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December 12th, 2017 07:00
Inspiron 17R BIOS Woes
Hi. I've managed to somehow (well, three failed password attempts!) to lock out my BIOS and ended up with the 'Password / unlock key & unlock key hint number' screen on my Inspiron 17R SE 7720
I rang tech support and provided my serial and express codes (they had no interest in the hint number for some reason?) and they provided me with a 'master' code to unlock the BIOS. Unfortunately this did not work, so they advised that now my only choice is to pay over £200 for a new replacement motherboard? Surely this can't be right...? Can another code not be generated (I've read the wiki and know codes cant be provided over the forum - i'm after some clarification and guidance)? Also, on my old Vostro, if i get the BIOS password wrong 3 times it shuts down, and I can retry later - so why can't I do the same with the Inspiron? If i removed the CMOS battery would this get me back to the enter password prompt (i'm fairly sure it won't clear the BIOS password for security reasons), rather than the infuriating 'password / unlock key' screen?? :(
DELL-Jesse L
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December 13th, 2017 05:00
ROBERTSP,
You should call back into Dell and have them generate another bios reset code for you. I have searched the database and see no information referring to replace the motherboard unless it has failed.
unlockmybiosplease
3 Posts
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December 14th, 2017 04:00
Hi Jesse.
Been on the phone now for 20mins with DELL and they insist that the only way to recover this is to replace the motherboard and that they can't generate another key. I'm absolutely fuming tbh. I know that codes can't be done via the forum, but can you or someone else message me and we can confirm that the information i'm proving and the code I've been given are correct and that it SHOULD be work??
ejn63
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87.5K Posts
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December 14th, 2017 06:00
You'll need to confirm that with Dell support. One thing to verify is that your keyboard is working properly - - you may want to connect a USB keyboard to re-try the password Dell gave you.
Also note that if the system board was replaced at any point other than by Dell, the service tag in the system board may differ from the one Dell used to generate the password.
Failing that, you may have a problem other than just the password -- and in that case it is indeed true that you have two options: replace the board, or find a shop that can remove the BIOS chip, clear it and resolder it (both options will likely cost similar amounts of money).
unlockmybiosplease
3 Posts
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December 14th, 2017 10:00
Thanks for your reply ejn63
USB keyboard attached, code still not working.
System board has never been replaced since I bought the laptop in July 2013 (if you could tell me where I can get the code on the motherboard I can check that it matches what the label on the bottom of the laptop says - just in case some shenanigans happened BEFORE it was bought ie. refurbed etc). Yes, I have access to the mobo, its currently sat next to me in bits.
As far as I can work out, replacing BIOS chip won't clear the password..but may be wrong...
I'd be happy if it went back to asking for the BIOS password to be honest.. like my old (still working flawlessly) Vostro 1700 does when I get it wrong.