Welcome to the Forum,

Index of ftp://ftp.dell.com/bios/

The above linked Dell site has them all, including Release Notes for your download.

Could not find any Dell Portable under "A300ST" if it is a desktop, you can find
it under "Desktops^" menu at top left of this page.

Be sure to avoid that "Hard Drive" Windows initated Flash.

A stable DOS Flash from preferably a 'floppy' or bootable CD is a lot safer.:)

Sorry forgot to say its a CPi A series laptop, PII 300Mhz cpu  64 Mbs memory and 6Gb HDD

Hi Art,

Thanks for the prompt reply and info, I did the dos update using the CPIA_A15.EXE file which created a floppy and attempted to "flash" the bios that way, unfortunately this does not produce an image/BIN file which is what is needed to program the new chip!

Reading the various posts on this forum it seems there are a huge number of flash bios update failures, is this a Dell problem? I have updated numerous desktop PC's without incident.

I think it may interest people to know that if your bios chip is removable and you have the correct bios *.BIN file it is possible to replace this via a third party vendor!

 

In the meantime lets hope some one has a backed up .BIN file or a site that contains these??

From what I read in here, over 90% of the BIOS Flash "to a doorstop" failures are a result of using
that simple, quick & easy "Hard Drive" Flash from Windows program (that is not available on a CPi).

This 'Windows Flash' is a quick way around the fact that most users no longer get the 'floppy'
drive, I have never done the 'Boot from CD' but it is said that it has less risk (than WinFlash).

I can understand, as when I first saw it, I thought "Wow, what a great utility" but depending on
Windows to Boot you into DOS, erase your current BIOS File and Flash the new one just adds to
the risk of an already risky operation.

When you are doing it under the guidance of a Dell Tech, he is going to first assure that your
'Windows' are healthy and you will have Dell's warranty protection (not available for BIOS Flash
problems, unless Tech Support is involved in the process).
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For your situation, it would seem that your system needs enough BIOS to get through POST and
boot into DOS, in order for the 'floppy' to load that BIOS Chip with new files.

My guess would be that there must be a utility to load that chip before it is installed.

The BIOS used by Dell in your era portable, probably came from Pheonix, I would search that
route to find out how to 'pre-load' that chip.

Art

Here's another link, that may have what you need.

"...The personal computer remains stopped and it can't be started anymore.

RECOVERYBIOS can re-program, recover and flash the bios chip of all motherboards of PC, notebook,
DVD Player and Satellite Decoder, using the latest release of the bios available at the producer internet site.
In this way, it's possible to recover any motherboard and the functions of the whole personal computer. ..."

I have a good CPiA BIOS Chip with A15 if you are interested

{Here is another Link} to an informative BIOS article "SAFE BIOS UPGRADE"

CONTENTS

1. Introduction
2. Why upgrade the BIOS?
3. The normal procedure to flash new BIOS is risky
4. Our method in brief
5. How to find out compatible flash chips
6. Flashing from Windows
7. Step-by-step procedure for safe BIOS upgrade
8. Final remarks/ tips
9. Interesting related links ..."

This lead me to where (SiSoftware Sandra) I could determine that a D800 has a "Surface Mount" BIOS Chip
and not a "replaceable socket type" so you are indeed fortunate on that CPi.