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4 Posts
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50461
August 7th, 2013 07:00
Alienware Aurora froze during BIOS update
This morning I attempted to update my Alienware Aurora BIOS to A11. Once the update process began, my pc almost immediately froze & I had no idea what to do. The screen said not to turn off the power, so I let the pc sit for a few hours & nothing happened, so I was forced to manually power it down. After letting it sit for a few minutes, I attempted to reboot the pc, but the monitor never turns on. I can hear the fans running, & the FX lights are turned on, but nothing is showing up on my monitor.
I've read articles similar to this issue, & it sounds like my motherboard may be bricked. My pc is over 3 years old, & out of warranty, so if there's anyway someone knows to get around this issue, please help me out.
Thanks!
DELL-Kalyan S
750 Posts
0
August 7th, 2013 07:00
Hi LPtheVGA,
Unfortunately the motherboard has to be replaced. Powering off the computer during the BIOS update causes motherboard failure.
You may contact our expired warranty services to purchase/replace the compatible parts. Please refer the following link that has contact details for our Expired Warranty Services: http://dell.to/14FoBtb
Danor
72 Posts
0
August 7th, 2013 11:00
First try resetting your bios jumper or pull battery, my reset.
LPtheVGA
4 Posts
0
August 7th, 2013 15:00
@Danor
I already tried resetting the CMOS battery & the jumper, but neither of those worked. From what I've read, when updating the bios from 9 to 11, a lot of others experienced an issue where it'd freeze after starting the install, resulting in their motherboard being bricked.
@ DELL-Kalyan S
Thank you for providing the link for buying the replacement motherboard. My only issue is on your Drivers & Downloads, it said that this bios was recommended & it caused my pc to stop functioning. So even though my pc is out of warranty, why should I have to pay for the replacement part when your company recommended me to do this install which caused my pc which was working fine for 3 years to suddenly stop functioning?
DELL-Kalyan S
750 Posts
0
August 8th, 2013 06:00
Hi LPtheVGA,
It is indeed a recommended BIOS update for all Alienware Aurora systems. It has been tested and approved by the product research team, after which it was released at support website.
It would be unwise for me to comment on this issue since I am really not sure about what happened at your end but please be informed, interrupting the BIOS update process will lead to motherboard failure.
Please contact expired warranty services for a parts and labor billing estimate.
miniwombat
3 Posts
0
September 25th, 2013 12:00
LPTHEVGA, Have you tried the expired support site yet? I just had the same thing happen to my device this morning. It's absurd that the frozen BIOS update bricked my motherboard and I could be expected to pay for an expired support call as well as a new motherboard.
Erik
miniwombat
3 Posts
0
September 25th, 2013 19:00
I'll call Dell and see if I can get some answers. Just out of curiosity, what OS were you running when you tried the BIOS update? Personally, I'm running Windows 8. Also, do you have links to other forums where people are having the same problems? It might help if we can prove that this is a widespread issue.
LPtheVGA
4 Posts
0
September 25th, 2013 19:00
Miniwombat, I have tried that website, but didn't have any luck. Basically it boils down to me having to pay close to $500 for Dell to send me a new motherboard & have a tech install it, or I have found the same motherboard new on eBay for $100 & I can try to install it myself.
Right now I'm leaning towards rolling the dice & trying it myself, but we shall see.
I'm sorry about your loss though, it's frustrating because I've found this issue on forums of many others having this same issue with the BIOS update freezing as soon as it starts up & yet Dell has it listed as a recommended update.
Ben
LPtheVGA
4 Posts
0
September 25th, 2013 20:00
I'm using Windows 7 64-bit & I was updating from A09 to A11 BIOS.
Here's one of the links for the same issue we're having, but this person got it fixed right away since it was under warranty for them:
http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19363941.aspx
At home on my other pc I had a few other websites saved, but I'm at work & not able to access them at the moment.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
•
17K Posts
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September 26th, 2013 02:00
In last 4 years, there are probably close to 100 AW machines bricked (and posted about) on this forum alone.
If no Secure Boot feature or disable-able ... I recommend flash from bootable flash drive (outside Windows) instead.
Dell has known about problem for many years, yet new machines are still released without Dual-BIOS or other fail-safe.
Dell Rockstar
Microsoft Windows and Apple iOS Developer (Retired)
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miniwombat
3 Posts
0
September 28th, 2013 10:00
@LPtheVEGA: Good (or bad, depending on how you think about it) to know that it isn't restricted to Win8. Thanks!
@Tesla1856: Thanks for the context. Has there been any precedence for Dell replacing the motherboards, despite an expired warranty? I agree that it's surprising that they choose motherboards without redundant BIOS roms. It wouldn't bother me nearly as much if I just made a dumb mistake and rebooted the machine (or if the power went out, or whatever), but even following their directions led to a critical failure.