[NAME]​ Thanks for your concern and offer to help with more troubleshooting but no need, I fixed it! Bought a cheap CH341 programmer off of Amazon, found copies of both BIOS bin files on the internet, re-flashed both BIOS chips, that got me back to the “Invalid Configuration” screen (Date) which then let me enter the BIOS (only version A06 and it was admin locked) but getting a password online was easy and from there I just upgraded BIOS to A08 and then back to A22 and all is working again!   Before I did final reassembly I extracted copies of both BIOS chips in bin format so now I have E6520 Main and EC bin files with A22 BIOS that should also be admin unlocked… just in case!
Hello everyone! First post! I purchased a Dell refurbished E6520 a few years back, i5-2540M, Intel Integrated Graphics, HD+ Anti-Glare WLED (1600 x 900) screen, then just added an SSD… it’s been serving me well! Unfortunately it just died! (Nothing lasts forever!) Freezes at splash screen… no matter what I try it won’t continue on to Windows or to the boot screen (F12) or enter the Bios (F2) or perform a Diagnostic Boot (Fn + Power). Pressing D + power runs through the screen color test but then it just ends and does nothing more except after about 1 minute the fan comes on! I’m thinking it’s a motherboard or BIOS issue so what I would like to know is (although I am open to more troubleshooting suggestions) replacing the motherboard is probably the easiest and fastest fix and used motherboards (and other parts) are available and relatively cheap now so, if I’m going to replace the motherboard anyways, can I replace it with the LA-6563P, CN-0GXMFX version (NVIDIA graphics) ($38US) along with its matching heatsink/fan 09HYXD ($18US) and then add something like an Intel Core i7-2760QM CPU ($23US). I already have the 90W power adapter and the 97Wh battery… $80 (plus change video driver) sounds like a reasonable price to fix (AND UPGRADE) my E6520… if the parts will work together! ANY and ALL thought or suggestions or better part numbers would be appreciated! Thank you!
E6520 Bad BIOS? Confirm repair/upgrade parts