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XPS 13 9350 gets stuck at Dell boot screen (if not plugged-in) after BIOS 1.12.2
I'm not 100% sure, but after the latest BIOS update, my fully-charged Dell XPS 13 9350 gets stuck at the "POST" Dell logo boot screen (before the Dell logo screen that boots into Windows.) I have to press the power button for 5 seconds to hard shut down the computer, then plug in the power adapter and power on again, at which point it boots just like it used to. There hasn't been a BIOS update since 1.12.2 in January, so I'm wondering if this is happening to anyone else? Could there be a BIOS setting that is causing this behavior?
waqqas31
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May 6th, 2020 08:00
Well, surprise surprise, my last predictable-solution has also been proved unreliable.
However, this time I believe I have the answer, which is to boot into your hard drive using a bootable Windows installation USB. Detailed steps are as follows:
1. If you are in Windows, open a command prompt as Administrator and export your boot configuration:
bcdedit /export C:\BCDBackup
You can also boot from a Windows installation USB (created using instructions in step 2) and press Shift+F10 to open a Command Prompt and run the previous command.
2. Use any Windows 10 ISO, and create a bootable USB using the Windows DVD/USB Download Tool, which can be downloaded here:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=56485
3. Once your USB has been created, let's say it is E:\. Navigate to E:\boot and rename the existing bcd file to something else.
E:\boot\ren bcd bcd.orig
4. Copy the backup you created in step 1 to the same location, then rename it so that it assumes the role of the original BCD file.
E:\boot\copy C:\BCDBackup e:\boot\
E:\boot\ren BCDBackup bcd
And you're done!
Now, reboot your laptop, select F12 to load the boot menu and select this USB. It should boot into Windows on your hard drive.
Notes:
A. If you use a bootable USB to get into Windows, do not remove the USB at all. Each time I did, the mouse and keyboard froze until I plugged it back in.
B. Once you have successfully bypassed the Dell logo boot screen, you can shutdown and power on normally without any gimmicks for a few minutes (judging by experience.) You can shut down, remove the USB and power on again if you need that port to be available while you work. If you power down for an extended time thereafter, you will have to re-use the USB to get into Windows (gracefully, at least).
C. On my XPS 13 9350, if I used the left USB port, which is a USB 3.0 non-powershare port, the results were perfect with the method above. When I used the right USB port (powershare enabled, with the little thunderbolt), I would have to try twice, but it would still work predictably.
D. Last, but not least, this method worked fine even with the BIOS updated to 1.12.2. If this BIOS update caused whatever happened in the first place, the damage could not be undone by rolling back to a previous version.
waqqas31
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December 21st, 2021 07:00
Update in December 2021:
Well, all of the above "solutions" stopped working at some point. But I did find another workaround that is holding up quite well, and it's almost very simple.
All I have to do is plug in a USB C device into the Thunderbolt port and the laptop should boot fine. Once you discover such a device, it should work every time. The thing is that not every USB C device will do the trick.
Working:
Dell DA-200 USB C expansion dock
Aukey USB C to A adapter
Not working:
Lenovo 65w laptop PD Charger
Aukey micro USB to USB C adapter
Both lists can probably be expanded, but these are the most easily accessible devices I had lying around to use for this purpose.
Hope this helps someone!
waqqas31
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April 26th, 2020 21:00
Ok, that didn't take long.
I went into the BIOS settings and under the "POST Behavior" section I set a boot delay of 10 seconds (up from 0) and the issue of getting stuck at the boot screen has not occurred again. Fingers crossed going forward. (Also, nice to see there is an option to officially allow BIOS downgrades!)
waqqas31
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April 27th, 2020 20:00
I spoke too soon. 24 hours later and the problem relapsed. I have downgraded the BIOS to the previous release: 1.11.1. First test went smoothly. I will give it a couple days before drawing any conclusions.
waqqas31
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April 29th, 2020 08:00
Sadly, yet again the solution proved insufficient. Rolling back the BIOS to 1.11.1 did not prevent the system from getting stuck at the Dell logo boot screen again.
I searched for other threads, and I came across one recommendation to rollback the Intel RST drivers:
https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/After-Dell-Update-XPS-15-9560-freezes-at-Dell-logo-on-start-up/m-p/7385648/highlight/true#M35483
I installed this "update" (to roll-back the drivers to an earlier version), and while this didn't fix the problem on it's own, one other technique seems to have started working afterwards.
To be thorough, I also did the following:
1. Rolled-back RST drivers
2. BIOS: Changed POST behavior to minimal with 0 seconds delay.
3. When at initial boot screen, I press F12 to get the one-time boot screen, where I select option 1: UEFI: .
4. Within 1-3 tries, Windows boots from the SSD, whereas before, I tried many times with no progress whatsoever.
Other facts:
When I run the built-in diagnostics from the F12 boot menu, the self-test always gets stuck at "Testing Memory...23%" regardless if it is plugged in or not.
Also, in the BIOS, under BIOS events, there is only one error code being reported: Undefined event code 0x03808384. I Googled to no end and could not find any details about what this error code means.
waqqas31
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April 29th, 2020 10:00
In fact, I think this post contains everything you need to do if you find yourself in this situation:
https://www.dell.com/community/XPS/After-Dell-Update-XPS-15-9560-freezes-at-Dell-logo-on-start-up/m-p/7391079/highlight/true#M35988
waqqas31
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May 3rd, 2020 02:00
Sadly, once again, the steps in the last "solution" were not sufficient, and the problem repeated itself after about 1 hour of the laptop being powered down.
I have, however, found a scientific (i.e. repeatable) method to get the internal SSD to boot when the laptop is behaving like this.
0. If you forgot your charger at home...
1. Power on, press F12 for the boot menu, then enter the BIOS.
2. Toggle the boot menu between Legacy and UEFI, click Apply then exit so it reboots.
3. Press F12 to enter the boot menu again and select your boot device.
4. Let the PC hang and press and hold the power button for 5 seconds to force a hard shut down.
5. Power on and repeat step 3 and this time the laptop should finally boot.
Hope this helps somebody else!
Note: the above was tested on BIOS version 1.11.1. I will try updating the BIOS to 1.12.2 and retesting the method above.
waqqas31
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May 13th, 2020 08:00
An interesting development... this original problem seems to have disappeared. I am cold- and warm-restarting without incident and without exception now. It is possible that re-installing the latest BIOS did the trick and the original problems were the result of something getting messed up during the first BIOS update to 1.12.2.
One thing I didn't mention before is that I re-partitioned and re-installed Windows such that the disk was now completely MBR with no trace of UEFI. I'm not sure if that contributed to where it is now, but I thought it is worth the mention.
gonash
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January 30th, 2022 05:00
Same issue..
Tracking this thread to see if someone gets to a more laptop-only solution - some driver, some setting, some bios version..
gonash
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January 31st, 2022 18:00
I suspect thunderbolt modules being preloaded and they are interfering in boot process. Try disabling thunderbolt module preloading and thunderbolt booting support from BIOS.