New E1705/9400 "critical" Bios A08 update

A08 came out last week and addresses intel chipset issues. Dell states that this is a critical update and needs to be done. Never seen a bios update the critical status. Will it fix nmi parity errors and the BSOD??

 

Who knows; only way to tell is to try it out! the 1210 got a Critical update lats week too and I can't see a difference. Same notes it seems, too. Does it say something like "micro fixes?"

 

Nope. Already had a couple of NMI Parity errors on my E1705 since updating to A08.

 

Hi,

I still have BIOS A04 (purchased last October). Do you think I should make an update when I have no problems with my notebook? I use Windows XP Home.
I always avoided flashing the Bios and all manufacterers of my last mainboards suggested only to update when there are any issues with the current BIOS.

btw: I've this Dell Support Tool installed. Wasn't this meant to tell me about updates for my computer? Even when I let it scan my computer, it just tells me everything's fine...

Greets

 

I flashed last week sometime, now when I playing NHL07 the game crashes after an hour or so. Didn't have the problem with A04, so if you might be asking for some sort of problem that you don't have now if you flash.

 

I'm on A07 right now. i'm not changing it. If i did though would it fiddle with my unlocked bios for my Video card?

 

I did the A08 bios update from A04. I have only gotten the Memory Parity check error twice with A04 in 4.5 months. I have the video drivers that came with the notebook. With the new bios I've observed more hard drive activity when idle and the fans come on more often at low speed. So far that's it in 3 days with the new bios. The reason I installed it was that Dell deemed it critical. There will undoubtedly be more bios updates but I'll wait for the significant ones.

 

Bios updates will always be marked as critical. Only update the bios if you find that an issue that you are having will be fixed by the newer bios. Otherwise it won't really be necessary. I have A07 and I am running just fine right now. No plans on updating to A08 at the moment.

@Zmanattack: I don't see why it would mess with your video card bios. The bios on your motherboard is the one that is getting updated. The video card one is a different chip.

 

I'm having this weird issue with booting. 5 out of 6 times the comp freezes. Each time at different spots. Anyone got any ideas?

 

I currently have no problems with any BIOS. The only time I've gotten an NMI Parity error is after running TuneXP and the defrag and rearrange boot files setting.

 

Dunno if there is a connection but since upgrading from a06 to a08 my video out isn't working properly with projectors. 4 different projectors working fine in Ubuntu and Windows for months then the projectors (different brands) won't work. External monitors work fine. Tried all refresh rate / resolution combinations. Tried latest drivers when all that failed reinstalled both ubuntu and xp still no joy. Is there an easy way to revert Bios back to A06 to see if that is the problem?

 

Wingnut, download and run the A06 BIOS, and revert back.

 

A few days ago I've upgraded the bios ver A04 to ver A08 on my wife's Inspiron E1705 laptop. Since then, it has given me many headaches, e.g. IE hangs up, slow responses, etc... Can I revert back to ver A04? My notebook was working fine w/ this version. Or do I need to go to A06 first. I shouldn't have upgrade bios in the first place since everything was working fine. Now I'm in the dog house with my wife