Not a PFS file - Alienware X51R3

[eagleeyesg58]

Hi
I downloaded the file bios upgrade file from https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/drivers/driversdetails?driverid=823mh
“Alienware_X51_R3_1.1.0.exe”

and I ran it through TWO biosutilities

1. GitHub - vuquangtrong/Dell-PFS-BIOS-Assembler: A script to combine BIOS entries into executable Dell Firmware Update Utilities
   – error given: Error: This is not a Dell PFS BIOS image!

2. GitHub - platomav/BIOSUtilities: Collection of various BIOS/UEFI-related utilities which aid in research and/or modding purposes.
   – No results came out of it… when running main.py

I only get

I know I have installed it correctly as it works on a EXAMPLE .exe that I got from
the PFS-BIOS assembler.

================================================
I ran Alienware_X51_R3_1.1.0.exe in VMware and got the NON DELL error and
I manage to get only “bios_img.rcv” and “110.bin” and some other files.

can someone advise on how to extract the image so I can program it with a Ch341A programmer? The board turns on but does not post… I am guessing it could be bad bios.

Thanks

[lfb6]

Would you mind telling us what you’re doing?

Here you are on a NEW Dell X51 R3 motherboard

Here you have fixed an Alienware X51 R1

And now you want to extract a Dell file again for a X51R3, but you seem to have a new board where you tried to extract or flash the firmware from the wrong chip?

(It’d be wise to keep the things belonging to one machine in one thread and not to split them up to every single problem)

[eagleeyesg58]

Sorry for the confusion.
I have 2 Dead PC. X51 R1 which Dell bricked when upgrading to A14 bios and
a X51 R3 PC.

Thanks to the previous post , I manage to save the R1 mobo by flashing the available
A14.bin I downloaded. Thanks to everyone involved.

I ordered the new motherboard from Aliexpress before I found this forum.
The New Mobo arrived and is working as I replaced it.

Now I have a non posting X51 R3 mother board. I wish to reflash the bios from the Dell web site… with the CH341A but I cannot succeed in extracting the file.

However
Since I have spent over many days trying to figure out how to extract the bios and using various utilities to no avail… I wish to continue to see if someone knows how to extract this X51 R3 bios from Dell.

I already tried everything and would like to complete my knowledge on using the
bios tools available.

====== Of course I could extract the bios from the working X51 R3 motherboard.
But then I noted the chip is blocked by the RAM holders and I will have to spend time
figuring out how to use jumper wires from the SPI connector to connect to the CH341A programmer.

So I wish to continue with learning how to extract the bios from the Dell .EXE file while in the meantime I need to make a harness for the SPI connector.

I am not an electronics expert and will take time to check study the SPI conncetor and check where each wire goes.

Thanks for your understanding

[lfb6]

Dump your own- possibly- bricked firmware and attach it here / post a link to it. It might be possible ro recover the dump (esepcially if a firmware update really was the reason) and it has some machine specific data like service tag, serial…

Learn to check firmware files for their structure. The most useful tool here is UEFIToolNE Link for Win64

That’s how a complete Intel firmware might look:

(Filename in window title - you did extract the file already)

And again: You’re searching for a 16 MByte / 128 MBit chip!

[eagleeyesg58]

Hi Yeah, I found the chip

But it is blocked from the CLIP by the RAM holders.
So in the meantime while I get an SPI harness ready

I still want to know how to extract the bios rom from the dell
download… Since I have followed all the instructions and
it worked on some Dell bios but NOT on the x51 r3 download
from dell.

[lfb6]

@eagleeyesg58

Since I have followed all the instructions and
it worked on some Dell bios but NOT on the x51 r3 download
from dell.

They’re definitely not all the same! Very often there’s not even a complete firmware image (most if not all of the ‘more business’ machines). This it’s ‘don’t close messages and have a look into the temp folder’

110.bin was a complete image for me, you had it on your pic?!

@eagleeyesg58

[eagleeyesg58]

Hi yes

So that 16mb file is the Bios?

This is a hex rep of that first segment

Can you please advice on what you think?

[lfb6]

@eagleeyesg58

Can you please advice on what you think?

I think I wrote already my suggestion?

@lfb6

Dump your own- possibly- bricked firmware and attach it here / post a link to it. It might be possible ro recover the dump (esepcially if a firmware update really was the reason) and it has some machine specific data like service tag, serial…

110.bin looks like a complete firmware, containing a Descriptor region, a ME region and a bios region.

You’ll find an bios region for recovery (bios_img.rcv) which is identical to the last 8 MB (the bios region) of 110.bin.

There’s an ME.bin which is an uncofigured ME for updates cotrary to the configured ME region in 110.bin (the coplete firmware).

[eagleeyesg58]

Hi Thanks
let me chew on this for a while… it will be a while before my jumper wires come as I dont have any… the SPI is 2mm and the CH341A is 2.5 MM so I got a converter cable to hook up.

Thanks for your advice so far.

[eagleeyesg58]

FYI
Thanks to everyone for the help. I got the 2.0 MM to 2.5 mm jumper wires and I found the SPI header pin does not connect to the Chip’s Pin 1

So I just cut the memory holder plastic away and manage to read and re-program the chip.

Yes 110.Bin is the bios.