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January 3rd, 2024 23:09
Downgrade BIOS to earlier version to see if it fixes problem?
Inspiron 15 3525
I have an Inspiron 15 3525 with AMD Ryzen 5 in it. I need some help on whether to try downgrading to an earlier BIOS version to see if that fixes the problem. After updating the BIOS to 1.13.0 I started having immediate issues with fTPM encryption throwing a warning at bootup:
Please see link here to my earlier post on Dell Community about this for details (I don't have BitLocker).
I've scoured event viewer and noticed a log that I never got before the BIOS update that says "the TPM is not in the right mode for upgrade." 
At the same time the battery started draining while in sleep mode or hibernate. I did all the things suggested on Dell to make the battery usage as efficient as possible and adjusted sleep settings. Nothing changed. I've ran powercfg commands to try to figure this out and I looked at the battery usage stats, and they aren't helping. I ran sfc /scannow and some corrupted files were repaired (also ran the DISM commands to make sure the image was not also corrupted). Didn't change anything. I've tried uninstalling a Windows update that was installed around the same time as the BIOS update to see if that solves the problem. Nothing.
I've considered just selecting Y to the blue box message above but have one more thing I want to try first: Downdgrading the BIOS to 1.0.0 (2/9/2022) which is the version I can download from Dell that came before the version that was installed when all this happened.
Should I do this to test if this will solve the problem? Is is possible to Downgrade? Will I corrupt my BIOS and have to do something to recover it and reinstall Windows?
banjoe
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January 12th, 2024 01:42
@Rupprechtf273de I wanted to share an update that may help you. After researching the web until I couldn't stand it anymore, I decided to just take a chance and select Y to the blue box message at boot up. Here is what I went through that might help others (problem is I don't really know if this changed anything or not if I hadn't done these things and selected Y, so follow my suggestion here at your own risk). After trying to figure out what was wrong between the TPM, encryption settings, and the battery drain issue, I decrypted the drive by going into "Device Encryption Settings" and switching the toggle to "off" for encryption. However I forgot to run "manage-bde -status" to check if it was now saying decrypted (it had been saying C drive was encrypted). All the TPM warning messages in the system still persisted, so I did a Reset This PC process shortly after this (after working on frustrating computer problems for too long it effects your ability to think straight :) ). Didn't change anything. Device was encrypted again. At my wits end I went all out and did a clean install of Windows with my recovery usb drive. After that, what changed was the encryption status - it said C drive was fully decrypted. Armed with the confidence that I wouldn't get locked out, even if something went wrong with selecting Y to the blue message at bootup, I went for it. What happened is: computer booted fine and it started encrypting drive C according to "manage-bde -status" results. I started to panic because I thought here we go again and I'll have to deal with that annoying message every time it boots. But I did a restart and when it booted the message did not appear. Also all the other issues where the system showed no TPM appear to be resolved. The only thing left hanging that I don't know about is why "manage-bde -protectors C: -get" doesn't show that I have a recovery key. So this is still puzzling. If I ever get locked out I don't know how to find my key. Also I will have to watch the battery drain issue going forward. If it's still an issue, might have to get a new one or something.
(edited)
Rupprechtf273de
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January 4th, 2024 00:53
I have an Inspiron 15 (bought in June or July 2023), and since I did the last software update a few weeks ago I have had the same problem. The laptop can be 100% charged when I shut it down but the next morning it's completely drained.
When I start it up I always get that same blue message about Bitlocker, like you show at the beginning of this post.. I always select No and it immediately takes me to the sign-in screen, which is fine, but the fact it's drained completely is bothersome.
banjoe
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January 4th, 2024 01:59
@Rupprechtf273de thanks for sharing that. Sounds like same thing as me. My Inspiron is a little over a year old - not ok to deal with this with a newer computer. I haven’t seen much online as far as others saying the same thing is happening to them. Hope we can figure this out and share a solution!
banjoe
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January 4th, 2024 16:15
Here is another thing I did that shows something is messed up:
Was following some info on Microsoft about TPM:
System requirement for Windows 11 says TPM 2.0 is required: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/windows-11-specifications?r=1
I then clicked on link to get instructions for “how your PC might be enabled to meet this requirement” https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enable-tpm-2-0-on-your-pc-1fd5a332-360d-4f46-a1e7-ae6b0c90645c
After following instructions to find TPM and coming to flow that says my results may indicate a disabled TPM, I then clicked on the Dell link under “how to enable TPM” https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000189676/windows-10-how-to-enable-the-tpm-trusted-platform-module
But I don’t have the option hightlighted here that dell says I should:
Device Manager screen shot
The fTPM is enabled in BIOS, but I am getting this result when I run tpm.msc:
Rupprechtf273de
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January 6th, 2024 19:20
Again, I have the same Device Manager screen that you display: no TPM option, just the AMD PSP 10.0 Device shown.
banjoe
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January 7th, 2024 04:48
So after getting nowhere with this problem, I did a PC Reset. Unfortunately it still drained overnight. I also talked to Dell and they will not look into a possible bios issue unless I pay them since it is outside my warranty. My local computer repair shop can do some basic diagnostics and take a look at it with a “fresh set of eyes,” but after I described all I’ve done and how deep I’ve dug into this (I even did some registry editing), they weren’t confident they would do much better.
So today I went even further and did a clean install of Windows and set everything back up on it. Letting it stay on overnight to go into sleep mode and we’ll see what happens. Was at 99% when I shut the lid. I disconnected it from Wi-Fi so it can’t do any updating at least. Will report back in the morning.
banjoe
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January 7th, 2024 21:02
Battery went from 99% to 80% overnight. I did a restart this morning and the “battery can’t be identified” message came up which it’s done several times. This is the original battery and laptop is only a year old. Also, when I tried to shut down it did the thing where it just spun saying “shutting down” and then went to the Lock Screen instead which it’s also done before. Had to do a hard shut down with power button hold. Forgot to mention earlier that BIOS downgrade wasn’t possible - wouldn’t let me, invalid file message.
So I’m at a dead end here. I’ve heard from a few other people with Dell laptops who have a battery drain that started happening at the same time as mine along with the TPM issue. I hope Dell fixes this if it’s BIOS related, but I’m not willing take a gamble with them and possibly pay up to what I paid for the laptop in the first place to see if their out of warranty department can fix this. I’ve seen some bad reviews online lately for that. Might take it to a local repair shop for a battery test just to make sure it’s good.
So I’m going to end my discussion here. If anyone sees this and has similar problems with their Inspiron, I’ll check back periodically for comments. Otherwise I’ll watch for new discussions on issues like this.
(edited)
banjoe
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January 12th, 2024 12:38
After sitting overnight in sleep mode, the laptop dropped by only 5% so it appears the problem is solved.
(edited)