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Serious Problem...Bad BIOS or Power supply issue?

M

mloiterman

Member
Well I decided to wipe my 98 install out and reformat with 2000. Before I did that, I decided to update my BIOS. Big mistake! Or was it?

I DLed the update, booted up into dos and did the update. Evrything worked as planned and there were no problems. I'm positive I used the correct BIOS for my machine, BTW. Anyway, at the end of the BIOS update it said hit any key to reboot. I press the space bar and the whole machine shuts down. Now, it will not even power on let alone boot.

This is a 6000 dollar Dell 1 gig PIII with 512 RDRAM... loaded to the gills. (I know I could have done better if I built it myself, but thats another story). Anyway, my question is this:

Lets assume the BIOS is totlly messed up. Destoryed even. Wouldn't I still be able to at least power on? Wouldn't the machine stay on, but not boot?

Is there anyway of restoring the BIOS to factory defualts...I think I know the answer to this one, but I'm praying.

If the BIOS is compeltly screwed, would Dell have to send my another Mobo or could they just send a new BIOS chip? As expected, the techs at Dell are stumped.
 
Well it should be under warranty, right? Dell would probably just send a new MB.
Have you tried the miracle cure? Unplug the box, go get a sandwich and come back and plug it back in and try it.
After that, I'd let Dell fix it under warranty.
 
Yah, take a step back...relax, and then try again. If the bios was f*cked, i don't understand why it wouldn't boot...check your power connections, make sure it's all good, and if it isn't...give dell tech support a call.
 
yeah I tried unplugging it, but that didn't work. I hate to have to open up the thing and reinstall EVERYTHING. I've never done that before, al though I feel pretty confidnet I can do it. Just thought there might be another solution...
 
I guess the other thing is that I'm just not sure what the problem is...is it the power supply or the mother board? Any input would be apprecaited.
 
It might be something as simple as clearing the cmos. Check the manual or contact Dell to find out how. If that doesn't do it, you are in deep. Couple of questions:

1. Did the machine remain closed during the flash process, or did you have to move a jumper on the board? If it's the latter, be sure to move the jumper back, and check that nothing else got knocked loose.

2. Does the mobo use a standard two row 20 pin power connector? If so, unplug it from the board and jumper the only green wire to any black wire with a paperclip, the psu should come on, the drives and fans will spin up. Careful here, Dell has been known to do some weird stuff.

If the psu works and none of the other stuff solves your problem, your bios is probably toast. Dell might be able to provide a new chip, ot contact WWW.Badflash.com. Nice people.

Edit- these guys show the pinout for the mobo connector-

Netex
 
This is some wierd wild stuff here...


Ok, at least I know it was NOT the BIOS update. If I press the power button repedetly, the system started up. Strange.

I reflashed the BIOS with the original setup and "its all good" now.

Is this odd or did I do something wrong. The only thing I can think of is that I went from v4 of BIOS to v8. Shock to the system? Maybe...
 
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