BIOS Update Problem

I recently found my way on to this site and the Alienware m17x section. I have an Alienware m17x and saw the thread about an update to the BIOS that would fix the "plugged in not charging" problem. Having experienced this problem myself, I downloaded the update from the dell site and proceeded to flash the BIOS. I was running two 128 GB SSDs in a RAID 0 array. The computer restarted, but when I turned it back on, it would say "Operating System Not Found." I went to the BIOS and put the settings back on RAID 0, but now my computer cannot find the RAID volume that was specified before. How do I get my computer to find the RAID volume that I specified so that my computer will boot up again? Any help would be appreciated, including what kind of options for professional data recovery are available to me if there is no other way to salvage the situation. Thank you very much for any help you can provide.

 

Hi sorry about ur problem. Try activating partition that has the windows installation.
1.find a windows 7 installation disk
2. put it in and boot from the disk
3.click on "repair my computer" option
4.if it is not a serious problem click on "automatic repair" 1st option
5. if it cannot do that click on command prompt
6.write CHKDSK>list disk>select disk # >(choose one with the partition)>list partitions>select partition #(replace with the partition number) and activate( just write activate and enter)
7.Please Reply

 

Thank you very much for the instructions. I will try this later today after class is over and reply as to whether or not it was fixed. How do I tell which hard drive has the partition? Also, what do you think the chances are of this fixing the problem?

 

If your RAID is working, there will only be one partition.

 

That's the problem. After flashing the BIOS, the computer can't find the RAID partition. Because of this, it can't find an operating system at all and can't boot up.

EDIT: Will the instructions posted by temka-0622 still help?

EDIT: Also, should this have worked properly, or is it generally not a good idea to try to update the BIOS on a RAID 0 array?

 

I found the problem. When I flashed the BIOS, the settings must have been reset. I had specified RAID, but not RAID 0 or RAID 1. After specifying RAID 0, my computer found the array and booted successfully. Thank you very much for your suggestions.

 

Always keep this in mind when flashing your BIOS - if on RAID, it will reset. This will be the case on the 17xR1 and R2. After flashing, you must re-enter the BIOS and set for RAID instead of AHCI. Again, if you are running a RAID Array, be sure to always re-set BIOS to RAID from AHCI as the BIOS FLASH will revert back to default settings.

Its perfectly fine to flash the BIOS on a RAID system, just be sure to check all BIOS settings as they will revert to default.

 

Yep, that's what happened. I though my computer was toast. Thank you very much.