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January 17th, 2024 18:31
Precision M6600, cannot update BIOS
This is my first post here; I'm in Poland and have enjoyed my fully loaded, super-fast even to today's standards, Precision M6600 mobile workstation. Recently though it got flawed (probably due to frequent and heavy use) in that the power isn't suspended any more, which manifests itself in that even if I put it to sleep (by closing the lid, as I used to) - it will not wake with Windows (and my apps) loaded as I left them, instead it needs loading them again by booting up after I press the power button. Similarly - when during eg. installing Windows Updates it needs to restart - it will simply shut down instead, and to continue I need to press the power button again. So - when it restarts during BIOS executable execution - it probably loses the code kept in RAM, as pressing the power button for it to start again wakes it up showing the old, unchanged BIOS version. The machine is 11 years old, and doesn't officially support Windows 10, nevertheless I'm still using it successfully with this OS. Unable to upgrade from A16 to A18 BIOS version. I cannot install a working driver for the Optimus 4000M graphics, which is frustrating given my engineering application requirements. Therefore, after having read the "BIOS recovery" article, I'd like to ask whether this kind of fault I described would make the procedure described there fail on me or not? I'd rather know it before I try, as I cannot afford at the moment to turn my Precision into a brick. Looking forward to a clue, yours
Piotr
ejn63
10 Elder
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30.2K Posts
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January 17th, 2024 18:45
If what you're asking is, does this system support BIOS recovery?, the answer is no -- it's too old.
It's unlikely that update will solve your issue in any case -- it could be a heat issue (is the system hot when it shuts down), or it could be a hardware fault with the system board -- it's difficult to assess with a system that's as old as this one is. It could equally well be an issue with the old hardware and an otherwise unsupported operating system.
Mike1788
1 Rookie
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62 Posts
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January 28th, 2024 15:00
Almost certainly your motherboard coin-cell battery is dead. When that's the case, every time the system is powered on it will revert to default BIOS settings even if you just changed them. Basically, when the BIOS NVRAM battery dies it can't remember anything outside of the operating system so can't know to power back on from sleep or a restart.
Just google the coin cell battery for your M6600 but they're a common failure on older systems like the M6600 and the little pack is kind of generic and used in a ton of different models/computers.