Hello... I tried to update my Vostro 1000 bios to A06 in windows 7 the bios update got stuck mid way, laptop become unresponsive. I unplugged the ac adapter and took the battary out. When I tried to turn it back on; there was no display, num lock and caps lock LEDs came on solid green and DVD-rom seeked for disc then stops. No blinking leds patterns or beep codes. I tried bios recovery using bootable usb drive(Voyager 4gb) using crisis disk, nothing happened, I have tried all possible combinations, fn/win key + b/f/ESC, ESC key, End key on all the usb ports but nothing happens. As soon as the laptop powers up, dvd drive seeks for disk then goes quite. I thought may be the Vostro Bios recovers through Dvd-rom as it keeps seeking for disk, I renamed the bios rom to bios.wph and burned it on cd-r still nothing. Next I tried to extract HDR file from dell A06 Bios using the -writehdrfile but nothing happens it just executes the bios. I am all out of ideas and would appreciate immensly any help provided. Regards Tenrai
Thank you for your prompt reply... This is exactly what I did brother, I had MINIDOS.SYS, bios.wph, PHLASH16 on the USB stick; tried various key combos but nothing. Need I may be disconnect the DVD_rom? I'll try to get hold of a smaller capacity usb stick and give it another go using the procedure you linked and report back on any progress that I make. Thank you for your help appreciate it ^^ Regards Tenrai
ok... tried the procedure that you link and tried all possible combinations I could find on the internet on all the 4 ports, Nothing... *sigh* Can it be that this vostro cannot be recovered like this? what about the HDR method? may be that will work? regards Tenrai 天来
thank you for your reply... Still no luck, i think its the key combination thats the problem. No matter what I do laptop just wouldn't read usb stick. I am guessing that becuase vostro's bios recovery is unknow, I even tried numlock + capslock key combo... Nothing still The laptop powers up, numlock and capslock leds are lit and dvd-drive seeks for disk. Regards Tenrai 天来
Here is what it says in the service manual regarding the flashing of bios. However nothing is mentioned about BIOS recovery :S Flashing the BIOS Dell™ Latitude™ 131L/ Dell Vostro™ 1000 Service Manual Ensure that the AC adapter is plugged in and that the main battery is installed properly. NOTE: If you use a BIOS update program CD to flash the BIOS, set up the computer to boot from a CD before inserting the CD. The BIOS update program CD may not be available in your region. Insert the BIOS update program CD, and turn on the computer. Follow the instructions that appear on the screen. The computer continues to boot and updates the new BIOS. When the flash update is complete, the computer will automatically reboot. Press <F2> during POST to enter the system setup program. Press <Esc Suspend>, select Save changes and reboot, and press <Enter> to save configuration changes. Remove the flash BIOS update program floppy or CD from the drive and restart the computer. regards Tenrai 天来
Sure thing, I do not doubt your experties it just that BIOS recovery mode key combinations are not working on this dell vostro 1000 :S Firstly, thank you all for helping me out, however there is no progress. Sorry for the late reply being caught up with some urgent work its been difficult trying to solve this problem. Took it to a local shop, they say it can't be fixed with a soft. flash becuase there is no display. They wanted to open it up and see whats wrong :S I brought it back. Guess they don't know much about blind flash. How about an HDR file? what if we place an HDR file on CD-r can it work? I would try it but I am unable to extract the HDR file from the bios. DVD-rom seeks for disk, it is as if it is searching for something. What a mystry. Any more Idea??? Is this really the end? Regards Tenrai 天来
Also take note that almost every otical unit, CD,DVD when power up try to read inserted disk. That have nothing to do with PC or notebook trying to bot or recover or something else. That is just a tentative to detect and read if exist inserted disk.
Hello everyone... Firstly let me just thank everyone for helping me out, I genuinely appreciate it, THANK YOU ^^ Yes, I tried using a BIOS BootCD method already. I wasted a dozen CD-Rs(finally got my self a CD-RW) trying to figure out how to make it work. Finally made it to work on my other machine, tested the CD; it booted fine and ran phlash16 with the parameters I provided it however when I ran it on the vostro nothing happened. Dvd-Rom seeked read the CD for around 3-4mins then went quite. No beeps. I left it for 5 for more minutes then finally took the plug out, reboot, nothing still the same. Caps+Numlock LEDs Lit no power,HDD,Battery LEDs, no fan. I tried various parameters with same results phlash16 /x /c /z /bbl /force /mfg phlash16 /x phlash16 /x /c /z /force /mfg mode=2 phlash16 /x /c /z /force /mfg mode=3 phlash16 /x /c /z /mfg CDs boot to phlash16 and execute fine on my media PC but nothing happens when I try them on the Vostro. I tried your image as well, I hoped it would work but it didn't :S Had I known BIOS updates could potentially result in such a catastrophe I wouldn't have tried updating in Windows. *Sigh* Yes, I have tried the END key method from baidu. I used 128mb, 1gb (kingston) 4gb (corsair Voyager) on all ports with all combinations. Nothing happens, no beeps or blink LEDs. I believe like the post "15258-Bricked-Laptop.-Inspiron-1501" my Laptop is dead as well. Maybe the boot block got corrupted or something. We have an authorized Dell partner here in Pakistan. I'll take it to them. As I believe this can't be fixed with a Soft flash :S I thank you tqhoang & you TTAV134 for you all your help Regards Tenrai 天来
Got my Laptop back, they replaced the EPROM for approx. 50$ The problem is the bios on this chip is A2.6.2 and the battery is not being recognized and I get a system message saying that the battery won't be charged. The new bios(A06) fixed this issue, should I update to 2.6.3? Condused what if I brick it again... Regards Tenrai 天来
Flash the BIOS from DOS. You can probably do the END-key recovery method too. That's really bare-bones.
hehehe well the "probably" part is elusive TQHoang, I'll give it a shot using that bootable VOSTRO Bios update cd that you were so kind to share. If it bricks ... guess I will have to get another EPROM Regards Tenrai 天来