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XPS 8700, BIOS update from A01 to A13?
Good Afternoon and thanks in advance. I have an XPS 8700 that is currently on BIOS Version A01. Can I update directly to A13, or must I do it incrementally (Dell Update offers me A10 and A13).
Win 10 Home 10.0.17134
Intel i7-4770
DELL-Jesse L
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July 25th, 2018 10:00
kkflynn,
You should install BIOS in order, oldest to newest.
* Download/Save all of the BIOS files listed below to the Windows desktop
* Disconnect all external USB drives from the desktop. Leaving only the following devices connected to the rear of the desktop =
monitor
wired USB mouse
wired USB keyboard
* Closed all unnecessary software applications (Steam, Anti-virus, etc. )
* Find the oldest saved BIOS file (A06) on the Windows desktop
* Right click the file and choose, "Run as administrator". Note, you do not need to "extract" the file. Just run it
* Follow the prompted instructions. The desktop will reboot on its own. Do NOT force it to reboot or power off
* Then do the same for each BIOS in order
XPS_8700_BIOS_A06.EXE
https://www.dell.com/support/drivers/driverdetails?driverid=KT62X
12/3/13
XPS_8700_BIOS_A08.EXE
https://www.dell.com/support/drivers/driverdetails?driverid=45DHF
7/24/14
XPS_8700_BIOS_A10.EXE
https://www.dell.com/support/drivers/driverdetails?driverid=WVHKG
12/15/14
XPS_8700_BIOS_A11.EXE
https://www.dell.com/support/drivers/driverdetails?driverid=TDDNW
7/31/15
XPS_8700_BIOS_A12.EXE
https://www.dell.com/support/drivers/driverdetails?driverid=4DJMV
2/23/18
XPS_8700_BIOS_A13.EXE
https://www.dell.com/support/drivers/driverdetails?driverid=3081M
7/2/18
-RJM-
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September 24th, 2018 15:00
Jessie,
That would have been good to know BEFORE the DELL Assistant told me I had an URGENT BIOS Update to install. It installed A13, but now the system is unstable. It sometimes requires a couple of power off tries, before it will boot. Sometimes you just get the DELL logo, but no spinning dots. The other problem is that I can't get into the BIOS. No function, delete or other key sequence will work and there's no prompt for it.
Dell XPS 8700, Windows 8.1 Pro x64.
I would go back to the original BIOS it had, which was running fine, but I don;t know what it was. When I tried to go to A12, it told me I couldn't go backwards, so I'm now stuck. Help, please.
Ron
Tesla1856
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September 24th, 2018 17:00
1. Yeah. I just went ahead and un-installed SupportASS-ist from my Aurora-R6. I found it didn't know what it was talking about half the time.
2. Hmm. I like to install BIOS updates in order.
3. You can try it this way, but I think you have to be able to access the BIOS (or at least F12 on boot must work).
https://www.dell.com/community/Vostro-Desktops/Vostro-460-XPS-8300-Upgrade-Adventures/m-p/6071757/highlight/true#M1311
Good luck and try not the brick-it.
RoHe
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September 24th, 2018 18:00
If you go sequentially from A01 to A13, you have 12 chances to brick the motherboard.
Sounds pretty risky to me... :Surprise:
Are you convinced you need to update BIOS now since you haven't been keeping it current?
Tesla1856
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September 24th, 2018 21:00
If you are trying to go from A01 to A13 there are doing to be pre-requisites. If you know which ones they are, you can try "jumping forward" in 3-5 steps. Normally, you don't know the required steps, so you "do them all".
I've never bricked a motherboard flashing firmware from outside of Windows (DOS, DOS-Like, or UEFI).
RoHe
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September 25th, 2018 10:00
BIOS updates are supposed to be cumulative, and usually warn if a specific prior version has to be running before a new update can be installed.
Eight BIOS updates after A01 are listed on Dell's ftp site for the XPS 8700. None of them say any prior version is required. So skipping a few might be okay, but that's your decision to make...
Pauluous
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September 26th, 2018 23:00
This weekend, without knowing that Bios updates are cumulative, I just upgraded my XPS 8700 from A04 directly to A13.
The reason for the update is: I want to buy a GTX 1060 graphic card for gaming.
Shall I step back and install again some old versions ( e.g. A08 & A10) on top of the A13, and then re-install A13 ?
Everything is fine in my system, actually it boots really fast after the update.
Thanks in advance for the comments/suggestions
RoHe
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September 27th, 2018 10:00
@Pauluous - "Cumulative" means each new version of BIOS contains all the fixes implemented in previous versions. So if A13 is running successfully, there's no need to go backwards. You already have the latest of everything.
Besides, without some extra commands, BIOS won't let you go back to an earlier version.
Bottom line, if it ain't broke, don't break it! :Wink:
RoHe
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September 27th, 2018 11:00
IMHO, if you want to check for updates, do it manually. Those update tools (SupportAssist, Dell Update) can get you into more trouble...
BIOS A13 says nothing about requiring A10 or any other prior version, so if your PC is working correctly, leave it alone!
Pauluous
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September 27th, 2018 11:00
Thanks a lot for the clarification !
Last week when I run the update tool, it actually downloaded two versions of the BIOS for upgrade: A10 and A13.
I just ran the A13, as mentioned before because it is the latest version
After reading this post, I was wondering if running A10 before A13 on top of the original A04 was actually the required upgrade procedure.
I will leave things as they are (A13 on top of A04), because everything is running fine.
Let's see what happens when I plug a new GTX 1060 and the mSATA SSD to the XPS8700 system
peterray
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December 16th, 2018 15:00
I have A10 and every time I try to update with A11, A12 or A13, I get "Application has existed!" when I double click on the self-extracting XPS_8700_BIOS_A13 (or whatever) file.
I have read all the threads on people with the same problem updating to A12, and no one seems to have a solution.
Any new ideas?
Thanks.