XPS 15 secrets: Diagnosis Tools/pre-boot assessment

well, some time ago while I was testing the bios stuff.
I found something interesting at the bios.

I found a diagnosis mode wich test all the hardware in order to detect phisical damage to the machine.

this can be very usefull for people who want to test if they have a faulty machine, or just for all people who want to know another small trick of the machine they own ^^

I tested this on a L502X, but it may also work on another xps 15 models like the new ivy bridge model or the 15z.

will need confirmation ^^



well, to access those tools you will need to turn off the machine.

all lights should be off.

then hold Fn+ B keys and turn on the system, and wait until the diagnosis screen apear to relase the keys

here you can see some screens of the process

 

Uhh this is nothing new, Dell had PSA (Preboot System Assessment) in Dell computers for over 10 years now..

 

oh : o,
didnt knew srry.
are there any other tools or menus via hidden keys not announced via screen or user guide at the laptop?
just curius.

 

There's another method to boot into that: it's selectable from Boot Menu via pressing F12 at startup.

That's the software on the 102 MB hidden Dell Diagnostics partition.

BTW, on Dell Downloads for XPS 15, I see Dell 32 Bit Diagnostics (Graphical User Interface version) , possibly an update? Read more about it in my other post:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...hical-user-interface-version.html#post8852018

 

well, one of the first things I did was to fully format and repartitionate the disk in order to get all the space for my stuff.
so in my case that isnt posible I think ^^

I was more talking about basic bios stuff, like diagnosis tools, shortcuts to show more menus in bios, or anything else wich allow more advanced control of the machine.

Idk about others, but at least as for me, I consider the bios options like a bad joke, there are just very little options, I cant even disable hyperthreading

edit: I will check that post now ^^

 

If you were able to boot into that diagnostics, then you must not have deleted that partition. Perhaps you removed the larger Dell Recovery partition, which was about 19 GB. I also removed that, but I retained the hidden diagnostics partition as it's only 102 MB.

Or, are these diagnostics that you ran, and that I've run at boot, part of the BIOS and not on the partition? I don't know.
???

 

I'm almost sure I deleted all partitions of the disk before I repartitionated all of it and formated before installing new clean win7 x64 ultimate.

I think that is part of the bios, this make sense since when I was modding the bios file, there was several stuff in the capsule to flash and the 2 mb bios file was just a part of it.

edit: I noticed I still have a 100 mb partition present at the disk manager.

the partition is labeled as system reserved partition.



however I think it have more to do with windows 7 than dell since I think I remember to deleted a bigger partition from dell wich had some Gigabytes, and after clean install main partition was bigger

here is an article about how to delete the win7 partition, wich is suposed to work with bitlocker software only.
Hack to Remove 100 MB System Reserved Partition When Installing Windows 7 « My Digital Life

 

I'm not really sure now.

My system had the 19 GB Recovery partition, which I removed.

It also has a small 102 MB OEM partition, which I retained. I thought that had some Dell diagnostics, but now I'm not sure what it's for.
It's not for booting into Windows, as it never contained the boot files, and it isn't for BitLocker since I have Home Premium which doesn't allow BitLocker.

 

then, like me you removed the dell partition to save space for your stuff

mmm, well, I'm not sure about the 100 mb partition purpose.

some other people say it contains some boot stuff from windows

What's on that 100MB partition? Can I delete it? - Windows 7 Forums

anyway, whatever it is, I'm sure it have to do with windows software and not from dell

 

No, it does not contain the boot files. My Dell came with boot files on the larger Recovery partition (though I moved them to C: so I could delete the 19 GB Recovery partition).

 

Whatever you do, don't delete that 100MB partition. That partition contain Windows boot files. If you delete that partition, you will not be able to boot into Windows again (unless you know what you're doing and are able to re-install just the system reserve).

You mean the 19GB Dell partition right?

 

No, it does not contain the boot files. I mean that small 102 MB partition. It does not contain the boot files. It never contained the boot files.
See the screeshot I made of Disk Management (before I repartitioned).

Click to see image:

That small partition is listed as OEM, and did not contain boot files.

I don't know what that partition contains. For Win 7 Professional and higher, that small partition can be used by BitLocker, but Home Premium does not come with BitLocker. That partition may be useless.

 

well, whatever it does, the 100 mb partition come with windows 7 installation and it doesnt let to be removed while installing it for some reason.

and whatever it is, those are just 100 mb, so I think best is leave it as it, I already got ride of the 19GB dell partition, so I am happy now relating space.

my laptop have arround 1Tb with both disks and I even store blue ray images to watch them at the bus or somewhere, so I am happy with the storage capacity ^^

 

capitankasar, you said you held Fn+B keys during boot, to access the diagnosis. When I boot with Fn+B keys it just boots normally into Windows.

To access the diagnostics you saw, I hold F12 during boot. Then I can select Diagnostics and see the same tests that you did.

But, Dell says that those diagnostics are not part of BIOS. Dell Support says that the 102 MB partition contains Dell Diagnostics, selectable from Boot Menu via pressing F12 at startup.

One way to know for sure would be to remove the hard drive, then boot with F12 to attempt to access the diagnostics. If they are part of BIOS, they would be accessible even without a HD.

Dell Support also says that the 102 MB partition also contains a file (the certificate?) that activates Windows without entering Product Key.

 

well, Fn+B worked for me, I never used the F12 menu yet.
just once when the laptop arrive as new.

try also Fn+F (keys must be pressed "before" you hit laptop button)

however something makes me to think that partition is not dell's partition.

cause I think my brother also have it on a custom desktop computer (not from dell)

and I think that 100 mb partition is there on all computers with windows 7 installation from DvD

next time I will take appart the laptop I will remove the hdd and will confirm this.

 

No, you are confusing that with Windows "System Reserved" partition. The "System Reserved" partition contains the boot files. This 102 MB OEM partition does not contain the Windows boot files, so this is different.

 

mmm, then if I read correctly,
you said there are two 100 mb partitions?

"100 mbsystem reserved" and "102 MB OEM"



well I noticed your screenshot is different from mine



my 100mb partition ask it is ntfs, while on yours it doesnt says anything

ignore the G partition on mine, it is from another HDD installed at the optical bay.

this just confuses me

 

No, there is only one 102 MB partition, which Dell says contains Dell Diagnostics and a file (the certificate?) that activates Windows without entering Product Key. There is no other small partition on my system.

I just suggested that you may be confusing that 102 MB partition with Windows "System Reserved" partition that is present on many systems (but not on the XPS 15 L502x).

I think you clean installed Windows? You may have created that 100 MB partition, maybe that is the Windows "System Reserved" partition. Your system is actually booting from that partition and not from the Windows partition.

 

I though new windows activation on OEM systems has been made via SLIC 2.1 (inside the ACPI table in the bios) , there is a lot of information on the net about the SLIC 2.1, and how to mod non-oem machine bioses to get the activation working.

yeah, I formated the whole hard disk and deleted all partitions with Qparted before install new windows 7 x64 ultimate from dvd.

 

If you do open up your laptop, remove the HD and try booting F12 into diagnostics. It would be very interesting to know if it works without the HD, which would mean it's in BIOS.