Unsolved
12 Posts
0
2017
XPS 8940 Blinking Power Light 2 Amber, 1 White & No Video After BIOS Update
XPS 8940
Hello all, I have an XPS 8940 with the i9 10900K CPU & Nvidia RTX 3070 video card. Recently I've been hearing more fan noise than usual. I thought it was coming from the video card, so I removed it, blew out the minimal dust, reinstalled the card and the noise was still there. Installed the most recent video driver (and installed the GeForce Experience that I usually don't install) and the fan noise was still present. Stupid me, the noise was coming from the fan on my M2 drive (an Ineo cooler with built in fan). Removed the M2 drive. blew out the dust and reinstalled the drive. During all of this tinkering and trying to find the setting that controls fan speeds, I ended up at the Dell website, selected my product, saw there were five recommended driver updates and a BIOS upgrade, so I downloaded and installed those.
Somewhere, something went wrong because now my 18 month old XPS 8940 is dead in the water. When I turn it on, it does the "turns on for a couple of seconds, then off", so I did the real time clock reset thing, with no effect. I have a black screen, the computer will start, the fans will spin, then the power light starts flashing 2 amber and 1 white, which according to the service manual means "cpu misconfiguration or failure". I've tried EVERYTHING listed here, including pulling out all of the cards, hard drive and SSD, attempting a BIOS recovery, using the Support Assist OS Recovery USB drive, using the onboard HDMI and Display Port video ports (the monitor is working fine), reinstalling the original M2 card that came with the computer (I've been using a larger Samsung drive), pulling the CMOS battery, trying a new battery, rapidly pushing the F2 button using a wired USB keyboard during a restart, pressing and holding ctrl & esc during a restart, removing and reseating the CPU and memory modules and all I get is the same blinking lights.
In the interest of complete honesty, 1) when I removed the M2 drive, I dropped the little screw onto the motherboard near the voltage control module. The computer power was off, but the cord was NOT unplugged. 2) my tired eyes realized that when I was looking for my desktop in my list of Dell products, I may have selected my XPS 17" laptop, then proceeded to the "Check for driver updates or hardware issues", downloaded everything & installed them. Somebody please tell me that it isn't possible to download and flash the completely WRONG BIOS...is it? and 3) I downloaded and installed the MSI Afterburner program, played with it a bit, then realized the noise was not my video card so I uninstalled the program, shut down and when I restarted is when everything blew up.
Sorry for the novel, but I've read so many questions that have minimal info I just wanted to include everything that got me to where I am now. I would appreciate ANY help that somebody can offer.
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
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43.5K Posts
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December 2nd, 2022 17:00
No onboard video when the add-in card is removed?
Like I said, PSU may be failing under load, but still "passes" the BIST when there's no load on it.
Nowadays, there's BIOS Recovery that should let you recover from a failed update, assuming there isn't an actual hardware (eg CPU) failure.
Up to you to decide what to do next... Send to Dell for repair, DIY motherboard replacement, which may or not solve the problem, get somebody to test the PSU under load and/or swap in a known working PSU...
kwils1
12 Posts
0
December 2nd, 2022 18:00
Nope, no video period. My monitor knows it's been plugged into a port but after starting the computer, the screen turns black and I never see any video. I've tried all of the BIOS recovery procedures but since I have no video I can't tell if anything is happening. My new CPU was just delivered (actually the box was thrown onto the ground six feet in front of my covered porch as it was starting to rain) and as expected, nothing changed. What WAS I thinking by ordering a new CPU after receiving a diagnostic code indicating that the CPU had failed? I just don't want to go down the road of packaging up the computer and sending it back to Dell. Most threads say that just results in Dell saying they had to replace the motherboard. They have them in stock so it will be faster if I order one and replace it myself. If that doesn't work, I'll return the parts that I bought, salvage what I can from the 8940 and upload a video to YouTube showing me destroying what's left with a sledgehammer and burning it.
redxps630
7 Technologist
7 Technologist
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10.3K Posts
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December 2nd, 2022 19:00
If Dell lets you return the refurbished motherboard yeah try that. At least if it does not work you can salvage the cpu ram ssd gpu and sell the psu and the empty case. Or donate the case to a museum of the worst oem prebuilt. One lesson in this experience is that Dell oem motherboard is not sturdy.
the only other way to revive a bricked board is to use a usb programmer to flash a good bios.rom onto the bios chip, which requires a level of technical expertise most people including me do not have. An IT guru said use a raspberry and a high quality clip. I still do not know how to do it. Of course you also need a good bios.rom file from someone.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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December 2nd, 2022 20:00
@kwils1 ,
Just skimmed the thread (a little short on time recently), but here are my ideas
1. It would be very rare for the Intel CPU itself to go bad. More likely (especially since you were just messing with the BIOS) it's the motherboard.
2. You check PC-Power Supplies (a SMPS) with a Digital PC Power-Supply checker. Other than installing a different (known working) PS, I've found it's really the only way to know.
3. Before I wrote-off the motherboard, I would try a BIOS Recovery. Try a couple of different ways (actual steps tend to vary) and always dissipate flea power and let it sit for up to 30 minutes between sessions.
4. Try using the CMOS-reset jumper as well. Also try removing the coin-battery.
5.Not sure if the XPS-8940 has "Dell BIOS Guard" or not. But if it does, it might take some persuasion before it kicks-in.
6. Get the PDF Service Manual if you haven't already.
Good luck.
kwils1
12 Posts
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December 7th, 2022 17:00
Surprise!! It was the motherboard. I spoke to Dell and said I wanted to buy a replacement motherboard and after about 15 minutes of the guy trying to create a quote and putting me on hold several times, he finally said that it would be refurbished and he couldn't tell exactly when I would receive it, but "probably" in about three weeks. Uhh, no thanks. I found a new one in Canada on Ebay, ordered it on Saturday, received it today and it fired right up. It's the most recent 0K3CM7 version, and it immediately brought up the Dell service menu asking for the service tag number or I would not be able to proceed. I guess that means it really is new? After I entered the service tag, It then proceeded to download the BIOS 0.2.10.0 file and wanted to restart. NOOOO!!! I paused updates in Windows, turned the computer off so I could finish working inside the case, turned it on again and it went directly to flashing the BIOS, grrrr. It installed fine and everything is working normally again. Thanks everybody for all your help and suggestions!
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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December 7th, 2022 18:00
Good.
Is your Windows Activated ( and it's the version you want or expected)?
kwils1
12 Posts
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December 7th, 2022 18:00
In settings / update & security / activation, it says "Windows is activated with a digital license linked to your Microsoft account". So, I guess so. I haven't received any notices about activation.
RoHe
10 Elder
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43.5K Posts
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December 7th, 2022 18:00
Glad you got it sorted...
Asking for your Service Tag only means none was in there, and possible the previous tag was removed before you got it. Didn't the fleaBay seller say "new", "used", "refurbished"...?
kwils1
12 Posts
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December 7th, 2022 18:00
The seller said it was "new". It's my understanding that a service tag number can only be entered once and can not be removed. If the board was used, I think there would be a number that I would not be able to change. If it had been refurbished by Dell, then I'm not sure what would have happened.
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
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43.5K Posts
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December 7th, 2022 20:00
It's activated so don't worry about it.
A user may only be allowed to enter the Service Tag once, but Dell, and probably others, have the tools to delete and replace it. Otherwise, a refurbished board would always have the original owner's Service Tag after it got repaired and was sold to somebody else.
Where did that seller get a "new" Dell motherboard, one without a Service Tag entered...?
kwils1
12 Posts
0
December 8th, 2022 12:00
I don't know where the seller got the motherboard. There are several on Ebay & Newegg that ship from China / Taiwan so I guess it's possible that they really are new. I've also seen sellers who have purchased Dell systems on sale or clearance and they strip them down to sell the components individually. At the height of the chip shortage, video cards were selling for ridiculous prices, so those people may have made some big bucks. The motherboards coming from "harvested" systems should have service tags, but who knows. The 12 month warranty on my XPS 17" laptop expired the other day and my fingers were moving as fast as possible to send Dell $200 to extend it for another year!