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    XPS 1640 A14 BIOS upgrade failed, now what?

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by MMcCraryNJ, Apr 4, 2010.

  1. MMcCraryNJ

    MMcCraryNJ Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey all,

    So I tried updating my BIOS to version A14, the current one on Dell's site. Running Windows 7 Ultimate 64, btw. It seemed to update fine, but when it restarted, I got a black screen. I waited about 20 minutes, powered off, then back on. It booted into Windows, now however my keyboard does not work. Most keys do not work, and the ones that do produce incorrect characters. Also, whenever I restart Windows, it does not reboot. It will hang at a black screen until I power off and back on. Currently typing this on a USB keyboard.

    When I go into setup, it does say version A14, so I'm assuming it went through, but for some reason is not compatible with my system. Can I downgrade to fix this, and if so, where can I find an older BIOS version?

    Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
     
    MMcCraryNJ, Apr 4, 2010
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  2. funky monk

    funky monk Notebook Deity

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    The older versions are on the dell site too, where you download the new BIOS there is a link to the old ones. Your OS has no effects on what BIOS you can use as the BIOS is lower level, I'd just try to reinstall A14. I'm running A14 without any problems.

    If you can't log in to reinstall it then there is a pheonix BIOS recovery tool for USB which refreshes it to an older version
     
    funky monk, Apr 4, 2010
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  3. MMcCraryNJ

    MMcCraryNJ Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for your reply.

    I downgraded to A11 and the keyboard issue is gone. However I'm still having the restart issue. I cannot shutdown or restart the computer without having to manually turn it off and then back on. I don't think it's causing any errors or problems, so it's more of a hassle than anything else. It just restarts or shuts down to a black screen until I power cycle it. Haven't tried sleeping or hibernating yet.

    I'm thinking of just waiting until Dell releases a new BIOS to try and see if flashing it with that will fix it. Kinda scared to try A14 again.
     
    MMcCraryNJ, Apr 4, 2010
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  4. funky monk

    funky monk Notebook Deity

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    The chances of the BIOS screwing over again are pretty minute, I wouldn't worry about flashing it back to A14.

    If the flash to A11 was succesful though, the shutdown looks like it's a different problem.
     
    funky monk, Apr 4, 2010
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  5. entrance002

    entrance002 Notebook Consultant

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    I'm bumping this to inquire if anyone else has any success/failure stories with the A14 bios for XPS 1640? I'm planning on flashing mine after a fresh install again.
     
    entrance002, Jul 27, 2010
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  6. chewyeong90

    chewyeong90 Notebook Evangelist

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    Everything's fine for me.
     
    chewyeong90, Jul 27, 2010
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