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XPS 8930, dead motherboard
My motherboard unexpectedly died a couple of weeks ago, conveniently 2 months out of warranty. Dell will not cover the defective equipment and I am not willing to spend upwards of $400 to replace it. I got a 3,6 amber pattern on the power button "Recovery image not found" according to the manual and I've confirmed it is not a bios issue or power supply by resetting the switches, removing the CMOS battery, removing all the hardware and testing, etc. The motherboard is definitely dead.
I've looked at some motherboards and it looks like i can find something in the $150 range. I've never replaced a motherboard personally - i can do pretty much anything else, but have never messed with CPUs or motherboards out of fear of bricking a machine. In this case it doesn't matter what i do, because its already bricked.
My questions are this -
Will i need a new key for windows 10? I've read online when i put a new motherboard in that i will need a new license - even though the md.2 hard drive is still working.
Any idea of preferred motherboards that will work with this case (the actual dell case)?
Anything i should be aware of before i proceed?
Thanks in advance.
speedstep
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October 8th, 2019 09:00
I would try making a Bios Recovery USB 2.0 flash drive before spending money on a board.
BIOS Recovery 3
The CTRL key + ESC key combination can be used to trigger BIOS Recovery on PCs where an external keyboard is the primary input. This applies to desktops, all-in-one and portable all-in-one PCs. The supported keyboard types on these devices are:
If your system is NOT in a working state, for example, a No Post/No Boot situation and the BIOS Recovery file is not on your HDD - It obviously won't be possible to attempt to flash the BIOS to add the BIOS Recovery file to the HDD. Fortunately, even in this condition, it's possible to use a recovery file on an external USB key.
To create an external USB key to perform BIOS recovery, you will need the following:
Creating the USB key:
Plug the USB key into the PC.
Press the Windows key + E to open File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer).
Right-click on the USB drive and click Format.
Change the File system to FAT32.
Check the box next to Quick Format.
Click Start to being formatting the USB key.
Copy the BIOS file to the USB key.
Open Command prompt in administrator mode.
In Windows 10, Windows 8.1 or Windows 8 - Press the Windows key + X on the keyboard to open a power user menu and select Command Prompt (Admin)
In Windows 7 or Windows Vista - Click the Start button and type command prompt in the search box. Right-click cmd in the search results and select Run as administrator.
In the command prompt window, type cd x: and press the Enter key, where 'x' is the drive letter of the USB key.
You can find the drive letter of the USB key in File Explorer (also known as Windows Explorer)
Type dir and press the Enter key on the keyboard. You should see the name of the downloaded BIOS file.
Type ren xxxxx.exe BIOS_IMG.rcv and press the Enter key.
(Replace the xxxxx with the name of the downloaded BIOS file.)
speedstep
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October 8th, 2019 09:00
You will want a FAT32 usb 2.0 flash drive.
8 16 or 32 gigs max.
https://www.amazon.com/SanDisk-Flash-Cruzer-Glide-SDCZ60-016G-B35/dp/B007YX9O9O/
This package contains the Dell System BIOS update and is supported on Dell XPS 8930 system that runs Windows Operating System. BIOS is a firmware that is embedded on a small memory chip on the system board. It controls the keyboard, monitor, disk drives and other devices.More details
http://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER05540076M/1/XPS8930_1.1.6.exe
On a working machine
Download the BIOS update executeable
Erase the flash drive FAT32
Copy the file to the flash drive.
Hook up wired USB Keyboard.
in an admin dos prompt go to the flash drive letter and
ren XPS8930_1.1.6.exe BIOS_IMG.rcv
Put this in with nothing else attached except the keyboard and the flash drive.
As soon as you power the system on, press and hold down the CTRL + ESC keys until the BIOS Recovery page appears. (If it can’t enter the BIOS Recovery page, then remove the power cord and CMOS battery coin and wait for about 1 min, then re-plug the power cord and reseat the CMOS battery and repeat)
Select the Recover BIOS option on the screen to perform a BIOS recovery
The system will show a process bar of the BIOS Flashing Process (It may take 1 minute to complete)
Once the BIOS flash process is complete it will display an on-screen message asking you to Press any key to reset the system
Hammelmnan
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October 8th, 2019 09:00
Thanks for this, I made one with my laptop, but I assume that used the laptops bios. I will try this manual way and see what i can get out of it. Will let you know how it goes.
Hammelmnan
3 Posts
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October 8th, 2019 17:00
After much effort and tinkering with my video card - it worked! Thanks so much!
speedstep
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October 9th, 2019 07:00
Thats good news.
This is a topic that should have youtube video and list all the restrictions of the type of flash drive etc.
AKA EXFAT drives wont work.
NTFS wont work
UEFI wont work
MUST BE FAT32
MK847
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December 4th, 2019 15:00
I have this same issue, but when I do CTRL + ESC there is no signal to the monitor. It won't get a signal from the video card HDMI or the integrated HDMI port. Suggestions?
Vic384
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December 4th, 2019 16:00
Perhaps it would be better to start a new thread and explain your issue instead of posting to this thread that already has a solution.
ratman396
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April 20th, 2020 08:00
Does the USB stick have to be bootable for this to work or does it just have to contain the .rcv file?
speedstep
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May 28th, 2020 08:00
The recovery media must be blank fat32 usb 2.0 AT LEAST 8 gigs but no larger than 32 gigs.
you then rename the exe file
instructions have been given previously
in an admin dos prompt go to the flash drive letter and
ren XPS8930_1.1.6.exe BIOS_IMG.rcv
3, then 6 flashing amber lights. (Bios update Failure).
https://www.dell.com/support/article/SLN309785/en
BIOS Recovery Steps for a No Post issue on Alienware Aurora R5/R6/R7/R8 and XPS 8910/8920/8930 PCs