13 R2, BIOS A04

Is there even a list of BIOS releases events? I cant find any straight up answers about that. Not even what BIOS I should be on? Only reason Im looking into this is that my right then left fan spins up momentairily after start up but this action freezes the computer while it happens, then its fine. But every post I see about this suggests updating the BIOS. 

Hi User4227808 Crev W_o_l_f  welcome to this user to user discussion forum. This is not Dell Support.

Correct the highlighted errors and try again. The message body contains a User Name, which is not permitted in this community. Please remove this content before sending your post.

The Alienware 13 R2 Drivers & Downloads webpage has BIOS 1.11.0 update webpage which includes a list of Older versions (see following image). Please read the BIOS update information very carefully, inclusion of the Intel vulnerabilty response, will disable some of the Intel CPU functions. 

There is no requirement to update your BIOS which tells POST to find and test system hardware. It seems that the sensors in your fans are having a problem telling POST that they exist. Please remove all debris, dust, etc. from the fan blades. At splash screen, press and hold down F12 to open the boot menu, use Up and Down keys to locate Diagnostics and press Enter. When white window appears, accept run all ePSA test. When all tests complete, click on icon in bottom RH corner to review all ePSA test results. It may say that CPU & GPU fans are at the end of their life and should be replaced. 

If you did not find diagnostics in the boot menu, install SupportAssist followed by Restart (not Shut Down) so that the Dell ePSA Diagnostics can be used on your system. 

The error is telling you that you're trying to flash back to a much older BIOS -- why are you trying this?

Regardless of the outcome I thank you very much as I had never seen this tool before. I ran the diagnostic first using the quick setting and no issues had been detected. Both fans idle at 0 and max at 3200. I ran it again with the full length setting and again everything passed. It did note that my battery (5 or 6 years old now) is at 51% I have ordered some thermopaste and am looking into a new battery. So once I have all of this I will do a slow and careful deep clean and replace thermopaste and battery. The 13 R2 is still going strong its just this rather annoying fan test or self clean that is unpredictable. It might happen right when the desktop loads or it might happen 5 minutes into my session. And I would never go looking for a new BIOS this was recommended during the support assist app scan. In the 5 or 6 years I've owned this laptop I've only ever been recommended to update the BIOS 2 or 3 times. One of the old BIOS this fan issue never happed, and in one other old one it did. 

Thank you very much for your time and conciderations. 

Whatever the reason -- an error in the Dell database most likely - - A04 is older than A11.  You do not need the update despite what the support assist tells you.  It's a BIOS downgrade, not an upgrade.

The numbers are sequential -- A11 is much newer than A04.

SupportAssist is showing it as a recommended update, it wants me to download and install this A04 BIOS when I clicks for details it shows a release date of February 22, 2021

Currently the BIOS installed is: Alienware 1.11.0, 2020-10-12

I run the SupportAssist app every now and then, what prompted me this time is that after startup or rest the CPU fan ramps up then idles and then the GPU fan ramps up and idles. Everything returns to normal but while this is happening the laptop does not respond the cursor doesn't move and if an audio or video file is playing it "gitters" When I searched the forums and internet for other posts about this it often lead back to the BIOS so I ran the SupportAssist and was simply following its recommendations. It wouldn't recommend that I revert back to older BIOS would it? And the release date is showing it to be a relatively new BIOS. Also when I manual tried to do it said that the 1.11.0 is protected and that it cant flash the 1.2.0 Nothing about these numbers or dates would suggest to me that A04 is older than 1.11.0

Thank you for your thoughts

OK, thank you for clearing that much up. I thought the A defined a whole new line of BIOS or something because the 1.11 doesn't have an "A" before the numbers. Had it been called A11 then yea I would have been more skeptic about the suggestion.

Thanks again

These Dell Part Numbers should assist with search for a new battery. If the existing battery becomes problematic it can be disconnected. Laptops with no battery are designed to happily function as a Desktop. 

Alienware 13 R2 Original 8-cell Laptop Battery 62Wh is Dell P/N N1WM4
Alienware 13 R2 Original 4-cell Laptop Battery 51Wh is Dell P/N 3V806
Alienware 13 R2 CMOS BIOS (Coin) Battery with cable and connector is Dell P/N C8KT2

Thank you for sharing update of the ePSA diagnostic result.

There is another tool that might reveal what is causing the system to freeze. The Windows Reliability Monitor provides a timeline of any events created by the system. The events are recorded by date and time, if you note when this system freeze problem occurs, there should be a corresponding event that keeps being reported. The event should have a Microsoft error code and an internet search will reveal what that error code means, so it can be fixed. Have a look at the following video of what this Reliability Monitor tool offers. 

Congrats on getting it solved.

Thats great so Im gonna mark his solution as the fix to the problem and congrats on the issue being resolved.

You're right, the Axx BIOS' are an entirely different line of revisions. It seems that during the life of your R2, Dell decided to change how they named it's BIOS revisions. It looks like A07 was the last Axx BIOS before they switched to the newer way of naming them. Even with this, it is still trying to get you to flash an older version. 

If your laptop is running fine then it's usually suggested to leave it and not upgrade the BIOS, especially when out of warranty. Dell will not cover a bad flash with a machine out of warranty and you could be left with a paperweight. 

Hi Crev W_o_l_f   Here is Dell Alienware guidance on how to install BIOS updates.

Never install BIOS update over the internet. Always download BIOS update application and save onto your system before installing. Update BIOS versions incrementally (one at a time) so that improvements are saved. If your Intel CPU can be Overclocked, do not install BIOS version that responds to Intel CPU vulnerability.