Hi all, I need some assistance recovering my Inspiron 7548 from a failed bios update. Currently, the system only has a blank screen and power led and battery light. I've been reading for the past few days on recovering through HDR file and END key method , but I haven't been successful in extracting the HDR file from the BIOS EXE. - writehdrfile doesn't work and /writehdrfile doesn't provide the right file from what I've read. Here are the BIOS exe's provided by Dell : A08: can't post link due to being a new member. A05: System: Dell Inspiron 7548 Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
Thanks for the response! I tried AMIUCP already but couldn't find a way to extract any files. If possible, can you please provide steps?
I did exactly that, renamed file to 7548.HDR and tried the END key method. Still a no go. Can the .ROM file simply be renamed to .HDR or is there a different process?
Just tried it, still a no go. I have the following files on a 1GB Fat32 flash drive, all of them being a rename of the R00 file extracted: 7548.HDR 7548.ROM BIOS.HDR BIOS.ROM I've also tried FAT format. Any other thoughts?
recovery procedure for Dell - Shutdown the notebook - Remove all peripheral devices - Remove battery, Remove AC power cord - Press and hold the power button for 10 seconds (battery and AC power still out), then release - Put the USB Memory Stick with the BIOS.hdr file in the USB port - Hold "End" button and plug the AC power cord in Wait until the fan will run, then release "End" key - The fan will run for about 2-10 minutes and the USB drive activity LED will blink I think that notebook rebooted automatically. (If it doesn't, unplug the AC power cord once the fan has turned off ) add. As I remember USB 2.0 port must be used
IT WORKED! The Dell logo appeared and the bios flashed! I OWE you and other members on this site who posted instruction for recover. Truly, thank you!
I just had the same issue. I was updating from A00 to A08 using the Windows 10 installer. It erased the BIOS, copied 2 blocks, and that was it. I eventually had to force shut down and the machine was bricked. The power button would light up, but when pushed it would just run the fan with a black screen. Here's what I did - a version of the above: 1) Downloaded the 7548A08.exe file from Dell 2) Ran 7548A08.exe /writehrdfile 3) Ran 7548A08.exe /writeromfile 4) Renamed 7548a08.hdr to 7548.hdr, and copied it to BIOS.hrd 5) Renamed 7548a08.rom to 7548.rom, and copied it to BIOS.rom 6) Copied the 4 files (7548.* and BIOS.*) to a small USB drive (64 MB) with FAT format 7) With laptop off and unplugged (nothing done to battery), inserted the USB drive into a port on the right side 8) Holding End, I plugged in the power cable 9) Nothing happened after a few seconds, so I let go of End 10) Screen came on, BIOS flash ran for 30 seconds or so, and then it rebooted and started Windows 10 11) Once in Windows, used System Information to confirm I have A08 I hope these steps might work for someone else. This machine is essential for our home schooling efforts, so I am ecstatic to have not destroyed it. Thanks!
In Steps 4 & 5, he's essentially making two copies of each extracted HDR and ROM file. He's not sure which one worked, so he put all four files onto the USB stick. Step 4. copy "7548a08.hdr" "7548.hdr" copy "7548a08.hdr" "bios.hdr" Step 5. copy "7548a08.rom" "7548.rom" copy "7548a08.rom" "bios.rom"
Maybe I remember incorrectly, but I have read the DELL BIOS update methods for quite some time, and precisely because there have been a lot of times lately that it says "crashed" and ended up with a "black screen", etc., so that it is probably BIOS corrupted. And what I found was that someone said that you shouldn't upgrade from A00 to A08, for example, if there are intermediate versions, such as A05 (urgent) and A07 (Recommended). Namely, it was stated that it is necessary to update in the order, ie can be omitted only that marked "Recommended", all others must be done in order. Perhaps within that is a good idea, I don't know, I haven't had that situation. Question: What do older professionals think about this?
Just commenting to say that this worked on my Dell Inspiron 7548 too! Same story... was updating to BIOS A08 when my screen froze, and I ended up shutting down forcefully. Next thing I knew, my laptop wouldn't start up (black screen with white power indicator). I do want to note that using the FAT format on a USB 2.0 device was key for me. I tried exFAT and FAT32 on a USB 3.0 device and had no luck. In my case, I had to let go of the END key a second after plugging in the power cable, otherwise if I held it too long, the BIOS flash process wouldn't start. Regards to which port was used, I used the USB port on the right corner.