Dead machine after bios upgrade

Question

Hi, I purchased a Dell original cd rw that came with bios A12 on a cd for C400 latitude. We were doing upgrades at a lot of machines so first I accepted Dell's peculiar statement that they don't take any reponsibility for using files from their download area. I don't belive I saw any warning about bios upgrades, what can happen etc... I belived this machine was upgraded with a to hd downloaded A11 bios but we used the cd that came a long with the pc and it stopped working completely. So my question is, even if Dell sends you a bios upgrade they don't care if something brakes ? The laptop still has warranty.   I Send this to support and complaining area but havn't heard from them....   /UN

u_nordbe · Answer

Yes led 1,2 blink and then nothing. Dell sais, use our downloads at your own risk. Not much of a warning about what can happen if you flash bios... They also, so far ,claim that it's not covered by warranty if you flash bios not having been told so by Dell :). In this case I hope it is as it was shipped  with the cdrw..

CDBSYSTEMS · Answer

I *always* check the website for the current versions of a bios - after all, you have no idea when you purchase a product that requires a bios upgrade (and which came on the cd with that dell cdrw) how LONG that item was sitting on a shelf somewhere!  the bios may have been current when that product was shipped... but could be way out of date currently. also, I NEVER trust bios's on cd's anyway.  the website is the ONLY place to go for it.   however, this is spilt milk.  if its now stone dead, (lights all blink on for a few seconds then off with no more activity), then you need to avail yourself of the warranty - dell will reflash the board for you and you'll be back up and going!   cdb.

CDBSYSTEMS · Answer

Dell may offer (and someone that I know DOES offer) a service to reflash failed bios chips... thats the only recovery at this point! cdb.

ppshu · Answer

How do I get Dell to flash my bios? I performed the same bios upgrade to my Latitude CPi D300XT and it's completely dead. I've tried to use the Bios downloads from dell.com and nothing works. The machine does not respond to anything.

Do I have to send the laptop in?

Can I just order a new Bios chip?

AMD

AM29F002BT-120JC

Please let me know. Thanks.

u_nordbe · Answer

Hi, I was lucky. I relized that Dell actually send me a cd with latest bios with a cd-rw I bought. When I told them that it was Dell's sugestion to the bios upgrade, warranty suddenly could be used.

I.e never use a file from Dell download if not Dell has adviced you to do so. Else warranty is not valid!

As a last resort i found a webpage containing instructions to replace a surface welded circuit that contains the bios. Also new bios can be bought via varoius web pages but the tricky part would be getting it in place on the motherboard..

/UN

WiG · Answer

One of the main causes of dead notebook after BIOS upgrade is a dead battery.  Did you try booting the PC without battery?

ackykaky · Answer

FYI. I flashed the bios on a my Latitude 810 and it blew away the usb drivers. I thought the motherboard. I called Dell and they sent me a new mobo (I'm still under warranty). That turned out not to be the problem...it was drivers BUT you should boot to the bios if you can and check the settings there also. btw-the bios upgrade I used was from the web site. The new mobo came with a cd that was newer, so I used it after I replaced the mobo. Well, that one proved to be just as bad, so I ended up reinstalling Windows 2000 and only upgraded the drivers through Windows update.

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Dead machine after bios upgrade

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