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XPS 8930, BIOS inaccessible
I bought the XPS 8930 08/2020 with ITB NVME boot drive and 64GB of memory. No method of entering the BIOS setup works on this machine - you just get a black screen with a lit keyboard. This screamer has an i9, so I figured it would pass Windows-11 compatibility test, but it failed because the TPM module was not found (must not be enabled in the BIOS). Since there is no way to view/change BIOS settings, it looks like I'll have to settle for Windows-10 with this very expensive machine.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I've been an embedded programmer for 35+ years who is very familiar with PCs (Windows and LInux) but after trying all the video options that this machine has, all produce the same result (black BIOS display). Motherboard HDMI, and NVIDIA DP and HDMI - none worked - and of course the warranty expired a few months ago.
RoHe
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October 25th, 2021 10:00
HP...? I think you meant Dell...
I know I've asked before, but please confirm, first, that Legacy Option ROM is disabled in BIOS setup and, second, see if TPM is or can now be enabled. Be sure to save the changes, if any, before exiting setup.
You may want to clear BIOS by pulling the motherboard battery, pressing/holding the power button for ~30 sec, and reinstalling the battery. Then power on and go into BIOS setup and check the Legacy Option ROM and TPM settings again.
I suspect if BIOS 1.1.18 is already installed, it may not let you try to reinstall it again from your USB stick via the F12 menu. You'd have to put the BIOS Recovery file on your USB stick, plug that into the PC with power off, and then launch BIOS Recovery. If the process can't find a suitable recovery image on your boot drive, it should let you use the file on the USB stick:
After PC reboots itself, restart again and go into BIOS setup and check the Legacy Option ROM and TPM settings.
And I guess it's possible the TPM chip isn't working...
djmcfar1234
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April 17th, 2023 13:00
I was the one who originally posted this thread on 10-21-2021, and finally my machine is acting completely normally. All BIOS boot, normal boot, BIOS error message "(A7) me fw downgrade - request mespilock failed" and TPM recognition problems that I mentioned on this thread are resolved by a Dell update. I did not change any settings at all, the update fixed everything (I did it last night). The reason I'm posting this is in case anyone else is still experiencing similar issues.
In particular, the update contained
(1) BIOS version 1.1.20
(2) Intel Management Engine Firmware version 11.8.90.3987. It turns out that the "(A7) me fw downgrade - request mespilock failed" message comes from the Intel Management Engine.
My XPS 8930 has an i9900K processor (may be of relevance). Anyway, I want to thank @RoHe and anyone else who tried to help me out back then.
fireberd
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October 21st, 2021 03:00
This is not a global problem. Something isolated to your system. We have seen "black screen" on boot with the 8940 but that is a different motherboard and later Intel chipset.
Reset the CMOS memory and see if it helps. Power off, disconnect power cord from power supply, press power button for 10 seconds to drain any residual power. Open the case and locate the 2032 battery on the motherboard. Remove the battery for at least 5 minutes. Reinstall battery, reconnect power cord and try.
Vic384
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October 21st, 2021 06:00
@djmcfar1234 You could try entering the BIOS from Windows 10:
1. Click Settings or click New norifications
2. Chick Update & security
3. Click Recovery the Restart now
4. The Options menu will be seen after executing the procedures
5. Select Advanced options
6. Click UEFI Firmware Settings
7. Choose Restart
8. This displays the BIOS setup utilly interface.
djmcfar1234
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October 21st, 2021 21:00
Fireberd - Interesting that you mention resetting the BIOS to factory defaults, because I did a BIOS update to the most recent version using the Dell update utility (dated 09/06/2021 in msinfo) and it went extremely fast, faster than it should I thought, compared to other machines I have flashed the BIOS on in the past. Hmmm, do you think that the BIOS reset would be safe in this instance ? After all, the machine does work great now and maybe that might brick it ? This machine hosts a website which I don't have an online ready-to-go-live backup for, so I'm a little leery. What do you think ?
fireberd
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October 22nd, 2021 03:00
CMOS reset won't brick the machine. In fact its an often used procedure for problems, doesn't always fix the problem, but a good possibility.
djmcfar1234
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October 22nd, 2021 17:00
Believe it or not, a nomachine update that required a reboot fixed the problem of no access to BIOS. When the machine rebooted, the Dell logo appeared for the first time in months and I was able to get into the Bios. Legacy ROM was disabled, secure boot was enabled, and TPM Firmware was enabled, without me having to do anything. There was no option for TPM 2.0 anywhere, only the "Firmware TPM", which Windows-10 Pro recognized, but failed it as being incompatible. In particular, the msinfo error was "Device Encryption Support - Reasons for failed automatic device encrypt: TPM is not usable, PCR7 binding is not supported, Un-allowed DMA capable bus/device(s) detected, TPM is not usable" . There are 4 versions of the XPS 8930 motherboard, and the type I have does not have the TPM hardware (which is hard to believe). I'm going to start another thread on this subject.
Ironically, a couple of other machines I have (HP all-in-ones) fail the windows 11 test because of the i7 processor revision, even though those machines have the TPM 2.0 hardware and it is recognized by Windows. The PC Health Check for Windows 11 is angering a lot of people who are failing with recently purchased machine (within the last few years). Also ironically, an i5 gaming machine that I have passes the windows 11 test LOLOL !! This really is a mess, and maybe I'm better off not worrying about getting Windows 11.
Vic384
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October 22nd, 2021 18:00
@djmcfar1234 Since you got the message "TPM is not usable" try clearing TPM to see if that fixes the problem. See this: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/security/information-protection/tpm/initialize-and-configure-ownership-of-the-tpm
djmcfar1234
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October 22nd, 2021 19:00
The "Clear" button is disabled due to Windows not recognizing it. No option to turn on or off either, for the same reason, but thanks for the suggestion. There are 4 types of TPM from highest security to lowest...
(1) discrete hardware chip - only handles TPM (either 1.2 or 2.0)
(2) integrated TPM - the chip performs other non-TPM functions also
(3) firmware TPM - runs on the BIOS (the implementation on my XPS 8930)
(4) software TPM - dedicated program that runs on Windows, and is the most vulnerable
I doubt if they will allow the firmware TPM implementation in the future, but who knows.
Vic384
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October 23rd, 2021 15:00
@djmcfar1234 Have you checked Control Panel / Device Manager / Security devices to see if the Trusted Platform Module 2.0 driver is installed?
RoHe
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October 23rd, 2021 15:00
@djmcfar1234 So if the last BIOS update went "faster" than you expected, did BIOS actually even get updated? What BIOS version is running? msinfo32.exe will tell you...
You're always better off running BIOS updates on the XPS 8930 via the F12 menu Flash Update option with the BIOS update .exe file on a non-bootable USB stick, entirely outside Windows.
Plug that USB stick into the PC with power completely off. Power on and start tapping F12. When the F12 menu opens, select the Flash Update option and follow the prompts. PC will shut off and restart several times during the update, and may look like it's turned itself completely off. Just leave it alone! Don't do anything until it's safely back at the desktop.
My XPS 8930 was purchased in 11/2019 and has motherboard 0T2HR0. It currently has the latest BIOS 1.1.18 installed. TPM is enabled in BIOS.
When I run tpm.msc in a CMD prompt window, the app opens and its Status line says: "TPM is ready for use", and further down that same screen it says "Manufacturing Version 303.1.2.0.0 and "Specification Version 2.0". Your XPS 8930 is somewhat newer than mine, so I'd doubt you don't have a discrete TPM chip on the motherboard that's compatible with TPM2.0, like mine.
So as @fireberd already said, start by clearing BIOS and work from there...
djmcfar1234
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October 23rd, 2021 18:00
Thank you RoHe for your response, as I had seen your post on a successful fix for windows 11 TPM test failure on another thread, and noticed that you also had the XPS 8930. I figured that you had one of the other 3 types of motherboard that an 8930 could have, but after looking in msinfo my "BaseBoard Product" is also OT2HR0 (and the "BaseBoard Version" is A02). I suspected that the BIOS update didn't really happen even though msinfo was reporting 1.1.18. Your suggestions are definitely worth trying here ! Thanks again, and I'll let you know how it works out.
RoHe
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October 24th, 2021 15:00
That's probably a zero at beginning of your motherboard part number...
If msinfo32 is currently reporting BIOS 1.1.18, then it got updated. But, it's possible you already had this version installed, especially since Windows Update is offering it. So when it was "installing", it may have been checking your system, saw the latest version was already installed, and immediately exited without doing anything further.
Dell officially supports Win 11 on the XPS 8930 so they wouldn't be doing that if some versions of the XPS 8930 motherboard weren't fully compatible, *unless you're in the People's Republic of China.
Did you try running tpm.msc?
djmcfar1234
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October 25th, 2021 09:00
djmcfar1234
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October 25th, 2021 09:00
Yes I ran tmp.msc as well as "Security Processor Details", and both indicated no TPM. Even though you had a reasonable explanation for the fast update I experienced I still think that the thumb drive update method is worth a try. In the event that doesn't fix it, I may have an option to re-instate the warranty, in which case what do you think HP would do with that situation ? Thanks again for your help with my problem.