Precision Tower 3420 not booting in AHCI after BIOS update

Hello, DELL-Alasdair R.

First of all, thank you very much for working on this issue.  I really appreciate it.

The update itself was fine.  I did the update from the firmware updater provided by the UEFI BIOS boot menu (F12).  Both the UEFI BIOS and Management Engine were successfully updated.  No problems so far with the update process itself, as I would expect when flashing the BIOS from a FAT32 formatted USB drive.  It is, perhaps, the most reliable way to update the firmware.

The BIOS setup is working as expected; no option has changed or greyed out.  I can confirm it, as I carefully annotate on a text file both the default values of all options (in the case of Dell, starting from the "factory settings," not "default settings") and the new ones in the few cases I choose changing something.

The computer just didn't boot after the update.  On a cold boot the rounded Dell logo remains forever (you can restart the computer in the usual ways, e.g. by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, so it is not hanged).  Booting from the boot menu just shows a dark grey screen on the left display (my workstation is attached to two U2414h displays) and nothing on the right one.  In legacy mode it displays a message showing that no operating system has been found, as I would expect from a NVMe drive whose operating system has been installed in UEFI-mode only.

The NVMe drive itself is accesible from the BIOS setup.  My first though was removing the default UEFI entry to boot Ubuntu and create a new one from the *.efi file in fs0:BOOT/Ubuntu.  So I can confirm the drive can be accessed from the BIOS setup, it is just not bootable.

There is no way to run the hardware diagnostics when AHCI SATA mode is set.  On RAID-On SATA mode Ubuntu boots (but obviously does not complete the boot process) and the hardware diagnostics can be run without problems.  I guess Windows-based workstations are configured on RAID-On mode by default, so it is easy understand why this problem has not been discovered on testing.

This one is the file that outlines the differences between "factory settings" for the configuration I choosed and the settings I prefer.  I carefully reviewed it after updating the firmware, nothing has changed (edit: except, of course, the addition of an option to enable the new SMM Security Mitigation feature):

                                                                Revision: 17
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Computer:               Dell Precision Tower 3420
Service Tag:            
Express Service Code:   
  
UEFI BIOS version:      2.10.2


Settings
- General
  - System Information
      BIOS version                       2.10.2
      Service Tag                        
   
      Asset Tag                          (none)
      Ownership Tag                      (none)
      Manufacture Date                   12/04/2017
      Ownership Date                     12/04/2017
      Express Service Code               
    

      Signed Firmware Update is enabled

    Memory Information
      Memory Installed                   32768 MB
      Memory Available                   32678 MB
      Memory Speed                       2400 MHz
      Memory Channel Mode                Dual
      Memory Technology                  DDR4 SDRAM
      DIMM 1 Size                        16384 MB
      DIMM 2 Size                        16384 MB
      DIMM 3 Size                        *** DIMM Slot Empty ***
      DIMM 4 Size                        *** DIMM Slot Empty ***

    PCI Information
      Slot1                              (Empty)
      Slot2                              (Empty)
      Slot3_M.2                          Mass Storage

    Processor Information
      Processor Type                     Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-7600 CPU @ 3.50GHz
      Core Count                         4
      Processor ID                       906e9
      Current Clock Speed                3.500 GHz
      Minimum Clock Speed                0.800 GHz
      Maximum Clock Speed                3.500 GHz
      Processor L2 Cache                 1024 KB
      Processor L3 Cache                 6144 KB
      HT Capable                         No
      64-Bit Technology                  Yes (Intel(R) EM64T)

    Device Information
      SATA-0                             (none)
      SATA-1                             DVD+/-RW
      SATA-2                             (none)
      SATA-4                             (none)
      M.2 PCIe SSD-0                     256 GB 
     
      LOM MAC Address                    
      
        Video Controller Intel(R) HD Graphics Audio Controller RealTek ALC3234 - Boot Sequence [PM961 NVMe SAMSUNG 256GB] (NP) - Boot List Option [UEFI] (NP) - Advanced Boot Options - Legacy Option ROMs [Disabled] (NP,U) - Attempt Legacy Boot [Disabled] (Locked) (NP,U) - Date/Time [MM/DD/YY HH:MM:SS A/P] (P) - System Configuration - Integrated NIC [Enabled w/PXE] [Enabled] (NP) - UEFI Network Stack [Disabled] (NP) - Serial Port [COM1] (NP) - SATA Operation [AHCI] (NP) - Drives - SATA-0 [Enabled] (NP) - SATA-1 [Enabled] (NP) - SATA-2 [Enabled] (NP) - SATA-4 [Enabled] (NP) - M.2 PCIe SSD-0 [Enabled] (NP) - SMART Reporting [Disabled] (NP) - USB Configuration - USB Boot Support [Enabled] (NP) - Front USB Ports [Enabled] (NP) - Rear USB Ports [Enabled] (NP) - Front USB Configuration - Front Port 1 (Bottom Right)* [Enabled] (NP) - Front Port 2 (Bottom Left)* [Enabled] (NP) - Front Port 1 (Top Right) [Enabled] (NP) - Front Port 2 w/PowerShare [Enabled] (NP) - Rear USB Configuration - Rear Port 1 (Left)* [Enabled] (NP) - Rear Port 2 (Left Middle)* [Enabled] (NP) - Rear Port 3 (Right Middle)* [Enabled] (NP) - Rear Port 4 (Right)* [Enabled] (NP) - Rear Port 1 (Left) [Enabled] (NP) - Rear Port 2 (Right) [Enabled] (NP) - Thunderbolt(TM) Technology Support [Disabled] (NP) - Security Level [User Auth] (Locked) (NP) - USB PowerShare [Disabled] (NP) - Audio [Enabled] (NP) - Microphone [Enabled] (NP) - Internal Speaker [Enabled] (NP) - Miscellaneous Devices - Secure Digital (SD) Card [Enabled] (NP) - Video - Primary Display [Auto] (NP) - Security - Admin Password [Not Set] [Password Set] (P) - System Password [Not Set] (P) - Strong Password [Disabled] (NP) - Password Configuration - Admin Password Min [04] Max [32] (NP) - System Password Min [04] Max [32] (NP) - Password Bypass [Disabled] (NP) - Password Change - Allow Non-Admin Password Changes [Enabled] [Disabled] (NP) - UEFI Capsule Firmware Updates [Enabled] [Disabled] (NP) - TPM 2.0 Security - TPM On [Disabled] [Enabled] (NP) - Clear [Disabled] (Not shown) (NP) - PPI Bypass for Enable Commands [Disabled] (Not shown) (NP) - PPI Bypass for Disable Commands [Disabled] (Not shown) (NP) - Attestation [Enabled] (Not shown) (NP) - Key Storage [Enabled] (Not shown) (NP) - SHA-256 [Enabled] (Not shown) (NP) - TPM [Enabled] (Not shown) (NP) - Computrace(R) [Disabled] (Locked) (W) - Chassis Intrussion [On-Silent] (NP) - Clear Intrussion Warning [Disabled] (Not shown) - CPU XD Support [Enabled] (NP) - OROM Keyboard Access [Enabled] [Disabled] (NP) - Admin Setup Lockout [Disabled] - SMM Security Mitigation [Disabled] [Enabled] (NP) - Secure Boot - Secure Boot [Enabled] (NP) - Expert Key Management - Custom Mode [Disabled] (NP) - Custom Mode Key Management [PK] (NP) - Intel(R) Software Guard Extensions - Intel(R) SGX [Disabled] (NP) - Enclave Memory Size [128 MB] (Locked) (NP) - Performance - Multi Core Support [All] (NP) - Intel(R) SpeedStep Technology [Enabled] (NP) - C-States Control [Enabled] (NP) - Limit CPUID Value [Disabled] (NP) - Intel(R) Turbo Boost Technology [Enabled] (NP) - Power Management - AC Recovery [Power Off] (NP) - Auto On Time [Disabled] (NP) - Deep Sleep Control [Enabled in S4 and S5] (NP) - Fan Control Override [Disabled] (NP) - USB Wake Support [Enabled] (NP) - Wake on LAN/WLAN [Disabled] (NP) - Block Sleep (S3 State) [Disabled] (NP) - Intel(R) Ready Mode Technology [Disabled] (NP) - POST Behavior - Numlock LED [Enabled] (NP) - MEBx Hotkey [Enabled] (NP) - Keyboard Error Detection [Enabled] (NP) - Virtualization Support - Intel(R) Virtualization Technology [Enabled] (NP) - VT for Direct I/O [Enabled] (NP) - Trusted Execution [Disabled] (NP) - Maintenance - Service Tag [
       
        ] (P) - Asset Tag [ ] (P) - SERR Messages [Enabled] (NP) - Allow BIOS Downgrade [Enabled] [Disabled] (P) - Data Wipe on Next Boot [Disabled] - BIOS Recovery from Hard Drive [Enabled] (NP) 
        
- System Logs - BIOS Events NP - this setting is not preserved when loading BIOS defaults. P - this setting is preserved when loading BIOS defaults. W - may permanently disable this feature. U - unselectable for Secure Boot. * - denotes a USB 3.0-capable port.
       
      
     
    
   
  
 

Edit: first time I booted the computer, after updating the BIOS and ME, I set the "SMM Security Mitigation" to "Enabled."  Disabling it didn't help either.

Thanks for all the details. Can I just confirm with you that it's Ubuntu 16.04 OEM that's installed on the drive? (It probably doesn't make a difference to the issue but I know that it's something that will be asked)

No need to say thanks!  As you are helping me, providing required details is the minimum I can do.

Indeed, this machine is running the Ubuntu flavour provided by Dell with the workstation.  It remains in LTS too, and it has only been patched from the official channels (plus adding a few packages, like VirtualBox, TeXlive and Firefox).

I will do a fresh install of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS iff Dell provides an installation media for this workstation in the future (in case I am authorized to download and use it).  I am very happy with Dell's customizations.  So, yes, it is running Ubuntu 16.04 OEM.

I just applied the update to my system before knowing about this issue. I was able to successfully boot by disabling Secure Boot.

Hi digital0ak.

That is odd.  I was sure disabling Secure Boot was one of the steps I followed yesterday to diagnose this problem and it didn't work.  In any case I have flashed BIOS 2.10.2 on my workstation again and, starting from the "factory settings" configuration, disabled Secure Boot.

I can confirm disabling Secure Boot does not work for me (as I though yesterday).  There is no way to boot this computer from BIOS 2.10.2, except when setting SATA operation mode to RAID-On (in which case Ubuntu does not successfully boot).  Alternatively you can just disable SATA and get access to diagnostics and flashing BIOS from a FAT32 filesystem stored on a USB drive again, obviously without seeing the old fs0 and fs1 filesystems stored in the NVMe drive.

I have had similar issue as well but with Windows 10 as the OS.  After upgrading to BIOS 2.10.2, system would not boot with Secure Boot Enabled.  Disabling Secure Boot and enabling Legacy ROMs allowed the system to boot in UEFI mode.  This happened on both a Precision 3620 and 3420.  Might be something to try.

Disabling Secure Boot and enabling Legacy ROMs does not help on my case.  But it seems it worked to both you and digital0ak, so it is worth a try for anyone that has problems after updating UEFI BIOS to release 2.10.2.

Thanks a lot to both of you for the feedback and for confirming that it is not just me who thinks there is something wrong with the new BIOS release.

I am also having this issue with the new BIOS.  Installed from a Windows 10 OS.  The computer just didn't boot after the update.  On a cold boot the rounded Dell logo remains forever.

We have experienced the same phenomena on almost 150 Precision 3620s after applying BIOS 2.10.2.

We found both the BIOS Flash Utility and Dell Diagnostic tools to hang indefinitely after applying 2.10.2 too. We have been able to recover these devices manually using the following steps: 

1. Create a bootable USB stick (using Rufus) containing a known working version of BIOS, we used 2.7.3
2. Disable SecureBoot
3. Enable Legacy Boot ROMs
4. Reboot -> F12 to One-time boot menu
5. Run known working BIOS executable
6. Reboot (BitLocker Recovery Prompt sporadically appeared)
7. Disable Legacy Boot ROMs
8. Re-enable SecureBoot

We currently have an open ticket with Dell Support, and have escalated to our account manager.

Just an advice for those of you who had problems after updating BIOS to version 2.10.2.  In my humble opinion, the easiest way to return to BIOS version 2.8.1 is:

1. Download the old BIOS updater (e.g. Precision_Tower_3420_2.8.1.exe) from support.dell.com and copy it to a FAT32-formatted USB stick;
2. on the BIOS setup change the SATA operation mode from "AHCI" to "Disabled" (this step ensures the One-time boot menu is reachable again);
3. restart the computer and, from the One-time boot menu, choose update BIOS;
4. reflash the firmware using the BIOS updater stored on the USB stick; and, finally,
5. go into the BIOS setup again and restore the old SATA operation mode ("AHCI").

Note: the FAT32-formatted USB stick does not need to be bootable.

Ran into this issue on non-Dell provided 18.04 after Ubuntu Software Update Center offered a Firmware Update for the Dell Precision Tower 3420 - I can confirm rolling back firmware from 2.10 to 2.08 after disabling AHCI mode for SATA worked in restoring this system. I was not able to launch the Dell BIOS Flash utility with AHCI enabled.

I can confirm that I've had the same problem with the 2.10.2 BIOS on a 3620 running Windows 10 Pro.

Disabling Secure Boot and enabling the Legacy Option ROMs allowed me to boot, from which I reverted to the 2.8.1 BIOS.  I can use Secure Boot with the 2.8.1 BIOS.