DELl Vostro

Discussion in 'Windows 7' started by Brandypuff, Oct 28, 2009.

  1. sebus

    sebus MDL Guru

    Jul 23, 2008
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    #21 sebus, Feb 16, 2010
    Last edited: Feb 16, 2010
  2. jimbo1

    jimbo1 MDL Novice

    Feb 16, 2010
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    I tried the Dell bios from their FTP site, but it's down
    The second link downloads a 3kb file, which looks too small to use.

    I looked on top of the computer and found out the original Windows Vista Key says OEM Act

    So maybe it has a different motherboard or the bios upgrade doesn't set it to SLIC 2.1?

    I tried the 1.2.4 but alas it still doesn't show the 2.1
     
  3. jimbo1

    jimbo1 MDL Novice

    Feb 16, 2010
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    sebus,

    Thanks for your help,

    I followed the first link to make a USB boot drive and loaded the latest 1.2.4 flash

    For some reason when I tried it in windows xp, it wasn't updating the bios.

    Weird, but it's working great now.

    Thanks!!
     
  4. Kelex

    Kelex MDL Novice

    Mar 1, 2010
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    I have a Vostro 420 and I cannot get the SLIC toolkit to detect the Slic 2.1 inside the BIOS. I have flashed my BIOS with both the provided files and neither of them worked to enable my SLIC. I have also tried to 1.2.4 version on the Dell website and it isn't showing a SLIC either. NoJuan has said there is a slic in F0, but I cannot find a way to enable it. The svctag.exe and asset methods don't work because they say they aren't compatible with this system.

    Any help or suggestions here?
     
  5. venu

    venu MDL Addicted

    Oct 16, 2009
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    SLIC dump toolkit had trouble detecting my dell mod bios slic 2.1. I then used an older version of SLIC dump toolkit. That worked.
     
  6. bentobaku

    bentobaku MDL Novice

    May 2, 2010
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    Does this work for the Vostro 220 as well? If not can someone help me I need a slic2.1 for the Vostro 220
     
  7. bh12

    bh12 MDL Novice

    Jun 26, 2010
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    Maybe just me, but from reading this thread it sounded like 220 already came with 2.0 SLIC, which was updatable to 2.1 with the latest 220 bios.
    Unless it was just the 220s.
     
  8. n0fx

    n0fx MDL Novice

    Aug 13, 2009
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    Do any of you guys still have a copy of the Dell Vostro 420 Slic 2.1 bios? I'm trying to upgrade mine with the 2.1. I searched the forums but the old link is dead now.
     
  9. TodayNot

    TodayNot MDL Novice

    Sep 24, 2013
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    Extract binary BIOS file from Dell EXE (Vostro 410)

    Not sure where to put this, but though I’d write it down in case it helps anyone out there.

    Note that this is a 2008 vintage DELL bios EXE for a FOXCONN MOBO with Phoenix/Award BIOS.

    I bricked my Dell Vostro 410 (FOXCONN DG33A01 Rev01 MOBO) by trying to update the BIOS from 1.0.1 to 1.0.3. Running the update utility from Windows (silly me), I got the error message “verification failed…”. Now when powering up the fans go to high RPM and that’s it. No display, no LED blinking, no floppy activity, no activity on plugged in USB stick. The only thing I can do is power on by pushing the power button and power off by holding the power button for 5 seconds or so.

    I wanted to try writing the BIOS at boot time, but DELL provides no .BIN file, only the updater .EXE. Extracting the binary with the usual –writeromfile and /writehdrfile did not work. Nirsoft extractor did not work. 7zip, and winrar did not work.

    Finally I was able to get the binary this way:

    • Download .exe from Dell (V410_101.exe)
    • Create a bootable USB stick using the HP tool
    • Place V410_101.exe on the USB stick
    • Boot a machine with different chipset than the target machine with the USB stick (this prevents the tool from accidentally writing the BIOS to this machine)
    • From DOS prompt, run V410_101.exe with /rom parameter (not sure if /rom parameter is needed, but it worked for me)
    • The tool will run and give updates on its progress.
    • At the end, after extracting all the files and verifying the binary, it will check your machine and discover that it has an incorrect chipset. The tool will go ahead and delete all files it created. The trick is to stop execution using Ctrl-C at the right time, between finishing extracting the binary and when it deletes the files. It took me five tries, but in the end I got 1024 KB sized .BIN file, which does look like a proper BIN file.

    Now I have the BIN file, but I was still not able to recover my machine. Does anyone know if this BIOS / MOBO needs some key-combination at boot time to initiate flashing the BIOS? I have tried placing various programs on the USB stick (PHLASH16, AWDFLASH etc.), but because there is no activity on the floppy and USB stick, I think I need a key-combination to initiate reading from USB or floppy. Or the MOBO is fried for good…
     
  10. urie

    urie Moderator
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    May 21, 2007
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    Similar to a post a while back for dell Inspiron 530 desktop.

     
  11. TodayNot

    TodayNot MDL Novice

    Sep 24, 2013
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    Thanks urie, did't find that post.
    The question for me is still how to 'Then run "AFU877 713D1P51.BIN BACKUP.BIN" '.
    The computer doesn't seem to go to the floppy or USB stick to look for an autoexec.bat. How do I cause it to run the flash tool?
    Thanks

     
  12. urie

    urie Moderator
    Staff Member

    May 21, 2007
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  13. TodayNot

    TodayNot MDL Novice

    Sep 24, 2013
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    Thanks for the pointers. Haven't tried Ctrl+Home yet. Will give it a try tonight.
     
  14. TodayNot

    TodayNot MDL Novice

    Sep 24, 2013
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    Nope. no go. The boot block must have been erased as well. I have found quite a few reports of the same problem with the same model (Dell Vostro 410). If it were a software problem I'd think (hope) that Dell would fix it. So I wonder if there is actually a hardware or design issue.
    looking closely at the MOBO I found a location for an SPI connector (JTAG?). I'm tempted to solder a header in place and try to flash the BIOS through it. Of course there is no easy way to tell if other needed parts are unloaded. Or if the hardware bug, if it exists, prevents me from flashing.

     
  15. LatinMcG

    LatinMcG Bios Borker

    Feb 27, 2011
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    try ctrl home .. or ctrl END or just END key.

    spi header is promising. u would likely need a cheap spi usb programmer (or make your own spi programmer) and solder the pins on the board to plug into the programmer.
    best to make a backup.bin with the programmer just in case bios dload is not full bios .. missing mac address and so.
     
  16. jimbet

    jimbet MDL Novice

    Aug 26, 2014
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    My problem is similar like TodayNot...
    I brick my Dell Vostro 410 updating from 1.0.0 to 1.0.3
    Give an error.. then I'm preparing dos boot to flash..
    reboot and nothing is coming up on screen.. only fan are working..
    Now I need the .hdr file..
    somebody please help to sent the file to me..
    all old link are dead..

    hey @TodayNot.. did you get your vostro up and running?
    please post the how to... thanks
     
  17. jimbet

    jimbet MDL Novice

    Aug 26, 2014
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    are you running windows 64 bit?
    /me yes... i think because of the 64 bit machine... the bios is bricked...