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XPS 9365 Can’t Boot Into Windows 10
Hi all,
Just got a factory reset Dell XPS 13 9365. It has Windows 10 installed on it, though any profile or even Windows setup has not been done.
The problem with the laptop is that it can’t get past the Dell logo and the spinning dots without restarting right after. No sign of Windows is ever present past the Dell logo.
I’ve run all of the diagnostics possible, including the one that required me to download something that was 500mb from Dell. Every diagnostic came back saying that all of the hardware is perfectly fine, even when I did the thorough or extended diagnostics.
Interesting thing is that one of the first times that I restarted the computer, I was able to access WINRE and CMD, though I can no longer access WINRE even after all of the failed boots into Windows, or even if I try to turn off the laptop once the spinning dots start several times in a row, and pressing F8 has basically no effect or boots into BIOS.
I’ve reset the BIOS to factory settings, and there was no change. Changing from RAID to AHCI gave a temporary scare until I switched it back, with no change. I’ve experimented quite a bit with the boot order sequence, though by factory reset it is 1. Windows Boot Manager, and then 2. UEFI Hard Drive. Adding along or even isolating just Bootmgfw.efi on the boot sequence has no effect on the failing boot into Windows. Un-ticking all files from the boot sequence does result in an error that prompts me to (I believe) reboot, enter into BIOS, or run some kind of diagnostic that I have not done, though it probably wouldn’t do anything as I can just re-tick Windows Boot Manager and the old restarting problem will come back.
No beeps occur when starting up. I don’t think this could be a hardware failure, as all of the diagnostics say otherwise, but the software seems to be straight as well, though I suppose the only option left would be to assume that there is a corrupted file somewhere? I don’t have the dongle unfortunately and no USB that can fit into the laptops ports just yet, so I have not experimented with downloading a Windows 10 installation onto a flash drive.
Any help at all is greatly appreciated!
Mgerwin
4 Posts
0
August 17th, 2019 09:00
Thanks for replying,
I unfortunately don’t have any female USB C adapters to get into USB recovery just yet, though I’m planning to get some soon.
The spinning dots go on for about 10-20 seconds, and then the screen goes black, and the laptop restarts. I do believe that it is going past the spinning dots, and disabling everything not necessary for boot through BIOS settings has no effect. Disabling everything does not allow boot to proceed at all.
This is a refurbished unit, it has solely a Toshiba 512gb NVMe SSD drive. Disabling this drive in the BIOS just brings up the error of something along the lines of No Boot File Found.
No lights blink on other than normal as far as I’m aware. The Caps Lock stays unlit unless pressed on, the backlight for the keyboard comes on normally, no beeping noises unless I really mess around with the BIOS.
All of the diagnostic tests have checked the hardware and came back clean.
Would setting the SATA Operation in BIOS to Disabled have any meaningful effect? It’s currently set to RAID, and setting it to AHCI just freezes the laptop upon boot.
I just got this laptop a day ago, I suppose my best course of action would be to process a return at this point? Would there be a different solution considering that Windows was never set up after a factory reset?
I am able to see that Windows is on the SSD, as when I go into Boot Sequence and go into it’s File Explorer, standard Windows folders pop up (Program Files, System32, Users, etc.). However, if I click on any of these Windows folders, the laptop freezes and needs to be shutdown and restarted.
It’s really weird that the WINRE doesn’t come up anymore, as it did after my first few restarts. Now the laptop just restarts forever without going into WINRE. Forcing a power off when the spinning dots start even multiple times doesn’t seem to have any effect either unfortunately, so no CMD access right now unless there is another way to access WINRE?
Thanks for any and all help!
Saltgrass
3 Apprentice
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4.3K Posts
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August 17th, 2019 09:00
I remember getting a USB C to something adapter when I got my system. Maybe it was an ethernet device, but did you get something?
How long do you let it sit with the spinning dots?
If it doesn't progress past the dots, I might think it is a driver situation. You might try disabling everything in the Bios you can, such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth and whatever else you can.
This was a refurbished unit and do you know what drive it has installed?
Any lights blinking or turning on with the power plugged in?
Anything you might notice, even sounds, might help resolve the problem. The way things are going with Win 10 these days, you may be having a problem with a SATA driver..
Mgerwin
4 Posts
0
August 17th, 2019 10:00
Also - as a side note, the Native Resolution as reported under System Information in BIOS is incorrect. I bought the laptop thinking that it had a 1080p standard panel, and the diagnostics confirm this information when delving into the results. However, the BIOS is telling me that the laptop has a 13.3” QHD+ Panel, with a Native Resolution of 3200 by 1800.
Perhaps by some stretch this incorrect display reporting by BIOS is confusing the Boot process and preventing a Boot into Windows? Loading both BIOS defaults and Factory defaults does not change this incorrect Video Device Information reporting. It’s really weird that the diagnostics come back with a 1920 by 1080 result while the BIOS is telling otherwise.
If this incorrect information in BIOS could be stopping the normal Boot process, is there any way to edit the BIOS to reflect the actual Display values?
Again, thanks for any help and advice!
Saltgrass
3 Apprentice
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4.3K Posts
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August 17th, 2019 13:00
The standard resolution for the 9365 is QHD+ or the higher one. I do not know if any were sold with the 1920x1080 resolution. Where exactly are your seeing the HD resolution being shown?
The systems are shipped with an NVMe drive which is configured to run with the Intel controller, thus the Bios SATA setting of RAID. Changing the Controller to AHCI or disabling it sets the drive to run using the NVMe controller but changing the controller will cause boot problems unless you can get it to go into SAFE mode after the change. Although it may put you back in some sort of recovery operations. I will have to check my system but in some cases, the Dell utility will override the Windows recovery options. I normally keep it inactive so it won't do that.
You will have more access when you get the USB C to USB A adapter. But if you are thinking about returning it, the sooner the better.
Mgerwin
4 Posts
0
August 18th, 2019 16:00
Thanks for the advice!
The 9365 (as far as I know and a few Google searches later) is a 1080p display at standard, and QHD+ being the upgrade. The BIOS for whatever reason shows the QHD+ resolution, but F11 diagnostics show a 1920 by 1080 as the actual resolution.
I need to get a working laptop as soon as possible, so I opted to return this laptop and get a different 9365.
Thanks again for all the advice and help!