Windows 10 Creators Update not yet ready for Dell XPS 9550

Trying to update my Dell XPS 9550 to Windows 10 to Creators update (version 1703, codename Redstone 2), using the automatic updates feature. My surprise when Windows informs me that the update is not yet ready, so better not to force it. I say this because some people may be forcing the update and have problems.

Screenshot from my Dell:


Good news! The Windows 10 Creators Update is on its way. Want to be one of the first to get it?
Yes, show me how


Source:
Microsoft warns Windows 10 problems installing the Creators Update

So don't brute force upgrades if you don't know what you are doing.

 

I'm not sure if this may apply as I own the 9560 but giving the fact that both the 9550 & 9560 are very similar in spec anyway I thought it may be worth a shot.

With the first 9560 I owned a couple of weeks ago and upon testing out a fresh install of the Creators Update on it, I was greeted with a constant stuttering and hanging problem that rendered the entire desktop unusable. Straight away I then reformatted and went back to 1607. However, in the end I determined that it could of been linked to the fact that 9560 was faulty as it was sent back last week due to a persistent BSOD error that was hardware related.

Fast forward to the weekend just gone and by which point I acquired another brand new 9560 from Dell that is faultless, and I was tempted to do a clean install on Windows on it anyway to be rid of all the bloatware but this time give Creators Update another go as it's now offered directly as part of the Windows Media Creation tool process by default now anyway - plus Microsoft are continuously making new implementations & updates to the new version as time goes on.

The install went without a hitch and after letting Windows Update / Device Manager do it's thing with updating all the drivers - I can confirm that the Creators Update for me is now running smoothly. The only alteration I had to make with the drivers myself was to manually update the Intel HD 630 driver to version 4627 via Device Manager (4574 as you may know is bugged & emits stuttering problems when running in Chrome).

Taking into account that these Creators Update issues seems to linked to the 9550 at the moment, the only thing I can think of is that Microsoft still may need to implement full compatibility to the Skylake platform on several laptops besides Dell and it may well also be linked to NVidia on the driver side of things (NVidia themselves also released a new graphics driver last week which details Creators Update compatibility). I wouldn't say that people should not upgrade to it just yet but there's no harm in giving it a go. Also Microsoft themselves have already mentioned that they are only releasing the update via Windows Update in slow batches / stages, this is usually the norm nowadays throughout the software market as they need to stipulate and monitor overall stability - you'll probably find that everyone will be able to upgrade via Windows Update within the next three or so months. At the end of the day, if you need to rely on a new Windows 10 bootable USB directly from Microsoft - the likes of the Windows Media Creation Tool will only now download & install the Creators Update to your USB by default, the older 1607 has now been discarded it seems.

In my opinion though with major updates & releases like these, I never tend to upgrade directly from an older version of Windows itself as it takes far too long to carry out and I feel that it interferes with the overall stability of the build as well. Therefore I always go down the route with carrying out a fresh install via a newly released ISO from Microsoft.

Liam.

 

Doesn't your 9560 have a factory restore partition? My 9550 certainly has, I think from Windows settings or Windows Recovery pressing Shift while choose reboot.

http://www.dell.com/support/article...-microsoft-windows-on-a-dell-computer?lang=EN

Some of that bloatware as you call it may be necessary like Dell Premier Color or things like that.

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/xps-15-9550-laptop/drivers

 

My 9560 indeed came with the factory restore partition on it, but when I did a fresh install of the Creators Update over the weekend I made a backup image of the entire driver via Macrium beforehand as when doing the fresh install afterwards I completely wiped the drive and started from scratch.

Dell Premier Color in my case in irrelevant and not required as I don't have the UHD model. In my opinion I really haven't got a problem with Dell's own supplied software as not only is there a minimal amount of it when compared to other manufacturers, but parts of it like the SupportAssist can be useful but for me most of the Dell supplied software I do not use, therefore in my case I don't like it running in the background when using the laptop and using up RAM / CPU resources.

Liam.

 

Does Macrium work with SATA Operation inside bios in RAID mode? Because I've tried Acronis True Image and doesn't detect the nvme drive. That's how it came when I bought it. If I change SATA Operation to AHCI does not boot.

 

Macrium works in either SATA & RAID mode, I've never ran into any problems with using it at all - probably the best imaging program I've ever used. It's always picked up all of my connected drives on whichever setup I use.

Liam.

 

Here we go...

Updated to the Creators Update on my 9550. Immediately, I started getting video card resets (freeze, black screen, back for a few seconds, repeat) and occasionally would BSOD with a TDR error. I downloaded a fresh Windows 10 Pro image from Microsoft and started over. The problem continued...

When I went back to the Dell site, there was an even newer Intel Graphics driver than the one I just downloaded. I installed this and my BSODs were gone. Fantastic!!!

Now there's another issue:

Initially, whenever the computer went to sleep, I would not be able to use my keyboard, and sometimes not the touchscreen, when I woke it.

Now, it's even worse. If I close my lid the computer crashes. Once I start it again, it tries to do a disk check (always verifies 100%), and boots normally.

When I check event viewer, it says the OS failed to shut down cleanly and was rebooted, followed by this error:
The driver \Driver\WUDFRd failed to load for the device ACPI\INT3400\2&daba3ff&0

I've traced that driver to the Intel Dynamic Platform and Thermal Framework Manager. I suspect whatever it's doing, or supposed to do, is causing Windows to crash when it should just let Windows take a nap.

I uninstalled all pieces of it and deleted the driver, let Windows update from the internet. It installed the same driver that's available from Dell.

This is extremely frustrating.

 

Was the update offered by Windows or did you force it?
My advice is to restore to the previous state when everything was working.

 

Actually, I should clarify my first comment. I did NOT force an update. I got notification about the creator's update, and my screen started freezing/blacking out/gpu resetting/BSODs.

To fix the BSODs, I reinstalled a fresh copy of Windows downloaded with the Microsoft Media Creator tool, which turned out to be the Creators Update. At that point, when the same issue above continued, I checked and Dell had released a NEW new Intel video driver, which fixed the problem.

Because I was now on the Creators Update, the other issues started.

I don't have a roll-back option. I replaced my OEM Samsung M.2 with a faster, larger Samsung 960 Pro. I didn't keep the restore partition because I always go with the retail Microsoft Pro installation over the OEM version.

I understand that rolling back will fix it. I'm looking for alternatives. I've narrowed the issue down to likely being caused by the Intel DPTF. I'm on a slow satellite connection with a small monthly data cap and would prefer not to download another Windows Image. Hopefully updates are released soon.

 

I'm talking about the option to roll back to previous build, not the system recovery.

https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-uninstall-the-windows-10-anniversary-update/

I think you can get somewhere the original recovery and re-partition with stock scheme.

 

The currently installed build was what was downloaded from MS. I do not have bandwidth to keep downloading new (or old) builds, unfortunately. I understand, and am assuming, that reverting to a previous build may not be AS large of a download as a full image, but I doubt it's too much smaller.

Point of my comment was to point out where the problem likely is. I've got a decade or so of professional IT experience to fix my own issues, I'm not particularly in a hurry for a solution. Not enough to use more of my data quota. I'll use my other laptop or desktop until there's a solution.

The roll-back is a feature I was unaware of, so thanks on that, but not one I see myself using. I'm not trusting of roll-backs and resets and prefer to just reinstall clean.

 

Rollbacks on Windows 10 are pretty good, just keeps everything in the Windows.old folder so it's not a halfway solution.
In any case, provided that you have low internet quota, you should have done proper backups. You have way too many options that you neglect it.

 

Haha. Really?

I have a 2 x hexacore Xeon, 128gb ECC DDR4, 4 x Samsung 850 Pro in RAID1+0 server at home running an ESXi host. It has 3 x LSI Megaraid PCI-E cards, flashed to work as a HBA, which are used for the 24 x 4TB drives. Most of those are in a single FreeNAS RAIDZ3 configuration. The important, irreplaceable data is regularly backed up to a separate volume, encrypted, and synced to a couple cloud providers. It's all rack-mounted, on a UPS that can power the setup for an hour without power, and will cleanly shut down ESXi and it's guests. I have a certificate-based VPN server configured so I can connect to and manage remotely.

I'm in the middle east for work and do not have the same luxuries for backup. My laptops and desktop all backup user data to a small RAID1 NAS and an external drive on the desktop. If I have the data left in my quota at the end of the month, I back it up over VPN to my home.

I have never lost data that I've cared about. I've worked and work on enterprise networks where high availability is extremely important. When I need guidance on "proper backups," I doubt I'll be asking anyone here, if I ask anyone.

My purpose here was posting what the problem was and seeing if anyone had solutions I hadn't thought of. At the minimum, give details to help find a solution if one exists. I know how to reinstall an OS.

 

All of these issues seems to be related to the Intel HD video drivers. I rolled it back to an older version and haven't had any issues at all on Creators update with XPS 15 9550.

 

I have no any problems with my XPS 9550 and Windows 10 Creators Update, at all.

 

What did you roll back, Intel drivers or Windows build?

 

Don't think so. I did initially have issues related to the Intel HD video drivers. I updated to a new version posted just days after the one I installed, and THOSE issues were resolved.

I was offline when I installed this build, because it was my only option, and installed the latest drivers for my Service Tag from Dell. I'll do another clean install and see if I have the same luck...

Are we both on the same build?

Curious how that new Gigabyte Aero 15 will be...

 

10 minutes from booting to fresh install of Windows 10, half of which was spent going through the initial Cortana crap. Samsung 960 Pro installing from 128gb Samsung Extreme Pro USB SSD thumb drive. What a wonderful world.

Immediately put the computer to sleep. Keyboard doesn't work upon waking.

EDIT: Oh, look at that. BSOD! The ONLY thing I did was install the WLAN drivers to connect to a network, then went to check for updates. Then it froze, and blue screened.

 

According to Dell, the 9550 has been tested and drivers OKed for Windows 10 Creator.

http://www.dell.com/support/article...upgrade-to-windows-10-creators-update?lang=EN

 

I see. I always use ethernet RJ45.

That's funny, because that page was last modified 12/April/2017, and some users complain after that date, so something is not updating properly. Maybe you have to reinstall all Dell drivers and software again after upgrading to Creators Update.

Checked today for updates, and it successfully downloaded and installed KB3150513 and KB2538243, but no Creators Update yet.

 

I have a USB-C RJ45 adapter, but wifi is preferred for the convenience. It didn't crash due to the WLAN drivers, but I can't remember what it was. It was probably the CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED BSOD.

1) First time I did a clean install of Windows 10 straight from Microsoft, I manually installed all the drivers with the latest-and-greatest available on Dell's website. I didn't have internet at the time so am positive it Windows Update didn't grab any.

2) Second time I did a clean install, I only installed the Dell 1830 drivers to connect to the internet, and let Windows Update install all the drivers. Same issue.

I'm genuinely curious what "testing" Dell did.

 

Just tested today Macrium Reflect, and indeed it works perfectly with both NVMe and RAID on Dell XPS 9550. Great software. Much much better than the well-known Acronis True Image in my opinion.

 

Sounds like SATA is disabled in bios, check for that.

 

Glad to hear that you're happy with Macrium. The one thing that impresses me the most with it is that you have so much functionality and features with the free version, unlike a lot of the other imaging programs out there that require you to buy it in order to use it properly.

Liam.

 

Well, that fixed it! I considered resetting the BIOS to default but was sure nothing in there would affect the keyboard operation resuming from wake.

Now I have even more questions
- Why would SATA being disabled affect the keyboard? Is the keyboard operating off the same SATA controller/PCIe lanes?
- Why would the keyboard work fine when booting with SATA disabled, but stop working after waking the computer? Does the computer just not resume to an S0 power state if SATA is disabled?
- Why even offer the option to disable if it causes this? I understand external dock or keyboard is an option, but it's still odd.

I assumed the keyboard would operate off a USB controller instead. Also, SATA-0 and SATA-1 drives can be disabled without ill effect. I incorrectly assumed if I wasn't using a SATA drive, that it could simply be disabled completely.

Well, in that case, despite what Microsoft says -- the XPS 15 seems more than happy on the Creators Update.

 

Sadly no one is going to be able to answer any of those questions for you. We just found out that disabling SATA in bios caused that exact issue. It's just a bug in the bios I'm sure, but that's all I know.

 

Does the 9550 keyboard piggyback off a USB port? If so, does that mean one USB port is less "burdened" by internal devices?

That was the case with some MacBooks I owned...

 

It's odd behavior.

Honestly, I'm not sure. All three USB ports seem equally fast when I use them with the flash-drive-sized SSD. If they're burdened, I can't tell.

I'm thinking it likely rides on the same PCIE lanes as the SATA drives because of the odd behavior above when disabling SATA.

On another note, Windows 10 Creators Update still seems problematic on the 9550. My computer still BSODs occasionally. I think it's still related to power management. For hours and hours yesterday, no issues. Let it run overnight to download Visual Studio, and sometime in the night it crashed.

 

Double post...

 

Since Creators update didn't show up in automatic updates, I forced it today using the upgrade assistant (Windows10Upgrade28085.exe). Everything went ok for now, let's see within some a few days or weeks if there is any problem.

 

Does Macrium work with Bitlocker encrypted partitions?

 

Today creators update showed up in Windows update and till now everything is working great.
XPS 9550 FHD

 

Well, even today Creators update still doesn't show up automatically, you still rely on "Windows 10 Update Assistant". I think this issue will never be fixed, so what out those that do factory reset and get stuck with older version.

 

is this windows 10 version 1703 update safe to do on my dell xps 13 9350? lol

 

I think you will be fine Brian. I am running the latest version on my inspiron 5000.

 

I think its best to skip Creators update if @BrianKBaer wants stable system instead of newer features. You could wait for RS3. MSFT themselves warned not to install it, I am regretting it.

 

I got a lot of DPC_WATCHDOG_VIOLATION with blue and orange screens on the 9550.

 

Either your undervolt is too much causing this BSoD or you have OC'ed too much at stock voltage.

 

As far as I know it's totally stock.

 

Use Bluescreen View from nirsoft to check out what caused BSOD,

 

Dunno....I am going by my experience. It works great on my device....is there something different on the xps that makes it not work the same?

 

Yes it does, with or without unlocking it 1st in the winPE environment. Unsure if it included with the free version but my home licence has the option. I ended up buying it to use incremental backups to save time.

 

man! wish I would have seen this before updating...my system has been acting weird ever since the creators update...and I do not like it!

is there any way that I can revert back out of this update and back to the way it was?
I'm not the best at doing things like this, but I do understand how to read instructions and follow order with computers and the updating process, I just didn't expect this update to be this ****ty - I had already started the update not thinking anything of it then after it was too late I realized it had a lot of bad reviews, and I was already to the point were it said "restart machine to update" - I had no choice at that point

is there a way to turn on email notifications for this forum? I need to have alerts setup so they send to my phone through Gmail


also this forum really slows my laptop down, it gets laggy on the forums, anybody have a clue as to why that is? wth is going on!

 

Nothing wrong with the creators update, the only issue I had was the intel video drivers and the fact they like to revert back at random unless you stop it from happening via various methods.

 

Use this guide to restore Windows 10 RS2 to RS1 http://www.askvg.com/how-to-restore-previous-windows-version-after-upgrading-to-windows-10/
This step works if you're within 30 day time frame. If Creators update has been installed for more than 30 days, you may need to Clean Install RS1.
In the mean time try these commands in elevated (admin mode) Command Prompt or Powershell:

1. Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /AnalyzeComponentStore
2. Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup /ResetBase