Dell Chromebook 3100 - Boot looping - applying critical update

Hey There

I just googled this issue myself and came across this discussion as we have just started experiencing this issue on a few Dell 3100 Chromebooks at our school today. Screen flashes up for approx 1 second with 'Applying Critical Update' then the screen goes black for 6-7 seconds before quickly showing message again for 1 second. As the issue occurred this morning on only 1 device I assumed it was a faulty screen and logged a ticket with Dell tech support for a replacement. However, the issue has since cropped up on a few more today leaving me to believe either the update is corrupting the OS or there is a possible manufacture fault. Hopefully someone can chime in with some advice.  

We are having the same problem at our school district. It is on the Dell 3100 and the Dell 3100 2 in 1. I hope they get it resolved soon! 

We have turned off auto-updates in our Admin Console for the Chromebook 3100s for now.

Our fix has been just reinstalling the Chrome OS using a flashdrive, using the chromebook recovery utility. It has corrected the issue on the boot looping error. 

We will see if the auto-updates turned off will minimize this issue until we figure out what is happening. 

Hi Lorenzo

I have followed your suggestion and turned off automatic updates for now to stop the issue affecting any more devices.

Sadly however, when re-installing the Chrome OS in recovery mode from a USB flash drive - whilst it says that the recovery completed successfully, the device goes back to the same problem trying to install a broken update.

May I ask what recovery method you used / software version in order to get the Chrome OS successfully re-installed? 

Kind Regards

Morgan

Hello,

I have the same problem as well, I was able to get the Dell Chromebook back up on the fourth time tying to install the Chrome OS not sure why it doesn't take it on the first try but it now has worked on a few of our Dell 3100 Chromebooks.

We've been having this issue as well with some of our 3100s. While some of them have needed a replacement board, I've had some success with disconnecting the battery while the updates are running. 

Hi All,

Has there been any updates on this issue? I'm starting to see this issue on a few of our newer CB. Two CB on failed the update and are boot cycling.

Yes, the latest chrome OS restore fixes the issue.

I noticed this with a few of our Dell 3100s for the high school 9th grade. I turned off auto update and did a factory reset on the affected chromebooks when the students stopped by. The issue never came back since. 

We've had this issue many times before Chrome released updates. Unplugging the battery and letting the update complete works every time. Sometimes you need to unplug the battery, powerwash, and let update complete before reseating the battery. Lots of strange issues with this model.

1. Power on the chromebook.
2. Leave on for at least 30 seconds. 
3. Power off the chromebook. Complete power off - don't just close the lid - hold down the power button until it shuts down.