XPS 8930, freezes for 3-5 seconds

@RoHe 

Gotcha.

Hopefully it doesn't adversely affect anything, running the update I mean. Is there anything that can be done if this does happen?

EDIT: Looking at something else people were saying they couldn't get into BIOS because of fast start up, or had to restart the computer to do it, and then had to press F2. But they also mentioned something about resetting the monitor? Oo

'1) All peripherals except keyboard, mouse and monitor should be disconnected.
2) Re-connect your monitor to the onboard graphics connector in the rear of the unit.
3) Power on the monitor and use the buttons to reset it (on screen) to defaults.
3) Start the computer.
4) Tap the F2 key twice per second - you should see a blue bar progressing at the bottom of your screen.
5) The BIOS should come up.'

^ This was their list of instructions. I was trying to find out if the BIOS update is largely safe to do.

This page also mentions about the BIOS FLASH UPDATE option, is this the one I'm after? And, as another question, how do I ensure there is no running BitLocker? I've never enabled anything, and when I check there was no padlock icon over my drives. 

https://www.dell.com/support/article/uk/en/ukbsdt1/sln305230/flashing-the-bios-from-the-f12-one-time-boot-menu?lang=en

Just hand them a USB with the .exe already on it and a printout of my instructions above for running the update from the F12 menu.

If they can't do that, they're useless and I wouldn't let them touch my PC...

Since you have an add-in video card, you're supposed to connect at least one monitor to that card. So don't move the monitor to an onboard port.

When you boot up, look in lower right corner of the screen. You should see the F2/F12 bar, just press F12 when that bar is visible. You can practice this -if you're that insecure- without having the USB stick connected. But IIRC you won't see the option to run the BIOS update unless the PC detects a USB stick.

If you didn't enable it, BitLocker won't be running.

Can anyone 100% guarantee a BIOS update will work? - No. If you're still under warranty, Dell -at least in the US- will replace the motherboard one time only for a failed BIOS update.

Maybe you should toss the PC out and just go back to using  &    !   

@RoHe 

It would probably be easier sometimes. I just wish my system had shipped with a higher BIOS, especially one that at least addressed the cooling problem so I didn't really have to bother with them.

My last PC got a BIOS update during a trip to the shop a few years back and it was the only time it was ever done.

Would a problem likely be immediate if it manifests?

EDIT: I'm actually starting to wonder if I should just leave the BIOS and associated risk and see if the freeze occurs again with the altered setup. I just have this unpleasant feeling it'll go wrong and I'll be chasing Dell around trying to get a new motherboard and then having it installed and all the rest of it. 

Unfortunate that these BIOS updates seem to be so fraught with risk.

BIOS updates aren't "fraught with risk". 

There's always some risk, but not just with PCs and BIOS updates.  Last Android OS update permanently bricked my cell phone, but I digress...

There have been so many Intel security issues identified recently that -unfortunately- frequent BIOS updates are now a fact of life. And Dell likely shipped yours with the latest BIOS available at that time...

No one is forcing you to do any of these BIOS updates, but you have to accept the responsibility if a hacker gets into your PC because you didn't update BIOS, drivers, or any other software that gets a security patch...

@Moab23 

Here's a post where a user went directly from  BIOS 1.1.6 to 1.1.10 with no problems...

@RoHe 

Well, I took it back to the shop.

Had the stock case fan reinstalled no issue. Skipped the BIOS since it would've required my signing a disclaimer in case it went wrong. Can't say I blame them there. They did mention their surprise that Dell would pack such a powerful system into a tiny case. They also pointed out there isn't a tremendous amount of clearance between the cooler top and the PSU, but they tried rerouting cables to improve airflow. Their actual advice for long term, surefire operation was to either sell the system because it was still valuable and reinvest in a new one, or case swap it. Maybe I'll look into that someday down the line. 

Still, noticeably cooler exhaust air than when it was running with the Arctic case fan. Current upgrades are:

Replaced OEM 460W PSU > Corsair 850W

Replaced OEM CPU Cooler > Arctic Freezer 11 LP

Update GPU Drivers direct from Nvidia

I do also blow an external USB fan toward the side vents to offer additional cooling. Also chills the surrounding air a little under the desk. 

I bit the bullet and tested the primary culprit, my rendering program. Tested with lights and camera movement. Normally, this would be ripe for triggering the freeze. Didn't happen. I worked with these conditions (albeit cautiously) for a while. No freeze. An early encouragement, but I'll be a bit on edge for a while to be sure. Maybe it was what a friend said and it was tied to the PSU supply being too low with too fine a margin for error. 

So, cautiously optimistic for now.

Two pics of my internals. This was after the first visit, but before they reinstalled the stock fan and did what they could with the cables. Corsair fan is huge compared to what the OEM seems to have. The vents on that one only seemed to be the diameter of the second smaller grille rings. 

Anyway, thanks for all of the assistance. Hopefully that was problem solved.

Stop worrying already!

I'd be willing to bet the 460W PSU just couldn't handle your RTX video card and the 850W PSU is what solved the problem...

Update:

No freeze has occurred at any point during use of programs that would have initially triggered it. I'm growing in confidence that the issue has been fixed.

For anyone else experiencing either the small freezes, or a larger system freeze, it would appear the appropriate fixes are (at least in my case):

Change the power plan of your HDD so that it does not go to sleep
Disable Support Assist Remediation
Upgrade the power supply to something more powerful (in my case 460W to 850W)
Possibly upgrade your CPU cooler
Update your GPU drivers via the manufacturer site.

These steps seem to have alleviated the issue on my end. I still have that worry it may happen, but so far its doing perfectly fine.

I hope this info helps others.

Yeah it seems that way. Guess my pal had been right about something spiking beyond what the PSU could handle. 

@RoHe

>>As soon as I removed Support Assist and its Remediation Service, the freezes stopped on my XPS 8930 and I haven't had a single issue since.

This sounds hopeful.  I may need to take this action, if wait-and-see falls short.

Can you comment what I'll miss once Support Assist and its Remediation Service are removed.  I'm not sure how these relate to Dell Update.  It appears a Dell Update Support Assist plugin came installed; then the Support Assist and Remediation bits installed or updated in my possession.

I have not had a new Dell in a long time... been managing my Win7 Dell's the old way... manually.

Thanks,

GK

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@GKDesigns wrote:

@RoHe

>>As soon as I removed Support Assist and its Remediation Service, the freezes stopped on my XPS 8930 and I haven't had a single issue since.

This sounds hopeful.  I may need to take this action, if wait-and-see falls short.

Can you comment what I'll miss once Support Assist and its Remediation Service are removed.  I'm not sure how these relate to Dell Update.  It appears a Dell Update Support Assist plugin came installed; then the Support Assist and Remediation bits installed or updated in my possession.

I have not had a new Dell in a long time... been managing my Win7 Dell's the old way... manually.

Thanks,

GK

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Well, you will miss "Freezes" & you will also miss the continual prompts for it to offer to setup your Email Services (even though you may have already configured them)!

@John-Jay 
>>Well, you will miss "Freezes" & you will also miss the continual prompts for it to offer to setup your Email Services (even though you may have already configured them)!

Try deselecting the Support Assist\Privacy setting... that might block auto-Profile setup nagging.  Maybe not.

Regarding your post-rebuild auto install of Support Assist, I think the stock installation is setup to do this pending some trigger.  Mine were installed after the machine arrived... I can't recall what triggered that.

But now, is Support Assist currently installed on your re-built machine and you have no short freeze behavior?

GK

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@GKDesigns wrote:

 

But now, is Support Assist currently installed on your re-built machine and you have no short freeze behavior?

GK

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@GKDesigns 

No! As soon as I realised I had it (& it had started to cause reliability problems) I removed it!

Because of the "History" of my XPS, since the rebuild, I've deliberately adopted a "Slowly, Slowly" approach!

Basically, DON'T run any App/Utility unless it is essential. Wait a few weeks before loading any User Progs/Apps & then ONLY one at a time! Etc, etc, etc!

That way, should the "Freeze" issue return, then it will help determine the Culprit.

At the same time I keep running & monitoring the Windows Reliability Monitor so that I can keep track of when certain "Issues" occur!

Despite what Dell has tried to tell me, the SupportAssist was NOT loaded when they rebuilt the XPS (which was just before Christmas), it ONLY self downloaded a couple of days ago! The following day I got an "Urgent Windows Notification" "instructing" myself to run it so that it can initialised my Email Settings!! Despite the fact that my Email Client (Thunderbird) is Fully setup & running OK. A short while after that, I got a Reliability Warning telling me that it had inadvertently Stopped.

Needless to say, shortly after that, it got forcibly REMOVED.

To cut a long story short, I haven't had another 3-5 second Freeze & I'm determined to keep it that way!!