Aurora R4 cannot enable secure boot in BIOS A6

furthermore, when UEFI is selected

it only shows UEFI: USB DVD drive when a disc is inside

the hard drive and built in DVD drive do not show up as UEFI: in bios.

another strange issue: if Win 7 dvd is in portable usb dvd drive, it can boot from it and go to install mode, but the ssd is not detected by installer.   

the ssd shows up in BIOS normally.  i know it is a good ssd.

seems the pc can only detect one sata device at a time?

the problem of installing Windows 7 from dvd and not detecting ssd in Win 7 install PE are both gone when Pc boot from USB Windows 10 installation media.  strange.  at least I do not have to install Win 7 in this pc.  will see if Windows 10 install goes smoothly.

@redxps630​ ,

at least I do not have to install Win 7 in this pc.  will see if Windows 10 install goes smoothly.

Yeah, Windows-10 would be better for Aurora-R4 ... using SSD for C-Drive.

okay I think I figured out why secure boot cannot be enabled currently

has nothing to do with bios ver.

the discrete gpu I use is a GTX 680 and bios said secure boot cannot be enabled b/c the gpu does not support UEFI driver.

blue screen message when I try to change to UEFI secure boot on (F12 change boot order)

seems like the bios took a autocorrective step by removing secure boot enable option in the face of a gpu without UEFI driver.  something I did not know before.

interestingly the case LED stays as the color setting of AWCC installed in Windows 10 as now I am doing a Windows 11 clean install.  seems the AIO has memory of previous setting even though AWCC is not in action.  I have the non-ALX R4 so no front LED nor top vents.

If tesla has an ALX R1 he can perhaps share pic of front LED.  I have never seen ALX aurora in person.

additional note:

windows 10/11 clean install

missing  PCI simple communication controller  driver in dev mgr

it is the intel management engine driver.

but you do not have to install the driver.  when you run the install exe it gives you option to install or not install but simply unpack.  I tried both.  I like the second option of no install and unpack inside a USB.  then go back to dev mgr and RT click on the device, update driver, manually search for driver in USB folder.  the old fashioned way.  

this works beautifully.  My preference is to manually install as little as I can.

PS when R4 side LED is dim and I wonder if LED is burnt out, make sure the side panel is closed well. for the LED gets power from contact electric pins.  a not so tightly shut panel can render the LED dim.

I am experimenting with light weight version of Windows 10 and 11, older versions that install light weight and fast. 

if an older pc is not going to be connected to internet and user want the OS to be upgraded just for testing purposes, I recommend Windows 11 ver. 21H2 or Windows 10 ver. 1507 both old and fast installing.

@redxps630​ ,

1. interestingly the case LED stays as the color setting of AWCC installed in Windows 10 as now I am doing a Windows 11 clean install.  seems the AIO has memory of previous setting even though AWCC is not in action. 

2. If tesla has an ALX R1 he can perhaps share pic of front LED.  I have never seen ALX aurora in person.

1. Normally, with a dedicated MIO-Board (not sure what Aurora-R4 has) it just does what it was last programmed to do. Does not need AW-CC to light-up.

2. My old one in an Aurora-R1 (non-ALX). Also, non-UEFI ... so pretty different than an Aurora-R4.

@redxps630​ ,

missing  PCI simple communication controller  driver in dev mgr

it is the intel management engine driver.

Be sure you installed (near the beginning) Intel Chipset drivers. From support.dell.com or if Windows-Update tosses it to you ... look down in in Advanced/Other-Optional Drivers. 

@redxps630​ ,

I am experimenting with light weight version of Windows 10 and 11, older versions that install light weight and fast. 

if an older pc is not going to be connected to internet and user want the OS to be upgraded just for testing purposes, I recommend Windows 11 ver. 21H2 or Windows 10 ver. 1507 both old and fast installing.

My experience it those are too old to be supported, so you will never get Windows-Updates.

There is a recent (still supported as Extended-Support) Windows-10. For Windows-11, it's v24H2 or v25H2.

For Windows 7-10 I find out it automatically installs chipset drivers 

so no missing sm bus or other miscellaneous drivers after off line clean install 

the chipset driver is built in original dvd no need to use Windows update 
I thought the missing pci simple comm controller was possibly chipset but google search points to Intel ME. 
interestingly this was not for other old Dell.

most of time Intel ME is hidden not requiring user to install driver.

not saying the missing pci simple comm controller is affecting anything I notice but if I want a very clean looking dev mgr then 

The NVIDIA GTX 680 is a legacy Kepler-architecture card that relies exclusively on a Legacy vBIOS. Because it lacks built-in UEFI support, it requires bios CSM

once bios is mandated to be in CSM when it detects such a legacy video card

secure boot must be turned off

in R4, the enable secure boot option is not present in such a configuration 

I bet if I install a more modern gpu then sec boot enable on option will show up.

When bios automatically switches on CSM if such option exists 

Older Hardware: You are using older add-in cards (like legacy GPUs) that lack UEFI-compatible firmware.

The implications of this is that if bios has no CSM such as that of modern Aurora, user will likely get post error when using legacy gpu

now I got the same missing PCI simple communication controller in dev mgr of a totally different non-Dell board.  chipset of that board is Z77

R4 chipset is X79

so I gave it a test.  went inside dev mgr and right click update driver on the PCI simple communication controller, and search for driver in the Aurora R4 Intel ME unpacked driver folder on a USB.  this works.  I think I am lucky because both boards are Intel 70 series.