Dell Dimension 3000, bad flash, bios dead, can't find chip

by **qpaulina42** » Tue Sep 02, 2008 5:14 am

I have a Dell Dimension 3000, model DMC. Flash went bad, ie computer was shut down before flash completed. I had a REV A02 BIOS. Do not have pins and jumper so tried to short out the shortening points/ soldering points (?) and also took out CMOS battery and waited 30 minutes. Then put it back in, turned on power, still no bios, no beeps etc (waited several minutes, also tried pushing Del, F1 and F2, but of course, keyboard is not recognized, so what's the point?) Do not have floppy drive so can't recover that way. Can't even find the bios chip or the motherboard model number so don't know if maybe it's soldered on somewhere I can't see? Loosing hope fast. Any ideas?

by **Neo@TheMatrix** » Tue Oct 07, 2008 5:01 pm

Your problem is not an invalid CMOS setting. So short circuiting soldering points (without even knowing what they exist for there) or taking out the CMOS battery will not help. You have a corrupt BIOS. Because the PC was shut down while flashing BIOS, the new BIOS code was only partially written into the BIOS chip, and that's the reason your PC won't boot up.

The only option you have is hot-flashing. Now I won't tell you the detailed procedure for hot-flashing your BIOS now, because it requires you to take out your BIOS chip. And you don't know where it is located on your motherboard. So, our first task is to identify the BIOS chip.

I know you've consulted some other forums too. The photo of your motherboard that you have provided is tilted, so I was unable to read the chip markings. If you can provide a good resolution image giving the top view of your motherboard, maybe I'd be able to help you out in identifying the BIOS chip.

by **edwin** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:01 am

http://support.euro.dell.com/support/ed ... #wp1061217

Most likely somewhere between the CMOS battery and the clear password jumper.

by **Neo@TheMatrix** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 11:39 am

edwin wrote:http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dim3000/en/SM/techov.htm#wp1061217

Most likely somewhere between the CMOS battery and the clear password jumper.

That link only has sketches of the motherboard. I need a real photograph of the motherboard.

by **qpaulina42** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:40 pm

the guys from badflash identified my bios chip as being something labeled intel N82802AB8 A4357062, copyright '96 '98. Does that help? It's in a corner, next to the battery.

by **edwin** » Wed Oct 08, 2008 5:57 pm

seems to be it:
http://pdf1.alldatasheet.com/datasheet- ... 82802.html