XPS 8900, M.2 NVMe SSD boot compatibility?

I am assuming you are planning to use a PCIe adapter because it will provide a higher speed interface than the M.2 slot provides. I don't if this will work. I think the only way to find out is to try it. The main concern is the statement in the description of the adapter that states "Old MB can not support Booting from "NVMe", Please confirm the MB's specifications.".

It is easy to clone to a Samsung SSD. If you clone the HDD make sure you disconnect it when cloning is completed before booting from the SSD. For cloning, Samsung provides Samsung Data Migration software as a free download. There are a couple of things about Samsung SSDs, Samsung Magician and the Samsung driver for the M.2 NVMe SSD prefer SATA operating mode set to AHCI vs RAID. Dell sets SATA operating mode to RAID, so unless you changed it and reinstall the operating system, yours is probably still set to RAID. There is a procedure to switch Windows 10 from RAID to AHCI without reinstalling the OS. 

Hi AF_Bob,

I thoroughly recommend an SSD upgrade - it has rejuvenated my XPS 8900!  For full instructions please see my earlier post on Page 1 of this thread.

The 8900 M.2 NVMe motherboard slot is only PCIe x1, and so it is essential to use a PCIe add-in card for the new SSD (as you plan to do) in order to benefit from the full PCIe x4 speed.  I used a Samsung 970 EVO 500GB NVMe PCIe SSD on a Lycom DT-120 add-in card.

I can confirm that the XPS 8900 motherboard definitely will boot from an NVMe PCIe SSD on a PCIe add-in card, but I recommend updating to the latest UEFI BIOS as you have done.  Cloning is straightforward using Macrium Reflect.  The procedure for then getting the PC to boot from the new SSD is described in my earlier post, but alternatively you can re-open the case and disconnect the original HDD as Vic 384 describes - but once the PC is booting from the SSD you will of course need to open the case again and re-connect the HDD if you wish to use it as a data drive.

As Vic384 says, you could use Samsung's free Magician software to clone the drive, and use the Samsung driver, but neither will run with RAID on in the BIOS (which is Dell's default set-up).  I wanted to keep my existing 2GB HDD for data, and so did not wish to disturb its SSD cache acceleration (32GB SSD set up as RAID 0 with the HDD in Intel RST). I therefore left RAID on in the BIOS, as an SSD is plug-and-play with RAID on using the native Windows 10 Intel RST driver. The downside is that you cannot use Samsung’s driver or Magician SSD management software (both require the BIOS to be set to ACHI), but in my view this is not a significant issue unless you are a demon gamer and wish to wring out every last drop of performance.

Martin B., thank you very much! I plan on buying the EVO 970 Plus 500GB M.2 since it's on sale. I'm only using 200GB of my 1TB old HDD so I'm hoping I can clone it to my 500GB M.2 without having any issues and just use the old HDD for data. 

Bob

@Martin B You are correct that one downside is not being able to use Samsung Magician. Samsung Magician makes it easy to manage the SSD and to check for firmware updates and to update the firmware. Otherwise to update the firmware requires manual checking and downloading and updating the firmware via DOS using a bootable CD/DVD.

I'm not sure if I did everything correctly, but I wound up purchasing a SK Hynix Gold P31 M.2 PCIe SSD (500GB) during Prime Day. I used Macrium software since it was referenced in the SK Hynix instructions. Macrium cloned the drive fairly fast. I then rebooted into BIOS and changed the order from 1) Boot manager 2) Drive to 1)SSD and 2)Boot manager. I'm not sure if I needed to do that, but I did.

I downloaded CrystalDiskMark7 and checked the speed on my original XPS 8900 7200RPM HDD (162MB Read/153MB write). I then checked the SK Hynix Gold P31 SSD and it was 3516.14 MB Read and 3202.86MB Write. I was amazed. In fact, I initially tried to use Task Manager to see the speed but a 3GB file copied so fast, I couldn't see what was going on. The CrystalDiskMark7 is nice since the numbers stay there for you. I don't understand the significance of all the tests but the first test was the one with the numbers listed above.

I never had to change my drive letters. Macrium automatically changed my HDD to J: and my new SSD to C:  I'm very happy with the P31 SSD. It's supposed to be one of the fastest SSDs right now. I didn't know much about the company but the ratings were high and I got it for $59. I installed the M.2 PCIe SSD into a RIITOP PCIe card (with heat sink enclosure) and installed it into my empty PCIe X16 slot. 

Once I know the SSD is working well, I'm assuming I can delete all the HDD volumes and then format it? I'm assuming I can't just delete the OS portion. Also, it there any chance my computer is using any files from the HDD to boot up? I would hate to format the HDD and have my computer stop booting correctly. During boot, I still see the external light on the XPS8900 front panel. I don't know whether that light is also lighting when the SSD is being used. 

Bob

I installed a 500GB Gold P3 NVMe M.2 SSD on a RIITOP PCIe X16 card in my XPS8900 vacant X16 slot. I cloned my 1TB HD (200GB of data) to my SSD. Works great right now (did it today). Using the PCIe bus, I'm getting over 3500MB read speed and close to that on write. I posted the exact figures in a different post earlier today. For comparison, the original 7200RPM HD got about 153 MB. The XPS 8900 with BIOS 2.8.0 works great with the new SSD and takes full advantage of the PCIe NVMe speeds.

Hi AF_Bob,

I should point out that solving the boot problem by disconnecting the HDD apparently only works if you do so immediately after cloning the HDD to the new SSD, before booting from the SSD.  As you are already booting from the SSD, you will need to use a Macrium Reflect Rescue CD and run "Fix Windows Boot Problems" just as I did.

Good luck!

Martin

Hi AF_Bob,

I am glad your upgrade was such a success!

Please refer to my original post with step-by-step instructions on Page 1 of this thread.  You will see that in Step 4 I too changed the Boot Sequence in BIOS to set the SSD as the 1st Boot device (i.e. above “Windows Boot Manager”) - by making the SSD the boot drive it is automatically assigned C:

I note that you wish to format your original HDD to use it as a data drive just as I did.  Please see Step 7 in my original post which describes this.  You are correct in supposing that the system is currently reading some information from the HDD during boot-up, and formatting the HDD will result in failure to boot as a result of removing the EFI boot partition.  To overcome this you will need to re-create the Boot Configuration Data on the SSD.  This can be done by booting from a Macrium Reflect Rescue CD (see here) and running Macrium "Fix Windows Boot Problems", or by booting from a  Windows 10 Recovery USB Drive (both previously created in Step 1).

Using Macrium Reflect it was a simple semi-automated process (see instructions here), whereas using a Windows 10 Recovery USB Drive is I believe a little more involved - but best to have both options available just in case!  I was using the full paid-for version of Macrium Reflect, but as far as I can tell the Free version also has the ability to create and boot from Rescue Media and includes the "Fix Windows Boot Problems" option (see feature comparison list here)....

Alternatively, I understand that you can force the change by re-opening the case and disconnecting the original HDD as Vic 384 has described - but once the PC is booting from the SSD without the HDD, you will of course then need to open the case again and re-connect the HDD to format and use it.

I hope it all goes well!

Martin

Martin,

I'm not exactly sure what I did, but I think most things are running correctly now. After I initially cloned the SSD and rebooted, none of my programs were running correctly. It was still booting from my original HDD but when I clicked on Outlook email, it was like I was a brand new user. That's when I rebooted into BIOS and changed the boot drive. I couldn't change cables since my HDD was SATA 3.5" and my SSD was M.2 on a PCIe card. I'm not sure I have everything configured correctly. I noticed a "Windows notice" on my screen that I wasn't using a legal copy" so I looked up the error code and did something in the SETTINGS app and it fixed itself. For some reason, Windows didn't think I had a license.

I'm not sure the best way to use my old 1TB HDD. I was going to put all my data on the HDD and just use my SSD for the OS, but since I'm only using 25% of my SSD space, I thought I'd continue to keep everything on the SSD except for perhaps DOWNLOADS and old data files. How do you use your HDD with your SSD?

I am definitely enjoying going from 153MB/s to 3,569MB/s.

Bob

Martin, I just read your post and some of this may be above my capabilities. I am really glad you mentioned not deleting any of the OS on the HDD. I probably would have done that and not be able to boot. I went to the Macrium website but didn't see a FREE version. I saw a 30-day free trial. Is that what you're taking about. If so, I'll try that and give the "fix windows boot problems" a try. I'm almost afraid to try anything since my computer is working, but I'm guessing it's not good to be running on a SSD without the Boot Configuration data. 

Bob

Martin, I managed to ADD a boot option since my SSD or HDD weren't boot options any more. I now have it booting to the SSD but it takes forever to boot and I have to section "Boot Windows on Volume3" or "Boot Windows on Volume 9." 

At this point, I'm not sure whether to CLONE my HDD all over again or try something else. Or should I try that Rescue disk I created on the USB from Macrium and try the "Fix boot problems again?"  

Computers can be so frustrating!!!!!!!! I probably should have left well enough alone since it was booting pretty quick, even if it might have been using some files from the HDD.  Any advice at this point would be greatly appreciated. 

On the boot menu, the only option showing was: UEFI: ST1000DM003-1ER162, which I'm guessing is the OLD HDD 1TB drive.

Bob

Hi AF_Bob,

Your most recent messages on this forum seem to have somehow got out of order, but I think I am answering the latest one!  I am sorry to hear that you have encountered difficulties.

It sounds as if you may perhaps have run "Fix Windows Boot Problems" from the Macrium Rescue CD without first formatting (or physically disconnecting) the HDD.  If so, then your PC will have become confused and is probably trying to boot from both the SSD and HDD.  Please refer to my original post on Page 1 of this thread - Step 7 gives the correct sequence to follow.

The fundamental problem is that if two bootable OS disks are installed the PC will always boot from the HDD by default.  The HDD must go in order to boot from the SSD!  You must either temporarily disconnect it, or format it with removal of the EFI boot partition using DISKPART (Step 7 of my original post).

I am afraid the situation you are now in is outside my experience, but I suggest the following:

1)  Make absolutely sure you have a complete backup (Step 1 of my orginal post)!
     - this is because as a last resort you might need to do a fresh install of Windows on the SSD
     - if so you must be able to restore your data from backup

2)  Format the HDD following the instructions in Step 7 of my original post:
     - or alternatively physically disconnect the HDD for now
     - either way, the HDD must be made inaccessible to the system

3)  Run "Fix Windows Boot Problems" again from the Macrium Rescue CD:
     - this time it will only have access to the SSD and hopefully will fix the problem

Martin, thanks so much for all the info. Using this forum, I find it confusing to find the posts I'm looking for and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to respond under the post I'm reading...or go to the end and respond. This response is to your: 10-17-2020 04:55 AM post.

I did so many things last night that I can't recall them all but during booting, when I had to select (within 30 sec) which OS to boot with (Vol 3 or Vol 8), I clicked on something that allowed me to delete the Vol 3 option (HDD). I don't know if that deleted the OS on the HDD or simply deleted using the HDD as an option but I was able to boot without getting that notice to select one.

Short of pulling the computer out of my cabinet and removing the cover to remove the HDD SATA plug, is there any other way of checking to see if the computer is using the HDD to boot? If not, I'll remove the HDD SATA plug today and see if it boots. If it doesn't, I'll use the Macrium rescue USB to boot and try that "Fix Booting problem" thing again from the rescue USB.

I do have my old HDD backed up from a few days before I installed the SSD but I never understood when to use the IMAGE restore or the BACKUP. To me, it sounds like they would both put your HDD back to where it should be. I'm wondering now if I should either create an image or backup of the SSD since it's working. Any advice on that?

I will go back to your original post and see if I can still follow that step by step. Can I assume that when everything is configured correctly, I will NEVER hear my HDD making noise unless I intentionally access it? In other words, should it be silent during the entire boot process?

Bob

Martin,

Thanks for all the help and information you provided. I will save a new image of the C:SSD drive to my external HDD. I timed the booting of my XPS8900 and it's 38 seconds. I realize much of that depends on what programs are in the STARTUP portion of task manager. I have a few items which are listed as HIGH impact that I could probably uncheck, but I was curious how long your computer took to boot using your SSD. I'm thinking 38 seconds isn't bad but I never timed it with the HDD.

Bob