Studio XPS 435MT, SSD installed, blue screen

There is only two SATA modes in the Studio XPS 435MT, IDE and RAID. What you really want is AHCI mode but apparently that is not available.

I don't know of a method to switch Windows 10 from IDE to RAID.

I don't understand what you are trying to accomplish by connecting the SATA cable from the SSD to a PCIe adapter card. Why not connect SATA cable to the SSD like you were connecting the HDD? What kind of PCIe adapter card are you using?

Hi,

Thank you for the reply.

The settings in my BIOS are ATA and RAID. I chose RAID because I understand that setting can be used in place of AHCI if AHCI is not listed, even though only one drive is connected.

I had to return the setting to ATA because when I tried it in Raid I was greeted with a BSOD on Bootup. The problem as I subsequently found out was that the BIOS needs to be changed before Windows is installed onto the SSD.

Returning the Setting to ATA allowed the SSD to work through the on-board Sata connection, just not as fast as it can or I was hoping.

I therefore tried a PCIe-SATA converter pcb plugged into one of the spare PCIe sockets. The SSD is then connected via the SATA lead to the SATA connecter on the PCIe. I tried this method because I had read that Dell say the PCIe sockets on this Motherboard are version 2 and therefore I believe if that is the case it should give faster throughput than the on-board SATA connectors, but in actual fact there is very little difference.

I have successfully switched Windows 10 from RAID to AHCI, but I have not done the reverse. Also I am not sure if AHCI is the same as ATA. You could try changing the BIOS to RAID and re-installing Windows on the SSD if you still have the HDD you originally cloned from if the Windows installation fails.

https://www.dell.com/community/forums/replypage/board-id/XPS-desktops/message-id/29233

now the horror of PCIe v1.1 SATA cards. SATA version II..  (huge costs , drivers and failures, repeat)

the card must have boot ROM to boot that SDD , and costs more. for that FEATURE.

and Some Dells just hate (OPROM) any aux, booted card,  PC BIOS fights the  addin cards RAID ROM, etc.

or slows the boot to 10 second more , customers all hate, (not me) them.  the scan can be it looking for 26 HDD ! A to Z. (top raid cards (LSI), real, let me change that, but not toy grade cards)

Also.... yah seen it all here.

here is mine. (the low port counts make the card lower cost) not the marking that, 6GB/s

Seen vast PCs (not workstations real) fail to allow you to click the 2 magic RAID card keys (Control+R)etc.

SOME main PC BIOS hates letting the OPROM use the screen nor keyboard, seen that on vast consumer PC.s.

but  my LSI9211 set to HBA avoids this problem. It shows up as more drives.

the good working w10 drivers, that support AHCI mode. 

  See how bus speeds and overhead slow down card and ports.

but now my little secret, you can a used LSI 9211 card, true raid card used, (sas) AND FLASH IT DOWN TO HBA Only then connect the SSD to SAS to SATA cables and run screaming fast.

I have done the test on all my raid cards, with SSD, and for sure the $15 card, 9211, (buy the underdog versions cheap and cross flash it)

see this report.

if you want SSD in 2008 PC, this is the card to use.  it uses x8 PCI lanes, some are x4 but both work.

the SAS bus does SATA too,  an industry  secret (not) the fact is vast RAID cards are now USED in the wild

and are FAST and only cost you 1 pack of cigs , in NYC.

9211 is my fav.  In fact my lab PC uses this and I use it to bench mark all SSD ive put my hands on.

here is my bench mark with

Kingston SSD model...SA400S37-120G(via LSI RAID 9211,X4 ! card, flashed to HBA mode."IT")  Plugged in to v2 bus, X16 slot but using only X4 lanes. HP z600 (workstation)

cost of card $15 cables $10 (sas port to sata ends x4)

nothing works better on any Legacy PC than that card at that price point,. used, bank for buck best, SSD.

the word cross flashing is what I did to my (badge'd different makes cards) first IBM (done many me)

IBM ServeRAID M1015 $20

the truth is the HW is identical. (if are same port counts,etc) just the look of it tells you that.

or the DELL PERC H200, card, too. (we overwrite dells bios with simple HBO rom code)

Quote Mr. Kuron:

"OEM version of the LSI SAS 9211-8i, such as the Dell H200, H310 or IBM M1015 are quite popular for use with FreeNAS. However, they need to be flashed with a regular LSI firmware to disable their RAID capabilities in order to passthrough the drives directly to the OS."

I have not done any PERC, but there is your big clues, find old fast cards RAID and set them to HBA mode.

ebay has these cards, I get them most cheapest doing >make offer.!

$20 beats $100 for new sata III card, x4.

for sure.

that ends ,my report on fast SSD and how to do it for way less than $100 (cards)

lets do a facts list,  now.

• Dell does not support w10 on this 12 year old PC
• intel does not support the RST raid driver on this old PC, see my last post for proofs.
• Dell hates spec sheets on mobo? (or not listed on the support page, take your pick but is X58 ICH10R chipset.  (due to raid chip it is dash "R" chip there are in fact 4 chips made and the are not the same.
• The PCIe is v1.1 so is  slug, unless using nice x4 SATA -III cards (yours is slow SATA-II speeds,)
• The SATA-II port is slow, onboard.  (for sure,  and will limit(1/2) speeds on any top SSD like yours)
• SATA-ii means version 2, as listed in the wiki. 3 Gbit/s (bits not Bytes) 2004 speed, OK?
• "maximum uncoded transfer rate of 2.4 Gbit/s (300 MB/s)"  about 1/2 your SSD speeds (fail)
  
• The problem huge here is no w10 support and w7 ends JAN 2020, (clear vision day) RIP w7.
• The real issue here is the right working SATA card is worth 10 times value of PC ,econ101.(#1)
• Gen 1, intel CPU, too.  and the limits of that.
• the best cure is buy dell 3020 or 9020 for $50 used and get the joy of  Haswell. gen 4. 

note 1: see later post to use a card 5 to 10 less costly (boot sata cards)

the X58 , + ICH10 is transitional chip set.  Dell hates spec sheets so does not tell which of the 4 ICH10 chips are there. (HWinfo32.exe will )

slow SATA-ii 3Gb/s raw speed. no SATA -III

slow PCIe ports v1.1 per lane but  do buy x4 lane sata 3 card and it can go way faster for SSD. ($$$)

AHCI (ICH10 rules) needs a working driver that intel is loath to support now(read legacy pain now and going forward) (intel RST only supports these chips set now for w10) see text file at end of page for Intels words.

here is the intel spec, summary. (i love matrices) hardware does this, the chip (just it)

the poster said it had 2 bios options, sata /raid so must be  the ICH10R there, (IDK, i can not scan your PC)

Ive been around the block a few times (3decades block) and seen BIOS show features on on this card of 10 variants. so I learned long ago to use  scanners, (the chip burns 24 watts and the heat sink is glued on (no peeking)

note 3 means Dell must support this and does not for w10, I bet. IDK

the 4 chips true intel names are

This part has the following variants:

• 82801JB (ICH10) Base
• 82801JR (ICH10R) RAID
• 82801JH (ICH10D) Digital Home
• 82801JO (ICH10DO) Digital Office

Intel states this. AHCI support (means hardware, software is the next horror, lacking....???)

AHCI is built into chipsets with the following controller hubs: Intel quote.

• Intel® PCHM RAID/AHCI controller hub
• Intel® PCH RAID/AHCI controller hub
• Intel® ICH10R/DO SATA RAID/AHCI controller hub
• Intel® ICH10D SATA AHCI controller hub
• Intel® ICH9M-E SATA RAID/AHCI controller hub
• Intel® ICH9M AHCI controller hub
• Intel® 82801IR/IO Controller Hub (ICH9R/DO)—RAID and AHCI
• Intel® 82801HEM I/O Controller Hub (ICH8M-E)—RAID and AHCI
• Intel® 82801HBM I/O Controller Hub (ICH8M)—AHCI only
• Intel® 82801HR/HH/HO I/O Controller Hub (ICH8R/DH/DO)—RAID and AHCI
• Intel® 631xESB/632xESB I/O Controller Hub—RAID and AHCI
• Intel® 82801GHM I/O Controller Hub (ICH7MDH)—RAID only
• Intel® 82801GBM I/O Controller Hub (ICH7M)—AHCI only
• Intel® 82801GR/GH I/O Controller Hub (ICH7R/DH)—RAID and AHCI
• Intel® 82801FR I/O Controller Hub (ICH6R)—RAID and AHCI
• Intel® 82801FBM I/O Controller Hub (ICH6M)—AHCI only

the RST intel down load page text file is clear here.

This Intel(R) Rapid Storage Technology Release is designed to provide functionality
for the following Storage Controllers:

- Intel(R) 8th Generation Core Processor Family Platform I/O SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
   Mobile Low Power (LP)
   - Premium-U
   - Base-U

 - Intel® 300/240 Series Chipset Family:
  Desktop, High End Desktop (HEDT), Workstation (WS)
   - Intel® H310 Chipset			- Intel® H370 Chipset		
   - Intel® Z390 Chipset			- Intel® Q370 Chipset		
   - Intel® B365 Chipset			- Intel® B360 Chipset		
   - Intel® X399 Chipset(HEDT)			- Intel® C246 Chipset(WS)
   
  Mobile Halo
   - Intel(R) QM370 Chipset			- Intel(R) HM370 Chipset
   - Intel(R) CM246 Chipset

 - Intel(R) 200 Series (with X299/Z370) Chipset Family SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
   - Intel(R) Z370 Chipset
   - Intel(R) X299 Chipset

 - Intel(R) 8th Generation Core Processor Family Platform I/O SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
   - Base-U 
   - Premium-U	
   - Premium-Y	

 - Intel(R) 200 Series (with X299) Chipset Family SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
   - Intel(R) Z270 Chipset			- Intel(R) Q250 Chipset
   - Intel(R) Q270 Chipset			- Intel(R) B250 Chipset
   - Intel(R) X299 (HEDT) Chipset		- Intel(R) H270 Chipset
 
 - Intel(R) 7th Generation Core Processor Family Platform I/O SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
   - Base-U
   - Premium-U
   - Premium-Y

 - Intel(R) 100 Series/C230 Series Chipset Family SATA AHCI/RAID Controller
   - Intel(R) QM175 Chipset
   - Intel(R) HM175 Chipset 
   - Intel(R) CM238 Chipset

 not even x99 is supported much less X58 much older.

the mobo here shows in one manual it does RAID level 0 or 1. so is dash R ICH10

The real problem is Dell W10 support.  dell supports W7 64bit MAX.  there is no w10 support. and necessary.

VIC

he want to put in a SATA V-III card, 6Gb/s card, clearly. but they are expensive and like 5 time value of  PC he has.

but the LSI9211 works, for sure, used here. and H200 PERC(cross flashed)

I think what @savvy2 is trying to say is similar to my post here ...

AFAIK, this machine is 9 years old and is based on Intel-X58 Chipset. It is non-UEFI and there is no specific AHCI support. You just leave the BIOS set to RAID (SATA).

A SATA-SSD will only run at SATA-2/300 speed on this old machine. So, instead of it being 5-times faster than a spinning-HDD, it is only 2-times faster. IOPS are also off-the-scale better. Machine should feel snappier. 

I like to build-up with a clean-install, and never install that Intel-RST non-sense.

https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-Desktops/Aurora-R7-M-2-NVMe-bootable-options/td-p/6073037

Thanks for all the information.

I am not happy with Flashing the LSI 9211 down to HBA.

Guess for the time being I will just have to be content with the very small increase.

@TECHY4 I'm doing the same upgrade right now. Could you try sharing the link that you used to switch from ATA/IDE to RAID in the BIOS without causing a blue screen and without needing to reinstall Windows 10?

Re:  to switch from ATA/IDE to RAID in the BIOS without causing a blue screen and without needing to reinstall Windows 10?

@diputz42 , following this steps may help:

• First, you need to force windows 10 to boot into safe mode by running the command as administrator:  bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal
• Restart the computer and enter BIOS .  Change the operation mode from ATA/IDE to RAID.  Save change and exit, windows will automatically boot to safe mode.
• With windows in safe mode, run the command as administrator:  bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot
• Reboot and windows will start in normal mode with RAID drivers enabled

If for some reason the command does not work for your, simply run it without {current}.

That did it. Thank you!