[kyoung4175]

Anyone happen to have a copy of the USB bios update? Looking to attempt to "un-brick" my Mini9 which failed the A04 to A05 upgrade process!!

[somms]

Originally Posted by kyoung4175

Anyone happen to have a copy of the USB bios update? Looking to attempt to "un-brick" my Mini9 which failed the A04 to A05 upgrade process!!

Dell I910 Mini/Vostro A90 USB Key Drive flashBIOS Utility

[Pulver]

I bricked my Dell mini 12 the same way as many of the posters and found this thread searching for a solution.

After reading it my hopes went down since nobody here seemed to recover their Mini 12 on their own.

But, after reading some more I found a way to recover - I thought it would be appropriate to write here that it is possible and how its done :-)

First of all you need the A04 bios.rom file, I found it in this forum post - #3 named:

DELL_Inspiron_1210_Mini_12-DELL-A04-DELL_SLIC21_DELL_SLP

The Dell mini 12 A04 BIOS.ROM is located in the "original bios" folder.

There are also instructions and tools on how to make the floppy/usb-drive recover-disc included in the CRISDISK folder

Recover instructions copied from Somms:

To Use: Remove battery and power adapter. Confirm USB floppy drive is plugged in. While pressing and holding Fn & End keys, attach power adapter plug. The power lights will momentarily blink and your Mini will beep once. Continue to hold Fn & End and press the power button. Release the keys once floppy drive begins reading. Your Mini will beep continually until the flash is completed and reboots. Note: The display is not available during this process.

What I have altered is to use the keys Fn & End

Your Dell Mini 12 will start beeping and look for recovery files on a usb-drive/usb-floppy

If you hear single repeatedly beeps during the recover process - it has not started.

The moment the beeps sound a bit different and not repeat themself every second - the recover process is initiated - there will still be beeps during the process and the mini12 will restart by itself after ~2 minutes.

I was able to use a usb-drive made from the instructions here - I just replaced the BIOS.WPH file with the Mini12 BIOS.ROM file (renamed to BIOS.WPH)

The usb-port that worked for me was the top port on the left side of the Mini12.

Hope this will help anyone with a bricked Mini12 (I know of at least 1 person that I promised to write this small guide for)

[chriz262008]

I tried everything listed here but nothing seems to be working for me. I dont know what I am doing wrong. After I make the bootable disk, I do the entire process and nothing. I hold the buttons down until it beeps once and let go. That doesn't seem to do anything. I hold the buttons down longer until it does the series of three beeps. That just repeats itself continuously until I turn of the computer. Does anyone have any ideas what I need to do differently?

[Pulver]

The recover process does not start for you - try all the different usb-ports.

If that does not work - try a different usb-memory (if that is what you are using)

If that does not work - try a usb-floppy

[chriz262008]

Originally Posted by Pulver

The recover process does not start for you - try all the different usb-ports.

If that does not work - try a different usb-memory (if that is what you are using)

If that does not work - try a usb-floppy

I have tried all three ports with the two on the left giving me the same result and the one on the right apparently not working at all. I tried one other flash drive with the same result. I do not have a floppy disk drive. I thought about buying one for this project but I am not sure its worth the investment if I can't seem to get it to work any other way.

[Pulver]

Check an extra time to see that you have made your usb-memory the correct way - other than that, I guess your only option is to get an usb-floppy.

[chriz262008]

Originally Posted by Pulver

Check an extra time to see that you have made your usb-memory the correct way - other than that, I guess your only option is to get an usb-floppy.

Thanks Pulver. I still had no luck with the flash drive but I did end up finding a floppy drive for less that 15 bucks so I will try that and hopefully it will work out for me

[shxuila]

Hi i did same thing with my chiff's DELL INSIRION mini 1018.I have tried all fu + B and fn + end but there is no resoult. plzz HELP
give me eny good advice.

[chriz262008]

Originally Posted by Pulver

I bricked my Dell mini 12 the same way as many of the posters and found this thread searching for a solution.

After reading it my hopes went down since nobody here seemed to recover their Mini 12 on their own.

But, after reading some more I found a way to recover - I thought it would be appropriate to write here that it is possible and how its done :-)

First of all you need the A04 bios.rom file, I found it in this forum post - #3 named:

DELL_Inspiron_1210_Mini_12-DELL-A04-DELL_SLIC21_DELL_SLP

The Dell mini 12 A04 BIOS.ROM is located in the "original bios" folder.

There are also instructions and tools on how to make the floppy/usb-drive recover-disc included in the CRISDISK folder

Recover instructions copied from Somms:



What I have altered is to use the keys Fn & End

Your Dell Mini 12 will start beeping and look for recovery files on a usb-drive/usb-floppy

If you hear single repeatedly beeps during the recover process - it has not started.

The moment the beeps sound a bit different and not repeat themself every second - the recover process is initiated - there will still be beeps during the process and the mini12 will restart by itself after ~2 minutes.

I was able to use a usb-drive made from the instructions here - I just replaced the BIOS.WPH file with the Mini12 BIOS.ROM file (renamed to BIOS.WPH)

The usb-port that worked for me was the top port on the left side of the Mini12.

Hope this will help anyone with a bricked Mini12 (I know of at least 1 person that I promised to write this small guide for)

I finally had the time and equipment to try the flash again. I did all the necessary formatting and copying to the floppy drive, and followed the procedure. At first I heard the floppy drive working, then after about 60 seconds, it stopped and I heard a "buzzing" noise, followed by a "beep" from the computer. After all that, it went silent and stopped all processes. I restarted the computer, and it is still black. Do you have any suggestions as to what I am missing here?