Dell XPS 13, 7390 eGPU refuses to work

An update: dell-cares responded to my post in a private message. There was some back and forwards, but at the end the final response was that dell does not support eGPU’s on the XPS.

So, despite that this eGPU working on every other model of laptop that I’ve tried, and it being clear there is some issue with the XPS (based on process of elimination), as it is a eGPU they refuse to support it.

so I’ll keep this here for anyone considering purchasing an XPS and using an eGPU (if you want to video edit, do graphical intensive tasks like CAD drawing, or do any kind of gaming on the XPS with an eGPU), probably consider another laptop.

Yeah, I don't even see the external box over in the Alienware pages any more.

MacBook Pros are nice. But if you want Windows ... I forget if eGPU works in native BootCamp or not.

There are the Precision laptops. Personally, I prefer to Windows game and CAD on desktops with some power under the hood. 

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@cammj86 wrote:

Dell XPS 13 7390.

I've also tried to update the thunderbolt controller using this:

Version: 4.44.106.031 ,A00Older versions

Last Updated Date: 05 Feb 2020

File Name: Intel_TBT3_FW_UPDATE_NVM_44_02_ITA44_A00_ThunderboltFirmwareUpdate64_4.44.106.031.exe

However that file doesnt run properly, it just shows the attached image:

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Is this file listed as compatible for your exact model ?

The Thunderbolt firmware update you tried appears to be for the regular XPS 13 7390, not the 2-in-1.  The 7390 2-in-1 uses a completely different line of CPUs (Ice Lake) compared to the standard 7390, so there's a good chance that the Thunderbolt controller might be different, in which case I'm not surprised that firmware update didn't work.  Looking at the drivers on support.dell.com available for the 2-in-1, I only see updates for the Thunderbolt application and drivers.  Those might be worth applying if you haven't already.  If you have, I'm not sure what to suggest other than keeping an eye out for future updates that might resolve this.  The fact that Dell doesn't officially support something doesn't mean it will never work, fyi.  To my knowledge eGPUs have only ever been officially supported with Alienware systems when using the proprietary Alienware Graphics Amplifier, but users have gotten eGPUs working on other Dell systems.

@cammj86  If you don't mind could you please describe in details how did you solve the problem? Did you solve it?

And did you manage to boot laptop with bitlocker enabled? I'm getting bilocker recovery prompt every time

I'm very disappointed with Dell's support. It looks like they support not customers but Dell against customers 

@gdreyv  if you're getting a BitLocker Recovery Key prompt every time you start your system, then it sounds like there's a problem with the TPM.  Getting a Recovery Key prompt is expected in certain situations such as after certain hardware or firmware configuration changes, because in that case it's occurring because the TPM has detected a change from its known and trusted configuration, so it refuses to release the decryption key automatically like it normally does, in case the change is part of an attempt to compromise the security of the system and steal the key.  So that's why you need the Recovery Key.  But if you enter the correct key once at that prompt, then the TPM "reseals" to the new configuration and trusts that going forward, at which point you shouldn't see the prompt again because the TPM should be releasing it automatically again.  So if you're seeing it every time, it means the TPM is either disabled or it doesn't actually have the correct key.  For the former, make sure the TPM is enabled in the BIOS.  For the latter, you can either disable and re-enable BitLocker, which will cause it to store a new key in the TPM -- but will also generate a new Recovery Key, which you will need to back up -- or you can just delete and re-add the TPM protector to your existing BitLocker environment in order to get BitLocker to send a new key to the TPM by doing this:

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt.

2. Enter "manage-bde -protectors -get c:"

3. Copy the ID of the TPM protector to the clipboard, including the curly brackets/braces.

4. Enter "manage-bde -protectors -delete c: -id {YourTPMID}" -- include those curly brackets/braces.

5. Enter "manage-bde -protectors -add TPM"

i Have the 7390 2 in 1, for me i could get it working on the left side tb3 port but not the the right side.  the right side would kill my wifi chip as well.  Using a 2070 rtx  aorus egpu.   

I do get other various issues along the way as the bitlocker warning and so on.  Basically, i have to boot up, log in, then plug the egpu and then unplug it if i need a reboot or anything.  i also have the 15inch 7590, that one works without issues and I also get better performance(fps) on that model when displaying back to the internal screen.  

>  Dell does not support you plugging anything in to the laptop is the only way to interpret their stance. Dell support is absolutely useless.

Investigating my BSODs on windows I found that Dell does not support you to install anything on the laptop either. And all tests you have to do by yourself. Ah, forgot to mention I paid for additional support. But not sure what that additional support exactly it means as they didn't support me anyhow so far.

Thanks a lot for the update!

Hi @gdreyv 

I managed to sort the problem of the eGPU out myself after days/weeks of effort (it has something to do with the power management functionality on the Dell XPS 13 7390 which is only sorted by changing the windows power plan to disable PCI Express Link State Power Management), this will enable you to connect the eGPU flawlessly. 

Saying that, there are now some weird downsides of using a custom power plan in Windows. Sometimes I boot the computer from sleep in to an unresponsive state, sometimes I boot the computer and have it only display a weird white distorted square on the screen. Without proof, I somewhat suspect Dell has made some power management compromises in order to ship this laptop as one of the first ice lake laptops. Regardless, having the eGPU work, these side effects are liveable (that's a really interesting thing you have to say after purchasing a laptop worth $3,000, you would hardly call it a premium experience).

Despite this only being an issue with the XPS 13 7390 Dell acted with complete impunity during the support cases, saying that because it was a peripheral device, it didnt matter that it was only their laptop that caused the problem, they were not responsible for supporting it. In short, Dell does not support you plugging anything in to the laptop is the only way to interpret their stance. Dell support is absolutely useless.

On to your bitlocker issue; I suspect Dell knows about this, and the reason being is that they have released firmware updates specifically for their thunderbolt docks triggering bitlocker recovery updates on boot. I have the same issue as you, but I just plug mine in after the spinning wheel.. you have to understand, i'm so sick of troubleshooting this buggy device, that I now just 'live' with these small pains because I know how really really poor Dell support is, and how much effort I waste trying to diagnose these problems!