XPS 13 9370, Bios Update Fails

Hi TurboTinus,

Thanks for posting.  Apologies that you are having difficulties updating your bios.

Normally updating the bios is not needed unless the system is not performing as expected.  This particular bios has several intermediate updates that may need to be performed before the current version will update.  The 1.6.3 version fixes the following:

Fixes:
- Fixed the incorrect Windows operating system logon message that is displayed on the lock screen of Windows.
- Fixed the issue where the characters fail to display on the screen while typing continuously.
- Enabled support for Intel Turbo Boost Technology on I3-8310U processors that was disabled by default.

But if you don't have any of those issues, it's not necessary to update.

If the system is under warranty, please contact me privately. Be sure to include your personal information (name, address, telephone, email) and your computer's service tag number in your message. Thanks.

If there is no warranty, then you could contact our Out of Warranty team to get a quote for a paid service call -http://dell.to/1vnT6CQ

I have exactly the same issue... did you ever figure out the cause? The only way I can update my bios is renaming the file BIOS_IMG.RCV, placing that file on a FAT32 formatted USB stick, shutting down, and holding contorl-escape while plugging in the power connector. However, I shouldn't have to use the last-resort BIOS recovery to install an update. When I run the EXE, or use the BIOS flash utility at boot, the update starts, the laptop reboots to a black screen for several seconds, and then the system reboots without flashing. I have the default partition scheme and BIOS settings. What could be wrong??

For what it is worth, if your issue is like mine, you can still update the BIOS. It is just a pain, and requires you to use the BIOS recovery feature. To do so:

1) Format a USB stick as FAT32

2) Copy the latest BIOS file to the USB stick (the complete exe file)

3) Rename the file to "BIOS_IMG.RCV" It is CRITICAL that you have "hide file extensions for known types" unchecked, or edit the name in a command prompt. Otherwise the file will be named BIOS_IMG.RCV.EXE and the process will not work

4) Shut down the laptop completely

5) Unplug the power cord if plugged in

6) Hold down the control - escape on the keyboard while plugging in the power cord. 

7) The laptop should turn on. After several seconds (~10?) you should be taken to a BIOS recovery screen and can begin flashing. Note: if you receive three orange and three white flashes of the LED, that means the file could not be located. Make sure you named it correctly, and that the USB stick is FAT32 formatted, with the file in its root directory.

Let me know if you have success with this method. 

Still, this should not be required to flash the BIOS.

I wonder what the actual problem is. We seem to have the same issue, yet I doubt it is widespread, or else it would be addressed. I can't escape the feeling that there is some setting that needs to be changed or some cache that must be cleared, but I have tried everything I can think of: reset BIOS to defaults, re-image hard drive with a Dell image... I don't know what the problem could be. Moreover, I doubt it is a hardware defect since we are both able to flash the BIOS in recovery mode.

I believe one of the main differences between the recovery mode and the normal process is that the normal process first extracts the BIOS HDR file and copies it to the EFI partition before restart. Perhaps that is the step which is failing for us?

Dell, where is the support here??

Solved the problem. Well, found the problem. Disable Intel SGX (software guard extensions) in the BIOS. Then all updates should flash. Note that this will make the fingerprint reader stop working, if you have one. Flash the update, then re-enable SGX. 

Now, if only this thing could support real s3 sleep, I wouldn't regret buying it so much ... but that's another topic. :(

Note to Dell:

You can now stop searching for what’s causing the problem and start fixing it :Wink: