2015 Dell XPS 13. BIOS A01 - A03 issues with Plextor M6e - PICe SSD.

I've contacted Dell and let them know that this is a BIOS Code issue,

Their engineering team will be looking into it and getting back to me.

Seconded. I had a 256GB Plextor M6e that doesn't boot beyond A00. @DellCares wasn't committal to solving the actual issue and kept telling me to reinstall the OS when it worked perfectly on A00.

I've gotten a misinformed response.... here is their reply.

"Thank you for choosing Dell. This mail is related to your recent interaction with Dell technical support.

This is in regards to the BIOS issue that you had reported on your XPS 13 system. I have checked the case with our engineering team and they said that it is not possible to downgrade the BIOS version by just changing and installing the original SSD on the system. Once the BIOS update is performed, it changes the motherboard settings and changing the hard drive does not affect the BIOS. Once we replace the motherboard, it should also work fine with the PCIe SSD drive on A03 version."

And MY reply back to them:

1.    The Dell XPS was shipped with the A00 BIOS along with M.2 Samsung Drive using SATA3 Interface.
2.    The Samsung M.2 Drive was cloned over to Plextor M6e M.2 SSD which uses PCIe Interface using an External Enclosure via a USB Enclosure.
3.    The Samsung SSD was taken out and the Plextor SSD was placed in the XPS.
4.    Still on BIOS Rev. A00, the XPS Booted in to Windows fine with the Plextor SSD with no issues.
5.    From Windows I’ve downloaded the BIOS Update from DELL, and updated to A03.
6.    Upon Reboot, BIOS update went through and updated the BIOS to A03 with the Plextor SSD installed from Step #3.
7.    After successful BIOS update, the laptop will NOT boot again or is able to get into the BIOS Setting.
8.    Placing the Original SAMSUNG SSD back into XPS will allow the XPS to boot, and from there I am able to downgrade to BIOS A00 using the A00 BIOS download from Dell.com
9.    Once the BIOS A00 is flashed over A03 using the OLD SSD Drive AND running the update from Windows, I can replace the Samsung Drive with the Plextor M6e Again and the computer will boot again ON A00.
10.  Steps 5 through 8 was repeated for A01 and A02 as well. 

ONLY A00 BIOS allows Boot/Post/BIOS Setup with a PCIe SSD. 
All other BIOS revisions released so far (A01, A02 and A03) cannot boot/post/enter BIOS Setup.

Please forward the above information to the engineer. "

Hopefully it'll get further up the chain this time... last time they told me to change the motherboard.

My exchange on Twitter DMs was just as frustrating. They kept insisting I try reinstalling my OS even if I can't get it past POST.

I had an interesting exchange today with @DellCares on Twitter.

https://twitter.com/DellCares/status/598567891198443520 

This was followed through with the following conversation I had via DM:

DellCares - We see there is a latest version of BIOS available in our support site,refer this link http://del.ly/60117YVF and download it and check.^FA
Jack Truong - A00 isn't causing the issue, A00 actually boots. The A01, A02, and A03 firmwares causes it to not boot
Jack Truong - But strangely, A00's ePSA doesn't detect the SSD, I am currently testing A00 and A03 with both M.2 SSDs
DellCares - We appreciate you trying the steps, we will wait for your reply. ^GY
Jack Truong - A00 with Samsung PM851 - all tests passed. A03 with Samsung PM851 - all tests passed. The P851 is the SSD the XPS came with
Jack Truong - A03 with Plextor, holding Fn and pressing the power button: after the Dell logo with Diagnostic boot selected, it stays on the black screen
Jack Truong - after a while, the fan starts running, but nothing shows up.

here's one of the many useless attempts i had with them...  this one was after the support telling me that downgrading a BIOS is NOT possible.

"

This is starting to get frustrating.

"

I thought i had some traction with the Dell Support, but I've given up...

the Person i've been talking with has NO idea what i'm talking about.  How can someone troubleshoot something he has no knowledge of.   They keep telling me that BIOS cannot be downloaded by changing out the Harddrive...  I'm like I KNOW!!! I am placing a SSD using a SATA3 interface to boot on *** A03 BIOS!  but after 3 iterations of the same statement going back and forth i've just stopped responding to them. 

I have slight progress:

It appears that it’s a compatibility issue with the firmware A01 to A3 stopping the process, as it’s a third party SSD we are unable to offer any help.You can perhaps have a word with the SSD manufacturer. The SSD in question has not been tested on the computer you have so our knowledge is limited. Do reach out to us in case you have any issues specific to Dell and components.

To which I replied

I understand it is not compatible with the A01-03 but it was working with A00. There was something A01 added that made the SSD not work

And the reply was:

Hi, there may be changes which could have affected the functionality however we are not sure. We'll definitely let the relevant team know. We'd suggest you to wait for the next updates.

So there is hope. I will be trying a Kingston HyperX Predator SSD today and seeing the results. Maybe it's actually just Plextor?

I tested with a Kingston HyperX Predator 240GB SSD. It was able to get past the point where the Plextor gets stuck but the XPS doesn't recognize the drive at all.

In the ePSA, it doesn't detect the drive. The F2 menu doesn't show the drive or load any of the EFI partitions.

without a doubt there is hope, it's a matter of connecting with the right person who can escalate it AND have it become a priority for them.  As far as dell is concerned, this issue among others is probably marked as a "nice to have" fix. 

i hope you get more traction than i did.

It's on one of the tech's minds anyway, I received a DM on Twitter without any interaction from them after 18 hours. Guess we'll see.

There's also a Plextor 1.06 firmware update, I doubt it solves anything but I haven't had time to check it out.

A05 ALSO BAD