BIOS Updates forum

Hello!

I tried to upgrade the bios from 7x64,then the vostro freezed on writing block 19 (think i should've run it with admin rights...)

I also tried all crisis files with many bioses,but it seems that i cannot access to recovery mode....
Usb stisk is reading,but not more.

So is there a way to recover a vostro 1520's bios?

So,i managed getting an usb floppy.

With combination of good files,no certitude i'm in recovery,but the floppy starts for 4 seconds,stops,and read for about 30 seconds and then stops but nothing seems to be flashed...
I tried to put autoexec on the floppy but i think i need to "force flash" the bios.

Help me please!!!!!!:)

The description of the bios upgrade says you should run it with admin rights. Yes. There's a good reason for that.

Right, the executable needs a functioning version of windows, which cannot run because your bios crashed, so we need to get out the actual bios rom file itself from the installer somehow. Give me a day to try and find out if this can be done.

I've already extracted the bios.rom file from dell's exe.
Sometimes it's named HPBAxx.ROM or just BIOS.ROM.
What i need is the right way to get into recovery ,and the right phlash16 file...

Thanks for your help!!!

sounds like a Phoenix bios (not Award-Phoenix). Found this bit of info:
http://www.theeldergeek.com/forum/index ... opic=21209
and maybe this can help too:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-c ... thods.html

Tried all with no luck...
The best result is with method 4 from the second link.

The floppy startsfor three seconds,stops,restarts for 1 minute,stops and restarts....But still no bios....
I leaved the laptop for 1/4 of hour,hit a key and then the floppy has restarted;strange!

So,something is happening,but without result.
I need to force-write the bios?Or maybe the chip is broken?

ps:whatever i do,leds are blinking 15 seconds after i press power (i suppose it shouldn't do that).

If you are both desperate and hard-core, here is roughly what the manufacturer's reps' do first when faced with a dead board;

You need an identical chip to the hosed BIOS chip and a chip programmer. You will need the .BIN file with the BIOS firmware. There are two ways of obtaining this; the hard way is to strip it out of the the .exe which is usually available. The easy way is to use the DOS (Phoenix or Award) flash programmer and save it from a working identical machine. Then you take the programmer and flash the BIOS BIN code onto the new chip. (Willem used to, and still may, make an incredible programmer kit if you are handy at soldering. Ponyprog is the software I used to interface with the programmer and transfer the code to the chip) In the old days of DIP BIOS chips, you could just slide the new chip over the old and 'jump start' the machine into booting, after which you removed the new chip and flashed the old in DOS. Now, most BIOS chips I see are PLCC and the 'jump start' method may not make good contact. If not, you will need to create some type of jumper. The most common suggestion I seem to see is using a socket soldered to the new chip over the original chip. I have not tried this and can't comment on its efficacy. If you are really lucky and have a socketed chip, you are probably already back to playing WOW, but if not, just pull the old chip out and replace with the new programmed one. That won't happen on anything from HP or Dell.

The last contingency is for when you absolutely can't acquire a BIN of the hosed BIOS. Intel usually creates the reference design of the major manufacturer's boards. An Intel BIOS will work on an OEM machine; sometimes even better, depending on what the OEM left off of the reference design that they need to compensate for in BIOS. I haven't looked lately, but Intel also used to post the BINs on their site. The problem is each BIOS chip is encoded with the OEM manufacturer in a specific hex address of the code. I have only had to do this once; it was within 12 months on either side of 2002, and I found the hex address and the manufacturer's codes on the internet. Maybe someone can find it with the Wayback Machine. If you do, please post it as a public service to the community. Anyway, the concept is to save the BIN on the hard drive of a working machine. Open the BIN in a hex editor and replace the existing manufacturer's code with the code for the target machine's manufacturer. I had to flash an Intel BIOS onto a Dell chip because I had upgraded the machine to a BIOS revision which didn't support the processor in the system. Best I recall, Intel's manufacturer ID is 86 and Dell's is 87 (may be 87 and 88). No guarantees, this was almost a decade ago. But perhaps that will assist in the search. Also, as a disclaimer, if you have an AMD powered system, you are probably better off disregarding this information.

Intel retail is 86A, Dell is 10A
http://www.elhvb.com/mboards/intel/index.html
the first incarnation of that page (still on my ISP homepage at the time) is now about 14 years old

And the Vostro 1520 is a laptop making this exercise slighty more tricky

Hi

I tried to upgrade the bios from 7x64,then the vostro freezed on writing block 15 for 48 Hours. Turn off the computer - Press the power switch. Once the light turns on the HD once, for just one second, and goes out. After 16 / 2 elapsed ligament: the Caps Lock light (A) and Scroll Lock (arrow) are permanently lit and the Num Lock light (9) flashes quickly.

Is there any solution to this problem?


Thanks

Same problem, running the tool without admin rights and then it crashes. Contact your nearest Dell service center.