Alienware 13 r1 bios bricked

Thanks for the vote of confidence, you two .

@benc122 ,
Did you use the programmer to flash those two binaries you've bought?

If so, then the system should be running fine again. I could make some flashable binaries for an R1, but iirc that site is legit and their binaries should work too. You could send them via a pm and I could verify them, if you like. Don't upload and link directly; it's their work and livelihood, after all.

Anyway, once you've flashed the eeproms make sure to read them out right after and do a hex compare with the binary you've flashed. If there's a (partial) write-protect then not all parts may have been written to correctly. Same thing with a poor connection, non-supported chip, defective chip or an eeprom that is incompatible with in-system programming.

edit:
Hmm ... already seem to have made a binary once for the eeprom that stores the ec+me+bios. Quite a while ago and haven't checked the version, but it's either an A03 or A07:
Alienware 13 R1 bios.7z

That is the 64 Mbit eeprom tagged ' W25Q64' on that alex repair site, but it could be a different brand and model on your particular motherboard revision. Only thing to make certain is that it is a 64 Mbit size chip; for instance, a 32+32 combination could have a different layout, so the bios+ec on one chip and the me on another. Would have to split the binary into two parts then, of course.

 

Don’t worry I brought another motherboard with the a08 bios for $125 and my test clip is broken

But before it comes I wanna fix my clip and do this one more time you have the bios files and all I need to do is just flash the chip that’s by my ram module?

@Mr. Fox how do I fix the wire for my soic clip?

 

@Mr. Fox @t456 I just ordered another soic 8 clip and it’s supposed to be here Sunday I cannot give up on this motherboard just yet I’ve came so far to quit now!! Onwards until Sunday and is the bios chip by the ram module or the one by the cmos battery ?

 

I am not sure where the BIOS chip is on your motherboard. I have never examined one to be able to tell you where to look. It sounds like @t456 told you which file was the correct one to flash. You could also use the SPI programmer to dump the BIOS from the motherboard you purchased to flash to the bricked motherboard if they are the same part.

 

Oh he sent me the bios dump I’m just waiting for my clip to come Sunday

@t456 can you send me the download link for the Alienware 13 r1 bios dump?

@Mr. Fox i think the download link he gave me expired I need those files

 

I've changed the link; made an error when copy/pasting.

 

@t456 do I rename the .rom to .bin?

There’s another chip that I erased that was the 1byte size one

@t456 it fixed my pc but my AlienFX lights are glitching with the screen flickering every time I plug in my pc and also my keyboard isn’t working as well

And I have another problem with the bios it’s saying that there no discrete graphics @Mr. Fox

 

I am not sure what the issue is. I have no experience with that model. The issues you are describing sound like some things that could go along with an EC that is corrupted. Just a guess on my part.

 

What’s the 1mbyte chip consist of? @Mr. Fox because I erased it and didn’t put nothing on there

 

It could be, but I do not know and I do not want to give you instructions that could make the problem worse. Alienware started doing things differently when I abandoned the brand and I haven't tried to stay current on their practices.

 

It might be Intel GPU or Nvidia GPU. Those are 1MB files.
Check here (Its unverified) https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/205992/205992
Or here https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...king-editions-modified-clocks-voltage-tweaks/

 

I don’t see one for a gtx 860m 2gb

 

svl7 mod or stock vBIOS?

 

Stock vbios and the chip I erased was a W25Q8 it’s the 1mbyte chip I have no idea what was on it

@t456 how do I fix the keyboard if it’s working in my bios but no in windows do I need a driver?

 

Check all cables and wipe the ribbons with micro fiber cloth and insert them correctly.

 

I did I see that when I uninstall and reinstall the standard ps/2 driver it works until I restart windows then it stops working

Update everything on the pc works including the keyboard all I done was kept uninstalling and reinstalling the keyboard driver until it worked lol

 

I have a major problem I cannot install my touch pad and it’s causing my keyboard not to work I get error 10 with insufficient system resources exist to complete api

@t456 @Mr. Fox

@t456 for the Alienware 13 r1 what does the W25Q8 (1mb) chip consist of I’m thinking vbios

 

Don't have an R1 myself and since you've wiped it without making a backup it's hard to tell. No harm in flashing an 860M Optimus vbios to that chip though. Could try my Clevo's 860M backup; it's the same card:
GTX 860M, GM107, optimus, v82.07.27.00.0A.7z

First thing I'd retry reflashing the bios+ec+me to a newer version though. Just make sure to disable all security measures (inc. passwords) in the bios menu and then flash Dell's A08 as normal or, even better, use the programmer. That is the only way to be sure that all sections are re-written and not just those marked for updating by the flash tool. Have a little patience when it's flashing; the full-fans is normal, either as a precaution or because the EC is temporarily unavailable and without receiving a temperature or rpm signal the system is designed to have its fans run at their full speeeds.

 

I updated from a03 to a08 and how do I flash the vbios without a programmer ?

@t456 something is odd when I unplug my built in touch pad my keyboard works and when I plug it back in my keyboard stops working until I unplug the touchpad cable again is this a sign of my touchpad going out?

 

Hmm ... I'd look into the Synaptics drivers; they have had tons of issues since Windows 10.

And if that 1MB chips was indeed the vbios eeprom then you can't flash a new vbios with nvflash since it won't be able to identify what it's supposed to be upgrading to. But you have that programmer anyway, right? So not a big problem I'd think. And after flashing a working vbios, even from a different system, you can use nvflash once more and force-flash over the non-matching id, if you like.

 

I see to embark on a new test clip since the plastic is worn out and can’t stick what’s the best clip for me to use?

It’s not working when I updated the drivers I’m thinking the touchpad is gone

Well since I’m about to use the graphics amp is it good that the internal dgpu is gone so it can free up lanes? @t456

 

When disassembling the whole laptop next time, disassemble the keyboard and trackpad metal plates, I think the touchpad metal surface is either being grounded. I used to get super laggy mouse cursor and erratic behavior before diassembling and aligned the metal plate and the bracket properly. Now, its not erratic anymore.

 

@t456 can I use my graphic amp without my dgpu even it not detected in my bios?

@t456 I tried flashing the chips to the chip in the bios under discrete graphics it’s still saying none what do I do? Is my gpu is dead?

 

No, but it could help if the external card couldn't be claim sufficient memory resources otherwise.

Sure; you have an Optimus system, so as long as you don't swap the cpu for a non-iGPU model then you're good.

Don't really know what you mean by ' flashing the chips to the chip in the bios', but if you meant that you flashed that binary I've provided to the 1MB chip you had erased previously then no. The Dell bios wouldn't be able to id the Clevo card anyway, but that is inconsequential. What matters is that the OS can identify it as a peripheral device and that the Nvidia driver can be installed.

 

@t456 i ordered a updated motherboard with 5200u and 960m and all I need to get a new touchpad but I really don’t use it since it’s crappy in the first place so I guess I let it stay broke until then

 

Hi, I recently purchased an Alienware 13 R1 with a corrupt bios, the previous owner was updating from a04 to a08 and it froze on them and after a few days it didn't change so he pulled the power.

I've been unable to find a good dump of the bios, @benc122 Would you be able to send me a bios dump from your system or the dump you purchased on that forum? It will be very appreciated :-D

The system currently powers on, lights go on for about 3 seconds then it turns off and does the same thing, after a few times it repeats 7 beeps.

I tried flashing the bios with programer and SOC clip using /writeromfile to extract the original but that didn't work.

I have been unable to find a .bin dump that doesn't have some pay wall in front of it.

Would someone be kind to share their full .bin dump with me as it's required for flash programer recovery. I hope someone has one they can share. Thank you

 

/writeromfile skips some files and not compatible for SPI flashing. Full SPI Dump is 16.8MB.
Ask @t456 if he can make SPI flashable BIOS for 13r1. He's a Dumbledore for us.

 

Already uploaded a workable binary a while back. It's on page 6 of this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-13-r1-bios-bricked.828772/page-6#post-10908440

@Johndill , just make sure to read the instructions and further posts from thereon. Also, do not forget to read out a backup of the eeprom first. If the image fails because of a version mismatch or somesuch then we can use that backup to find out how it ought to look like in this particular configuration.

 

YES!! Victory! Thank you so much mate! Your binary on page 6 does work! :-D

It was a straight erase and flash, thankfully it worked as I was a fool and forgot to backup the original when I tried my first flash on it when I got this laptop.

After flashing I got the sweet sound of 5 beeps and knew it was working from their, picture attached. Thank you thank you! :-D

It is BIOS A04, my service tag is correct but discrete GPU is "none", I'll have to get windows installed and update the BIOS.

 

Since my DGPU is missing, does that mean the DGPU is dead as NVflash does not find any nvidia devices?