Dell XPS 15 (Skylake) 9550 Owner's Lounge

Hey all after checking everything, seems this is only 65 wH so its under 100wH.


Im charging it right now at the moment.


The only question i have now is do i need to do flash bios or not? Is it necessary?

 

I'm definitely no expert here yet from what I do know I would say, "If it isn't broke don't break it"

If your power companion is functioning properly and doing what you need & want it to do then leave everything just as is, as you can definitely bite off more then you could chew by trying to tread waters that you never tried before and be left with something you never imagined could be.

 

Hi there. Well it probably gets 1 charge barely it seems if i plug it in while im using it and doing my normal tasks. So maybe the bios thing might make the power bank last longer?


Yes i also don't want to risk doing any damage to it etc as i dont know how to do on the bios page.

 

First check and see what Bios version you're currently using by typing System information in Windows search as the latest Bios version released is: 1.10.0
Now solely in my opinion you only want to update your Bios if the version is addressing issues & fixes that you're having as I definitely don't want to scare you yet you can definitely Brick (Break it) your machine if you happen to lose power while Flashing (updating) it.

In a nut shell, I would like I said, first check what Bios version you're presently running and if it's in fact not the latest one, which I don't believe it is, see on Dell's Support site (instructions following) if any of the updated versions address your issue or issues.

Support site instructions:
1. Go to Dell's support site (See link below) and put in your service tag in the search box, which can be found underneath the unit behind the flip door, and once your taken to their Diagnostics page click on Drivers & downloads on the left hand side and make sure under the option Operating system drop down your correct OS is chosen.
2. Scroll down until you see under the Category section BIOS.
3. Left click what version is presently under the Name category and DON'T select download.
4.Once on the "Driver Details" page check under Fixes & Enhancements to see if it in fact address's your issue(s) or not.
5. If it does not then go to step 7. If it in fact does then download it to your download location, find the file, close all open programs and windows and either double click it or right click it and choose - Run as administrator.
6. Follow the on screen instructions and DON'T touch the computer until you're either safely brought back to your sign-in screen or desktop.
7. Scroll down to the bottom of the page and under the category Version drop down see which earlier version(s) hopefully might happen to have Fixes & Enhancements addressing your issue(s).
8. If you do happen to find a version that does then just Download & install Only that One and no other version because like I said prior, when you Flash (update) the Bios things definitely can go wrong if power is lost during the process or etc.

Finally, If I were you I would first contact "Dell Support" and find out why your not getting the advertised hours on their power companion before doing any of the aforementioned.

Dell Support site: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04

 

Has anyone had issues with not being able to see components of the Dell Audio UI? It was working just a few days before, so I'm not sure what changed.

I've posted a screenshot below - there's just several components to it missing.

I also tried installing the 'latest' drivers from the dell driver website before, but it seemed to remove Dell Audio completely, which I do want to keep, so I did a system restore.

Any suggestions?

 

From your screen shot you don't have MAXAUDIO PRO installed. Uninstall & then re-install the audio driver.

 

Can someone tell me how i make my dell xps 15 9550 settings where i can get the most battery life of it as possible? The only thing that i do would be make it on best battery saver in the battery bar. Thus is that option, better battery, better performance and best performance


Also i set the percentage to 25%. There seems to be option to make it 0, 25, 50, 75 or 100 percent.


Is there a way to make screen different percentage compared to only those offered? What about the battery options? Also is something in properties somewhere, that would make battery last longer? Example like have webcam turned off or anything like that?

 

Please don't take this the wrong way, yet you Greatly Need to do some research into your questions such as these, as just here in this very Endless information venue (Notebook Review)(See Below) you can definitely get a great start if not everything you're looking for.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...life-on-xps-9550-or-other-xps-laptops.798644/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/dell-xps-9550-tutorial-of-longer-battery-life.788450/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/xps-15-9550-4k-battery-drainage-is-brutal.802723/

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...wners-what-are-your-battery-life-like.783807/

 

Some quick wins in the BIOS:
* Disable touch
* Disable 2 cores

 

Related question to this especially to the person that mentioned bios.


I recently installed bitlocker with the help of someone on this forum on my dell xps 15 9550 with windows 10. I did not set a pin or password but did a windows 10 password as the person helping me with the installation tells me this method is the most simple way to secure my laptop. Thus laptop turns on, there is nothing asking for password or pin for it to boot. Goes straight and ask for windows 10 password, i then log in. He says even if someone has your laptop, they cannot put virus/malware on it because the hard drive ssd is encrypted by bitlocker. However, he asks me about bios and says i need to have it updated to be fully secured otherwise it isn't. Do you all check your bios update often? I never done this ever because a long time ago i went to bios with another computer, i forgot what happened but was stuck and didnt know what to do because it frozed. Not long ago i got powerbank for the laptop and there was a paper that said you should update bios before you using it to make it work very well. I did not because i did not want to do anything that would make my computer has issues. I seen that message in an old laptop where bios won't load or anything and that made me not want to go there ever again.


So do most of you here lock your computer with bitlocker or veracrypt? If so, you have to suspend bios every single time before a bios update? Do you have pin or password on your computer for bitlocker? Do you have win 10 password? Anyone here have same setting as me where no pin or password but just win10 password but that would be encrypted? However, is my computer not safe because the bios is not updated? It doesnt say anywhere in the bitlocker instructions on another forum that you need to update bios or do anything with bios.

 

Hey all. So the person who has been very helpful with me in the bitlocker process says i need to secure a password for my windows 10... otherwise a hacker for example could still get in my computer and install malicious software with say a usb flash drive or cold boot attack.


I have to download this bios file below for my xps 15 9550? He posted the link for this as he helped me find it online but can anyone here confirm this is the correct link? I ask this because he says if there is anything done wrong in the bios process, it can make your computer very hard to fix. So i just want to make sure this is it. He says he has done bitlocker and bios with many computers with no issue but he never did this with a Dell.


https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER05476993M/1/XPS_9550_1.10.0.exe


He says after you download this file


Suspend Bitlocker. Run the file and follow instructions that are shown by it. Generally you need to make sure the laptop is well charged and that power supply is attached before starting flashing. It is critical that you do not interrupt the process in any way until the system is restarted into Windows. Most likely it will write BIOS image to RAM, then restart to DOS-style flashing utility, do its business, and finally restart as usual when done. Do not interrupt it, leave it alone during the process. It usually takes less than 5 minutes.



Can others with this dell xps 15 9550 laptop confirm this is the process to do it? I assume it has to be since even though he never done this with a dell... any other brand he done it with, the process is the same?


He posted a video here from youtube to help me out to get to the bios





This video seems to be about booting it from a dell xps 9560. So this process is the same as my dell xps 9550? Thus when computer turns on, keep pressing f2?


Thank you.

 

FWIW I have flashed each and every BIOS from day one for the 9550 without issue (Note: I don't have bitlocker enabled):
* Ensure you have enough battery in case the power goes out
* Download the bios update
* Close all your open applications
* Run the bios update program (from within windows)
* Read the confirmation dialog(s)
* Once your ready to proceed - click ok and then just sit back and watch...

 

My fan wont run... Can't hear anything even if I stick my ear on it

I have the Dell Power Manager and have tried all options but the fan is not moving. It was not like this weeks back. Really need some help... Thanks

 

Has anyone installed the new Intel DCH display drivers yet - 25.20.100.6618?

https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/28646/Intel-Graphics-Windows-10-DCH-Drivers?product=80939

The Dell driver haven't been updated in about a year and the new Intel Graphics Command Centre app for Windows 10 keeps asking me to update to the DCH driver. However there are lot of warnings that once you update to the DCH driver, you can't go back - and Nvidia won't let you swap between the two types at all.

Don't want to have no display by installing the wrong driver, but if Dell won't update it, I'd like to move to the supported driver.

 

It's probably Hardware related. Open up the unit and check that there's no accumulation of dust clogging it up and that the connection is solid.

 

I really would like to help you yet unfortunately & believe it or not I went back to Win 8.1 Pro awhile ago, which I'm very much more satisfied with than Win 10, and this driver is solely for Windows 10.

For whatever it's worth, I have always used Intel's Driver & Support Assistant and never had any issues installing what it recommended through a completed scan.

 

We still UNBELIEVABLY have not been forgotten.

Dell Command | Monitor

This package contains the Dell Command | Monitor application. The package is supported on Dell tablet, Dell XPS, OptiPlex, Precision and Latitude systems that run Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7 operating systems.
Fixes & Enhancements
Fixes:
- Issues observed on health state for FAN instance of DCIM_NumericSensor class had reported incorrectly. This issue has been resolved.

Enhancements:
- Supports Dell Dock, Dell Performance Dock, and Dell Thunderbolt Dock.
- For the list of new BIOS settings that are supported, see the Dell Command | Monitor Version 10.2 Reference Guide at support.dell.com.
Version
Version 10.2.0.432, A00
Category
Systems Management
Release date
09 Apr 2019
Last Updated
09 Apr 2019
Importance
Recommended

https://www.dell.com/support/Home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=904DF

 

Ok guys, here's a strange one that just cropped up on one of my 9550's. We use notebook coolers plunged into the left side USB port. Of course, when we power down the cooler turns off as well.

However, recently and suddenly on one of the machines when it fully powers down the cooler keeps running drawing power somehow from the machine that should be completely off. It has been this way with both machines since the beginning and every laptop we've had thus far. Unplugging the cooler and plugging it back in does nothing. Unplugging the machine and plugging it does not work either the cooler apparently running off the battery. Only restarting the machine and then shutting it down does it.

Any ideas?

 

Did you happen to update to the latest BIOS recently and if so is there an option there to power down/diasble the USB 3.0 port when the computer is turned off, as it just seems to me that the USB port is remaining on for external charging e.g. USB PowerShare, which it's designed to do?

 

No not on that machine. Nothing has changed except for some basic incremental Windows updates.

 

Never mind, I've answered my own question. The installer won't run as it detects that Dell use custom display drivers.

 

I recall someone did with the 9570. But is a procedure, and might not work perfectly. According to issues with certain bugs, Dell versions were not identical to related Intel ones, and the combination of the driver and BIOS versions matters.
I'd wait until Dell adopts DCH drivers, and other users do some beta testing

 

Check the bios for usb powershare maybe?

 

F2 into Bios Setup - System Configuration - USB PowerShare and make sure it's not Enabled.

 

I did try that version and it had occasional freezes (seemed to only happen when I used Cisco VPN) so I rolled back.

But there is a newer version: 26.20.100.6708 which seems to be working ok (its getting pushed out via MS updates + Win 10 19H1).

 

Though I seriously doubted that this was the issue since I set both machines up three years ago and know that I disabled this, your suggestion was right on the money.

How this setting reenabled itself is huge mystery since the other machine still has it disabled.

 

I gave up trying to figure out the mysteries of how things could start one way and end up another a very long time ago and that's why "I Always Check First."

Glad I could Help.

 

Hi there. I will disable bitlocker for now.


Well if i have at least 45 minutes of battery on laptop in case power goes out, is that enough? I also have a power bank as well.


Where do i download the bios update? I do not believe i ever checked bios ever but someone who installed a new battery for my laptop a while back might have looked at bios.


Do you have your bios secured with a password? Because that is what i want to do.


Thank you.

 

That is way more than you will ever need as the BIOS update process takes no more than a few minutes.

Enter your Service Tag on the following site in the search bar: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04 and once you do left click the Search icon to the right.
Once at your Support page on the far left hand side under Diagnostics choose Drivers & downloads.
Scroll down the page a bit to Find a driver for your XPS 15 9550 and make sure the correct Operating System is chosen
Then under the Category Drop Down choose BIOS and from there you have access to the latest BIOS update and a few earlier versions as well.
Myself and another gracious member (Schmoo2k) have already previous outlined the BIOS update process so just search this forum back a few pages to see them.
If your using Windows 10 in the Search field of Windows enter, System information and you will be taken to a window that displays your present BIOS version and you can then take it from there on what you do or don't need.

https://www.howtogeek.com/186235/how-to-secure-your-computer-with-a-bios-or-uefi-password/

 

I updated 9550 with most of the new drivers and BIOS from Dell.com. Haven't touched the newer graphics drivers but maybe will soon.

The audio quality from speakers has gotten quite good over time. I think the distortion from changing screen brightness with f11/f12 keys has been largely fixed.

The headphone jack is wonky but I have done some audio tweaks so that might be just my system.

DPC Latency remains unchanged; it's pretty good but there is room for improvement. Frank Azor said Dell is fixing major 9570 DPC Latency issues this month so if those are ever released maybe the knowledge flows to the 9550, which is still well supported.

 

When i typed in system information, it shows


Bios mode: UEFI

 

Hi there. I just looked through these threads and have few comments to make.


1. How in the world does anyone even get even 5 hours of battery life on it? When i first got the laptop new... i believe i got maybe a bit more 3 hours on battery at the max. And this is when im not youtubing and not doing intensive things on it. Now i will say i have tons of chrome tabs open... by that i mean over 50 usually. So that affects battery life a lot then? I see people mention that they got 8 hours battery life on it. How is that even possible? Do they make no sound and brightness at 20 percent or something? And they are typing a word document only? If you are web browsing a ton, i can't imagine anyone getting more than 3 hours max battery. I recently just closed all my chrome tabs and used my computer intensively with a certain program and got around 1.5 hours on it. The thing is if say im just leaving the computer as is without sleeping and just leaving it there, i would never get more than max 1h 45m battery. So i have zero clue how anyone can even get 2.5 hour doing intensive things on this laptop?


2. Right now my laptop when i make it best battery life and the screen brightness at 25 percent... i would get at best 1.5 hours of battery. This was a new battery i got about a year ago because the old one worn out. But still, i never got more than 2 hours of battery at the absolute max. Now if im doing intensive heavy things on it... it would last max 1.5 hours. On the site, they say its 4.5 hours on intensive use. How does one even get 2.5 hours of intensive use on it? The other thing is this. I got an acer chromebook last year brand new. This advertised like 10 hour battery life. When i first used it, i say it was more like 4 hours or a bit more. But now i get no more than 3 hours at the absolute max. Now i do have screen resolution at 100 percent and have say 50 plus chrome tabs opened at least. Is that why? However, even if i have a couple of chrome tabs open, there is no way i get more than 3.5 hours max on my chromebook either... which is advertised like 10 hours of battery. The thing is every single laptop i ever got in my life... none ever was close to the advertised hours. I mean they say a laptop have 6 hour battery life... i would be lucky to get 3 hours when brand new. Then using it for a while, 2 hours would be even rare. Does this have to do with me having screen resolution at 100 percent?


3. I looked at how people say they make battery better but many seem dangerous. The battery calibration doesn't seem that safe as someone here said that. Throttling could potentially damage your computer as well from what i read if you do it wrong. Well what can i do where i won't risk damaging it such as going to bios for example. If i turn off the backlight on my keyboard, would that save me a bit of battery? Now what about Reducing background services and apps. Could i not start up programs at startup where i do not need which makes battery better? Or reduce the background services and apps? In background processes, i have over 70 at the moment... I have over 85 windows processes. Does that sound ridiculously high? Tons of it is service host:...


4. Someone says

I then change the power profile from balanced to Low Power Profile by setting the maximum processor state to 10% when on battery, and 30% when on power adapter. I used the following Registry mod to activate Processor State setting.


The my power profile and the maximum processor state? So i should make it 10 percent on battery and 30 percent on power adapter? I check mine and it shows minimum processor state is 5 percent for on battery and plugged in. For maximum processor state, it shows 100 percent for on battery and plugged in. Does that need to be changed and if so what percentage?



5. When i go to power settings, it shows


Change settings for this plan: Balanced



I have never for turn off the display or put the computer to sleep for both on battery and plugged in.


The adjust plan brightness is pretty low for battery and plugged in.



When i click on changed advanced power settings it shows


Balance (Active)

Hard disk
Turn off hard disk after
on battery : 10 minutes
plugged in : 20 minutes


Do you need the rest of the info below?

 

Also i have the 56whr battery. Last year when i bought a replacement battery, i bought the 84whr by accident since when i went to repair shop to have them replace it, they told me it was the wrong one. So i had to buy the 56whr one. So this battery is worst than the 84whr one? Well my laptop is only compatible with the 56whr one. But i read some ppl can use either? Is there a reason why? Is it because my computer came with a 32gb ssd or something like that as a second drive?


I want to be able to get as much battery as i can here. If i never updated bios, could they affect all of this? I never done anything with bios.



But im frustrated i have such poor battery life on this laptop. If i could get 3 hours on it... that would be more than good enough. I get 1.5 hours max and that seems to be with everything low for battery and 25 percent screen brightness...

 

You need to find out your BIOS version and not the BIOS Mode what the system is running in e.g. UEFI, which is in fact right and what you want.

Right-click the Start button and then choose Run
In the Run search box, enter msinfo32 and choose OK
On the System information window under the columns Item and Value 1/2 way down look for Bios vers... the numbers that follow is what you want and want to know.

As far as your other post with the series of Battery questions, I really would like to help you with that as well yet unfortunately my 9550 is strictly a Desktop replacement and I Never use the Battery as it's always plugged in to the AC. You will definitely get much more accurate answers and suggestions from the gracious members who in fact do run their 9550 on Battery.

What I can only unfortunately suggest is, check the overall Health of the Battery in Windows or with 3rd party apps/software and make sure in the Taskbar after you left click the Battery icon that it shows Fully charged (100%) and Power saver is selected and Disable all type of Windows special effects, animations and unneeded etc. and turn off WiFi & Bluetooth if not needed when running on Battery.

 

I've used laptops for over twenty five years and have never in that time had real world battery usage match what the manufacturer advertised. That is, using the machine the way I want with the screen brightness high enough to p;rovide the finest picture (many of my previous laptops didn't have very bright screens as in the old days that wasn't much of a priority) was always more important than battery life as we use our plugged in almost all the time.

That being said, our 9550's have VERY bright screens being rated at over 400 nits. I keep my screen at 75% brightness and that is more than enough. The rare times we use our machines on battery alone we typically got 2 to 3 hours which we have learned to live with to be able to enjoy the power of the machine.

Drew1, what you seem to be trying to to accomplish by lowering the screen brightness and throttling the cpu seems to me as sort of like buying a Ferrari and then not driving it to save on gas because it only gets five or six miles to the gallon.

Just saying.

 

Have you turned off keyboard backlight? That and screen brightness are the biggest non-value adding consumers to me.

Also doing proper restart helps getting all driver in a correct state so that power saving mode is actually entered. Many times my screen run full brightness even though it is set
to lowest possible, a restart fixes that.

I get from 3-6 hours from my 5510 with the large battery, I got 8 hours some time when the unit was new.

As you have two drives you consume slightly more power, and you have the smaller battery, so you are not setup for max battery operation.

Try find a power schema for max Battery operation or Silent mode (silent will avoid fans, and throttles rather than cools, which saves power).



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Has anyone tried cramming 2 sodimms of 32gb in one of these? I'm due for a little ram upgrade.

-Aeny

 

I have 2 x16GB on 9550.

There were very few laptops of the era that permitted 64GB of RAM (I was looking to make a huge ramdisc at the time). The Eurocom (& derivatives) with desktop 6700K (and similar), Lenovo Xenons.

Unless 64GB RAM support is explicitly stated, I suspect that any laptop with 2 RAM slots might need BIOS work to accept 2x32GB sodimms. But maybe laptops with 4 RAM slots might accept 4x16GB sodimms. No idea if any of that would work.

I see Samsung 32GB sodimm at Newegg but these modules are certainly not widespread. I'm not sure they actually exist lol.

https://gadgets.ndtv.com/laptops/news/meet-the-laptop-with-64gb-ram-5tb-ssd-and-6-usb-ports-798862
https://www.theverge.com/2015/8/11/9129681/lenovo-skylake-xeon-notebooks-p50-p70

 

Hi there.


Bios Version/Date Dell Inc. 01.00.07, 11/2/2015
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 255.255



Thus i never touched my bios right? I got this laptop in late 2016. So could this be the reason my battery has always been bad?


When my laptop is fully charged, it does say fully charged 100% on it. You say you use it as a desktop replacement. By that you basically mean you have it plugged in always correct and rarely unplug the charger? I do the same thing. But just to confirm... someone else mentioned this. You always want to have it fully charged and rarely if ever on battery right? Thus if you do that, it hurts the battery? I always thought with laptop battery, when its fully charged, you suppose to unplug it and use it until it gets down to say 20 percent or so... then charge it again to 100% and repeat that process. Because i thought having it fully charged 100% while keep having it plugged it hurts the battery... so that is completely wrong? Thus if you do unplug it and plug it back when battery is low, this degrades your battery so to speak? But I do pretty much use when using it have it plugged in almost always. So that is correct thing to do?


Well i always use wifi on the computer. How do i turn of the windows special effects and animations? Again when i type in task manager, i have over 70 background processes. I have over 80 windows processes. Most of them say service host: ......But most doesn't seem to use much or any cpu or memory.

 

Which processor do you have? What battery do you have? I have the i5-6300hq and i read that this processor means worst battery than i7 processor... is that true or false? Also my battery is 56whr only. There is a 84whr battery i know but the issue is that is not compatible with my laptop. Last year i bought laptop battery replacement... got it.. then find out it was too long and not compatible with mine. But i read if you have that battery, it last longer right because of the higher whr? Im curious but do you guys who have the xps 15 9550... could you use either 56whr or 84whr battery? Because my laptop when opened... the guy who replaced my battery last year told me... the battery i bought was not compatible because it was too long. So i had to buy the 56whr one.


Also does ram affect battery life? I have 8gb of ram. I have ssd as well. The other thing is this. I use ton of chrome tabs and have them opened even when not using it. But when i closed all my chrome tabs and just used my laptop on battery, i had best battery mode thus lowest setting and screen at 25%, i got 1.5 hours mostly on battery before i needed to charge it. Don't you think that is way too low though? 1.5 hours? Now what you are doing something computer intensive? Dell advertises 4.5 hours. I don't even get half that amount. And remember... im doing this with lowest battery setting and 25% screen brightness...


But could it be because i never did anything with my bios. I posted my bios version. Thus i never updated or did anything with that ever... because well i didn't know or ever used bios.

 

So you are saying turning keyboard backlight and screen brightness did not do much for you? Because i definitely feel like the screen brightness when i make it from 100 percent to 25% doesn't really do that much either. I mean it might be 15 minutes max maybe? I didn't test it fully but i recall when i left my computer unplugged and at 100 percent brightness and highest battery setting, it wears out pretty quickly when im out of the apartment for an hour and you need to recharge it pretty quick.


So i can't remove one of the drives right? Right now i have a samsung ssd that is 250gb... and i believe a 32gb mssd or something like that? I know that was already inside my laptop when i first got it. So that is causing my battery to be poor? I can't remove that right? Now my battery is the smaller one. So basically because i have that 2nd hard drive, i can only use the 56whr battery which screws me over a bit since i cannot use the 84whr one right? I previously bought a 84whr battery to replace it but then i found out when bringing it to a laptop repair shop for guy to replace, he said... this battery is not compatible...its too long. Thats when i figured out... they had two types of battery for it. I had to buy the 56whr one and had him put that in.


So do most ppl have the option to use either the 56 or 84 whr battery? What percentage of ppl here use the 84 vs the 56? How many ppl here use the 56? How many ppl only can use the 56whr because they have that 2nd hard drive? I assume most ppl who are happy with the xps 15 9550 have the 84whr battery right? So those of you with that battery, you only have one hard drive in your computer which is a ssd most likely? And you dont have that mini 32gb ssd drive that come along with it?

 

Dell initially published that their new XPS 15 L502x had a max ram capacity of 8GB. However, folks soon found out that it would run 16GB just fine.

So, I guess it might be possible.

 

AFAIK you would need 4 ram slots to pull off 64gb as the controller can't cope on 2.

 

Opposite, turning off back light an reduce brightness has a big effect on battery time.

You could replace your hard drives to one nvme m2 (SSD drive) that is large enough for your needs, 250GB-1TB, then you can fit the large battery (since your second hard drive used the same space as the larger battery will need).

However this does not come for free. Perhaps better to buy a configuration that is optimized for battery time.





Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

AFAIK 32GB modules exist but are still expensive and rare. I think someone reported working in an XPS 15.

 

How do i turn off the backlight on keyboard on my xps 15 9550? I checked online and it says i need to press f2 at boot to make the changes? Or can i do this with going to my computer and doing a few changes just like that?


My hard drive is 250gb ssd samsung. Its fine for me already. I don't need a bigger ssd.


So you are saying you need to have that 2nd hard drive part removed from the computer when yous ay it doesn't come for free? So a repair shop could do this easily but it cost good amount of money for this? I bought this laptop over 2 years ago. I had no idea this laptop was configured differently from other dell xps 15 9550 laptops...

 

Okay so can someone confirm this for me?


I have to update my bios as i never done it for my dell xps 15 9550.


This is my bios version.

Bios Version/Date Dell Inc. 01.00.07, 11/2/2015
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Embedded Controller Version 255.255


Someone mentioned im using an ancient bios and to update it.



At the moment i have bitlocker enabled with tpm unlock. But no bitlocker password. Just windows 10 password. I'm told i need to


1. Suspend bitlocker

2. Download bios

https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/xps-15-9550-laptop/drivers


Click view more and scroll to Dell XPS 15 9550 System BIOS. Click on download.



3. Then once download is done, open the program. And let it do its things.



Can others confirm here this is the correct process? Also make sure i have a lot of battery in my laptop and make sure its charged when im doing this? I read that this takes about 5 minutes. But for someone who never did a bios update... could it be longer and if so how long?


When i do open bios and update it, there won't be questions i have to answer right? It will just do its thing? Then once its done... it would then restart and go to my windows 10 password login screen? That way i know that bios is updated correctly?


I want to make sure of this because i read that if there are issues with bios updating... your computer can get screwed.

 

Backlight and brightness keys sits next to each other, they are on the F-keys. Depending on your seteup you may need to press Fn while pressing them. Each time you press backlight you cycle through the 3 settings, off/full/half.

Your 250gb SSD drive is a SATA drive. It’s bigger, cheaper and slower than a NVMe m2 SSD drive.
In order to fit the larger battery you need to get rid of the SATA drive and buy a new NVMe drive that is big enough. Then you need to buy the bigger battery. I assume you also need to pay your repair shop to do the work.
All of this will cost you some.

Each dell is configured “differently” according to the original buyers spec.

If you are the kind of person that have specific needs from your product you need to investigate your product before you buy, if not you may get lucky and be happy or as now be looking for characteristics you didn’t buy.

Since you are on this forum I would say you are one of those persons that need carefully consider your needs and available options before you purchase.


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I pressed f10. Now when i move the cursor of my keyboard mouse, keyboard does not light up. So i assume that turned it off.


Well i did research on this laptop a while back. Everyone said the xps 15 9550 was good a while back. But i had no clue it came with 2 hard drives. It actually came with a 7200 rpm 1tb hard drive as well. But i went to repair shop and had them replaced with an old samsung ssd i had.


So basically getting rid of the sata drive and buy a new nvme drive is basically not worth it then right? I mean the hard drive is going to be at least 150 usd. Getting the battery is another 70 usd or so. Then having to have that removed would cost i guess another 100-150 at least? So basically this would cost at least 300 usd minimum just so i could have a 84whr battery in it as oppose to 56whr right? Thus its not worth it right? I bought this laptop a long time ago. I did research on it and got the dell xps 15 9550 i5-6300hq with 8gb ram. I read that even if its i5 and not i7, well the i5-6300 is still quad core which i needed so that was good. Also when they say hard drive is 1tb and included the 32gb ssd mini ... i don't even know what that is. I just assumed okay replace the 1tb slow hard drive with my ssd and it was good. I also had no idea this would mean the battery i use would be smaller and less battery life etc. The thing was when i brought this laptop to a repair shop to install the ssd in... he was so confused because my main hard drive when i was downloading things into... it kept going into that smaller 32gb drive. The issue was since windows 10 takes space, i couldnt even use it because anything i downloaded went to that 32gb ssd thing. I had to pay the guy to fix this and make my 250gb ssd the main drive. He told me this was strange they would set it up this way. They made the 32gb ssd the main drive... when i got the laptop. Have you or anyone heard of anything like this?

 

Can other dell xps 15 9550 users confirm the steps i wrote 2 steps above are the correct steps for me to download bios and then update it?


I want to get confirmation before i do this.