XPS 13 (2015) 9343 BIOS limiting SM951 SSD to x2 link width

In my experience, most support agents don't know what they're talking about. It seems even less likely that someone that does know what they're talking about is going to help here, but we can hope.

I hate to high jack your post,  but may I ask how your battery is holding out on the 9343? What's your battery life like?

Hi eligrey,

I’d advise that you load defaults in the BIOS. Please follow the steps mentioned below to load the BIOS to defaults.

1. Reboot the computer.
2. When prompted during POST, press the key to enter the setup screen.
3. On the System Setup screen, press the key.
4. Press the key on Yes to Load Optimized Defaults and restart the computer.

Also, I would suggest that you run the diagnostics on the computer by following the steps mentioned in the video below and check if there is any issue with the hardware on your system.

Hey Ravi,

I tried the diagnostics and it was unable to detect the SM951 at all. The laptop could detect the drive while booting from a Windows installer USB, but there's no point in installing Windows to the drive if the BIOS won't recognize it afterwards for booting.

I would like to add that the XP941 (the previous generation PCIe AHCI M.2 SSD from Samsung) does work with the XPS 13 (2015) 9343 BIOS, so it should definitely be possible to fix this in a BIOS update, as the AHCI SM951 uses the same interface (there is also an NVMe SM951 but that isn't out yet nor would I expect it to work with any laptop).

The PM851 in this laptop comes in a M.2 form factor (M+B key), and it is inserted in an M key M.2 socket.

Hi, the PCBs for the sm951(m.2) and PM851(mSATA) are different.  What socket in the XPS13 are you able to insert the SM951 into?

Thanks.

Regards, Chris. 

Thanks, that explains why the XP941 works.  

Regards, Chris.

I do also have the Alienware 13, with a Samsung SSD PM851 m.2 (512GB), but it works correctly.

I would like to buy another one, to extend the volume. Do you know a shop where I may find it or if I may order it directly from Dell?

Thanks for your help.

Eric

I am willing to mail my SM951 in to Dell if it will help engineers test a BIOS update, as long as it is returned afterwards.

You got the XP941 to boot from the XPS 13? I tried to install it, and it exhibited the same behavior as your SM951 -- it was viewable from the Windows installation media, but not bootable.

The XP941 installed perfectly for me.  I am on the A01 bios and used a UEFI USB 3.0 thumb drive to install windows.

XP941 worked here too, but did take some learning on my part to get to boot.  I restored image using Windows on a Usb thumb drive to boot with full system backup on a different usb hard drive. Had to fix the boot records in Windows itself But it works great once setup.

My XPS 9343 on A01 doesn't recognize my 512GB XP941 at all!

What size SSD were those of you using that were successful?

Hmm, so in the end, did you have to make any changes whatsoever in the BIOS?

Thanks for the feedback BTW!

I used a 256GB, but we also got a 512GB for my brothers XPS 13 that worked perfectly.

If you are looking for it in the bios, I never saw it there.

I had Windows install media on a flash drive, powered on, hit F12 for the boot menu, and chose the UEFI usb flash drive shown.

The windows install then started up, showed the XP941 as the only option to install to, did the install, removed the flash drive at the first reboot, it booted up on the XP941 and finished the install.

That is correct, no changes what so ever. 

The bios is already set up to use windows boot manager for the original drive, so the only trick is booting from install media in UEFI mode, letting the installer set up the correct partitions, and then let the install proceed.