minor issues, but they all did it WITHOUT the driver updates that many say you MUST do. Three of mine are 8-10 years old, and the only driver issue was video drivers. Two of the three have had the video drivers updated to Win 8.1 versions to replace the generic drivers installed by the Win 10 upgrade. These three older models were upgraded from XP to Vista to Win 7 to Win 8 to Win 8.1 to Win 10  I never update anything before a version upgrade, only after the upgrade and only if necessary. Windows upgrades either automatically installs a useable driver or alerts you to uninstall an incompatible driver before the upgrade and then it's up to you to find a new driver. 

I usually do install driver updates for my laptop touchpads. I usually use drivers from Toshiba, that has fully functional pad drivers compared to most of the rather thin drivers from Dell. 

I wish I read this thread before I decided to an update on my XPS 12.   Same problem and now I own a brick.  All it does when it powers up is lights up the keyboard and runs the fan.  In the last 9 years I bought 7 various PCs from dell for me and my family.  Laptops and desktops.  I don't think I will be doing it anymore.

I was running Windows 10 and did the BIOS update like recommended. Big mistake.  Dell please take that BIOS update recommendation down.  These complaints are several months old and yet the problem is still there.  I know as I just found out last night.  You are losing loyal customers like me and once we are gone, we are gone.  There is an issue with that update and its no fault of the consumer.

Service tag:  Service tag removed per privacy policy>

Too many are recommending BIOS and driver updates for any problem. You only need a BIOS update unless you have a problem that is claimed to be solved by the update. Always search the web and the Dell forums before the update to see if any problems arose. for  When upgrading to Win 10, driver updates are installed by Windows if needed. Never do updates before the upgrade. If you have an issue after, again, search Dell and the web to see what others are doing.

I've worked in IT for 20 years and upgraded bios revs on more pcs and servers than I can count.  This is the only machine that has bricked. .

As far as only doing updates to fix a problem.... I mostly agree.  However, one of the first things dell will do when you call for support is ask you to upgrade drivers and bios.  This should not be a damaging process!  All the other manufacturers know not to upgrade bios while in Windows!  Dells process is flawed and is costing them customers.  Step up dell!

Yes, these recommendations are wrong. Most users should not be doing BIOS updates. In addition, many users on these forums also recommend them. This is a dangerous step, and there will be more bricked machines than helped machines. I have been in computers for 60 years and in PCs for 40 years and Windows since the beginning. I have upgraded BIOS two times; once to fix the fan control of my XPS 1530 to help GPU cooling (saved the GPU for several years, but it still failed!) and the second to my Asus tablet that did need a driver update but the update included ALL driver updates AND a BIOS update. When you look at Dell and posts on the web, many users are bricking their machines. I would NEVER do a BIOS update unless the computer is still under warranty. If Dell makes a recommendation that causes the computer to die, they should repair the machine free.