A03 Bios bricked my M15x

wow this is the most interesting comment i see in couple days and can be true if i have my m15x here i open it just to find out but is not here yet

 

same ...the reseller in my country just took mine and ordered a new one

 

This is very tempting indeed! but where to find it is the problem...

 

the reseller doesn't accept any opened Notebook here even for hard drive installation they will not accept the Notebook for any checking so i wasn't able to open the cover...anyway the jumper always should be beside the system internal Battery(CMOS Battery) and the label for the jumper should be (Recovery/Clear or Jp# or J# while # might be any number)

and if it's not there so it should be in places where you can't reach so i don't recommend doing so if you didn't find it as i described so please guys if the techs came to your house to change the mobo look for that jumper on it so we can know what to do in the future incase this happend again ...lol and i doub't that this will be the last time anyone will touch the BIOS unless it's confirmed 100% it's safe.

 

I found no switch under the HD or memory. if its there, its possible to be very much concealed someplace else

 

mmmm. THANKS so much Jsteng.then to reach that stupid jumper will lead to voiding the warranty as it will require much to do to cover it up.

EDIT: the designer of this Mobo was stupid enough..something like that should be always placed near the hard drive or the system memory for easy recovering process.

 

I call today the DELL support... Tomorrow came back in my company. Finally i know if will be changed my board or there is an alternative (boot-block jumpers for recovery???).

And Intel PXE 2.1? This is can be the problem of brick or no? My board resume flashing the cursor when read this.

Tks!

 

Nop.your Notebook is trying to boot off the Network Card so to avoid this later just disable booting of the network from the BIOS or change the boot order from the BIOS.

 

I made two calls to Dell today. The first was 61 minutes and the second was 35 minutes.

I am in the 21 day return window and I am trying to get a laptop exchage for several reasons. I had the tech brake the power panel on the top of my laptop when trying to replace my screen. He got the screws mixed up, so the panel buckles due to the screws being too long and rubs on the screen. The screen now has hair and dust inside it. And I also have the BIOS failure.

It seems that if you want a refund you have to talk to Customer Care, but if you want an exchange you have to talk to Alineware Tech. I kept getting transfered back and forth about seven times because C.C. kept saying A.T. is in charge of the exchange and then A.T. kept saying C.C. is responsible. Finally an A.T. looked into the issue and e-mailed his boss to see if he will approve an exchange. I now have to wait a day or two to hear if I am approved for the exchange. I have four days left on my 21 day return window.

 

If they keep doing this and then in four days tell they tell u that the return windows is now over. SUE THEM!
Nah. I am sure u will get the exchange.

 

do not wait for them to respond, call Customer Support again, approval should be on the spot. Tell them if they are not going to exchange it than you will return it. I had similiar issues with tech replace my screen, ended up scratching and damaging my lappy, which resulted in bricking my laptop. But my point is not to wait for anyone, call them again and again if you have to. they always take forever to respond.

 

Hi everyone,

I have been doing some digging by reading the A02 BIOS using WinHex and I could find a BOOTBLOC.BIN section which basically refers to Crisis Recovery Mode. However it is difficult to see anything else since is Hex.

I have managed to load the M17x A02 BIOS with Phoenix BIOS Editor 2.2 and I could find a similar module name BB.BIN which refers to BOOTBLOC. Although it is required Phoenix CoreArchitect (The BIOS editor from Phoenix) to read the M15x A02 or A03 BIOS.

Also while trying to activate CRM, I have found that "D" key makes the system boot differently, it will do a long and noisy boot before the BIOS is actually loaded. To check unplug AC and battery, then press "D" Key, plug AC and press power.

If someone can get access to Phoenix CoreArchitect and read the M15x BIOS, probably it could find the way to recover the system without DELL changing the mobo.

Good hunt!

 

I just noticed my bios is A02 but my EC is 1.0. is this rite?
I did try to update the bios to A03 on the night it came out but failed and didn't brick.

 

YOU ARE LUCKY!!!!!!

Has any of you got Dell to installing A03 over on their own Alienware A02 M15x?
If you can, please tell them to do so so they can experience the problem themselves.

Later, I will do just that and request HongKong + Malaysia Dell to install A03 on their own Alienware M15x. I sent them the file in case they want to do so. After all, if they cant see nor experience the problem, they dont have a clue what is happening and will be asking us to do a ton of tests we all have already done so countless of times. Right now, they kept telling me to re-install Windows (they thought Win7 install got bad). How frustrating this really is. They need to centralize the DATA Base so help will be easy.

I am shocked, pissed, frustrated, tired, disgusted, mad, sue-cidal all rolled into one.

 

just so you guys know there are no jumpers or switches on the board for any bios recovery and by the way this is what they look like apart.

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/HisSvt2/DSCN0980.jpg

http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/HisSvt2/DSCN0981.jpg

 

What am I missing, guys? Dell shows A02 as the latest bios for the M15x, which is what I have installed. In what country is the A03 bios available? It has never shown up on the Dell website when I visit it, even on Saturday when everyone really started posting on this thread.

Am I the only one who doesn't see an A03 bios anywhere?

 

did you read any of this thread? If you did you'd see why you don't see it.. not trying to be mean but just look.

 

u want it? i have download it and ready to install until i read this forum.

pm me if u need it!

 

This is exactly what I am afraid of, people unaware of the existence of A03, would come and bash at the victims of the A03 and perhaps claim we downloaded a hacked BIOS and got bricked instead - something that occurs on many PSP owners.

I bet, a lot of Service Personnels would think of it this way as well when we report it to them and they would find no A03 BIOS at DELL"s website.

This is why I am begging DELL to post a message on their website as well as inform ALL service centers all over the world about A03. THis saves us the time, money, effort in getting our machines fixed!

For those who are skeptical about A03, you can download a preserved copy here: http://www.4shared.com/file/194793609/576fb25a/_BAD_Alienware_M15x_A03_BIOS__.html
WARNING: Download and Install at your own risk. See if you can fare beter than the rest of us.

This is not a hacked version, this is the original file we downloaded from DELL.

 

I just called DELL HK; hearing cantonese, I tried some "key codes" to get to their Tech Support. Finally someone who can speak English.

Once I told him about A03 BIOS Update, he immediately knows what is the problem as they have a lot of this calls already. He asked my PHONE and EMAIL for further instructions.

Good thing, he did not have me go through HELL. I hope they get this issue solved quick and satisfactorily.

 

Wow, did you noticed inside file we can find a folder "doc" with history.txt, where is all ECC programming history ? There is some throttling description etc.
And I scary about mythic M00 motherboard, which is known as faulty and changed to x00. Anybody know how to check the MB version I have ?

K.

 

Know how you feel. I made about 7 calls to them and all of them lasted over 30 minutes. The third dell technician is supposed to come today a replace 8 components today ranging from the motherboard to the display panel.

 

The technichan just left finaly typing from my m15x again
he replaced the MB in 20mins. and every thing was good 2 go. no scratches or dents

Only concern while updateing my bios from A01 to A02 was the after the the bios was updated it failed to install EC version 1.0 .. so im still on 0.96 dont know what the means tho.

 

the A02 update was with the EC version 0.96 so you are fine

 

Grats! if you have bios version A02 the EC 0.96 is correct! EC 1.0 is for bios A03

 

GUYS....you know what...there is no need to replace the mobo after all.....finally i found the Boot block jumper....Wtch this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6wv2V5wbOk @ 2:02 you will see the jumper close to the battery as i mentioned in my previouse post and justng said it's not there...maybe it was too small from him to get it but thanks for trying though ...those dell techs know nothing seriously

 

There is no jumper mine is fully disassembled as you can see here- http://i573.photobucket.com/albums/ss171/HisSvt2/DSCN0981.jpg

the only fix is to replace when flash goes wrong in this manner there is no way to go back to A02.

 

all i can see is the cmos. battery where is the jumper?

 

right beside the CMOS battery there is a small white rectangle jumper.

 

nice pic man where is the technician ?

 

That isnt a jumper thats the plug in for the battery!

 

I am a dell cert tech and Hp and a few others.

 

Vipereyes,

I cannot find it I can tell you. Yesterday I opened my laptop in the search of the jumper and I did look under the battery and nothing was there. If you can really see it in you computer, then please take a picture of it. It will be a great find!!

BTW: You will not void the warranty if you just remove the underneath cover.

 

LoL thanks man for your help ...the problem is i don't have my M15x at this moment thats why i can't tell....and for the warranty here in saudi arabia if 1 screw is just got loosed a bit you will lose the warranty.(i.e if you want to install new hard drive you will have to go to where you purchased the notbook and they will install it for you ).

 

that is the connector for the battery

 

how did you do that...lol i mean posting the video at this paused frame ?

 

with the snipping tool and imageshack

 

Prt SC Button on your keyboard (Print Screen)
Then open Paint and press CTRL-V
Then Cut it so it only has the video in the picture

That is a very primitive way of doing it
Don't know if there is a easier way

(Did'nt see Witcher4360's answer)

 

witcher,

However I am intrigued with the little thing located at the right side of the battery. The compartment with the four contacts...

 

i know that..thanks for your help...i thought it's not just a picture so i could keep playing the video from where the frame is stopped but i found out it's a pic

 

you guys are awesome...thanks for everyone

 

Oh ok Yea that would be cool

 

ha ha ha so you try to play the video any way i hope there is a jumper for future problems

 

yeah could be but who knows

 

They are going to exchange my laptop after all. They said I could transfer my old hard drive to my new laptop, but I was wondering since I Flashed the BIOS from windows, is there a chance that my old hard drive is affected?

 

you will be fine

 

Make sure they give you a new one and not a refurbished one instead

 

well ..they sent the laptop to England and i am getting new one in 10 days with the new arrival..-.-

 

i think the jumper will never be there unless in new production if they plan for it...but atleast with further BIOS Releases they should programe the Chip to have the recovery mode with the access codes for it for any BIOS failure.

 

Lol. THe dell guy told me yesterday that they would come and change the mobo today. Then i asked him if they really could get the mobo to the technician that fast, and he said "sure no problem!".
THen a lady with a weird and rather hard to understand accent calls today and says: "We are sorry but we haven't got the Parts for the computer yet, it will arive tomorrow or the day after"
Lol.. isn't it called Next day Technician for a reason?