Optiplex 7040 Small Form Factor BIOS Update Not Working

Question

Have several Optiplex 7040's that will not apply the BIOS updates. Most are on version 1.2.8. I've tried from both USB and from Windows 10. It loads the file, powers off, powers on. I get a video signal with a blank screen for several seconds. Then the machines power off and on again. At this point I have the Dell logo, but the the bios is not updated.

I don't see any pre-req's for stepping up bios versions in order to apply the latest version 1.24.0.

Any help will be much appreciated.

grandmax01161975 · Accepted Answer

Update:

I successfully updated via BIOS Recovery.

Formatted USB drive as FAT32.

Downloaded latest BIOS.

Renamed file as "BIOS_IMG.rcv".

Insert USB.

Press and hold ESC + Ctrl keys while powering on machine.

Wait for the Num lock indicator to blink on then off and then let go of the keys.

The screen will be blank for a few seconds while it searches for the Recovery Image on the USB.

The Recovery Screen comes up.

Followed directions on screen.

redxps630 · Answer

if the current unit works fine think twice before flashing bios, which in itself has risk of bricking the board even with the best practice.

having said that, try replace cmos battery and clear cmos settings first if you really want to flash bios.

if it still does not work, some motherboard has corrupted cmos chip that does not let you flash. so be it. just use it as it now. I have some Dell boards that do that.

grandmax01161975 · Answer

All have new batteries. CMOS has been cleared as well. Dell lists several intermediate updates as "Critical" with security patches. I have had a few that did update, but I didn't see what version they were already on.

I find it highly unlikely that all machines I have attempted to update have corrupt chips. I still have several hundred of these machines to go through and test and update.

JOcean · Answer

@redxps630 is spot on but I am wondering about trying to jump so many versions to the latest. Have you tried to update in steps?

grandmax01161975 · Answer

@JOcean​ Yep. Tried that too. My thought is that there is a setting in the BIOS that is preventing the update, but I don't see anything such as SMM Security Mitigation or Watchdog Timer.

JOcean · Answer

@grandmax01161975​ Just a thought but you did suspend BitLocker, if it is enabled and available?

grandmax01161975 · Answer

@JOcean​ I was attempting via USB with DOS environment with no HDD installed. BitLocker shouldn't be an issue in this case, right? I even tried via WinPE x86.

JOcean · Answer

@grandmax01161975​ Glad you got it figured out!

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Optiplex 7040 Small Form Factor BIOS Update Not Working

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