Multi-boot Dell Precision 7540

Question

I would like to boot from one of the 3 NVMe drives installed in my Precision 7540 and only have that drive enabled such that the other 2 drives are not seen. I assumed I could do this by enabling only one NVMe drive at a time in the BIOS and leave the others disabled, but this only works with the M.2 PCIe SSD-0/Slot 5 and M.2 PCIe SSD-1/Slot 2, but not SATA-4/Slot-4 (not sure why it's SATA)...if a drive is installed in the slot controlled by SATA-4/Slot-4, it doesn't matter if it's enabled/disabled...it will always be seen by the OS. I have contacted Dell support who wants to replace the motherboard, but, they just will not answer my question if this is something that is even possible.  I have no idea why they won't answer the question. I keep getting told to do things I have already done. I did go back 1 rev on the BIOS like they suggested but that made the drives unbootable even after going back to the latest BIOS version. To say I am frustrated is an understatement...if I am trying to do something that is not possible, then fine, but I can't get that answered. Attached is the BIOS screen for drive enable/disable.   Seems to me disabling a drive means the drive is disabled and should not be seen by the OS.

labviewmantc · Accepted Answer

See below for the BIOS/drives to actual drives.

The names of the drives in BIOS do not match the actual names of the drives on the computer nor do they make any sense. SATA-4 enables NVMe M2 SSD#4...what...SATA for NVMe? And What's up with M2 SSD#4 (and 5!) when the maximum number of NVMe M2 drives is 3???

labviewmantc · Answer

Since there are 4 options to enable/disable drives in the BIOS, there are only 2^4 possible combinations (16), so I tried each one.  I found a couple ways to accomplish what I want. I'll post what I found later.  One note: the selections of NVMe/SATA don't make any sense in regards to what drives are enabled/disabled.

DELL-Cares · Answer

Hello,

I appreciate your effort in trying out all the possible combinations to meet the settings of your need. Do let us know later at your convenience. Also, I see that we have reached out to you in private message, should seek further assistance, then please feel free to write back to us in reply and we would be happy to assist you further.

Regards,

Muntazir Patel

Precision Mobile Workstations

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