Hello! I am attempting to recovery a Dell Precision M3800 from a bad BIOS flash. I was on A10 and went to update from A11 and it locked up mid flash via the Windows Utility. I was able to extract the HDR and ROM files from the setup files and places them on a USB Flash Drive formatted FAT32. I tried a few different names, M3800.HDR/ROM, M3800A10.HDR/ROM M3800A11.HDR/ROM. No luck. I try booting up while holding CTRL and ESC and I just get a blank screen. Holding END and plugging in the power cable results in it turning on and the fans going on, and blinking power LED. However the activity LED's on my Flash Drive NEVER blink making me think it's not a naming issue. M3800 is UEFI based system. It's almost like the XPS 9530. I also tried rename the Bios EXE file to BIOS_IMG.rcv, same luck. Any help on what I should try next would be greatly appreciated.
If you don't get the BIOS Recovery UI from holding CTRL+ESC and plugging in the power adapter, then your system doesn't seem to support it. From your description, it sounds like the old HDR BIOS recovery method from holding the END key may work. Typically the HDR file has to be a 7.3 filename format. Example: M3800XX.HDR Also another thing to try is all the different USB headers on the laptop. Sometimes only certain headers are available for recovery (side, back, etc).
Thanks for the info! I went through and used Andy P (MDL) Phoenix-Insyde-EFI SLIC Tool to find out the file name and got ZAU50A11.hdr and ZAU50A11.hdr.rom for my board name. It does seem this supports the older flash method like you send with Powercord + End Key. I also got A10, A09 ROM and HDR files from their BIOS update files on the drive as well, since I'm not 100% it had A10 on it prior to flashing A11. No dice. I tried plugging my flash drives (I tried a few just in case, formatted FAT32, and tried FAT too) in each of the three USB ports (Two are 3.0 which I assume probably aren't supported, and one 2.0), and each of them failed to even blink or light up with their activity light. Like it's not even quarrying the USB for the files/partition at all. I'm kind of at a loss here.
smaller than 4 gb flashdrive.. and sometimes the eSata port is the 2.0 usb port also. or get a full dump bios bin and a programmer
A noob here. But I though I will add my experience [success] here about the m3800 bios issue I had; another noob like me might benefit. I had a bricked my m3800 trying to update my bios to A11. Cant describe what happened but the laptop froze for really long time during the upgrade and then when attempting to reboot blacked out. While researching I came across James White's article and tried to get the rom and hdr files from A09, A10 and A11 bios version exe [the only ones I could find on dell website]. I didn't know if I had A09 or A10 bios when upgrading to A11 so it there was a bit of trying involved. I followed the James White's article mentioned above. When I ran the command "m3800-a09.exe /writehdrfile /writeromfile" (or "m3800-a10.exe /writehdrfile /writeromfile" or "m3800-a11.exe /writehdrfile /writeromfile"), I would get two files amifldrv64.sys and m3800-a10.hdr but no .rom file. Then I tried "m3800-aXX.exe /writehdrfile" and "m3800-aXX.exe /writeromfile" seperately and I could get the rom file and hdr file (and also the sys file, though it that ultimately wasn't needed). In James White's article, the files names he used are VAUB0??? but that didn't work for me. So I downloaded the Andy P (MDL) Phoenix-Insyde-EFI SLIC tool, loaded the rom file in it and it gave me the file name to use (ZAU50AXX.rom and ZAU50AXX.hdr; Thanks WoodburyMan for the hint). I copied the files on a freshly formatted 16Gb flash drive (Formatted to FAT32) and inserted in the USB 2.0 slot [right-back on m3800; check the icons next to the usb slot. USB 3.0 have SS printed next to them). With the "end" key pressed, I inserted the power cable and the fan started spinning and the led on flash drive stayed on for few seconds, then kept blinking as it read the files. Since I didn't know what bios version I had before and what version would be useful, I went thru A09 (ZAU50A09.rom and ZAU50A09.hdr), A10 (ZAU50A09.rom and ZAU50A10.hdr) and was ready with A11 (ZAU50A11.rom and ZAU50A11.hdr). However A10 files worked for me and the flash was 'fixed' and the laptop rebooted to windows. Mine might be a simple case and some of you might have to go thru more pain but this is what I experienced. I didn't need a 4gb drive or format to FAT filesystem. I am not sure if I will be allowed to upload the bios files for archival purpose [I had trouble finding A09 file], but if I can do that, I will upload them after this post.
Same issue with Bios Update on my m3800 but my problem is the Bios Recovery method Hit End plug dc adapter will sometimes start i see a fast recovery then shutdown but no Restart maybe i need Bios file Before A09 but i cant find it Somebody can help me PLZ
Thx for the Help but same issue My Problem also is the Notebook Start only by Pressing the End Button Any Ideas ?
Hi no reaction when i Press FN and power, thx for the Website Im sure Power Button work Because when i hold Power Button down Fans go Off but The Power Light still blinking. Where is that chip locatet back or Front of the Board Why i get only Sometimes the screen with the Bios Update Recovery ? Try to update a07 but didnt work because stick is reading but didnt start the Bios Update Recovery Sorry my English isnt best i´m German greetings Dirk
Hi all. I'm hoping to revive this thread as I'm working through the same issue with my M3800. Total bonehead move on my part. Agreed to let Dell install updates, and I'll be danged if the sucker didn't reboot from a graphics card update as the bios update was in process. I saw it coming, but couldn't stop it. Rookie move. I know better. Anyway - I've been following the suggestions here. USB drive, ZAU50A?? file names for .hdr and .rom files. Insert into the usb 2.0 port (and all the others - I've tried them). Hold down 'end' and plug in the power cord (Dell OEM cord). The power button flashes about 15 times and then nothing. No indications on the USB drive (it has a light). No fans. I can then press the power button and the fans spin up to full. The keyboard lights up. But nothing else happens. So at this point, I figure it's time to have new chips soldered in. I've ordered them and will need to find someone to do it (I just don't have the tools here). Question(s) for you: 1) Have I missed anything in trying to recover the bios? Anything I may have overlooked or tips/tricks/hacks that might work? 2) I want to make sure I know which chips are to be replaced on the board. Is there a schematic anywhere out there for this board, or can anyone point out which chips I'm replacing? Thanks in advance.
On some models, when you plug in the power cable while holding the END key, the status LEDs (power/disk/etc) should turn ORANGE. At that point, you release the END key and it should start the recovery process (fans kick on high, it reads from the USB drive for a little, then it could take a minute or so to do the recovery and power down or reboot itself).
Hi All i am in same situation, Bios update A12 broke my M3800, earlier bios version was A00, As per discussion I think i need A00 version to restore bios. Please can anyone provide a backup or link? Also I tried A12 with USB stick, machine shows the Dell logo and it started flashing but after writing nvram block step, it just shut down, tried many times, any suggestion please. Thanks