Dell BIOS update borks PCs Dell's latest BIOS update is bricking some machines – apart from a power light, they refuse to boot up at all, say users. The Texan tech titan's own support forums are filling up with frustrated users who took the support assistant’s advice to download the latest program. Many of those who installed the update now cannot boot …
Frank,
Another said, "Let's hope Dell fixes it for free, the Dell Update software that was prepackaged, might I say, reminded me to update constantly. So I did... Well, I am not very happy with the update, so 2 stars out of 5."
So it sounds like it was Dells own update software that mandated the update happened.
Steven R
This post has been deleted by its author
This post has been deleted by its author
It is generally acknowledged that BIOS updates should only be applied to fix a known issue. In this case, however, for some Dell systems, the issue is the Intel AMT remote security vunlerability: CVE-2017-5689
This affects at least one laptop to my personal knowledge: Dell XPS 15 9560
> BIOS updates should only be applied to fix a known issue
And even then only after you have properly tested the floppy controller and the drive, and made sure the disk is new (and not a freebie), there's no guarantee that you won't end up killing the machine.
After swapping out and checking everything, the primary suspect was the floppy controller having one last spurious fit before failing completely at exactly the worst possible moment, revenge for hardly ever being used.
AC, because the shame of needlessly killing an Alpha will haunt me for the rest of time without all the inevitable "helpful" suggestions.
FFS RTFPost "the floppy controller having one last spurious fit before failing completely"
Sometimes things fail even after verification and after a dummy run, and this was one of those, very much the point of what was said.
But thanks for the remarkably insightful comment, you can get off your horse now.
On dells, HP, IBM(lenovo) when an authorized repair out replaces the MB they are suppose to flash the bios. It's part of putting the service tag in the bios. Doing this has bit me in the ass with and IBM desk top. I flashed the bios and poof. You could no longer boot of a SATA drive. Went through 3 boards before some at IBM figured out it was an bios issue not a defective SATA controller.
Oh and if I didn't flash the bios with our permission and some found out I would not get paid.
I would assume most people reading this would be capable of using another source to Google to read up on how to fix it, and apply it (although I have to say I have idea how to recover a borked BIOS).
What about your man on the Clapham Omnibus who has to take a Clapham Omnibus to his local PC repairshop, and be charged by them to implement the fix ? Which could easily rack up to £100 before blinking.
This is on top of the fact that any time anyone loses on this isn't recoverable in UK law.
"Dell's initial reaction was to tell customers they needed to buy new motherboards."
Sorry but if Dell Command Update offers you a BIOS update that then bricks the chip it is your responsibility to fix it Dell.
Presumably it was someone on work experience who gave out that advice. One hopes the grown-ups took over after that.
Got a warehouse full of obsolete parts and a risk of missing your quarterly earnings statement targets?
1) Release 'accidentally' corrupt BIOS update for all your out of warranty laptop models
2) Charge customers $250 a pop for a replacement motherboard
3) PROFIT!
Thanks Dell :D
The solution is SIMPLE. Have the update software check:
IF
the machine is in warranty period + 7 days (7 for a reasonable time for the user to get with support)
THEN
warn user that the update could brick the computer, but it will be covered under support if reported before the end of the warranty period which is XX.
ELSE
IF
the machine is outside the warranty period - 6 months - 7 days
THEN
warn user that the update could brick the computer, and if so, Dell will sell them a new motherboard at a slight discount but they have to install themselves (or pay to have it installed), if reported before XX.
ELSE
warn user that the update could brick the computer, and if so, Dell will sell them a new motherboard at full cost and they have to install themselves (or pay to have it installed).
END IF
END IF
Copyright Bryan Hall... :-)
I doubt many users, especially those out of warranty, will click OK - saving everyone time and effort.
Who wrote the BIOS update?
Who signed off on the release of the BIOS?
Is the BIOS on Dell PCs socketed or soldered in?
--
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Unfortunately security and stability issues, and other bugs do occur, and the BIOS can need updates to better support functionality of embedded or plug-in hardware, but upgrades must be done by competent people, and preferably checked on one device first, if a multiple devices may need it.
I've never had a firmware update issue which bricked a device, but have rarely needed to roll-back some upgrades which contained unhelpful changes.
I can't say I've been impressed by any Dell kit I've used; it seemed expensive and dull.
Almost completely assured they're SMD chips, due to size (Inspiron laptops). One would think they'd have a chip clip to reflash the BIOS chip without total disassembly, but their support infrastructure might be better equipped to just replace the motherboards and get them back out.
Sockets cost extra for parts and production, and can reduce reliability; flash/ROM parts can often be in-circuit programmed, probably on a similar rig to that used to electrically test the PCB.
It's probably more cost effective for Dell to just scrap the motherboards, because all PC components are commodity parts, often with thin margins, which are replaced regularly, to attract more customers via redesigns and new Intel etc. chip-sets.
I saw a suggestion by a user on the Dell support site to try booting from a USB stick.
I'd also suggest booting from a DVD or other device.
Disconnect all attachments. Normally, this is a suggestion suitable for driver-level problems.
Since the power light comes on, somebody's home. I suggest adding an external screen (VGA, HDMI, DP etc) in case it's simply failing to reach the laptop screen.
Delving deeper, plug in a simple working hard-drive in place of the built-in one.
It's certainly the responsibility of Dell but that takes time and effort.
A replacement or re-flashed BIOS chip should fix this, rather than a new motherboard. Swapping a motherboard is a non-trivial task.
What's the second-hand market for such machines?
Disclaimer: I've been very pleased with all my support from them in the past.
If the BIOS craps out in the POST (Power On Self Test), it will not boot whatever you do.
If replacing the BIOS chip requires the motherboard being removed (laptops are not designed to be easily maintained), then replacing the motherboard will be a quicker and possibly cheaper fix (for Dell). Also replacing surface-mount components is far from easy.
Normally the BIOS resides in flash memory nowadays (rather than EEPROM). It used to be that there was a small amount of ROM that could act as a failsafe to allow you to reflash a corrupt BIOS, but I suspect that if that code is still included, is resides in a different partition in the same flash memory chip. If the flash memory gets completely wiped, then you've lost the failsafe as well.
Certain mobo manufacturers (Gigabyte come to mind) used to have a Dual BIOS feature, where if you updated the BIOS, you only did one side, and you had the unchanged other side to fall back to if it failed. That gave you a way of proving a new BIOS without bricking the system.
Some boards also have I2C or SMBus (or other) ports that may allow the flash to be reprogrammed in situ, but often the headers are not soldered on the board to allow it to be used.
Dual BIOS is the way to go - as you say, some systems do this already. Its not difficult to test in the BIOS if the image is valid before booting it, to check if it booted successfully last time or to have a keypress that forces to the alternative bios image for this / next reboot.
As to Jumpers and replacing chips - do you really expect a user to be able to disassemble their laptop and do this ?
Dual BIOS removes all this pain at the cost of a larger device that can support both images.
I thing the way to go is to eliminate the BIOS, the Intel x86 architecture and that leaky tub of an Operating System.
> Dual BIOS is the way to go - as you say, some systems do this already. Its not difficult to test in the BIOS if the image is valid before booting it
OS X major update caused the hard drive access to run at <1% of former speed - but with no read/write errors. I copied the whole drive over the network to my desktop, took 3 days. Apple claimed, with a straight face, that OS updates "often" caused previously undetected problems to show up. Took it to the GEEEnius bar, they ran their HD diagnostics, said it was a failed hard drive. They showed me the results - there was literally only one single word, "FAILED" in giant red letters. Charged us $150 for a new hard drive. Came back to pick it up after, and they wanted $200 instead. We made a scene, manager came in and gave it to us for the originally-quoted $150. Got it home and it was a bigger drive than agreed; I suspect they were out of the smaller ones and upgraded us without permission.
Meanwhile, my 7+-year-old desktop, assembled by me and running Ubuntu, continues to chug away... Wife hasn't updated OS X or her iPhone since...
My system, Inspiron 20, did the same thing. Window came up, said upgrade now or later, I clicked, Now. That was the end of my system. It happened Friday, May 12; I contacted Dell on Monday, 15. They proceeded to state it was my equipment and the warranty was out, therefore I would have to pay $259, plus shipping and handling. I told them it was their software, they said NO. You can guess who won. I even went to their web page, posted a photo my pc and stated the problem, said I would never recommend or purchase a Dell again. They contacted me thru Messaging, basically going thru the whole thing again. But I kept a printout of the conversation in case I ever need to use it, but I threw my PC away. I don't know about anyone else but I bought this one new July 2016 don't have the funds to replace it. Not at 74 years old.
Dear Customers,
Dell is aware that a recent BIOS release (version 3.8.1) for the Inspiron 20 3052 All-in-One has caused some systems to fail to boot. Dell has stopped the push of the affected BIOS version and urges impacted customers to contact Dell Tech Support or on Twitter @DellCares.
Thank you,
Dell Support Team
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