XPS 8930, cannot enter BIOS, no splash screen

someone else posted similar question on a different Dell model.  seems a common symptom.

try replace cmos battery w a brand new CR2032 one and clear cmos settings.   8930 integrated gpu has HDMI/DP and no VGA.

We need some more data.

* What monitor model? What video in ports are available on the monitor?
* Is the monitor connecting to the HDMI out port on the added bottom discrete GTX 1050 Ti video card -or- is the monitor connected to the top XPS 8930 onboard HDMI out port?

Unfortunately this solution was short lived.  It is not working again.  Any suggestions much appreciated.

Chip Treen

Chris,

Plugging the monitor into the video card directly does display the DELL splash screen.  It also allowed me to access the bios for a short time, but now it does not  work.  The compute boots directly to Windows after a short delay.  Moving it back to the main hdmi port does not help.  Nor does moving it again back the display card.  Neither F2 nor F12 work.  Any other suggestions?

Have you tried clear CMOs settings by reset RTCRST jumper on motherboard?

It worked for me on an older XPS desktop, although not for very long.  I suspect the CMOs chip is getting old in these models and thus not working 100% as expected.

2017 is quite recent model.  one thing you could try is to simplify the video port options for this bios access issue only.  This means removing discrete video card from pc.  Use only integrated on board video ports (DP or hdmi).  If CMOs battery has already been replaced w a new one, that is fine.  Otherwise try replace cmos battery w a brand new CR2032 one and clear cmos settings.  The idea is to minimize number of video adapters detected by CMOs.

Re: I need to access the BIOS to add a SSD.

Is this an NVMe ssd you are trying to add as a boot drive, or 2.5” sata ssd?

I just tried this without success.  Is a 2017 computer considered that old?

And one more thingy...

What version of the Realtek audio driver is installed? Look in Device Manager.

Windows Update forced an update to the Realtek audio driver on the XPS 8930 a few weeks ago that causes very slow booting.

If you have Realtek driver v6.0.9205.1 running, click the Rollback button on that screen in Device Manager and roll back to the prior driver version, which might be v6.0.9107.1 (March'2021) or v6.0.1.8248 (Feb'2021).

Neither of those two previous versions causes slow booting on the XPS 8930 so either of them is preferable to v6.0.9205.1. (Dell actually pulled Realtek v6.0.9205.1 from their own Support page for the XPS 8930 because of its problems.)

@ctreenmn  - Is Fast Startup enabled or disabled in Win 10? There are some Windows updates that can't be installed when FS is enabled. The PC tries to install them at every boot, eventually fails, and lets the PC boot. So that can cause long boot times. And that also may interfere with your attempts to use F2 to open BIOS setup.

Try disabling FS (with monitor connected to video card's HDMI, if possible):

1. Boot to desktop
2. Open Windows Power & Sleep screen
3. Click Additional power settings
4. Click Change what power buttons do
5. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable
6. UNcheck Turn on fast startup
7. Click Save changes
8. Do a full power off shutdown, not just a Restart.
9. Power on and boot

Be patient at #9 because some updates may get installed. When you get to the desktop, do another full power off shut down. Then power on and tap F2 to see if BIOS setup opens now. Assuming it opens, just exit setup without changing anything. When you're back at the desktop, go through the steps listed above and re-enable FS at #6 because it will make future boots noticeably faster.

If that doesn't help...
With monitor connected to video card's HDMI port, repeatedly mash these keys, but not too fast, and see if that opens BIOS setup for you:

F2 then F12
F2 then F12
F2 then F12
F2 then F12
F2 then F12

If you still can't get into BIOS...
What ports are on your video card, aside from HDMI?  If it has DisplayPort (DP), you could try using a DP(video card)>DVI(monitor) adapter. I'd avoid using VGA(monitor) because it's a low quality analog signal.

Why do you even need to get into BIOS if you're replacing an HDD with an SSD? You shouldn't have to change anything in BIOS. Regardless of what drive is the boot drive (HDD or SSD), Windows Boot Manager should always be the first option on the boot list, so that's not going to change.

Once your HDD is cloned onto the SSD, disconnect the HDD from the motherboard and confirm that the PC boots normally from the SSD.

If you want to use the HDD for routine storage, you'll have to initialize it using Disk Management in Windows to remove all the OS files. To do this, reconnect HDD to motherboard. When you boot, mash F12 repeatedly to see if you can open that menu. Assuming it opens, select option to boot from the SSD.

Once in Windows, open Disk Management and initialize the HDD (EVERYTHING WILL BE DELETED!). Then reboot normally and it should boot directly from the SSD and the HDD can be used for storage.

NOTE: If you don't use F12 to boot from the SSD after the HDD is reconnected, the PC will always boot from the HDD. You can't initialize the HDD when it was used as the boot drive...

Thanks for all of the suggestions.  Let's start with the key question - why do I need to access the boot menu?  I thought this was necessary to change the boot order so it would boot from the SSD and then use the HDD as a secondary drive.  Perhaps that is not necessary.

Turning off fast boot does not help the bios issue.  However disconnecting the cables from the HDD and restarting does allow me to get to the bios, but with no hard drive showing the boot order won't matter.

Taking out the small SSD and replacing it with the newer 1 gig SSD does allow me to put Windows on the SSD.  However I would prefer to clone the  drive, but the HDD is not visible.  Do you have a suggestion of how to do  the cloning?

As you noted the realtek drive is v6.0.9205.1.  However the rollback option is grayed out.  Any suggestions there?

If it matters, the PC has been upgraded to Windows 11.

Thanks

Chip

One other note.  When the new unformatted 1 tb SSD was inserted to replace the existing SSD (I think it's cache only and much smaller) the computer would not boot.  It came up in the diagnostics screen and tried to pxe boot.  Disconnecting the HDD and booting from a windows USB drive does allow me to install windows on the SSD, but I much prefer to clone the HDD and avoid reinstalling  all of the software and files.  According to another Dell listing and some utube videos, it should boot on the HDD and allow access to the SSD.  Is there a bios or other setting which needs to be changed?

Thanks

@ctreenmn  - Next time, please mention all the essential details about your system up front, eg, having an Optane module, updating to Win 11, etc. You've been given advice that may have made things worse because you didn't tell us those key details or what you'd already done before coming here...

Your PC can't boot when the cache SSD (Optane) is removed because Windows stores files on it that are essential. You need to remove the new SSD, reinstall the Optane, and reconnect the HDD.

And since you cleared BIOS by removing the motherboard battery, SATA Mode in BIOS has been reset to AHCI (default setting) but Windows is configured to run with SATA Mode set to RAID so it can't boot.

After reinstalling/reconnecting Optane and HDD, see if you can get into BIOS by tapping F2 as soon as you see the Dell splash screen. Assuming BIOS setup opens, change SATA Mode to RAID, save the change, and exit setup. IF you're lucky, the PC will automatically boot from the HDD.

If you can't get into BIOS with both HDD and Optane connected, disconnect the HDD, enter BIOS setup and change SATA Mode to RAID, save the change and exit. Then power off, reconnect HDD again and see if it will boot now. Either way, if it still doesn't boot from HDD+Optane, cloning your HDD is off the table. Sure hope personal files were backed up on external media...

Assuming it boots from HDD+Optane:
Very next thing you have to do is disable the Optane cache. Once that's done, you have to reconfigure Win 11 on the HDD:

1. At the desktop,open a Cmd prompt window, Run as administrator
2. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Safe Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /set {current} safeboot minimal and press Enter
3. Restart the computer and tap F2 to enter BIOS setup
4. Change the SATA operation mode from RAID back to AHCI
5. Save the change and exit Setup. Windows will automatically boot to Safe Mode
6. Open Cmd again, as in step #1.
7. Copy-paste this command, which will start Windows in Normal Mode the next time you reboot:
   bcdedit /deletevalue {current} safeboot and press Enter
8. Reboot and Windows will automatically start with AHCI drivers enabled.

Assuming that all works, you can remove the Optane, install the new SSD, and then clone the HDD onto it. NOTE: If the new SSD is larger than the HDD, you'll have to expand the C: partition on the new SSD to use all the extra space. Exactly how you do that depends on the cloning software you use. So be sure you understand how to expand C: before you start cloning.

Once the HDD is cloned, make sure PC boots from  the new SSD via the F12. Check that things runs properly from the new SSD. Probably good idea to boot via F12 several times to confirm stability, etc. And once you're satisfied, boot from SSD via F12 and use Disk Management to initialize the HDD. Then reboot normally.

Assuming you can no longer boot from HDD+Optane:
Disconnect HDD, remove Optane and install new SSD. Go into BIOS setup and change SATA Mode to AHCI. Now do a clean install on the new SSD with HDD unplugged. It's probably better to install Win 11 directly rather than installing Win 10 and updating to Win 11. This way Windows will automatically be installed to use the max space available for the C: partition on the new SSD.

Install all the Windows Updates, apps etc and make sure it all works properly.  Then reconnect the HDD and use the F12 menu to boot from the new SSD. Then use Disk Management to initialize the HDD for storage.

Realtek:
Realtek is the least of your problems right now, but Win 11 automatically installs the bum version of the Realtek driver. The roll-back button is grayed out because the Realtek driver that's running is the only one that's ever been installed in Win 11 on your PC so there is no prior version to roll back.

Once you get all the other issues sorted and PC runs correctly from the new SSD, you can uninstall Realtek audio in Device Manager  and -without rebooting- install the Realtek driver from the Dell XPS 8930 support page.

BIOS:
You do not have to change anything in BIOS setup (aside from the RAID/AHCI settings mentioned above). As I said, Windows Boot Manager should always be first in the Boot options list, regardless of whether the boot drive is the HDD or the SSD... as long as you do things the right way...

Thanks again for the suggestions.  I made several assumptions when starting which were not valid including assuming the optane drive was pretty much standard.

Good news is that reinstalling the optane drive allowed the computer to reboot on the HDD - no damage done.  Now running another backup.

Your latest comment leads to a larger question.  Will replacing the HDD with an SSD improve performance considering the optane cache is enabled?  In other wards does the optane cache effectively make the HDD performance the same as it would be with a SSD?  If that's the case then my exercise is mostly a waste of time.

Assuming I continue, which version of the Intel's optane software is needed?  Its not installed on my system, but appears to be available at Intel's site.

Thanks

Wow, you're lucky the PC booted from HDD again...

Even with an Optane cache, a HDD is nowhere near as fast/efficient as an SSD. So this isn't a waste of time. It's a learning experience.

Please confirm you have Optane installed. Go to the Support page and enter your Service Tag. (Do not post Service Tag here.) When that page identifies your PC, click View Product Specs under Quick Links on right side. Look on the list of factory installed components and confirm Optane is listed.

Assuming Optane is installed, but you don't have any Intel Optane Memory software installed, you probably will have the Intel Rapid Storage Technology (Intel RST) Application installed. You need one of those apps to use Optane.

Look on your Start menu to see which of the 3 apps listed at the link I provided in my previous post is installed. Then follow the instructions at that link to disable the Optane cache using the app that's installed on your PC.

Now you can remove the Optane module, swap in the new SSD and clone the  HDD onto the new SSD. It might be easier to just clone the HDD with BIOS set to RAID. Then confirm PC boots via F12 menu from the new SSD.

And when your satisfied that things work after booting from the new SSD, use the commands I posted above to configure Windows on the SSD to can change BIOS from RAID to AHCI. (NOTE: Some SSDs, notably those from Samsung, don't work well when BIOS is set to RAID.)

After changing BIOS to AHCI, confirm again that PC still boots via F12 from the new SSD. And after booting from the SSD via F12, use Disk Management to initialize the HDD (Everything deleted!) so you can use it for routine storage. If you don't initialize the HDD, and boot "normally", the PC is always going to boot from the HDD rather than from the SSD.