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Dell XPS 13 9310 does not boot up; corrupted BIOS
I have a Dell XPS13 9310. On power up, only the Dell logo appears and I get this error code on the LED:
3,6 - System BIOS Flash incomplete
I followed the instructions on the Dell web site to manually download the BIOS, place it on a flash drive, insert the flash drive, Ctrl+Esc then power on, and the recovery process should begin. But it does not work. I get this error on the LEDS:
3,3 - Recovery image not found.
How can this issue be resolved? Thank you.
mikegbt
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August 27th, 2024 15:49
I tried at least six different flash drives from different vendors, different capacity. Only one of them gave a different blinking error (3,6 instead of 3,3). I tried different partition sizes on that one USB flash drive. Just random attempts to try and get the Dell laptop to detect the BIOS image on the flash drive. Eventually, through pure luck, I got it working and the recovery UI came up. I was then able to restore the BIOS. Laptop is operational again.
Been a loyal Dell customer for decades but I'm questioning that now. This is really poor quality control. I do not know if other laptops are any better. I'm guessing not. I expected better than this for an "XPS".
Anyway, thank you @Chino de Oro for taking time to provide me support. It was greatly appreciated.
Chino de Oro
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August 21st, 2024 00:07
Maybe you did not use the recovery image file type. This is the latest BIOS firmware page from Dell support site for your system https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=4rh79&oscode=wt64a&productcode=xps-13-9310-laptop
Scroll down and download the BIOS_IMG.rcv file and use it instead of the .exe file.
mikegbt
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August 21st, 2024 12:00
@Chino de Oro , thank you for the feedback. I tried that too. First I confirmed my flash drive was formatted as FAT32. I then copied the BIOS_IMG.rcv to the flash drive. With Ctrl+Esc held down, I plugged the laptop in which turned it on. Still get the 3,3 error code saying recovery image not found. I don't know if there are specific USB flash drive requirements. Capacity? Vendor?
mikegbt
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August 21st, 2024 12:19
It's definitely sensitive to the flash drive. I tried a different flash drive vendor/capacity and it behaved completely differently. The light on the flash drive lit up during the startup sequence so I knew it was trying to read it. After a few seconds, the lights went off on the laptop, then a few seconds later, back on. This repeated a few times (i.e. rebooting) until it eventually came up with the 3,6 error code (System BIOS Flash incomplete).
It's getting close. Just unsure what to try next. Appreciate any advice. Thank you.
Chino de Oro
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August 21st, 2024 21:44
Besides the flash drive, the timing of introducing power while holding Ctrl + Esc key does affect the process. Choose the flash drive with small capacity, preferably 32 GB or less (8 GB worked well for me). Format the flash drive with FAT32 before copy the BIOS recovery image file to it.
Sometimes, it does not work right at the first try, you may need to repeat the process of holding combination Ctrl + Esc key while plug in the power adapter until it could trigger the recovery menu.