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BIOS Update Question?

By CoreyX64 ·
hello,
i have this old WIN98SE dell desktop (dimension l55r) that ive been running XP on for quite some time flawlessly. however, the POST screen took about 3min to go past it. didnt understand why.

so i went to dells site and there was a bios update. so i downloaded and installed it from the floppy. everything worked great, and now the BIOS is so quick i dont even see the BIOS screen. but i noticed one change: the HDD led does not work anymore since the update. not a major issue, but i always looked at the LED to see when there was HDD activity. now it doesnt light up at all. could this have been caused by the BIOS update? and how can i get it back to working? all physical wires leading to it are connected fine.

Thanks in advance.

- Corey -

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interesting article

by CoreyX64 In reply to Check this link

but i hadnt made any changes PHYSICALLY. so thats why i think the BIOS update did it. i did (to play it safe) check the HDD led, swapped with power LED, reversed them, ensured proper connection, etc. just in case something really did come lose. it lights up for a split second when you press the power button, so i know its physically working. so its probablly because of the BIOS update. remember the latest BIOS version is from 2001 so its pretty old. how would the BIOS mess up the light flasher chip on the mobo?

also i have a standard 40GB WD hard drive installed. (IDE) if i wanted to, where would i connect the LED DIRECTLY to the hard drive? and would the jumper setting have anything to do with it? right now its on cable select (CS). it makes the computer boot really fast, where if its on a different one it runs really slow. havent tried pulling the jumper out altogether. maybe that would work.

thanks.

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No

by Jacky Howe In reply to interesting article

changing the jumpers won't fix it. If it is running OK on CS leave it at that setting. There is nowhere to connect it to the Hard drive. The only thing that I can think of is that the BIOS update must be flaky. It won't effect the performance of the System if it isn't working.

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its ok

by CoreyX64 In reply to No

i ended up making the machine into an "emergency" computer in the event other good ones die, just as something to get online. WiXP, basic graphix, sound, etc. like a netbook only ALOT bigger.


thanks again
- corey-

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Your welcome {NT}

by Jacky Howe In reply to its ok
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