This post is more than 5 years old
2 Posts
0
922
Recovery of corrupted bios on an A51
Hey folks, I have an A51 (R1) that I was updating the BIOS on so that I could install an updated video card, but I never got as far as the video card part. After attempting to update BIOS A03 to A06 (on the upgrade path to the latest A11), it would seem something terrible has occurred. When I rebooted after the A06 update, the A51 fails to even load the BIOS screen. Instead it just lets out a continuous peal of slow beeps. I can't get it to load from a bootable USB disk either (I don't think it gets that far). Are there any tips to bring it back from the dead? Or did the upgrade fry it beyond repair? Thanks!
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
44.3K Posts
1
September 12th, 2017 12:00
Try clearing BIOS:
Power off, unplug and press/hold power button for ~15 sec. Open case and remove motherboard battery. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec. Reinstall the battery and close up If you're lucky it will boot now.
BTW: Does A11 say you need A06 first? Otherwise you could have gone directly to A11.
And you should post future Alienware questions in the Alienware Club forum, where the real AW experts hang out. en.community.dell.com/.../default.aspx
jhouk00
2 Posts
0
September 13th, 2017 12:00
No joy, I guess it's truly fried. Thanks for trying, though!
Yeah it wouldn't let me go straight from A03 to A11. Not that A06 worked out for me. :(
RoHe
10 Elder
10 Elder
•
44.3K Posts
0
September 13th, 2017 14:00
Sorry that didn't fix the problem...
Now count the beeps and look up the error codes on page 51 here.
downloads.dell.com/.../alienware-area51_user's guide_en-us.pdf
Maybe the code will point you at the problem. And you might still want to post this over in the AW forum, in case one of the real AW experts has other ideas. Be sure to mention that you already tried to clear BIOS by removing the battery.