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[M14x R2] Bad Bios Flash


Pons

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Yet another bad bios thread. I recently got a new M14x R2. Wiped the HDD to get a nice clean fresh slate to work with, installed Win7, drivers, etc, etc. After Everything was setup, I decided to update to the latest BIOS, A09, from my older one of A04. I used the Dell tool and it seemed to work. The tool rebooted my laptop, so I let it. It boot back into Windows, at which point I decided to reboot into the BIOS to verify it. Got into BIOS just fine, saw A09 in the version, and preceded to go through the menus to check it out. It froze on the Performance options. Stayed frozen for about 30 second, then promptly shut off the laptop. Now whenever I try to power on the laptop, the lights come on for about 3 seconds, then it turns right back off. Oh, and my battery was full when I did this, and I've done it off and on the charger, so I know power isn't an issue. I've read through a couple of guides, and settled on this one by svl7: http://forum.techinferno.com/alienware-m14x/1474-bios-flash-goes-wrong.html#post18029 summarized as:

- Rename the BIOS file you want to flash to "M14XR2.hdr", then copy it to the root of an USB drive (formatted FAT32)

- Remove the PSU and the battery from your system

- Plug in the prepared USB drive into the USB port on the left side (not an USB 3.0 port)

- Press and hold down the [END] key on the keyboard then plug in the power cable. The system should start the fans and begin the reflash. It'll beep quite a couple of times, just leave it doing all the stuff. Then it'll reboot several times.

Obivously, I can't download the file due to my low post count, but I've tried it with the stock A09 BIOS from Dell. No dice. The name M14XR2.hdr I got from following the tool in this thread: BIOS Recovery in case you brick your M17x R3 The same thing happens no matter what I do: 3 seconds of lights with a black screen before it powers off. No beeps, nothing. Was going to call Dell Tech but they're currently closed, and I'm fairly certain I can get better help here. So, anyone have any thoughts?

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Well, first of all if you got a new M14x R2, this should be covered by your warranty. Also it's weird that you managed to get into the menu after flashing. What I recommend you to try first is to remove the coin cell battery for a while, might help.

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Not new per say, but refurbished. Still got a good 7 or so months of warranty, though. I'll try your tip when I get back home and watch some disassembly videos of this laptop. I've only taken off the back to disconnect the battery, but it's probably more involved than that. Thanks for the idea.

Update: removed the coin-cell battery for 10 minutes. While removed I (of course) had the battery removed, and held down the power button for 30 seconds to ensure a complete power drain. Hooked everything back up, and got the same result: roughly 3 seconds of LED lights (no screen, no beeps) before it shuts it self off. Any other suggestions or am I stuck with calling Dell? If they won't do anything, which I doubt, what's the next step, replace the mother board?

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Get the 09 bios version .exe file, open the .exe file with 7-zip and extract the A09.fb file to .. let's say: Desktop. rename the extracted file and the extension of it to: from A09.fb to M14R2.hdr and then copy it to usb disk driver which is formated as Fat32... remove the power cord, plug the usb in the left port USB and while holding END, plug in the power cord... the vents will go crazy and after a few seconds the beeps will tell you that the system is recovering: DON'T DO ANYTHING ! just leave the system alone, it will beep like 2minutes and automatically restart.

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Get the 09 bios version .exe file, open the .exe file with 7-zip and extract the A09.fb file to .. let's say: Desktop. rename the extracted file and the extension of it to: from A09.fb to M14R2.hdr and then copy it to usb disk driver which is formated as Fat32... remove the power cord, plug the usb in the left port USB and while holding END, plug in the power cord... the vents will go crazy and after a few seconds the beeps will tell you that the system is recovering: DON'T DO ANYTHING ! just leave the system alone, it will beep like 2minutes and automatically restart.

Appreciate the post, but had already tried that even though I forgot to post that part. Doesn't do anything. Contacted Dell, and they're sending me a box to ship it back to look at it. So no computer for me for a month or two.

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  • 1 year later...
Get the 09 bios version .exe file, open the .exe file with 7-zip and extract the A09.fb file to .. let's say: Desktop. rename the extracted file and the extension of it to: from A09.fb to M14R2.hdr and then copy it to usb disk driver which is formated as Fat32... remove the power cord, plug the usb in the left port USB and while holding END, plug in the power cord... the vents will go crazy and after a few seconds the beeps will tell you that the system is recovering: DON'T DO ANYTHING ! just leave the system alone, it will beep like 2minutes and automatically restart.

i had the same problem as the creator of this thread, tried what you said and now my alienware wont even power on.....

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  • 3 years later...

HELP

HELP

HELP!

Hi guys, i'm trying to bring an old post back to life. I have an M14X R2, I needed to flash the BIOS as I was getting a 1 beep code at start up. So I found this thread and did exactly what was suggested. I flashed the bios , it beeped like 20 times really load, then it beeped alot faster for about another 20 times then stopped. However it never rebooted, I waited about a half hour and still no restart. So I pulled out the power cord removed the thumb drive and then reinserted the power and hit the power button. NOTHING! no power no power on nothing. I tried the holding the end key down again and insert the power cord and still nothing.

 

Hoping someone can help out before i go buy another mobo.

 

Thanks in advance

 

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