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I have a Dell Precision Workstation T1600. It's BIOS version is A07 and the latest available is A16 (see Dell's page).
I was trying to install it, but it said I have to install A08 first (maybe I will need them all in order?). The only page I found with old versions, goes back just to A10.

Any idea where to find older versions, or how to work around this?

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  • You shouldn't need to install them in order. What is the exact message it gives you when you tried to update? Have you contacted Dell for assistance?
    – Ramhound
    Nov 23, 2015 at 19:14
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    @Ramhound "You shouldn't need to install them in order." Usually not, but this is actually not unheard of -- I've personally seen several of BIOS upgrades (from Intel, and others) over the years that required a minimum version as a prerequisite. Nov 23, 2015 at 19:18
  • @Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 - I stand corrected.
    – Ramhound
    Nov 23, 2015 at 19:34
  • @Ramhound No big deal - we can't all remember everything. ;) It's only happened a handful of times in my life, but it happens. Heck, I even had one (back in the BTX days) that we had to downgrade to a previous version before we could go to the latest version! Figure that one out. :) Nov 23, 2015 at 19:39

3 Answers 3

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Sometimes BIOSs will have a minimum version as a prerequisite (eg. needing v08 before you can go higher). This is usually because of a data structure change performed by that version of the BIOS, which newer BIOS' assume already happened.

Since, when trying to install V16, it tells you that you required at least V08, then having V08 should be sufficient to install any version after that (up to V16 anyway).

To find the driver, I took the string (from your link) that was offered for the A10 version:

DELL,DSK PROG,BIOS,T1600,,A10

Googled for DELL,DSK PROG,BIOS,T1600,,A08...

Found:

DELL,DSK PROG,BIOS,T1600,A08

Precision T1600 system BIOS

Version A08, A08 (27 Apr 2012)

Fixes & Enhancements

Add 35W CPU fan table support

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  • Nice find, google is your friend
    – Moab
    Nov 24, 2015 at 22:57
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    This worked. I installed the A08, and then A16. I was facing a daily (at a minimum) blue screen before this update. Now the machine is stable again
    – Ron Harlev
    Nov 29, 2015 at 20:04
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This seems to be what you're looking for: http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=FC4DK

As Techie007 states, it is quite common that you need to install BIOS upgrades in steps. You probably need to install a few steps, but I haven't seen before that you really have to go from A07-A16 in steps of one. I expect about 2 steps here, but it differs per manufacturer and specific item, so it's impossible to give you a definitive answer on that. It would be highly appreciated if you can let us know after you tried.

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  • This worked. I installed the A08, and then A16. I was facing a daily (at a minimum) blue screen before this update. Now the machine is stable again
    – Ron Harlev
    Nov 29, 2015 at 20:05
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I have seen a few boards over the years that have different manufacturers, an unofficial v2, and the BIOS only went so high for the v1, and then the newest BIOS was only for the v2. Can't say for sure that this is your scenario, but it happens. So be careful updating your BIOS. I found the following link which seems to point your way. http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=FC4DK

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