Dell XPS 15 (9550) list of hardware and software problems

Should be fine, see
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Dell-XPS-15-9550-Core-i7-FHD-Notebook-Review.158875.0.html

 

I've had my 9550 about two weeks now. Everything still set as it was new. Just tried to do a Windows reset and get the "boot drive inaccessible" and am unable to reset my system.

I tried using a recovery drive, but it keeps telling me that it can't find it. It also cant find the factory image.

Has 1TB NVMe drive if that matters.

 

using GPUZ 0.8.6 below is the result

I am very surprise to see the bus interface to PCI 2.0
with 960M GTX it shoudn't be PCI 3.0 for better performance and bandwith???

 

Hi there, try to hit F2 during the startup- then you enter the bios menu - select disk management - select the raid og AHCI depending which one you use now. It must be the other. OK?

 

Anyone else than SunBeech who was very helpfull but I did not managed to make a solution or workaround??

A short summary:

Received a 9550, with 1 TB SSD, 16gbRAM, 4K display etc. Did a complete reinstall. Laptop arrived with RAID mode installed but as I started to install a 100%fresh WIN10 no partitions showed up. Called Dell and they told to me change diskmode in BIOS menu - Desk Management from RAID to ACHI. Partitions were now visible and I could continue. Running ACHI means that I know I have BSOD´s and also black screens. This laptop is worth 2.300 USD but so buggy! Can you help me?

 

I tried that. Spent over two hours on the phone with Dell support.

I was able to do a clean install, but I still cannot us the rescue disc I made or do a factory restore.

 

I tried that. Spend wo hours on the phone with Dell support.

I was able to do a clean install, but cannot use the rescue disc I made.

 

Hi Watergate,

Did Dell ask you to change enything else in the BIOS when you had to switch from RAID to AHCI?

The only difference in your Windows setup compared to my setup, seems to be that you installed Windows when already in AHCI mode, while I installed in RAID mode and switched to AHCI when after Windows was installed.

 

HI SunBeech,

No they did not asked me to change anything else in BIOS. Yes, you´re right regarding my installation of WIN10 in which I did in AHCI mode.

Kind regards
Watergate

 

HI SunBeech,

No they did not asked me to change anything else in BIOS. Yes, you´re right regarding my installation of WIN10 in which I did in AHCI mode.

Kind regards
Watergate

 

Okay, and on what BIOS version are you?

 

This has already been posted many times before, but: when installing in RAID mode, you should load the Intel RST driver at the Setup screen. Add the driver to your installation USB, use the extracted zip not exe from Intel.

Lord knows why Dell tech don't know this yet.

 

Bios is: 01.01.19,01.01.19

 

But anyway.. Now I have installed WIN10 i AHCI mode but cannot return to Raid. Do you have a solution for this?
I would also appreciate if you could link for the correct RST driver from Intel?
Thanks!

 

Install the driver for the samsung 950 pro on your machine. Though not officially supported, that should run fine and, as many users in this forum reported, solves the bluescreen issue (see page 40, post #394, for example)

 

What happens when you try:

1. install the Intel RST driver provided by Dell for your model (listed under Serial ATA on the driver download page)
2. then use msconfig to select Safe Boot, reboot and inBIOS change to RAID, load Windows and uncheck Safe Boot, reboot?

 

You cannot switch to RAID mode if you installed your Win10 on AHCI mode.

 

1. Only driver available from Dell drivers is: Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver
This package provides Intel Rapid Storage Technology Driver and is supported XPS 9550 and Precision 5510 running the following Operating Sys...

2. I have tried that option but does´nt work for me.

Thanks

 

Is there any specific reason why?

 

Yes, so what happens when you install 1 then do 2 (regardless of any error in 1)? I'd also like to know if it reinstalling is actually necessary

Otherwise you need the (extracted) f6*.zip driver from Intel on your installation USB: https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25165/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver

 

Hi Watergate,

What happens when you install the Samsung NMVe driver (which you can download from this site)?

 

End of the day if you are not happy you can return it

They for some reason didn't burn the boot drivers for raid into the image

I expect you could use nlite to integrate the RST boot drivers like I did with the standard windows 10 ISO

Latest ones https://mega.nz/#!NF0A2KKQ!3bflvdMoPmH84EHDJJQEnCPNbIZQUVUBPJyErmWCzPc

https://mega.nz/#!NF0A2KKQ!3bflvdMoPmH84EHDJJQEnCPNbIZQUVUBPJyErmWCzPc for boot drivers
Software https://downloadcenter.intel.com/do...wnloadmirror.intel.com/25165/eng/SetupRST.zip

Of course you can.
Set safe mode using "msconfig", boot into safe mode, reboot into BIOS and set to RAID mode, reboot into safe mode again and remove the safe mode flag in "msconfig" reboot and you are in raid mode and windows without a BSOD

 

I would like to see if the other guy can successfully switch from AHCI - RAID...

 

When I do this the system cannot startup. It can´t find Windows.. I'm stucked from here and have to go back in the boot menu and reselect ACHI in order startup again. I have installed the latest drivers ever later than Dell`s own.

 

God knows what's wrong in your setup, I installed in AHCI then switched to RAID without any issue, secure boot is on and legacy is disabled. I did however install the intel raid drivers as part of my ISO as they contain both RAID and AHCI.

 

Not really sure if I am supposed to download and install this driver Actually I am a little scared to do this. Should I be worried?
Edit: By the way I have SAMSUNG, PM951. On Samsung website it stands as PM950.

 

Don't worry. I installed on mine and no problem. Samsung says that the driver is only for the 950pro, but it works with the pm951 too

 

It'll be the only way out if you cannot switch to RAID

 

Not really. You can use Intel AHCI drivers too

 

I was referring to the bluescreens that he mentioned. The only solution for a stable system on AHCI was to install the Samsung drver, I thought?

 

- Or Dell substitutes the installed components, such as motherboard, SSD or and Nvidia Driver with new components? Something was wrong as the system also crashed with the preinstalled WIN10. Here it was only black screens with backlit on screen and keyboard light on.
So a buggy laptop from HOUR 1 after receiving it

 

For me , yes. Is the only thing that solved

 

I didn't have any luck. An hour on the phone with Dell support changing all the BIOS settings and still no luck .

I just want to use my rescue disc to restore an image but it doesn't work, and won't recognize the factory restore partition. My only option is to do a fresh install.

 

Guys I need some help with XTU. I will describe my issue:
I open XTU e do a undervolt of -150mV, I click apply and everything works fine!
I decide to do a reboot for any reason, then I open XTU again to do the undervolt and I see on the column on the right that both the proposed and default setting shows for the voltage -150mV, but if I check my current voltages in a software like HWinfo the voltages I see do not correspond to a -150mV.
So I reboot again and again until XTU resets the default and proposed settings

Anyone having this issue?

 

So, is all of the BSOD errors because of the Samsung 950 Pro people are installing or should I expect this on my stock system?

 

I can confirm this statement. It also did not work for me. I am not sure about the exact reason, but I can guess:
- Windows does not have appropriate RAID drivers in stash if you want to switch, whereas the AHCI config runs out of the box. I tried installing the Intel RAID drivers before rebooting in RAID mode, but that did not help.
- Another option: Even if the driver is available, the RAID controller cannot handle the standard disk format. But for a single disk drive it should be identical? Wouldn't that be an issue if you try to switch the other way round?

 

That seems to be the solution. The RAID drivers have to be inside of the original Windows driver stash. Even if you install them manually afterwards they are not automatically loaded during SafeBoot (as Windows thinks they are not required).

 

A guy over at the DELL Forums wrote:
I also learned that this Samsung SSD, if you have it in your machine, does NOT like AHCI mode in the bios, keep it in RAID mode even if you aren't utilizing a RAID setup. There is a reason dell sends it factory set to RAID and I discovered why with all the issues I had running a fresh windows install in AHCI mode or my SSD was bad

 

Strange how I don't get any bsod in ahci mode

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

Same, AHCI mode since fresh install, 950 Pro with samsung nvme drivers. 0 issue

 

Now installed the Samsung NVMe driver but still not able to select RAID in the Bios menu. Now let´s see if the new driver prevents the system failure as black screen, Blue screens etc.

 

The Samsung driver ist not to support RAID, it brings stable AHCI usage.

 

No, in fact using the Samsung 950 pro is the solution to all the issues (I did so for my unit, because it's also way faster in database usage scenarios). It's the stock SSD (PM951) that's not stable when using it in AHCI mode, whereas RAID mode is stable but reduces performance to 50% after sleep.
Now, installing the drivers of the Samsung 950 pro allows to use the XPS in AHCI mode without the performance issues that you would see in RAID, and without the bluescreen issues that you would see in AHCI.

 

I had some issues with Firefox (using hardware acceleration in firefox);
- Some striping (distorted text);
- Laggy fullscreen display on Youtube using the HTML5 video option

Installed today the Intel beta 20.19.15.4380 drivers. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/pr...-530-for-6th-Generation-Intel-Core-Processors
Issues gone.

 

I got the same issue after sleep... Reading/write performance to 50%. Ridicolous

 

I just made this with the Samsung driver. Is it good?

 

Thanks! So, my band-aid solution would be to never put my laptop to sleep, just shut down?

 

I think we can assume that there might be a BIOS update that solves the issue. But for now, you have these options:
- stay with reduced SSD performance after sleep in RAID mode (which is still faster than a typical 2.5" SSD)
- switch to AHCI and install the (not officially supported) Samsung 950 pro driver
- switch to AHCI and upgrade the SSD to a Samsung 950 pro and, of course, install it's driver
I decided to upgrade the SSD, that's stable, does not contain unsupported stuff and performs great. But I also see a disadvantage here: cold boot is normal, but restarting windows has a delay of >30 seconds (I don't own a XPS, but a precision 5510, so this might be specific to my system). Not a big deal, but a bit annoying...

 

Which BIOS version are you using on the 5510?

 

In regard to the bold/underline portion are you in Windows 7? I have a similar experience in Windows 7 on an XPS 9550.