XPS 13 9380, Windows 10 install, missing media driver

Question

Hi,

I have struggled now for a couple of days and nights with installing Windows 10 alongside the pre-installed Ubuntu 18.04 OS.

I have managed to boot up (uefi) and start the Windows 10 installation, but after the first step a window pops up which says "missing media driver". Is a driver actually missing or is some other error? How can I know which one is the missing piece?

I've tried downloading Intel RST driver (because I read about it in another thread) and extracted it on another USB but Windows 10 is not recognizing any useful driver.

Is it about the Samsung NVMe? But I cannot find any drivers for it on Dell support pages.

I have googled and read every article / thread I think exist on the subject and now I am just stuck.

Since I have a XPS with Ubuntu preinstalled I cannot download a Dell Windows ISO (why not? I have a Windows license key and I want to be able to Dual boot, what is the problem with that??)

Thanks for any advice,

System info:

0xbro · Accepted Answer

Hi @eipe , did you solve it? I'm having the same issue.

@Kentex69can you help me in this?

Thanks!

-------------

EDIT: I solved! In order to install Windows on my Dell with Ubuntu I had to modify some BIOS setup (previous post of eipe). After that, I create a Windows 10 bootable USB using Media Creation Tool (https://www.microsoft.com/it-it/software-download/windows10).
Once the USB was ready, I downloaded EVERY driver file from here and here and I put them on the bootable USB.

Doing this I was able to install Win10 without any problem

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

Welcome to the Dell Community  @eipe  You could receive a better and quicker response from the Ubuntu Forums: https://ubuntuforums.org/index.php?s=4e28c5e5c359fbbde51d0c199e7f4a6d Best regards, U2

eipe · Answer

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something but why would I go to the Ubuntu forums?

This is about me trying to install Windows 10 on a Dell XPS 13 9380 and that the windows 10 installation is complaining about missing media drivers (which seems to be a common problem but with a variety of suggested solutions).

The only reason I mentioned that my XPS 13 was preinstalled with Ubuntu (Developer Edition?) was to give some background / context and also explain why I am not using a Dell Windows 10 restoration ISO.

eipe · Answer

One question (please be patient with I'm new with all things related to BIOS, UEFI, etc etc)

Given that my only hard drive is the PM981 NVMe Samsung 1024 GB, should I / do I still need to have SATA enabled? Could it interfere in some way? In my current BIOS settings SATA is enabled and AHCI is selected.

(I really have no idea how all these things relate to each other.)

eipe · Answer

Well, if it had been general questions about how to go about installing win 10 after ubuntu, then yes. And I have read a lot of ubuntu forums the past days, believe me. But I cannot see how my problem right now has anything to do with Ubuntu.

I try to install Windows 10 from a GPT/FAT32 Windows 10 Bootable USB C 3.1 stick in UEFI mode. I am able to boot but on the second step it complains that media drivers are missing.

I read somewhere that only USB 2.0 works but 9380 only have USB C / Thunderbolt ports.

I have enabled all thunderbolt settings in BIOS.

I have previously used the same Windows 10 ISO image in a VM so it seems to work.

I have tried downloading a bunch of drivers from Dell/9380 support page and extracting them on another stick, but nothing shows up when the Windows 10 installation scans for suitable drivers.

- Should I try to boot / install from a SD card instead?
- Should I disable SATA?
- What drivers could possibly be required?

Sorry if I sounded rude, I'm just very very very tired..

U2CAMEB4ME · Answer

@eipe

You want to install W10 with Ubuntu and then be able to dual boot?

The process would be about the same no matter what model laptop/desktop you have.

Most of the people in this community I would say use W10 as their primary OS and a few may try to install Ubuntu and dual boot.

And fewer would have Ubuntu preinstalled and then try to install W10 to dual boot.

That,s why I suggested you try a forum where the members use Ubuntu as their primary OS and they should know how to install W10 to dual boot a little better than here.

Sorry for any inconvenience,

U2

Kentex69 · Answer

Hi eipe, Did you manage to install Windows 10? I have the excact same laptop and installed Win 10 yesterday (and viped Ubuntu at the same time).

eipe · Answer

@0xbro

I gave up. But I now see that you solved it!

Just to clarify:

1. You used Media Creation Tool, so I guess you used another computer that had Windows to do that?

2. You downloaded every driver from those two links, and just put them in a subfolder on the same bootable USB? Was it that easy, just create a folder and drag and drop? Or did you have to add the drives to the bootable USB using some other mysterious software?

3. Were you able to keep the Ubuntu OS or did you replace it completely?

Anything else? Were you able to figure out which driver was missing?

Hope that you can find the time to enlighten me

XPS

XPS 13 9380, Windows 10 install, missing media driver

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