$350: Dell T40 w/ Xeon E-2224G, 8GB ECC, 1TB HDD, DVD-RW

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Almighty

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Oct 27, 2019
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Anyone got Dell precision 3630 bios bin file?

Upd:
https://files.catbox.moe/atqm7u.bin
Bios version 1.1.10
Mfg Date: 02/25/2019

Grab a "CH341A SPI" with SOP8 Test Clip
use the flashrom >v1.1, dont forget to clr cmos and do full power cycle.

sudo flashrom --programmer ch341a_spi -w bios.bin

nvme works.
Being picky I know, but I wonder if someone could/will post the latest BIOS, 2.4.2, as that one has urgent security fixes.

Edit: now that I think about it, can I just go through the normal BIOS update process after initially flashing this 1.1.10 BIOS bin?
 
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Samir

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Almighty

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Isn't it here?
Dell Precision 3630 Tower System BIOS | Driver Details | Dell Canada

I think you could since it's just a 3630 at that point, but I don't think anyone has tried that.
You can't flash the downloaded bios from Dell's site as it doesn't contain the nvram and some other pieces needed to flash directly to the chip itself. You have to pull the full bin from the chip on a 3630 (or find one someone else pulled online), flash that, and then i guess i can go through normal updates. I'm going to play with it this weekend.
 
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UhClem

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The T30 works depending on the bios version. It would be interesting if you're able to boot off a card, but not off the motherboard slot--then the same may apply to the T40.
On my T30 w/BIOS v1.0.15, a NVMe drive in one of the x4 slots does "appear" to be boot-able; it is BIOS-configurable regarding boot-ability (and boot order) [but I haven't tried to boot from it].

Regarding the M.2 connection, physically, on the T30 (specifically), what screw type/thread (for 2280) ? or is it just kluge-time? (I'll go with BIOS v1.0.0 once I've got it attached). tnx
 
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UhClem

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You can't flash the downloaded bios from Dell's site as it doesn't contain the nvram and some other pieces needed to flash directly to the chip itself. You have to pull the full bin from the chip on a 3630 (or find one someone else pulled online), flash that, and then i guess i can go through normal updates. I'm going to play with it this weekend.
Something possibly worth noting during your experimentation is whether the 3630 BIOS omits any T40 BIOS functionality (ie, AMT/iDRAC etc) -- [maybe this is one of those "be careful what you wish for ..." situations?]
 
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Samir

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On my T30 w/BIOS v1.0.15, a NVMe drive in one of the x4 slots does "appear" to be boot-able; it is BIOS-configurable regarding boot-ability (and boot order) [but I haven't tried to boot from it].
So I just found a thread on the Dell community that confirms (though secondhand) that people are booting off of add-in nvme cards even when the internal m.32 is disabled:
RE: T30 and M.2 NVMe SSD? - Dell Community
 

altmind

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Sep 23, 2018
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T40 does not have ipmi in the first place. And 3630 may still have amt, need to check it.
 
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altmind

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I've seen this deal(or $400 deal?) in paper dell small business catalog that I received in snail mail the last week.
Seems to be a frequent deal now.
 
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cdru

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Oct 27, 2018
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It appears that the T40 only is available with the E-2224G. Anyone know if the bios is locked to just that CPU or can it be upgraded down the road with something having more cores or HT?
 

unmesh

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@Almighty

Were you able to update future versions of the Precision BIOS directly after using the SPI programmer for the first crossflash?

@altmind

Did the Precision BIOS retain AMT functionality?