XPS 15 9550 doesn't boot

Hey guys,

I did Windows 10 clean install on my new XPS 15 9550 and now it doesn't see my SSD in UEFI boot mode. I deleted all the partitions and created new ones with Windows Setup. I believe this caused the problem. It boots normally in Legacy Mode.

I simply want to install Windows in UEFI boot mode but setup says:

"Windows cannot be installed to this disk. This computer's hardware may not support booting to this disk. Ensure that the disk's controller is enabled in the computer's BIOS menu."​

In BIOS settings there's no boot option for UEFI and trying to add a new options brings "File System Not Found!" error. Seems it looks for one of the partitions I deleted during Windows install. How to make it work?

I want to make UEFI boot to work again.

 

Put it back in legacy more. Problem solved

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk

 

Do you have it set to ACHI or raid mode? Is secure boot turned on in bios? Are you only running one drive?

 

I need UEFI boot to work.

SecureBoot is off. I have one drive, it's NVMe SSD 1TB from Samsung. There's a small difference in its behavior for AHCI and RAID:

• If AHCI, then boot menu shows the SSD drive but never automatically load the OS. I have to F12 every time and choose it to boot the OS.
• If RAID, then Windows Setup warns that it cannot be installed on the drive and the boot menu doesn't show it at all.

 

TL;DR: Before installing Windows, you need to
1. set your boot mode to UEFI
2. make sure your disk is GPT formatted

You need to set your boot mode to UEFI before installing, and upon successful installation, windows will add itself to the EFI boot list.

The other big requisite (and more subtle) is that your disk must be GPT formated for UEFI install to work. It's quite possible that the Windows installer formatted to MBR when you reformatted your disk. You can use a third-party partition manager like gpartedlive to set up your partitions before hand

https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh825112.aspx
https://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dn336946.aspx

 

yeah that GPT is the likely culprit. I would boot into windows setup, press CTRL + F10 to bring up a command prompt and then do the following.

Type "Diskpart"
Type "List disk"
Type "select disk #" where the number coresponds to your ssd
then type "clean"

This will erase everything off of the ssd and give windows the chance to format it as it sees fit.

 

Thank you very much. I set the boot mode to UEFI and converted the disk to GPT. However, to boot from USB, I have to enable Legacy Option ROMs which makes Windows to start in BIOS mode and reformat my GPT to MBR. I event tried to remove bootmgr file from Windows Setup to enforce UEFI firmware to run (as described in the first link you provided) but then it says that operating system is not found. In other words, booting from USB with Legacy Option ROMs enabled, makes the system to boot in BIOS mode. So perhaps now the question is how to boot from USB in UEFI mode.

 

1) You need to turn off Secure Boot. I'll bet you have that turned on.

2) If your laptop boots in Legacy mode, then just boot it in Legacy Mode. You're kind of wasting your time trying to boot it in UEFI mode, because you don't get any benefit by doing so.

 

I assure you SecureBoot is off. There's no way to boot in Legacy Mode with SecureBoot on. Well, I paid almost $3K for this laptop so it must work as I say Seems it is not possible to boot from USB in UEFI mode with the current UEFI firmware. My old VAIO allows too boot from USB in UEFI mode. Maybe Dell will give us such a possibility in the future with BIOS update. Now I'm trying to create a bootable partition on SSD to try to install Windows in UEFI mode from that.

 

I have no issues booting to a uefi windows 10 setup usb with my XPS

 

Do you have "Enable Legacy Option ROMs" set?

 

It seems likely that your USB hasn't been prepared properly for UEFI booting. So use the Rufus tool like everyone else, choose GPT and FAT32: https://rufus.akeo.ie/

 

Bingo! I was using one formatted with Windows USD/DVD Download Tool. Seems it's not only old but also obsolete. Thank you very much!
Problem is resolved. Topic closed.

 

Were you able to install your Windows 10 on RAID mode?

 

Yep. The problem was with file system of my USB flash. It was formatted as FAT32 within File Explorer of Windows. I reformatted it with Diskpart and it worked. Rufus option also worked. For some reason standard Windows formatting doesn't work.
For RAID mode, you need to copy Intel RST drivers to install media or somewhere else accessible during installation so the setup can see the drive.

 

My USB Flash was formatted as FAT32 (default on Rufus) when I created the UEFI Windows 10 installer and I had no problem loading it. My problem starts after loading the Windows installer and choosing where to install the system because my SSD cannot be found even after loading the Intel RST (f6flpy-x64) from another external storage.

 

Use these, tested fine for me https://mega.nz/#!ZZtlmC5L!9E04rX0-PT32RJhXaTSbELb6fWWjeiEtejUesbfXUJg

Stick them in a folder on the USB install media, no need for a 2nd USB.

 

I used the latest RST driver on the Dell's website on the same USB media and it worked fine. Try to reset BIOS to factory defaults.

 

Alright gonna try the suggested drivers.

@GoNz0 and @rubs00
Did you switch to AHCI after OS install? If yes, what about the reboot bug, do you also experience it?

That's the only reason why I want to do fresh install on RAID mode.

 

I had a few problems with AHCI. Windows was unable to boot when external storage is connected via USB. I had to do a few restarts to enforce it to boot. Also I was experiencing BSODs with AHCI. With RAID on it works much more stable. Maybe there's a reason that it is set to RAID by default.

 

I did do the install in raid to check performance but it doesn't use the nvme driver in raid and the 950pro ran like a sata SSD, I checked the safe mode box and rebooted into safe mode to swap to AHCI, installed the Samsung driver but that caused a extended reboot issue so I dropped back to the windows nvme driver. All has been good. in AHCI mode it will detect all connected devices unless the boot order is swapped, it took an extra 15 seconds to POST with my USB3 drive attached just now but I expect that.

Samsung are now aware of the issue but an ETA is unknown.

 

Tried the above driver but I'm not sure how to load it because its an .exe file and the installer can't see it when browsing the folder?

 

Isn't this same as this one?
https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25165/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver

 

Hi,

I've detailed the steps in the Owners Lounge, here's how to do it:

Hope it helps...

 

@turt

Hi, yes saw that post on the other thread but I prefer to install the Windows 10 with secure boot ON (UEFI).

Thanks anyway

 

Hi,

I'm describing an UEFI install, don't worry... The only reason why Secure Boot must be set to off is for the installer to launch, but Secure Boot sets itself to ON again at the end of the installation... It's just the way it should be done with UEFI.

 

I'm not sure but I think my first fresh install was same as suggested... Could you check your device manager if "firmware" is visible?

On other hand, for some reason the installer has recognized my ssd with the same Intel RST driver.. odd

 

Yes, firmware is visible in Device Manager (shows version 1.1.15)

 

Checksum is a match so yes

My ISO installed ok with secure boot on, I used Rufus2.6 to create the USB stick.

see my quote above, Rufus may be the answer?

 

I noticed the file you upload has more than one than the Intel one?
iaStorA.tmf

I also used Rufus to create my installer. Only problem was the Intel RST...
I have yet to figure out why it didn't work before. Maybe your extra file did it?

I tried loading it first and cancelled then tried my old Intel RST driver and it worked too...

 

Dunno why unless you are now in AHCI instead or Raid?
I ended up integrating them into the boot file using nlite to save messing around, easy to do once you wrap your head around the how to guide that the owner of win-raid published
So long as the unzipped dell drivers have an inf you can pre install all but 3 (without digging deeper)

 

Thought I was closer... crap

System rebooting no problem after clean install (raid mode). Switch to AHCI and the nightmare is back! Cannot do system reboot. I'm lost

 

That's an installer. When you run it, it has two options -- install or extract. Extract it somewhere and copy the f6flpy-x64 folder to Windows install media. That's it. Setup will recognize it then.

 

Oh yea forgot that option because I installed WinRar on my system. Anyway, I have another problem now

Any idea what could be the problem now? I had no problem rebooting when on RAID mode but after switching to AHCI (BIOS-Safe mode - normal boot) the reboot bug is back

 

you have to select safe mode flag via msconfig, boot into safe mode, reboot and go into bios then swap ahci/raid, go back into safe mode again, remove the safe mode flag and reboot as normal.

right click start, then hit run and type msconfig, when it opens go to the boot tab, click safe mode (minimal) save and exit. that will prompt the 1st boot into safe mode and cause it to stay in safe mode every boot until you click normal startup under general in msconfig.

 

That's exactly what I did on my first attempt.

On my second attempt, I went to safe mode while on raid mode to uninstall the raid driver then switch to ahci (bios) then back to safe mode then normal boot = no change = still reboot bug

..

 

Dunno then, maybe the drivers I pre installed on my ISO were the reason I went from raid to AHCI without an issue.

 

Did you uninstall your Intel Rapid Storage Technology under Program and Features? Also did you install any other driver other than from Dell and Windows Update? This reboot bug is very tricky

 

I had no need for intel RST with one drive, it serves no purpose at all. and no I didn't install anything else.

 

Did you switch to AHCI? If yes, can you do reboot within system?

 

Hi,

You probably solved the problem by now but I still wanted to post my solution for other people to see. What I did was first download the newest Rufus to create a bootable USB or other external driver. Open Rufus.

1. download or have ready a ISO for the windows 10.
2. connect your USB or other flash drive to your pc/laptop.
3. select the ISO and after selecting the ISO make sure your partition is set to " GPT partition for UEFI".
4. make sure to format the flash drive in FAT32.
5. click on "start" and let the program finish.

6. download the SSD driver ( https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/25165/Intel-Rapid-Storage-Technology-Intel-RST-RAID-Driver).
7. extract the .zip file and copy-paste the content to a map on the boot flash drive.

8. restart the laptop and enter the BIOS settings.
9. go to "General" and after to "Boot sequence" and select the UEFI option.
10. go to "System Configuration" and after to "SATA Operation" and select the AHCI option (if you have one drive) or RAID On (when you have more then one). Exit and restart.
11. The flash drive should boot, if not go press "F12" to go to boot options and select the flash drive from the UEFI boot section.

12. the setup should start by now, enter you country etc. and click next.
13. >don't< click instal yet, click on "Repair Your Computer" (if you can't really see it because it is so small, it is somewhere on the left down side).
14. go to "Troubleshoot", then "Advanced Options" and open the command prompt.

15. in the command prompt type " diskpart" then hit [enter], after type " list disk" [enter] and you will (hopefully) see your HDD numbered ### (drive 0, drive 1).
16. type " select disk #" [enter] with # being the number of the disk, example "select disk 0" [enter].
17. type " clean" [enter] to delete previous partitions and after " convert gpt" [enter] to set the drive to GPT.
18. type " exit" [enter] and then type " setup.exe" [enter] to start the setup again.

19. continue the setup as normal, select the drive you converted to GPT and have fun!

 

Do you mean to type GPT?

 

ah yeah sorry, it was getting late