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Beware A05 BIOS
Upgraded from A04 to A05 today on the Dell XPS 720 QX6800, 4Gigs RAM. Big mistake. First, my computer did not restart after the BIOS flash was complete. It turned off instead. And I couldn't turn it on.
I would hit the power button, the power supply would crank for 1/2 second, then it would shut off. Finally I held the power button in for about 10 seconds, and it turned over slowly like an automobile on a cold day, and started.
Then it booted, and ran Vista. I rebooted the machine again, but this time, no dice. 3-4 memory error. Huh? Powered off.
Turned back on ... 3-4 Memory error. Tried every stick in Dimm slot 1. 3-4 Error. Called tech support. Took out RAM, reset CMOS, did all kids of goofy stuff ... 3-4 error. The machine will not POST no matter what. The solution? My "next day on site service" on the $6,000 machine is getting me 4 memory sticks dropped in the mail (2-3 day business deliver, the heck with the weekend apparently). Of course, this isn't a RAM problem.
The BIOS is obviously borked. So, I will stick the RAM in sometime next week (love that next day onsite service), and will call and tell Dell that I still have a 3-4 memory error.
No telling what they will have me do then. Probably mail me a part each week, and maybe I will have a full running machine sometime before the year warranty expires. Oh yeah, this machine is only 5 months old. Dude, you're getting a Dell! No, No, don't jump off a cliff, that's a GOOD thing, I swear.
Anyway, beware the A05 BIOS. It will probably work fine for you, but maybe, just maybe it won't. If you aren't having an issues in A04, I wouldn't risk it. If they don't tell you what is in the BIOS, they don't want you to know. And if they don't want you to know, then you don't want it. FWIW.
Message Edited by PaulTech on 01-31-2008 10:13 PM
- 32 Bit Vista, with an eye toward upgrading to 64 bit when app and driver support matured. (Hence 4 Gigs)
The parts were ordered at about 1pm Eastern.
We have "next day on site service". I really don't know what that means.
The RAM pretty obviously won't help. The ROM chip is nailed. I can put memory into it all day long, and if the ROM is messed up, nothing is going to happen. I guess the next step will be a Mobo. Should be fun taking out the processor, etc.
If I had known I was going to build it myself, well ... you know.
I'll let you know what happens. Just be careful with that BIOS.
It flashed the machine into a paperweight.
There are only black and white DIMMS on the 720 Mobo. The pairs go in like colored DIMM slots.
- i had something very similar happen to me with A04. it wasn't memory at all. it was a usb device, that didn't have updated drivers.when it happened to me, i had just added another dvd drive, removed the 56kb modem card, a netgear gig ethernet card. i was no where near the memory.rebooted several times, same post error.i learned this trick from a friend many years ago. unplugged every usb, firewire, network cable, audio cables, all video cables except the one where the post window is.lo and behold, it posted, booted into windows no problem. i added the usb, firewire, video, audio, network cable. as the usb devices were added, some got new drivers.i held my breath, rebooted, no post errors, everything fine.try it, see if that helpsjd
- Yes, yes, I didn't mean to start a roll call for everyone who didn't have a problem. For some reason that always happens when someone DOES report a problem with any given product or service, but it makes little sense.
FWIW, one other guy in the A05 thread did report that his machine wouldn't post 1 in 5 times, and he went back to A04.
If I hydroplane on a stretch of road that tends to flood, and you don't, I am still going to put out the warning.
I read the "I had no problem with A05" thread before I decided to flash ... and it wiped me out for at least 5 days given that it's the weekend. And probably more because a BIOS flash is not going to torch the memory, the tech just ran out of ideas. The thing will never boot again without a new BIOS chip (read: MOBO). It's obviously an exception, but simply not worth the risk unless you need something that is in A05, IMHO.
Even though you aren't, some people are indeed having some issues.
Even if the risk is .5%, what are you getting for it?
Unless you are going to stick a new processor in there tomorrow, probably nothing.
Caveat Emptor and good luck.
mylessthanXPS71
167 Posts
293
0
Posted February 4th, 2008 08:00
i've run bios ao5 for about a week.
i'm getting white noise sound card squeals that i didn't have before.
don't know if it's the bios or something else. just thought i'd mention it
ramwoes
elika
157 Posts
293
0
Posted February 1st, 2008 02:00
Message Edited by elika on 01-31-2008 10:48 PM