A03 Bios bricked my M15x

Sorry to hear it to all effected , just call them jump through the hoops for now. I for one am calling on monday again i want a new unit. i buy tons of stuff though them and this laptop is purchased thru dell credit with there 0% deal im not paying for a defective laptop. I dont care how far up i have to go with all of us affected i feel a new unit is the only proper fix for dell to save face. ill let them come out and replace the MB but im getting a replacment unit. ive had all night to think about this. it really is just over the top nuts.

 

Are there any chance this A03 BIOS is for M17x, not M15x?

Because we all know a coming BIOS is scheduled for M17x, but no-one tells any coming BIOS for M15x (correct me if i am wrong)

Does it clearly say on screen instruction the BIOS is for M15x?

If the BIOS is really written for M15x, I am disgusted at the way DELL/Alienware working. Better not to release anything rather than screw up everything!

 

Good job getting this out to Engadget.

 

Calling into US Dell Tech Support now and am on long hold before even getting to first contact....

 

I'm in the same boat as well ... After succesfully managing to update to A02 and fixing my clicking HDD problem earlier, I decided to be fully updated to A03 today and guess what - I "bricked" my M15x ...

 

gooood questions but i think nobody wont make such experiments..

 

Anyone with M17x brave enough to try this BIOS update?

 

Dont.

Its clearly the bios for the M15x as all the options are the same and it says M15x inside the bios. There had to be some kind of bug during deployment (e.g. wrong version shipped)


btw, mine is also bricked

 

Doubt it would even execute on a M17x since the MB is completely different.

 

ok - I've been on hold for 25 minutes just to get to the first level tech support (before even telling them my issue)
I have called Dell before and never waited this long - they must be getting overwhelmed by this issue or something else is going on

 

my hold time was long last night too, just stay with it we all have to jump through the hoops....

 

I am Bricked aswell.. When i call Alienware on monday I wont accept just getting new MB.. i Either want FULL REFUND, or New laptop..

 

What did they reply? Do they agree a new one for you? Are you in the UK?

 

Has anyone actually had success with this bios update?

 

Hi update 19:24 uk time called Dell tech support 0844 338 1888 uk tech 24 X 7 but is redirected to India support voip i have been not able to speak to brit tech support for years had XPS 1710 prior and gave my service tag for my M17x then told them of issue of bios M15x & that AO3 was still available for dl on UK site advisable to remove .The reply was they have not heard of any issue ????????. unbelievable.

 

Takes a while for issues to trickle down the network.

 

Well I got through to US support. I think because this is my second tech support call (I had the keyboard flex issue), I got routed by my phone # to Alienware - I spoke clearly with a US (not India) person from the get-go. He was super nice, appeared to be very aware of the issue (did not make me go through any hoops at all - just immediately proceeded to process an order for a new MB). We discussed the fact that the BIOS is still on the Dell website and he said that it had been escalated from AW to Dell but they had no direct control over it. I suggested that someone needed to pickup the phone and call the appropriate executive to take action - he agreed, but couldn't comment. So this is classic inefficient corporate communication/processes between Business Units and a "shared services" department that runs the support website...unfortunate.

He said also on my complaints about field techs that are not familiar with AW that the techs are Dell certified but are often not familiar at all with AW, but he promised that if anything was ruined in the process it would be replaced...ugh...not very comforting

 

Thats still reassuring, and certainly better than nothing.

 

You guys demanding refunds and new laptops are in for a rude awakening I think. Dell is going to give you a new mobo and that's it unless you are in the return window.

 

How long is the Return Window?

 

i tried to update last night before this was posted but didn't work. the phoenix flasher didn't work right and i get an error message. its looked like the phoenix flash window wasn't fully open or something. I tried to do it 4-5 times, redownloading the bios at least 3 times. i'm just thankful that i didn't brick my laptop, but did anyone get it working?

 

"If you'd like to return your Dell order please note:

* You must contact Order Support within 21 days of the invoice date.

* Unless the product is defective or the return is a direct result of a Dell error, a restocking fee may apply of up to 15% of the purchase price paid, plus any applicable sales tax. "

Pretty clear this is a result of "Dell error" - yes?

 

ridicules. I really hope everyone gets his machine fixed. The damage has been done, even if they replace your entire system with new one. Time is very valuable, and plenty of it will be wasted. When this bios come to the M17x, everyone will be scared to flash it lol.

Hopefully everything gets resolved for whatever its worth.

 

This means you shouldn't have to pay the 15%, as long as you are within the 21 days.

 

Yes but that's just to avoid a restocking fee. The 30 day window still applies I would think.

 

so we will have to just take the new Motherboard... nothing else we can do???....

 

Do you really think Dell is going to eat all those old laptops?

 

why is everyone demanding new laptop? i new mobo should fix the problem. maybe if the tech screws up when installing it you can demand a new one, but i really doubt dell is going to send out new laptops for everyone.

 

If this was a $299 laptop I would agree however I paid 10x that and I expect that its not massacred when they conduct the repair. I spent the money on the unit because I wanted good build quality, good performance and good ascetics. If the tech compromises any of that because he's unfamiliar with the M15x I don’t see why a refund/replacement would be out of the question. If the tech damages the unit then i think these guys have good reason to expect to be made whole.

 

I had the black screen after the BIOS update as well. Now my laptop won't even turn on or show that it is plugged in to an AC outlet. This happened after some troubleshooting with a Dell tech. I am afraid a new motherboard won't fix my problem. I think it may be electrical. Maybe static or removing the small battery. Any ideas? I am in the 21 day window and I am going to call dell on Monday to see if I can get a new laptop. The power panel could also be failing as a Dell tech removed it many times and broke it. This is not fun.

 

Monday morning at 7:00 AM CT, Dell is going to be a little busy.

 

you can demand a refund or a replacement because you are still within 21 days. call tech support to get case logged than call customer support for refund or replacement. Thats what i did when a dell tech bricked my laptop. I think dell tech support is 24/7 expect for holidays.

 

So by extension when my 50k corvette has engine failure I get a new car? No.

 

hmm.. will we need a new windows copy? does the OEM version stop working when you change the motherboard? thought it was something like that. correct me if im wrong tho.

 

No your windows will work if the motherboard is replaced. YOu will not need a new windows or key.

 

Yes I have flashed the my system from dos and windows (several times) and it worked each time. I've not been able to get the BIOS flash to fail yet .

 

No, but if the mechanic totals it then YES?

 

So you got A03 to work on your M15x? which step did you take?

 

Faulty example. Your computer didn't explode and has tons of functioning components.

 

FOUND ONE!!!

 

my system came pre installed with the A03 bio. what should i do?

 

If your system works fine then you don't have to do anything. It's not the people that have theirs delivered with A03, its the ones that are upgrading to A03 off of the Dell website.

 

I just downloaded it from the website and ran it . The winflash launched, did it's thing and rebooted (2 times). The bios shows Bios version A03 and EC verision 1.00.

Bliadd

 

sit back and enjoy your system.lol this problem only occur for people who downloaded the bios and installed it.

 

Did you have A00 or A02? installed before the upgrade?

 

When did you download it and flash it have they updated the file and pulled a fast one since last night? i find it hard to believe that out of all the messed up machines you are the lone person who had no problems. if it worked for you they had to have updated the file...

 

Looks like they removed the Bios from their FTP.

404 - File or directory not found.
The resource you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.

 

interesting: perhaps someone can interpret what it means that in the bios failure that bricks the system the bios screen shows bios A03 but the EC still shows the same 0.96 from the old A02 bios. The one guy posting success has an EC version 1.0.
If memory serves many of us had problems with A02 not flashing and having to manually run the EC flash -- could the source of the problems be with the EC flash aspects of the update rather than the main bios itself?

went through 2 hours with tech support last night, reseating the hard drive, the battery and the memory, trying to boot from HDD and CD -- its a motherboard failure -- I am in line for the replacement. Alienware is responding but the error is with the bios being posted as a "recommended" download when it is clearly detrimental rather than assistive.

 

Hmm. No. Now its back again.
Grr. I checked it two times and now it is back again.

 

This is exactly what I was thinking I as I was taking apart my 1720. Which the HDD decided to die before I got it back into the Laptop. Good thing I have two backups, the other HDD got reformated accidentally

Back to the topic, I was thinking it was the much anticipated M17X BIOS release in the wrong channel. I'd be willing to give it a try. After all, I did pay for a warranty Although since it's clearly labled M15X, I might pass.