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    Potentially Bricked BIOS On AW 15 R2

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by coolitic, Sep 18, 2018.

  1. coolitic

    coolitic Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I came across my friends AW laptop, and he said he supposedly broke it when his system froze during a BIOS flash. The light on the power button works, but trying to turn it on seems to either not do anything or just turn on for a quick second and then turn off. If I remove the RAM, it will do the two-beep POST failure. What is the procedure for a blind flash on this model?

    EDIT: Also, does disconnecting the cable labeled "BATT" (which the Dell documentation says is the battery cable) affect the AC adapter in any way? Doesn't seem to light up if that cable is disconnected while the AC adapter is.

    EDIT 2: Btw, I tried the solution mentioned here http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/bios-flash-issue.778528/#post-10042184, but it doesn't seem to work on this model.
     
    Last edited: Sep 18, 2018
    coolitic, Sep 18, 2018
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  2. samaelestevez

    samaelestevez Notebook Enthusiast

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    A n external bios flasher will do the trick

    Sent from my SM-G965N using Tapatalk
     
    samaelestevez, Sep 18, 2018
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  3. coolitic

    coolitic Notebook Enthusiast

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    What about one on a flash drive?
     
    coolitic, Sep 18, 2018
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  4. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Try this *OFFICIAL* Alienware 13 R3 Owner's Lounge
    Had the same issue and it worked. The method you followed is for 15 r1 and 17 r2 with haswell for Aptio 4 BIOS. 15 r2 and above use Aptio 5.
     
    Vasudev, Sep 19, 2018
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  5. coolitic

    coolitic Notebook Enthusiast

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    I tried that, and it almost worked (saw progress), but it froze in the end with a black screen (left it like that for 10-15 min, was still frozen). I tried replacing the CMOS battery, but now if I try to do it again, it gets to the BIOS recovery screen, but I can't press enter on any of the two options, though I can still scroll and press F9 for defaults and such.

    Also, instead of "FLASH BIOS", I see "Update BIOS" or something like that, but I assume it's the same thing.
     
    coolitic, Sep 19, 2018
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  6. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Click on Update button. The BIOS must be same one which you bricked or even higher version for the flash to be a success.
     
    Vasudev, Sep 20, 2018
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  7. coolitic

    coolitic Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ok it actually let me select now, and it flashed successfully, and it boots up fine. I have another problem now, but I'll make a separate thread for that if it persists.
     
    coolitic, Sep 20, 2018
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