Dell Optiplex 7010 micro bad BIOS flash?

[mrrubik]

Hi folks,

I got a Dell Optiplex 7010 micro PC (Exact Model) with 8FC8 BIOS and locked out admin password. I attempted to remove the password by patching the BIOS via info from this thread: https://www.badcaps.net/forum/troubl...ssword-patcher
After flashing the patched the BIOS, the PC is unresponsive with a solid AMBER power LED (not documented in manual anywhere)

Steps I took:

1. Read BIOS with CH341a, verified hash twice
2. Patched original BIOS, verified the HEX changes in thread above
3. Removed CMOS battery, wiped BIOS to 0s
4. flashed patch_bios to system, verified it matches
5. Replaced CMOS battery, plugged power back in, after a few white blinks, system settled with solid AMBER power LED
6. 25 sec RTC reset didn't resolve the issue, neither did multiple power cycles

Attempts to restore:

1. Removed CMOS battery, wiped BIOS to 0s
2. Flashed original BIOS back
3. Read back, verified it matches original BIOS dump in hex editor
4. Replaced CMOS battery, plugged power back in, after a few white blinks, system settled with solid AMBER power LED

I'm at a loss to what could be wrong and how I can restore the BIOS to the system.

Thanks you and happy holidays!

[rex98]

Update: Some progress, I found a confirmed working unlocked BIOS from this thread/post for the W25Q128JV chip

I performed the following:

1. Removed CMOS battery, read back W25Q128JV chip - strangely it did not match the Original.bin that I had flashed back and verified in OP
2. Erased chip, verified ZEROs
3. Flash patched bios from above post, verified. Read back, verified again

After I replaced the CMOS battery, I attempted to power on:

1. Reconnecting power adapter, system powered on with fan quickly spinning up to full speed
2. Power LED now flashes 3 Amber, 1 White, per manual, this is CMOS battery failure.
3. I took out battery, measured 3.05v, a bit low. Replaced with new CR2032 measuring 3.32v
4. Reconnected power again, same 3 amber, 1 white power LED flashes returned.

Any suggestions?

flash both
first boot press f2 write service tag then press alt + f to exit manufacturing mode.
and do not use clip use adapter and do not use AS programmer use this neo programmer install driver first.

[SMDFlea]

Post the original backup and the PC service tag.

[mrrubik]

Sure, thank you SMDFlea!

Service Tag: 6L8J6X3
When prompted for admin password (prior to flashing) it showed 6L8J6X3-8FC8 which is why I attempted the linked approach

I've dropped both the original and my patched version here

[Sahu ji]

Sure, thank you SMDFlea!

Service Tag: 6L8J6X3
When prompted for admin password (prior to flashing) it showed 6L8J6X3-8FC8 which is why I attempted the linked approach

I've dropped both the original and my patched version here

is there2 bios in esme?

[mrrubik]

Thank you for helping, I'm not familiar with 2 BIOS systems, I've attached a photo of the system board

1. The smaller Winbond 25Q128JV chip on left of the battery is where I got the original bios and flashed patched BIOS to.
2. The slightly larger Winbond 25R256JV chip could be the ESME? I did not do any modification to this chip

I downloaded the original BIOS update file from Dell and noticed it's a 128MB file, far larger than just a 16MB BIOS chip would require.

Let me know if I can provide any additional info.

[SMDFlea]

Thank you for helping, I'm not familiar with 2 BIOS systems, I've attached a photo of the system board

1. The smaller Winbond 25Q128JV chip on left of the battery is where I got the original bios and flashed patched BIOS to.
2. The slightly larger Winbond 25R256JV chip could be the ESME? I did not do any modification to this chip

I downloaded the original BIOS update file from Dell and noticed it's a 128MB file, far larger than just a 16MB BIOS chip would require.

Let me know if I can provide any additional info.

Post a backup of the 25R256JV chip. It`s WSON8 ,so a SOP8 clip will not work

[mrrubik]

Post a backup of the 25R256JV chip. It`s WSON8 ,so a SOP8 clip will not work

Happy holidays! Rats I realized what you mean by SOP8 clip won't work as the it's a flat surface mount without side legs like the 25Q128JV chip.

I looked up the datasheet of 25R256JV and it appears similar in electrical specs and I believe my CH341a programmer should still work with the right adapter. I also verified ASProgramer v2.04 has this IC in supported list.
I found this pogo adapter for WSON8 6mm x 8mm Amazon Link and will get it to help extract the 2nd chip

[mrrubik]

Got the pogo header wire and read the 25R256JV chip, this was much more difficult vs clip as it had to be handheld in place. The CR2032 battery and all power sources were removed from board/system. Read with AsProgrammer and my CH341a @3.3v per spec

1. First attempt: attached "as w25r256 first read.zip", CRC32 = 0xDE6E1D19 - Note: this however fails at verification (read back) at address 0x0102DE75
2. I repeated until VERIFIED successful
3. 4th attempt: attached "as w25r256 4th read VERIFIED.zip", CRC32 = 0x48E4F159 - successfully verified

I attached both for reference. Thanks everyone!

[mrrubik]

Update: Some progress, I found a confirmed working unlocked BIOS from this thread/post for the W25Q128JV chip

I performed the following:

1. Removed CMOS battery, read back W25Q128JV chip - strangely it did not match the Original.bin that I had flashed back and verified in OP
2. Erased chip, verified ZEROs
3. Flash patched bios from above post, verified. Read back, verified again

After I replaced the CMOS battery, I attempted to power on:

1. Reconnecting power adapter, system powered on with fan quickly spinning up to full speed
2. Power LED now flashes 3 Amber, 1 White, per manual, this is CMOS battery failure.
3. I took out battery, measured 3.05v, a bit low. Replaced with new CR2032 measuring 3.32v
4. Reconnected power again, same 3 amber, 1 white power LED flashes returned.

Any suggestions?

[rex98]

Update: Some progress, I found a confirmed working unlocked BIOS from this thread/post for the W25Q128JV chip

I performed the following:

1. Removed CMOS battery, read back W25Q128JV chip - strangely it did not match the Original.bin that I had flashed back and verified in OP
2. Erased chip, verified ZEROs
3. Flash patched bios from above post, verified. Read back, verified again

After I replaced the CMOS battery, I attempted to power on:

1. Reconnecting power adapter, system powered on with fan quickly spinning up to full speed
2. Power LED now flashes 3 Amber, 1 White, per manual, this is CMOS battery failure.
3. I took out battery, measured 3.05v, a bit low. Replaced with new CR2032 measuring 3.32v
4. Reconnected power again, same 3 amber, 1 white power LED flashes returned.

Any suggestions?

flash both
first boot press f2 write service tag then press alt + f to exit manufacturing mode.
and do not use clip use adapter and do not use AS programmer use this neo programmer install driver first.

[mrrubik]

flash both
first boot press f2 write service tag then press alt + f to exit manufacturing mode.
and do not use clip use adapter and do not use AS programmer use this neo programmer install driver first.

Thank you so much🤝! I'll try this tomorrow morning and report back.

I've been using NeoProgrammer primarily but used AsProgrammer for the w25r256JV chip as NeoProgrammer did not have this IC specifically. I have found an updated IC database and will use NeoProgrammer moving forward.

Question regarding clip vs. adapter, for adapter you mean de-soldering the chip and mounting in dedicated flash adapter board or socket right? I agree this is ideal however currently I don't have access to a heatgun so de-solder/res-solder surface mount is not something I can perform.

[mrrubik]

Thank you so much rex98! I was able to successfully restore this system using those 2 files. A big thank you to SMDFlea for pointing me in the right direction and all others who looked and helped
Donated to BadCaps to support this wonderful community

[SMDFlea]

You`re welcome, and thank you for the donation.