XPS 8930, BIOS 1.1.27, no boot

Multiple threads on this topic already, so search for them.

Some users removed the NVME SSD which allows them to downgrade BIOS back to 1.1.26. Then they reinstalled the SSD and it's good to go.

Dell has been made aware...

try remove nvme ssd, and then if able to post, downgrade bios to 1.1.26 as this was the fix reported by some users.

Thanks. I will give it a try today.

Hi,

I was able to turn the secure boot off after removing Nvme and GPU. But was unable to recover the bios with 8GB Fat32 USB. Only file on it was  BIOS ver 1.1.26 IMG.rcv file. I followed the “Cntrl&Esc” routine, but system did not give me the option to recover bios!! Should the .exe file also be there??

Also, please take a look at BIOS pics and let me if anything else need to change.

Thanks.

What is TPM?Secure Boot Disabled

The .exe file is only to install BIOS, not to do a Ctrl-Esc to recover it.

I don't think having Secure Boot enabled has anything to do with this problem. I have Secure Boot enabled and Legacy disabled on my XPS 8930 and BIOS got updated to 1.1.27 via the F12 menu without problems.

Did you ever reconfigure both SATA Operation in BIOS and Windows to use AHCI instead of RAID?  Your screen shows AHCI is enabled, but if you never reconfigured Windows for AHCI, it probably/likely won't boot.

If you're game, change that setting to RAID and save the change and exit setup. Power off and reinstall the NVME SSD. If you use Ethernet cable to router, unplug it or if you use WiFi, turn the router off. Then power PC on and see if it boots now.

If not, remove the SSD again. Plug in a USB with only the BIOS 1.1.26 .exe file on it. Power on and tap F12 to open the menu. See if you can run the Flash Update to install BIOS 1.1.26 again (with Ethernet unplugged or router off).

Now reinstall the SSD. As soon as it starts to boot tap F2 to open BIOS setup. Immediately Disable UEFI Capsule updates because you don't want Windows Update to install 1.1.27 again. And I'd also enable BIOS Auto-Recovery and Always perform integrity Check. Keep in mind that these settings all revert to their defaults after every BIOS update, so you will have to change those settings, especially Capsule Updates, immediately after updating BIOS.

Secure Boot should be set to always, except internal HDD.

TPM (Trusted Protection Module) is a chip on the motherboard that's used for encryption keys when the drive(s) is encrypted, eg using encryption services like BitLocker, Windows Hello, etc. Don't change that setting and don't enable PPI. If your drive(s) is encrypted, disabling or clearing TPM will remove the encryption keys and you'll lose everything on the drive(s).

Post back and let us know what happens, especially if changing BIOS to RAID restores the boot...

Hi RoHe,

Thanks for the detailed response.

I remember computer had RAID but due to some reason I changed it in BIOS, cant remember why. I probably did not make any associated changes in Windows.

Today, I changed the SATA operation to RAID and saved it, powered off and reinstalled NVME SSD, second hard disk and GPU, and also shut off the router. Computer boots now, but screens while booting looks different. I reached the login screen, pin was accepted, after that screen goes blank and stays blank.

Maybe reconfiguring BIOS to raid is causing some conflict? NVME SSD has only the operating system, Win 10 only, not sure if formatting it and making changes for RAID in Windows will solve the issue.

I see that BIOS got updated to 1.1.27. Not sure, If I should attempt to rollback to 1.1.26.

I have attached pictures of BIOS after the changes and questions that I have are also noted there.

Please advise.

I appreciate your time guiding me.

Thanks,

A wee bit of progress! Posting screen shots has been really helpful, so well-done!

Pity you didn't post a screen shot of BIOS setup Main screen right after you removed the SSD. Do you remember if that screen listed BIOS 1.1.27 or 1.1.26 after you removed the SSD?

I'm more suspicious now that the update might have actually got installed but something in the POST goes amuck in the boot up when BIOS is set to AHCI or has some other incorrect setting. If you didn't install the AHCI drivers, it's probably not surprising Windows can't load and hangs at the splash screen.

Do you have a Dell OEM GPU or do you have an "after-market" GPU that you bought/installed? If you have an after-market GPU, Secure Boot has to be disabled to allow the PC to boot. When Secure Boot is disabled, as in latest screen shot, that automatically disables TPM. And you can't enable Secure Boot when Legacy ROM Options is enabled, as it is now. So regardless of whether you have an OEM GPU or an after-market GPU, you can leave Secure Boot disabled, at least for now.

After you reinstalled the GPU, did you connect your monitor to that card or are you using one of the onboard Intel Graphics (HDMI or DP) ports? When an add-in GPU is installed, the first monitor has to be connected directly to that add-in card, not to an onboard Intel port. So confirm where the monitor is connected now.

If it is  connected to the card, you might try removing it completely from the PC and connecting the monitor to one of the onboard video ports to see if the PC will get to desktop without blanking the screen, which could rule the card in or out of the current problem.

And if that doesn't help you could try putting BIOS back to AHCI again...

And one more thingy... Plug a bootable USB into the PC with power fully off. You can use the Microsoft Media Creation Tool to create a bootable USB for Win 10.

With USB plugged in, power the PC on and tap F12 to open that menu. Select option to boot from USB. If that works without screen going blank, then it's possible there's something wrong with Windows on the SSD. In this case use the Troubleshooting  and Startup Repair options on the USB to see if they can fix things...

Hi RoHe,

NVIDIA MS V351 Ver 1 GPU came with computer, primary monitor was attached to the GPU.

Today, created the bootable USB for Win 10 and tried the repair but was not successful. Log files are shared in link below.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1-1LuuJas5IAYFv8IZJrddw0kfAT74Ihn?usp=sharing

bootfailure.txt

disklayout.txt

SrtTrail.log

SrtTrail.txt

bcdinfo.txt

On the plus side, I was successful in rollback of driver to version 1.1.26 from within the BIOS itself via BIOS flash option. after that I changed the SATA operation to AHCI but the same results after login as before. Now I am thinking there is something wrong with the operating system on SSD NVME. BCDINFO.txt file indicates “The boot configuration data store could not be opened. The volume for a file has been externally altered so that the opened file is no longer valid.” Dont know if relelvant in this case.

Next, I am thinking of re-imaging the partition form backup image or may be do a clean install from the Windows 10 media USB that I created today, more work but I will have a clean operating system. How do I install AHCI drivers or Windows Media USB will take care of it based on info in BIOS.  BIOS SATA operation is in AHCI mode currently.

If you would like to try something different, let me know. 

Once again thank you for the valuable guidance and time.

Hi Ron,

Success!!

Reimaged the NVME SS, using last week image. In any case my "User" folder is not on this disk.

Now, I have a strong temptation to update bios to 1.1.27. Should I risk it?

I will need to enable "UEFI firmware update capsule". Any other bios setting changes required before the update to 1.1.27?

Thanks,

I successfully downgraded to 1.1.26 after tearing my PC apart and putting it back together after downgrading. I will not try updating the bios to 1.1.27 until it's safe. You shouldn't have to tear your PC apart, just to upgrade the bios.

So how will we know when 1.1.27 is fixed so we can install it normally?   

I guess we will have to ask the Rockstars in this group after maybe 4-6 months.

With 1.1.26 I was not having any issues and don't even know what are the advantages of updating!! I guess we stay put for the time being or maybe just upgrade to 1.1.28 after waiting couple of months after its release to find out if there any problems with new upgrade as well.

@AbsoluteZero1  Glad to hear the re-imaging was a success! YEA!

All of these recent BIOS updates are just to fix (Intel) security (CVE) issues, not to add new features or improve PC performance. So you won't notice any differences when using the PC, assuming these updates install without causing any new problems. (LOL!).

If you're intent on installing BIOS 1.1.27,  don't let Windows Update do it, so leave UEFI Capsule Updates disabled in BIOS 1.1.26. Do the update to 1.1.27 entirely outside of Windows.

Put the BIOS I.1.27 .exe file on the FAT32 USB and plug into PC with power off. Power on and tap F12 to open the menu and select the Flash Update option.

At least for me, this update worked a bit differently than previous updates. Instead of just tabbing to the Flash button (assuming the  BIOS .exe file is only file on the USB), I had to press Enter after tabbing to middle box on left side and accept the entry there which included the name of the 1.1.27 update file. Unless I did that, the BIOS update info didn't get copied into all the other boxes, so the Flash button was inactive.

After you accept that entry, tab to the button, confirm info in top left and top right boxes and press the button. Leave PC alone until you're safely back at desktop. FWIW, the F12 update option worked for me with 1.1.27 without any problems.  YRMV! 

Assuming the update succeeds, immediately go into BIOS setup and disable UEFI Capsule updates and make those other changes I suggested too because each IOS update resets them to their defaults.

If you decide to do the 1.1.27 update, post back and tell us what happens....

@spotteddog  I suppose the way we'll know the problems with 1.1.27 have been addressed is when "1.1.28" is released.  But there's no guarantee the next BIOS update won't have the same or different issues...

I’ve just updated and have exactly the same problem.  I would suggest others skip this update.