XPS 8950, will not boot from Windows 11 USB

@BuffaloSky You may want to try using Rufus to make a bootable USB with Windows 11. Here is the procedure: https://pureinfotech.com/rufus-create-bootable-windows-11-usb/

It has been reported with Windows 10 that sometimes the Media Creation Tool did not work, I am not sure if that occurs with Windows 11.

you do not want to attempt legacy boot for Win 11 which requires uefi.

Re: I am able to see the bootable USB drive.  When I select it, all I get is a black screen

how long did you wait?  also does your USB drive have a flashing light suggesting the pc is reading/loading installation file from the usb?  if there is a steady and not flashing light on usb then I would agree pc is not accessing boot file on usb.  I assume you have usb wired keyboard and mouse connected to pc which attest that the ports are not disabled.

sometimes it does take a few minutes of black screen before screen shows Win 11 logo.  It depends on how fast the pc loads installation file from usb.  so if you have a usb that has a power led it would be very helpful to know whether pc is actually reading from usb or not during black screen time.

also are you using on board DP or discrete video card for video?  try to use HDMI if possible.

When I first received my 8940 I ran into the same problem because I was going to do a clean install too.  After all the frustration I decided to do a clean install in AHCI mode (RAID is default on Dell) and had no problem.

During my troubleshooting, I did try a using Rufus and experienced the same issue with the screen going blank right after saying "Launching 'efi\boot\bootx64.efi'...".  This was only happening when I had my monitor connected to my graphics card.  Issue was resolved by using the onboard graphics for the installation.  

FWIW, there is an NVidia vBIOS firmware update for various GTX30xx series cards to fix DP and HDMI display issues at boot with Win 10 or 11, but at least for now, it's only offered for the XPS 8940.

I wonder if, sooner/later, a similar vBIOS update will be offered for these same GPU cards when installed in the XPS 8950. Caution: Do NOT try to install that update on your GPU. Wait and see if it's eventually offered specifically for the XPS 8950 too...

BuffaioSky

I bought a new 8950 and I experience the same issue of not able to boot from USB/DVD.

You mentioned you have "your monitor connected to your graphics card", not sure if I understand this.

My 8950 only have one slot on the rear of the PC that could allow me to connect to my monitor via an HDMI cable. Do I have to open the PC case to connect the HDMI cable some there inside? If so, could you post a screen shot on where the connection inside your XPS 8950 is?

BTW, I do not purchase any additional graphic card, other than the default "NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 1650 SUPER(TM) 4GB GDDR6."

Please excuse my being not a hardware guy.

mason331

@mason331  If you want to use HDMI, the only HDMI port is on your add-in GTX 1650 video card. The only onboard Intel UHD Graphics port on this PC is DisplayPort (DP).

The onboard DP port is in area 1. Your video card is somewhere in the area marked 2, 3, 4, 5.

You have to open BIOS setup by tapping F2 when you power the PC on. When BIOS setup opens, look for the option to Enable Boot Support and enable it. Save the change and exit setup. When it gets to the desktop, shut down normally (not a Restart).

Then plug a bootable USB into the PC with power fully off. Power on and tap F12 to open the boot menu. You should find an option to boot from USB on that menu.

RoHe

Thanks for the info. It works; I could boot from UEFI USB using onboard DP port to my monitor; still not able from UEFI DVD though.

Mason

@mason331  - Now put the monitor back on the HDMI port on the video card. Or, if that card has it's own DP, use that instead of HDMI.

I suspect you can only use a bootable CD and not a DVD...