XPS 8930, updated stuck on Dell logo, Can't get to BIOS

Try pulling the CMOS battery, instructions are here, and leave it out of the system for 15 minutes then reinstall. If that does not help replace the battery (CR2032) with a brand new battery. Assuming the update/s were for a BIOS upgrade and it was not successful, and my prior instructions do not help, you can try a BIOS recovery as outlined on the support page here.

Luckily you did not turn it off during update.  now it is stalling in post, thus stuck in Dell logo screen.  Follow JOcean advice on cmos battery, then Try clear cmos: Locate the CMOS reset jumper (CMCLR) on the system board. · Remove the power cord. · Remove the jumper plug from the password jumper-pins (PSWD) and connect it to CMOS jumper-pins. Wait for 5 seconds and then replace the jumper plug to the password jumper-pins (PSWD).

Tried everything suggested and managed to have it boot up once using the esc/ctrl reload BIOS method. Could not get the mouse to work. Was going to try a quick back up of desktop files. Everything else is on other hard drives. I rebooted and bricked back to logo screen.  Nothing worked again after that.  I have a new Dell on order so I will just add my other drives to the new computer.  Will I be able to transfer desktop files from my old NVMe boot drive using a NVMe docking station?  The system did have pin to enter.

Thanks for the help!

Tried and no success. Thanks for the help.

@malanick  - What update were you trying to install?

Run the PSU BIST test using button on rear of PC.

3. Assuming PSU passes the BIST, try to open BIOS setup again by tapping F2 as soon as you see the Dell splash screen. If you get into BIOS setup, see if SATA Operation is set to RAID or AHCI.

If it's set to AHCI and you didn't previously reconfigure Windows to use AHCI (eg if/when you replaced the boot drive), change the setting to RAID. Save the change and exit setup. PC should reboot automatically and -hopefully- gets to desktop.

try remove all sata devices (hdd, ssd, dvd), all usb devices, discrete graphics card, all memory sticks except one ram stick in DIMM1, try POST video using on board HDMI or DP video port, in case the new bios is stuck checking firmware of one removable piece of hardware.  sounds like new bios has issue but mobo has not been bricked completely yet.  test each ram stick individually.

Power supply seems ok according to test. I reset BIOS and get the Dell logo, the F2 and F12 will show up on the screen but does nothing after the keyboard is pressed. Just get stuck on the logo screen.

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@malanick wrote:

Power supply seems ok according to test. I reset BIOS and get the Dell logo, the F2 and F12 will show up on the screen but does nothing after the keyboard is pressed. Just get stuck on the logo screen.

 

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I'm confused by "I reset BIOS".  Exactly what does that mean? Did reset BIOS to defaults by removing battery and pressing PC's power button and/or by using the jumper?  Or, did you manually change BIOS from AHCI to RAID? 

If you reset BIOS to the defaults with battery and/or jumper, the default for SATA Mode is AHCI. Windows is typically installed by Dell for RAID, so it's not going to boot if SATA Mode is set to AHCI.

If you're using a wireless mouse/keyboard, try using wired mouse/key and plug them into rear USB2 ports on XPS 8930. If mouse/keyboard are Bluetooth, they're not going to work until Windows loads.

I used both the jumper and removing the battery.  Was using wired keyboard and mouse. I just got my new Dell delivered and going to transfer drives into new computer.  Giving up on old one.  Just need to try and transfer some files from the old boot NVMe to my new computer. What is the best way to do that?  Could I just install the old NVMe in a slot in the new computer and read the desktop file off of it or will that mot be possible because it was a boot disk?

Thanks for help.

Another thought... if new PC is XPS 8950 which has two M.2 NVME slots, you could try putting the old SSD in the second M.2 slot.

Windows Boot Manager may still boot from the SSD that came in new PC...but no proof one way or t'other...

Is the new PC, likely with different CPU and chipset, going to boot from the SSD coming out of the XPS 8930? 

Is Windows going to complain about the hardware change because the product key embedded on the motherboard won''t match what Windows on the old SSD expects?

Just had one of these in our shop that had been upgraded to bios version 1.1.27

Machine would not post with any NVME Drives connected with 1.1.27

Have restored back to 1.1.26 and all is well

I did try to upgrade it again and got exactly the same issue so went back to 1.1.26

Re: Re: rebooted and bricked back to logo screen.  
Two users report that after 1.1.27 bios update, POST stuck at Dell logo when nvme ssd is connected to 8930.  So it behooves OP to try remove nvme ssd and try POST again.

Makes me wonder if the new update changed the BIOS SATA Operation setting from whatever it was prior to the update.

For example, if SATA Operation was reset from RAID to AHCI by the new update, while Windows is installed by Dell at the factory to use RAID.  Or, if the user has reconfigured Windows to use AHCI, but the BIOS update set SATA Operation back to RAID.  Either way, the PC is unlikely to boot if there's a "mismatch" between BIOS and Windows.

I've made my Dell tech contacts aware...