Shim Tool Dell 3100 Chromebook CR50 failed to load factory mode and Write HWID Failed

I am also having this issue. Have there been any updates? Usually I can send in a device for repair at dell and they 'fix' this issue however they've stopped letting us send in devices since we do warranty repairs in-house so I have no way to fix this by myself and haven't found any info on it.

I feel we need a way to get in touch with a manager in the Repair depot someone there knows how to get around this and the community team who monitors this board really isn't reaching out to the right people or is not allowed to get us the proper help. Dell Repair Center number 281-783-8001 Maybe if someone can reach out and escalate and see if someone there can get us an answer.

Agreed they private message you and basically say they can do what they want you to have a warranty agreement to send it in if it's under warranty and if it's out of warranty then you have to pay. This should be illegal to not provide a user a way to repair the equipment without having to go through the manufacture especially if they have a techdirect system in place which is to allow you to be certified to do your own work with their products. 

Same exact problem here with the 3100s. Half the motherboards we replace (we have 3500 of these) seem to have this problem, then we end up having to ship them to the repair depot. 

Right, but when we could use the shim tool with older versions 3120 and 3180 fine but then now won't give us proper shim tools to do it ourselves makes no sense. It's sad when you have a Dell field tech here for other issues and you talk to them about the issue with the 3100 and they said they are having the same issues with them.  One tech told me they had to come 4 times to get a board that would work with the shim tool. 

So I work at a school district and we have found a 50/50 way around this error

So when you come to the cr50 error you should according to the booklet have the battery unplugged so what we tried is plugging the battery in and running it, this will allow you to get past the cr50 error however as soon as it finishes and gets past this point you need to unplug the battery asap so when you come to the next screen that says "hit space to start testing" you are leaving off as normal. then continue with the process as normal and you may or may not get the write HWID error and that is the 50/50 chance you take because sometimes we get that and sometimes we don't. Hope this helps any @Mtavares316 after all its easier then sending it back to Dell

Any update on this issue? I have several in my repair room that are getting the HWID error.

Plug in the battery. Use the USB recovery tool(3100) as you would normally do. 

Unplug the battery. Do the USB shim tool.

Had this problem a ton. I'm a tech at a school, and what solved the issue for me was making sure all my parts were factory. Being in a school setting we use 3rd party parts and the screen I had was the 3rd party part. I slotted a factory-new screen in and it passed the test easy. Hope this helps people.

I've been having this issue on and off for years now. So far the only thing I've been able to do was send it back to dell and request another one. Since the start of this academic year, I haven't gotten a single mainboard that shimmed.

The best thing you can do is put the Chromebook in developer mode and CTRl+ALT F2 and do a manual change of a boards serial and service tag that way and google around for it you have to have the write protect screw or battery unplugged for it to work of course. 

https://support.ctl.net/hc/en-us/articles/115006019887-Change-the-Serial-Number-on-a-Chromebook

Ya and then they just keep sending me new parts like swapping them out is going to fix it. I have a chromebook here that I've swapped out the logicboard 3 times now and replaced the battery and I'm still getting this same error. 

Hi

I doubt this will help ....

Could disabling WriteProtect  make a difference?

Software...

In developer mode with the Battery Disconnected

crosh> shell
chronos> sudo sh
# flashrom --wp-disable
# flashrom --wp-status

By screw ...

Obviously mine is a HP, but maybe the principle still holds?

This is what has solved the majority of our issues with the SHIM failing. We have third party LCDs and batteries. The SHIM fails when they are installed so I swap them with an extra factory one we keep just for this reason. After the SHIM finishes you can put the 3rd party component back in. 

I have also had to reseat the camera cable and WIFI card. Looking in the logs points me in the direction I need to look for the issue. I have been able to save quite a few from being sent into Depot. 

@BurtMacklin​ years later this is the solution I have used.  It's mostly because the screens have been replaced.  I have a screen from a Chromebook I dismantled for parts.  There's got to be a better solution by now.  What do the technicians at the repair centers do?