XPS 15 (9570) Windows 10 installation complains about missing drivers (even with RST)

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@speedstep wrote:

Realtek was removed because their security certificate SPECIFICALLY WITH USB mass storage was compromised.  The certificate has been revoked for ALL REALTEK products.  Malware uses the compromised certificate to install root kit virus onto recovery partition.  This is also why realtek audio keeps getting broken with each windows feature update.

This is also why Thunderbolt 3 changed for USB-C to not allow boot or mounting of drives.  Its SECURE disabled by default.

29 exploitation methods in four different categories, depending on the way the attack is being carried out.

A) By reprogramming the USB device's internal microcontroller. The device looks like a particular USB device (e.g.: charger), but carries out the operations of another (e.g.: keyboard —injects keystrokes).
B1) By reprogramming the USB device's firmware to execute malicious actions (such as malware downloading, data exfiltration, etc.).
B2) By not reprogramming USB device firmware, but leveraging flaws in how operating systems normally interact with USB protocols/standards.
C) USB-based electrical attacks.

 

 

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So... I am unsure what you are referring to when you say boot from USB-C on the TB port is disabled by default... this 9370 was new out of the box and I wanted to reimage with W10 Pro so initially I was using a USB 3.0 stick with a USB-C converter in one of the USB-C ports on the 9370 and it showed up in my boot options menu from F12 during POST. The only reason I switched to using the MicroSD was because I realized I had v1809 on the USB compared to 1903 on the MicroSD...

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@Saltgrass wrote:

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@AA27CXP wrote:

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So... I am unsure what you are referring to when you say boot from USB-C on the TB port is disabled by default... this 9370 was new out of the box and I wanted to reimage with W10 Pro so initially I was using a USB 3.0 stick with a USB-C converter in one of the USB-C ports on the 9370 and it showed up in my boot options menu from F12 during POST. The only reason I switched to using the MicroSD was because I realized I had v1809 on the USB compared to 1903 on the MicroSD...

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I am not sure what you mean by the highlighted comment, but if you have Win 10 Home you need to upgrade that system to Pro .. maybe you have already done that.

I cannot comment on anything SpeedStep mentions.. The only problem I ever had with installing using USB was with the Win 10 1903 build.  I do not normally try to boot to a SD card but I believe there may be an option in a Bios. 

On my system, the Thunderbolt options are normally disabled for booting from a Dock but has been that way since I tried to use it a couple of years ago.  There were numerous references to Realtek Card readers in prior builds but an Insiders build has this comment still...Not sure what any of it has to do with Realtek audio..

"Some Realtek SD card readers are not functioning properly. We are investigating the issue."

https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2019/06/05/announcing-windows-10-insider-preview-build-18912/#rtsPFjBsehyXA4it.97

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Sorry for the confusion... that comment was just to reiterate that I was purposefully upgrading to 10 Pro since it came with 10 Home out of the box. SpeedStep had mentioned that booting from USB-C was turned off by default but I had no issue doing so whatsoever (on the first go around when I forgot my USB was W10 1809) before switching to booting/installing from the MicroSD for W10 1903.

Everything went just fine after I manually placed the Realtek drivers into the Sources folder and booted from the MicroSD again and I am up and running on Win10 Pro 1903.

The USB C situation, I think, was related to Thunderbolt which normally uses a USB C port.  But if you don't use a Thunderbolt device/cable, it is just a USB C port.

The OP in the thread never mentioned he was trying to boot from an SD card.  Since that is not usually done, I thought he was looking for some other type of driver.

Thunderbolt 3 security levels Thunderbolt is an I/O technology that prevents booting or access to connect external peripherals to a computer.

Intel(R) Thunderbolt(TM) 3 Firmware Update
Last Updated: 02 Nov 2017

Version: 4.16.00.005 A06

Thunderbolt 3 — has different security levels:

none: No security. The behavior is identical to previous Thunderbolt versions.

dponly: No PCIe tunnels are created at all, but DisplayPort tunnels are allowed and will work.

user: Connected devices must be authorized by the user (logged into windows). Only then will the PCIe tunnels be activated.

secure: Basically the same as user mode, but additionally a key will be written to the device the first  time the device is connected. This key will then be used to verify the identity of the connected device before booting.

The active security level must be selected prior boot via a BIOS option, also note that in the future the none option will not be available.

I'm still so confused by this. Why does Dell not provide the drivers for the USB3 hardware either as a download or as part of the Windows ISO?
I already reached out to Dell "Premium" support but they are not helpful as usual and just answer with very generic and vague suggestions.

I tried two different USB devices. One claims to be "USB2 compatible" the other is older and definitely USB2.

However, I think any of the dongles I have, even the one that came with the laptop, are USB3, which, I think, causes the issue.

I also switched off the RAID/RST setting as suggested by other people, but that does not seem to help.