So I got the machine working... I flashed a Winbond replacement chip [instead of the Macronix it came with] with an image I found for the W25Q256* and the system booted. I set the Service Tag, disabled Absolute, did other normal settings, exited manufacturer mode.

BUT, when I power it up, it takes about 25 seconds until I get an image. After that everything seems to work as intended. Debian, Windows, FreeBSD all work. There are no errors in the system logs [bios], everything looks good. Post behavior setup doesn't matter, this is all before video is initialized. Installed latest BIOS...

Thanks bbanana, but it looks like now it won't boot, don't know what happened. I wrote the chip, verified, all good. Now the machine powers on instantly when I plug the power and seems to boot loop every 2-3 seconds or so, no output at all.

I'll try to remove it again and rewrite the old image, hopefully it'll boot... But I'm trying to minimize the soldering/damage....

Hello all,

Can you guys please help me remove the BIOS lock / password from this 3080 Micro BIOS dump?

Service tag is H5S6WF3

Many thanks in advance!...

Thanks SMDFlea, I already saw those threads, I've been using the EZP for over a year now and I'm aware of the limitations. But I have a new flash IC to replace it and if I try to write and verify, it's good every time. The original chip is messed up and spitting out random garbage at every read... None of the dumps can be opened by UEFI tools or anything else.

In the meantime I asked a friend with a T48 to read the original chip and he got the same useless dumps, so it's not my EZP's fault.

So I'm stuck with a blank [new] chip and looking for a complete image I can flash...

Hello all,

I have a Dell 3080 Micro with a problem. As it is right now, it seems to be boot looping, maybe... There's no output, just fan on and power led lights up and blinks off every 2 seconds or so.
Previous owner told me he bought it with a BIOS password, he tried to use a CH341A programmer with some random test clip and tried to mess with it while it was powered on. Now it won't boot.

I tried to dump the bios with an EZP2023+ but I can't get a consistent read. Every time the dump is different, so it's unusable. I think the BIOS chip is fried.

...

Hello all,

I'm new to this whole hardware repair thing [as a hobby] and I'm trying to learn, get some advice, maybe ultimately contribute to this community.
I have a bit of a collection of computers [new, old and very old], some of them have certain issues and I'd like to get them up and running but I'm clearly missing knowledge and repair experience. So I'll be starting with some useless parts and work my way through to the other side.
Looking forward to the journey!