Dell Latitude LM 166st on Death's door after bios update :

So, I got this old laptop yesterday. I'm one of those people that just has
to mess, so I go and look for an update to the bios. I find what I think is
the right one, and go about updating it. Everything seemed fine until I was
asked to reboot. After that, everything is blank.

I get 2 short beeps..So I figure I'll try hitting f2. No such luck. When I
reboot and hit F1, I get a higher pitch beep.. I think I may have updated
the bios to the wrong version "Latitude LM A08 FlashBIOS"

Is this thing dead as a doornail, or can I somehow reflash the bios with the
proper version?

One thing I forgot to mention: I have hooked it up to an external monitor,
just in case the lcd was not responding. Nothing but black screen

On "Chris" <ctobiassen@NOSPAMshaw.ca> wrote:

|>I get 2 short beeps..So I figure I'll try hitting f2. No such luck. When I
|>reboot and hit F1, I get a higher pitch beep.. I think I may have updated
|>the bios to the wrong version "Latitude LM A08 FlashBIOS"

Sad fact is you most likely destroyed your mother board due to malware
you yourself installed ie: 16x16_smiley-sad.gif

--

<Pennywise@DerryMaine.Gov> wrote in message
news:4kroa1d1gt7jabohao10hmgdpdsuepvluh@4ax.com...

Nope, that was just me copying and pasting from the Dell forum. I didn't
mean to paste in the smiley, but at least I know where it came from.
http://forums.us.dell.com/supportfor...ssage.id=11632


<Pennywise@DerryMaine.Gov> wrote in message
news:4kroa1d1gt7jabohao10hmgdpdsuepvluh@4ax.com...

"Chris" <ctobiassen@NOSPAMshaw.ca> wrote in message
news:9XZqe.1657096$8l.684973@pd7tw1no...
you? And you got the update from the DELL website, not some oddball third
party who smokes funny stuff while writing code? The DELL website shows
A11/A03 as their latest BIOS. Go get that and try again (while plugged in to
AC, of course!)

http://support.dell.com/support/down...430&dev lib=1

Well, unfortunately it doesn't want to access the floppy drive. Since it
gives beep codes (2 short beeps), wouldn't a dead bios give absolutely
nothing? I'm keeping my hopes up.

"Toolman Tim" <no.spam.for.tcm@my.email.is.invalid> wrote in message
news:np_qe.1542$eL5.1012@fe04.lga...

Chris wrote:
The BIOS is hosed. Typically, at this point the only fix is to replace
the BIOS chip(s). You will need to contact Dell and see if they have
replacement BIOS chip(s) for your model. Hopefully they do and it is not
one of those soldered-in BIOS chips (unfortunately, common in laptops).
It could be a matter of $10 or $15 for a new chip OR you have a new boat
anchor.

Hopefully, you learned something here: You do not flash a BIOS just for
shits and giggles, but only if there is a very good reason.