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    [m1330] Dell Support told me to update bios -> Dead PC

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by icehole, Dec 6, 2008.

  1. icehole

    icehole Newbie

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    Hi

    I emailed the dell support, telling them of the problem i have been having (all the usual problems, graphics BSOD's, cpu whine etc).

    They tell me to first download the A14 bios and upgrade. I downloaded the install file (from the link he gave me). it was the windows .exe file that you just double click and it does everything on its own.

    The computer rebooted, installed the bios and then rebooted again, showing the normal boot screen with the dell logo (saying BIOS A14 in the bottom).

    However, it just stops loading with like 10% left to go in the progress-bar and just shuts down. Something is SERIOUSLY messed up.

    What can i do now? is my best chance to go back to A10 (how do i do that if i can't even get passed the Dell-logo-screen?). I can't even get into BIOS-settings or Boot-menu (f2 and f12).

    Surely, they have to compensate me if the computer is bricked, after following their own advice?

    Thanks for helping me!
     
  2. icehole

    icehole Newbie

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    Update: after letting the computer cool off for like 10 mins, i tried again and it just made it past the post screen, and started windows.

    However, the thing is still SLOW and WARM (as soon as windows had booted, i checked 18kfanGUI and it showed a peak of 85C. Definitely not right, idle at 72C.

    Considering i still have onsite support and all that, what should i do? I don't want to keep emailing with some random guy at dell who tells me to check 3rd-party forums for tips (? good, official support there Dell!).

    Thanks
     
  3. paper_wastage

    paper_wastage Beat this 7x7x7 Cube

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  4. icehole

    icehole Newbie

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    I don't know if there is any point at this time? I did get it to work in the end, apparently it needed to cool down enough to be able to do the first boot with the new bios.

    The old problems still exist however: the computer suddenly freezing up when I'm just surfing in firefox or watching a video clip, or even just coding in a texteditor.

    Guess it's the vga-error that alot of other m1330 users have been reporting?
     
  5. NoteLil

    NoteLil Notebook Consultant

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    BSODs, randomly freezing by just surfing the web, high temps, mmm.. How old is your laptop? This may be a GPU-related problem. But you won't know for sure until you get those vertical lines :(