Dell BIOS and SP2 Issues...or not

[Allochthonous]

OK, I have always been under the impression that BIOS/firmware upgrades should not be taken lightly, and I am rather uncomfortable dealing with them.

After browsing the Dell forums, some folks say that you should update the 4550 BIOS before updating to SP2 or else you will get the BSOD or other issues. Well, I am on A03 and have been running SP2 since it first came out, and have never had an issue thus far (that I am aware of anyway).  I posted on the forum there and was told that some users had no problems updating to SP2.

I have never updated my Dell Dimension 4550 BIOS (maybe once waaaay back under direction of Dell support when I was having issues with my CDRW) - I am still on version A03. The latest update is A08. If i am not experiencing any issues, is there any reason why I should?

I also read that the A07 and A08 updates have problems with firewire cards. The next upgrades I plan to make are a firewire card for a digital video camera and a graphics card upgrade (probably the now lower end Geforce FX 5500 OC AGP).

The general consensus on some other boards is that "if it ain't broke, don't fix it."  What confuses me is why do some 4550 users have to upgrade their BIOS yet others do not?  What would the difference be?

Is there any chance that there may be some "hidden" issues that are not apparent to me?

PK


Dell Dimension 4550
System Service Tag: 1N99921

Windows XP Home Edition Service Pack 2 (build 2600)

PROCESSOR
2.40 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
8 kilobyte primary memory cache
512 kilobyte secondary memory cache

MAIN BOARD
Board: Dell Computer Corp.
Bus Clock: 533 megahertz
BIOS: Dell Computer Corporation A03 11/12/2002

MEMORY
512 Megabytes Installed Memory
Slot 'DIMM_A' has 256 MB
Slot 'DIMM_B' has 256 MB

DRIVES
HL-DT-ST CD-RW GCE-8400B [CD-ROM drive]
3.5" format removeable media [Floppy drive]
Seagate ST380013A [Hard drive] (80.03 GB) -- drive 0, s/n 5JVL9H6R, rev 8.01, SMART Status: Healthy
80.02 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
51.00 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space

CONTROLLERS
Standard floppy disk controller
Intel(R) 82801DB Ultra ATA Storage Controller - 24CB
Primary IDE Channel [Controller]
Secondary IDE Channel [Controller

BUS ADAPTERS
Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller - 24CD
Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C2
Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C4
Intel(r) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C7

DISPLAY
NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 420 [Display adapter]
DELL M780 [Monitor] (15.7"vis, s/n 5322DA6SCZA9, October 1999)

[GX1_Man]

I think you have thought this out well. The general rule is don't update unless there are known issues that the update addresses. Dell allows you to return to a previous BIOS readily and has a safe update procedure. In this case I wouldn't hesitate. You may feel better downloading another A03 just in case.

[Allochthonous]

Don't hesitate updating the BIOS?  You are the first person to say that (if that is what you are saying).  What is your reasoning?

I guess I just don't understand why some 4550 owners have had to update before SP2, but others have not. Isn't most of the underlying hardware the same in all 4550's?

PK

[GX1_Man]

I have never had a problem updating (or downgrading) a Dell BIOS. It is as safe as it gets. If it solves some problems, OK.

The reason some people have had to do it depends on the hardware in the machine. They are not all exactly the same despite the same model number. There is a variation in components from the factory as well as what users have added.