optiplex bios fried, can't boot

[mikelouaillier]

hello everyone,
i seem to have a corrupted bios. this is a Dell Optiplex 780 desktop PC and after the bios update process got interrupted it won't boot.
here's what i'm seeing:
initial status: power cord is plugged in, machine is off

press the turn-on button and:
- sound of a relay clicking
- fan starts running
- power lite goes amber
- diagnostic lites 1 & 3 come on

after about 250ms
- power light goes solid green
- disk activity lite and diagnostic lite 4 come on (manufacturer service manual has no info about code 1-3-4)
- status remains this way (green, DAL, 1, 3, 4) for about 7s, then:

- DAL goes off, then 3 more seconds pass, then

- sound of relay clicking, and
- power light and fan go off, 1, 3, 4 remain on

5s go by, then the whole cycle starts again and repeats, indefinitely, every 15s, until i hold the turn-on button for several seconds, then

- fan and power lite go off, and lites 1, 3, 4 remain on until capacitors run out

i would REALLY appreciate it if someone could help with this.

thanx, mike

 

[R_1]

usually a borked BIOS flash means a new board.
is the BIOS chip soldered to the motherboard? if so you may be able to swap just it. which usually means buying another motherboard to salvage the chip from (unlikely).

unless DELL has a BIOS recovery setup, I think the board is gone.

 

[william p]

I would try a BIOS reset. R&R the CMOS btatery should do it. But Opti 780 MB can be had for about $12.
http://www.globalcomputerparts.net/us/proddetail.php?prod=200DY

 

[smorizio]

google ami and award bios recovery. if the boot block of the bios is still good you can put the newest bios on a usb stick or flippy and rename it. power on the pc and if your lucky the bios may recover on it own.