Bios upgrade fails

[joddle]

I have three pretty well identical Dell OptiPlex 755s and on two of them have updated the bios to A22 with no issues, The other still has A17 and I have downloaded the latest bios file and tried to update the PC using the self loading file but every time I run it I get a message saying the update has failed and "could not find firmware in memory". What can I do now? Will using a usb stick make any difference, I don't want to try it unless its safe. I think the old bios may be the cause of some other networking issues I am having with this particular machine.

[Rustys]

Have you tried doing the previous version?

[joddle]

No - but whay would that make a difference? - the other two machines worked fine - could it be anthng to do with the cmos battery?

[Starbuck]

Hi joddle,

 

Just to add here.....

No - but whay would that make a difference?

Some systems require that the upgrade is done in steps.

I think that's why Rustys asked if you had tried the previous version.

 

Will using a usb stick make any difference, I don't want to try it unless its safe.

The Dell site actually says...

This file format consists of a BIOS-executable file.

To use it, download the file and copy it to a DOS-bootable USB flash drive, then boot the system to the USB flash drive and run the program.

Dell Optiplex 755 System BIOS | Driver Details | Dell UK

[joddle]

Thanks Starbuck - I have tried both using the older bios (A19) as a step and also loading from a flash drive as suggested but the result is exactly the same - it starts off fine and confirms I want to change the bios but when the system tries to reboot it fails and comes up with "could not find firmware in memory" message. So wat memory is it referring to ? It seems somehow it lose all the information it is supposed to be storing for the upgrade! - is that down to powering the cmos ? or maybe something else!

[Starbuck]

Sorry joddle ...... I don't have much experience with bios upgrades, let's see if Rustys or KenB have the answer that you require.

[KenB]

Hi joddle,

 

I have heard of this with Dell before.

The solution was to swap the RAM or take out two modules if 4 are present.

 

You could try RAM modules from one of the working computers.

[joddle]

H Ken - I have just tried putting in new Ram in - all the sims are now different from those I had earlier but so far thats not changed anything - but there are four sims in at the moment - I will try taking 2 out and see if that makes a difference but that won't be for a day or two.

[joddle]

Just tried removing 2 sticks of ram but exactly the same thing again. As the only things that were not working when running in W10 were the networking and a sluggish mouse, I am leaving the bios as it is and have reinstalled W7 which runs without any issues at all. Unless of course someone comes up with another way to cure the bios upgrade!

[Rustys]

Sorry for the delay been trying to get station issues and training resolved.

 

As long as things are working there is no real reason to update BIOS.

 

Things that you can try.

could it be anthng to do with the cmos battery?

Have you swapped out the battery.

Have you rest the BIOS to factory?

Checked the date and time of the BIOS?

Cleared the BIOS?

Is there a BIOS password that needs to be removed?

[joddle]

The reason for wanting to update te bios is that my other two similar machines have A22 and this one only A17 - the issue being that when I loaded W10 the machine would not work properly - the network connections would not connect and the mouse became jittery. The other two machines perform perfectly and the only real difference between them is the bios - they have the same motherboards and same amount of ram and are the same model - The battery seems fine - Dont now how to reset the bios to factory and there appears no password

[Rustys]

Go into the BIOS and look for Reset to Factory or some variant.

 

Since you have reinstalled Windows 7 you did reinstall the drivers starting with the Chipset then the other drives in the proper order.

 

Did the system originally come with Windows 7.

 

Even the Dell site shows drivers for Vista 32 and 64 bit and XP 32 bit.

 

[joddle]

Yes the bios is set back to the original but the machine first came with XP as did the other two identical machines. I upgraded all three to W7 several years ago when support for XP finished and W7 worked absolutely fine on all three machines. When the free upgrade to W10 was announced I upgraded all three machines at that time but this one has always shown problems. It always has a shuddery mouse in W10 but not in W7, and also the network connections never work properly in W10 although work just fine in W7. I have tried two completely clean reinstalls of W10 with a version from over 1 year ago and the most recent (lest week) which always seems to go well but when operating the same issues always occur! The other two machines show none of the same symptoms with W10 and so I think that as the bios is the only thing that really differs it has to be something to do with that! . The rub is I cant upgrade it although I did it fine on the other two.

I use the Dell site for all the upgrade files for all three machines - why is this one being difficult?

[Rustys]

Just to clarify that you did try booting to a DOS base USB drive and install?

 

I use the Dell site for all the upgrade files for all three machines - why is this one being difficult?

Asking myself the same question. May have to do some digging.

 

Found this on the Dell site.

Do you have Intel Virtualization Technology enabled in the BIOS? Try toggling that off before attempting the update.

[joddle]

Hi and thanks for the tips but cant see any option for Virtulisation technology - also can't enter the MBX bios to see if anything there is affecting anything - he screen says Ctr-P and so I assume that means control and the p key together - but nothing seems to happen whe I do that - it simply boots as normal!

[Rustys]

Just to clarify that you did try booting to a DOS base USB drive and install?

You never did clarify this. Using the download from the link provided in Post #4.

It did or did not boot to the USB drive?

 

What Operating System was on the other two systems when you did the updates on them?

[joddle]

Hi Rusty's Yes I did try using the USB drive on several occasions. I even tried sequential upgrading going from A17 to the next bios which is A19 but even that did not work. All three computers started with XP Pro 32 bit. When XP support stopped I bought new licences for all my machines and all were upgraded to W7 with clean installs to W7 pro 64 bit. Then when MS offered free upgrades to W10 all the machines were upgraded again using the automatic upgrade tool. However since then I have had a few HDD failures on various machines and so all three have at some time had clean reinstalls of W10 using whatever MS iso was the most current at the time.

 

When I use the usb drive it seems to work fine at first - saying it is updating from A17 to either A19 (or A22) do I want to continue and on pressing yes it confirms it is doing the upgrade - then once the machine tries to restart I get the message saying its is doing the update but then it fails with a message saying the files cannot be found in the memory!

[Rustys]

I apologize when I was asking about the update information I was referring to what operating system was on them when you preformed the BIOS update?

 

It really should not make a difference as to what operating system was installed since you are using the download that creates the USB install.

 

Have you tried a different USB drive? The one you are using may be bad.

 

Are you downloading to the computer that you are trying to install the BIOS update on? Try downloading the file onto a different computer and transfer the file and see if that works.

 

Other than suggesting you pose the question on the Dell forums I am out of ideas.

[joddle]

Thanks again for the hints. I have used several USB sticks and also the direct version - also tried downloading to another PC - tried each bios version. So like you I am out of ideas and intend leaving the machine as a W7 device as in that guise it works just fine with everything doing just what it should. Its only when I use W10 on that machine that I run into problems. As its an old device and possibly at the end of its useful life there is no point doing anything else.