E5440 'ASF2 Force Off'

Question

Hello,I got a Dell Latitude E5440 from my old HS Ewaste pile when I was working there. It's a fabulous computer, with an i5 and 11GB of RAM. It's exceptional with the new SSD I put in it. Unfortunately, It shuts off randomly, and the bios give the 'ASF2 Force off' log. Now that I'm out of school, I decided to look deeper and dissemble it and noticed the following. The harddrive mount is not aligned I also noticed the following:     -The shuts occur less frequently when I use an HHD instead of an SSD           - Maybe the SSD is too thin and caused the bending     -Whenever I run live media via USB, it shuts off less.     -The temps don't go too high, which removes overheating as a cause.            -It still gets super hot.I found that the ASF2 error results from hardware/software problems. I want to try and see if re-soldering the HDD mount will solve the issue, but I want to avoid reassembling just to find that it did nothing. Are there other common issues that caused the sudden shut-off and the ASF2 error? Maybe there is an issue with the bios version (Has A05 IIRC). update: I just messed around with a linux live CD and did notice: - It shuts off, but it takes some time. I'm lost again.

AFE123 · Accepted Answer

UPDATE I've kinda realized that I don't have the tools or the time to diagnose the issue on the board, so I decided to look for a new board. The prices were ludicrous, costing $30 on eBay and it goes up to $70. It was a waste of money, so I looked on ebay for a nice parts PC, and I found a couple of good candidates. I ended up buying one that didn't have a keyboard, hard drive, ram or the front palm cover for, before shipping and tax, $2. after shipping, the total was 18 bucks, which was half the price of a motherboard, and it had pictures of it working. The screen was also intact, if I ever need a screen replacement. This is basically what it looked like: I found that it'd be easier to transport the parts from the old computer to the new instead of the other way, and guess what, It works! I ran the machine for hours install gentoo, and it never shut off. I look forward to having a stable system : - ) and a nice parts machine if I need or want anything from it.

ejn63 · Answer

The error is unlikely connected to the SATA connector issue. That said, since boards for this system are so inexpensive (and used systems likely even less expensive), replacing the system board (or the system) is likely a more cost- and time-effective solution.

https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=category&id=140&subid=476&refine=motherboard

AFE123 · Answer

Replacing the motherboard is a last resort. I want to try updating the bios. It's currently on A05. I tried using FREEDOS Bootable USB and running the executable, support-assist, the flash option in the bios menu, but they all do the same thing, as shown in the video below. I just disabled Secure Boot, and there's no Bit locker setting to change. Is there something else in the bios I'm supposed to change? Would it be worth flashing the bios chip?

ejn63 · Answer

You need a recognized, partially charged battery in the system to flash the firmware -- do you have that?

AFE123 · Answer

@ejn63​ Yes, It's plugged in and the battery is usually full. The system does recognize the battery as well, The Health is 'Fair'

Latitude

E5440 "ASF2 Force Off"

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