It began with some older Precisions, and the E-series of Latitude laptops. However, it continues today that the following information is logged within the BIOS.
The BIOS stores the logs for each category and moves the oldest in each category down.
Each log consists of a date and a timestamp, along with a description of the type of event. With the diagnostics, the event can also show the error code (Figure.1 and Figure.2).
Figure.1: Example of the BIOS Event Logs from a Latitude E6510
Figure.2: Example of the BIOS events logs from a Latitude 3340.
The logs come under the following categories:
These logs can be helpful in troubleshooting.
Especially when tracking down intermittent problems which can be the most difficult.
(For example: If the computer is randomly and intermittently shutting down, it might be due to a thermal event that is logged. It is easier to determine the cause from the time and type of thermal event to identify either a behavior, environment, or hardware failure.)
If you require further assistance, contact Dell Technical Support.
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