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31070
June 30th, 2014 20:00
UEFI BIOS / boot Problem On Precision T3610
I am having a problem with the UEFI BIOS and booting.
On my T3610, my goal is to run hardware encryption on a Samsung 840 EVO SSD using DDPE or SecureDoc. I haven't decided which yet. The original machine came with a 2GB hard drive with Win8Pro64 installed. I did the free upgrade to 8.1 without any issues. I then used the Samsung software to image my boot drive onto the SSD and then replaced the 2GB drive with the SSD. The machine worked fine for a few days, so I don't think the issue is with the SSD.
Neither DDPE or SecureDoc support the T3610 in UEFI mode, so I started playing around with the machine. The machine came with UEFI enabled, Secure Boot disabled, and Load Legacy Option ROMS enabled. I created a USB boot jump drive and attempted to boot the computer from it. It didn't see the USB jump drive. I went into BIOS and changed from UEFI boot to Legacy boot and placed the USB device higher than the hard drive on the boot list. I was able to boot from the USB jump drive. I changed the BIOS back to UEFI boot with the windows boot enabled and was still able to boot. I verified at this point that secure boot was still disabled and load legacy roms was still enabled. They were and I was still booting okay. I rebooted and went back into the BIOS, I was going to try something else but thought better of it and exited the BIOS.
When I re-booted the machine, it wouldn't boot. I also can't access the BIOS any more. I get to the first Dell logo boot screen but booting stalls with a low resolution cursor in the upper left hand corner of a otherwise blank screen. I tried power cycling and going to the BIOS via F12, but got the same result. I tried F2 with the same result. I unplugged the machine, pulled the battery (while at a static station with my wrist strap on), held down the power button for 30 sec, waited 30 min before re-plugging the machine back in. The volatile portion of the BIOS should have been cleared. I got the same result on re-boot except the computer powered itself off a couple of times before getting to the low resolution cursor.
I achieved the same results with all drives unplugged and wasn't able to boot with the graphics card unplugged.
At this point, the SSD is fully backed up so I am not in danger of losing data, but I can't get the machine to boot or go into the BIOS. Also, I wasn't inside the machine for a few days before the original failure so it is unlikely I zapped anything.
The situation leaves me with a couple of questions.
1. Does anything about UEFI allow the system to be put in a state that clearing the volatile portion of the BIOS doesn't return the computer to its default configuration?
2. Any thoughts about how to get the computer back into its default configuration?
DELL-Jimmy L
10 Posts
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October 13th, 2014 14:00
Hello Outtaluck,
Though modern Dell hardware is compatible with UEFI boot, some of our products are not. We are unable to leverage protection for Self-encrypting Drives through UEFI at this time. We will require the system to be configured for Legacy BIOS and the OS be installed in this method.
Purchases containing Windows 8.1 will ship by default with UEFI. It is not currently possible to purchase a Dell system with a Self-Encrypting Drive and Windows 8.1. It is only possible to purchase a Self-encrypting Drive with Windows 7 with Windows 8.1 Upgrade rights. Windows 8.1 can be installed on top of the system and work properly since it will be shipped in Legacy BIOS mode.
Hope this helps clarify.
ejn63
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June 30th, 2014 20:00
1. Yes, since UEFI stores part of its data on the hard drive itself - not in battery-backed CMOS.
2. Was the original hard drive left untouched? If so, set the UEFI back the way it was at bootup, and try attaching that drive. It should boot the system just fine.
OuttaLuck
5 Posts
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July 1st, 2014 06:00
Thanks for the help.
I replaced the original hard drive and pulled the SSD. I now have the original configuration. This hard drive has not been modified since before the crash. No change. The computer still doesn't boot or allow me to access the hard drive.
One thing of note, though. When the machine is power cycled, the computer does access the hard drive (or the CD or USB jump drive when I try to boot from them) before the Dell logo. It just doesn't access them when it would normally be booting.