As one of the first original posters to this thread who noticed this problem (inability to use F2/F12, the Lack of Windows Boot Manager in the UEFI Boot Priority list) where I raised the issue with Dell that something was wrong with their A11 and A12 BIOS releases and informing that that A13 also didn't fix the issue.
So...
Let me be the first to post back
1) A14 has at least fixed those issues for me now. I can now access F2 and F12 on the Dell Logo Screen, as well as Windows Boot Manager has now appeared auto-magically (IE: I didn't have to add it myself, though prior it would never stick to begin with) back in the UEFI Boot Priority List along with + Network Boot still being in the list below it.
2) I have power cycled my 17R 7720 a few times and I haven't had to do the Double Power On/Off/On to get it to boot. I'll keep tabs of this but so far so good.
3) I noted that the Boot splash screen does seem to take a few seconds longer but heck I can live with that. Just so I can access F2 or F12 without having to fully boot the OS to do so.
4) A13 Added my other request for the Intel i3,i5,i7 3rd Gen+ CPU's which have the AES-NI instruction set to be enabled in the BIOS (Something which we can't access in this locked down BIOS) for Hardware Assisted Encryption. Happy to Report that A14 still has it enabled.
5) I know there are those who have GPU Throttling issues, for me I never really checked this out but, then again when I game I have it plugged in, and I do have a cooling pad. So again I can't report on this.
With that said, at least for me looks like A14 Fixes the F2/F12 Boot Issues. I hope others having the issue find the same.
Yes, I can finally boot into linux again. F2 and F12 work, albeit, as remarked by CMax, that the menu does take a couple of seconds to come up.
Windows Boot Manager isn't showing up and so far I haven't managed to add it back to the list. At the moment I am managing to boot into windows by emptying the whole list. If I add grub, it always boots grub. Will need to figure that one out.
This whole fiasco does seem to justify all the fears people had about secure boot; that it would make it impossible for a layman to just give linux a try. Would I recommend doing that on a dell machine and risk having to fix or return someone's machine for them? No. Am I happy about dell seemingly being a pawn in microsoft's game plan? Guess.
But still, I'm glad that at least for me this issue seems to be (almost) fixed now. Hope everyone else will also have good results with A14.
Very good diagnosis - I decided to try it after reading your write-up even though the beta version lost my Nvidia GPU recognition upon the flash and I had to get a new motherboard. Dell was absolutely excellent in coordinating a representative to install it in my home within days. Good news is A14 had no problems upon the flash for me 5 minutes ago.
One thing I have learned via discussions with Dell "advanced technology" experts is how to add boot devices in the BOOT tab of the BIOS. Most people leave the "Filename" entry blank but that is not correct as it does not work 100% of the time that way. It should be stored in a virtual filename within the BIOS flash memory. When you tab to the filename entry, hit enter and the subdirectories should appear. Choose "EFI" and hit enter again, then chose "Boot" subdirectory. Tab to the filename and hit enter and chose "Bootx86.efi" (going by memory). Tab to "Yes" and hit enter. Now that you know how to do this, add the Windows Boot Manager entry using the above and see how it works out. Hopefully Windows 8 now sees this entry and handshakes with the BIOS software properly when booting. Wouldn't it be nice to have written documentation on this procedure!?!
You may want to add device HDD_1 first before trying the Windows Boot Manager for a practice session. Then add DVD_CD with any disk installed within the drive. Always handy to have these when trouble hits.
I am happy to hear all the success stories from A14, I am just sorry that it took as long as it did to get out the door. Any one that is still having boot issues with your Inspiron 17r SE please post here.
Thanks Terry for managing this issue for us and working it thru Dell Engineering.
Since installing A14 my 17R SE 7720 hasn't seen the sometime needed "power on power off power back on" sequence to get it to boot as well. And it gets power cycled quite often, since my business pretty much has me going all over the place to work. If it where still an issue I would have seen it by now for sure.
Success!I've been running this for a couple of days now and each and every boot have been able to hit F2/F12 to enter BIOS.I also ran the e-PSA tests with all tests "PASSED",think it was Rafterman414 that had troubles with the A13 flash not being able to pass all tests.
Thanks again gents and Terry for lighting the tunnel.
Hey Bill....it was a nice club but ready to turn in the leathers! : )
@sunchoke - Is the USB Key and/or the DVD/CD that you are trying to boot from actually Bootable? Pretty sure to if you want to add them to the UEFI Boot Priority List, they need to be in the system and they need to be bootable.
As to Windows 8 Recovery USB Stick and and how to use it - see this post here:
F2/F12 now work for me as well, and Windows Boot Manager appears under UEFI boot also, and not just UEFI nework boot. I'm still confused as to how to boot from a DVD/CD or USB stick using UEFI, for instance I have a Windows 8 recovery disk but no way to use it, far as I can tell. I've tried to add boot options but when I go to add with the USB stick in or a DVD/CD in the drive, it doesn't recognize anything but the HDDs in the "add boot option screen". Any help on what I should do???
Yes, they are definitely bootable...I've tried it with various Linux discs, a Linux USB distro I just put on a laptop, and a Win 7 disc, all of which boot fine (and they boot in Legacy mode, where the boot options are already there). This is my first UEFI laptop, and I quite like it, but its been a nightmare with the UEFI bios situation. Ideally, I'd like to just be able to put Windows 7 on it, but in UEFI mode, not legacy (not as I would when it was ordered it would come with, but ended up with Win8 anyway)
And I know there are tools to make it behave like Win7 but...
Well, I thought it was fixed with A14 but my computer is now totally unuseable with A14. Dell should hire me as a software stress tester as I am on my third motherboard. All I did was use Shift + RESTART to take the Windows 8 shortcut to SETUP which is same access to BIOS with an F2 upon a powerup. I was going to add a boot device but instead my 7720 now only goes to the F12 Boot Options page and SETUP path is now missing there so I have absolutely no access to the BIOS and it will not boot off C: drive. I tried to boot a Win 8 Repair DVD(UEFI) but that will not boot with the corruption so I am assuming Windows Boot Manager is corrupt as well. My BIOS is really shot now. I was going to wait 2 weeks before trying A14 and I should have stuck to that. Fortunately Dell was easy to get on this quiet Sunday night and have decided to take the machine back for diagnosis which is better than just throwing another motherboard at it. It has to be A14 since A13 had been very good. By the way A14 was okay for a week until I tried the Shift RESTART path to Advanced Startup Options in Win 8.
Just a short update May 14: The BIOS corruption actually happened when I clicked on SETUP in the Advanced Startup page after the Shift+RESTART. The machine went to the F12 screen rather than the F2 and lost all BIOS access. My other two BIOS problems happened immediately after the flash upgrade process although the missing NIVIDIA GPU did not immediately become apparent until I used a graphics intensive application. ePSA diagnostics only test the Intel 4000 GPU. This latest problem is most scary because the flash was successful and the problem occurred while in Windows 8 under normal operating conditions. The handshaking with Windows Boot Manager is faulty and this may happen to anyone anytime in my opinion while messing with WBM. The machine is now a brick. Remember I was able to use F2 at powerup to addboot device HDD_1 so it had worked the normal way at least once and the technician had to enter my Asset Tag in Advanced tab right after the second motherboard fix.
Unreal Bill....I did not try that sequence.Agreed,let DEll take the machine.At this point they should reissue you another computer or refund to purchase another.
Shift + Restart makes the BIOS explode!,gotcha : )
Man that is some scary stuff. I upgraded to A14 and have not had any issues so far, but then again after reading your post I was been shying away from anything to do with the BIOS all I did was access it with F2 and then promptly exit.
Since my machine is under warranty part of me wants to get in there and mess around to make sure that this is not going to happen. I am worried that I have a ticking time bomb, so if it is going to get bricked I would rather have it happen while I am under warranty. I might go ahead and install my second HDD and put Ubuntu on the second HDD to see how the system behaves. These UEFI BIOSs seem to be really picky
jondy7720
16 Posts
0
May 6th, 2013 13:00
Well it appears that a new BIOS is available for download A14.It would be terrific is this one cures all of the BIOS issues.GOOD LUCK folks.
DELL-Terry B
4 Operator
•
3.5K Posts
0
May 6th, 2013 15:00
Bios A14 is available for download here.
Enhancements -
Enhance boot order of EVSA structure for F2/F12 BIOS Setup menu - Enhance secure boot security
If you have been experiencing Boot to F2/F8/F12 issues this should correct them. Please post here if you are still having booting issues.
TB
CyberMaxX360
272 Posts
0
May 6th, 2013 15:00
As one of the first original posters to this thread who noticed this problem (inability to use F2/F12, the Lack of Windows Boot Manager in the UEFI Boot Priority list) where I raised the issue with Dell that something was wrong with their A11 and A12 BIOS releases and informing that that A13 also didn't fix the issue.
So...
Let me be the first to post back
1) A14 has at least fixed those issues for me now. I can now access F2 and F12 on the Dell Logo Screen, as well as Windows Boot Manager has now appeared auto-magically (IE: I didn't have to add it myself, though prior it would never stick to begin with) back in the UEFI Boot Priority List along with + Network Boot still being in the list below it.
2) I have power cycled my 17R 7720 a few times and I haven't had to do the Double Power On/Off/On to get it to boot. I'll keep tabs of this but so far so good.
3) I noted that the Boot splash screen does seem to take a few seconds longer but heck I can live with that. Just so I can access F2 or F12 without having to fully boot the OS to do so.
4) A13 Added my other request for the Intel i3,i5,i7 3rd Gen+ CPU's which have the AES-NI instruction set to be enabled in the BIOS (Something which we can't access in this locked down BIOS) for Hardware Assisted Encryption. Happy to Report that A14 still has it enabled.
5) I know there are those who have GPU Throttling issues, for me I never really checked this out but, then again when I game I have it plugged in, and I do have a cooling pad. So again I can't report on this.
With that said, at least for me looks like A14 Fixes the F2/F12 Boot Issues. I hope others having the issue find the same.
Cheers
dterrahe
7 Posts
0
May 7th, 2013 03:00
My results with A14:
Yes, I can finally boot into linux again. F2 and F12 work, albeit, as remarked by CMax, that the menu does take a couple of seconds to come up.
Windows Boot Manager isn't showing up and so far I haven't managed to add it back to the list. At the moment I am managing to boot into windows by emptying the whole list. If I add grub, it always boots grub. Will need to figure that one out.
This whole fiasco does seem to justify all the fears people had about secure boot; that it would make it impossible for a layman to just give linux a try. Would I recommend doing that on a dell machine and risk having to fix or return someone's machine for them? No. Am I happy about dell seemingly being a pawn in microsoft's game plan? Guess.
But still, I'm glad that at least for me this issue seems to be (almost) fixed now. Hope everyone else will also have good results with A14.
And thanks, Terry, for chasing this for us.
Bill Alsip
92 Posts
0
May 7th, 2013 12:00
dterrahe:
Very good diagnosis - I decided to try it after reading your write-up even though the beta version lost my Nvidia GPU recognition upon the flash and I had to get a new motherboard. Dell was absolutely excellent in coordinating a representative to install it in my home within days. Good news is A14 had no problems upon the flash for me 5 minutes ago.
One thing I have learned via discussions with Dell "advanced technology" experts is how to add boot devices in the BOOT tab of the BIOS. Most people leave the "Filename" entry blank but that is not correct as it does not work 100% of the time that way. It should be stored in a virtual filename within the BIOS flash memory. When you tab to the filename entry, hit enter and the subdirectories should appear. Choose "EFI" and hit enter again, then chose "Boot" subdirectory. Tab to the filename and hit enter and chose "Bootx86.efi" (going by memory). Tab to "Yes" and hit enter. Now that you know how to do this, add the Windows Boot Manager entry using the above and see how it works out. Hopefully Windows 8 now sees this entry and handshakes with the BIOS software properly when booting. Wouldn't it be nice to have written documentation on this procedure!?!
You may want to add device HDD_1 first before trying the Windows Boot Manager for a practice session. Then add DVD_CD with any disk installed within the drive. Always handy to have these when trouble hits.
kris clores
13 Posts
0
May 8th, 2013 22:00
Dear Dell,
Thanks for the support, I can now access the bios and can be able to set the boot setting after my update to A14.
Thanks,
Ben
DELL-Terry B
4 Operator
•
3.5K Posts
0
May 9th, 2013 16:00
I am happy to hear all the success stories from A14, I am just sorry that it took as long as it did to get out the door. Any one that is still having boot issues with your Inspiron 17r SE please post here.
TB
CyberMaxX360
272 Posts
0
May 9th, 2013 19:00
Thanks Terry for managing this issue for us and working it thru Dell Engineering.
Since installing A14 my 17R SE 7720 hasn't seen the sometime needed "power on power off power back on" sequence to get it to boot as well. And it gets power cycled quite often, since my business pretty much has me going all over the place to work. If it where still an issue I would have seen it by now for sure.
Cheers
jondy7720
16 Posts
0
May 10th, 2013 00:00
Success!I've been running this for a couple of days now and each and every boot have been able to hit F2/F12 to enter BIOS.I also ran the e-PSA tests with all tests "PASSED",think it was Rafterman414 that had troubles with the A13 flash not being able to pass all tests.
Thanks again gents and Terry for lighting the tunnel.
Hey Bill....it was a nice club but ready to turn in the leathers! : )
CyberMaxX360
272 Posts
0
May 11th, 2013 23:00
@sunchoke - Is the USB Key and/or the DVD/CD that you are trying to boot from actually Bootable? Pretty sure to if you want to add them to the UEFI Boot Priority List, they need to be in the system and they need to be bootable.
As to Windows 8 Recovery USB Stick and and how to use it - see this post here:
en.community.dell.com/.../19507004.aspx
sunchoke
4 Posts
0
May 11th, 2013 23:00
F2/F12 now work for me as well, and Windows Boot Manager appears under UEFI boot also, and not just UEFI nework boot. I'm still confused as to how to boot from a DVD/CD or USB stick using UEFI, for instance I have a Windows 8 recovery disk but no way to use it, far as I can tell. I've tried to add boot options but when I go to add with the USB stick in or a DVD/CD in the drive, it doesn't recognize anything but the HDDs in the "add boot option screen". Any help on what I should do???
sunchoke
4 Posts
0
May 12th, 2013 00:00
Yes, they are definitely bootable...I've tried it with various Linux discs, a Linux USB distro I just put on a laptop, and a Win 7 disc, all of which boot fine (and they boot in Legacy mode, where the boot options are already there). This is my first UEFI laptop, and I quite like it, but its been a nightmare with the UEFI bios situation. Ideally, I'd like to just be able to put Windows 7 on it, but in UEFI mode, not legacy (not as I would when it was ordered it would come with, but ended up with Win8 anyway)
And I know there are tools to make it behave like Win7 but...
Bill Alsip
92 Posts
0
May 12th, 2013 23:00
Well, I thought it was fixed with A14 but my computer is now totally unuseable with A14. Dell should hire me as a software stress tester as I am on my third motherboard. All I did was use Shift + RESTART to take the Windows 8 shortcut to SETUP which is same access to BIOS with an F2 upon a powerup. I was going to add a boot device but instead my 7720 now only goes to the F12 Boot Options page and SETUP path is now missing there so I have absolutely no access to the BIOS and it will not boot off C: drive. I tried to boot a Win 8 Repair DVD(UEFI) but that will not boot with the corruption so I am assuming Windows Boot Manager is corrupt as well. My BIOS is really shot now. I was going to wait 2 weeks before trying A14 and I should have stuck to that. Fortunately Dell was easy to get on this quiet Sunday night and have decided to take the machine back for diagnosis which is better than just throwing another motherboard at it. It has to be A14 since A13 had been very good. By the way A14 was okay for a week until I tried the Shift RESTART path to Advanced Startup Options in Win 8.
Just a short update May 14: The BIOS corruption actually happened when I clicked on SETUP in the Advanced Startup page after the Shift+RESTART. The machine went to the F12 screen rather than the F2 and lost all BIOS access. My other two BIOS problems happened immediately after the flash upgrade process although the missing NIVIDIA GPU did not immediately become apparent until I used a graphics intensive application. ePSA diagnostics only test the Intel 4000 GPU. This latest problem is most scary because the flash was successful and the problem occurred while in Windows 8 under normal operating conditions. The handshaking with Windows Boot Manager is faulty and this may happen to anyone anytime in my opinion while messing with WBM. The machine is now a brick. Remember I was able to use F2 at powerup to addboot device HDD_1 so it had worked the normal way at least once and the technician had to enter my Asset Tag in Advanced tab right after the second motherboard fix.
jondy7720
16 Posts
0
May 14th, 2013 04:00
Unreal Bill....I did not try that sequence.Agreed,let DEll take the machine.At this point they should reissue you another computer or refund to purchase another.
Shift + Restart makes the BIOS explode!,gotcha : )
Rafterman414
1 Rookie
•
62 Posts
0
May 15th, 2013 08:00
Bill,
Man that is some scary stuff. I upgraded to A14 and have not had any issues so far, but then again after reading your post I was been shying away from anything to do with the BIOS all I did was access it with F2 and then promptly exit.
Since my machine is under warranty part of me wants to get in there and mess around to make sure that this is not going to happen. I am worried that I have a ticking time bomb, so if it is going to get bricked I would rather have it happen while I am under warranty. I might go ahead and install my second HDD and put Ubuntu on the second HDD to see how the system behaves. These UEFI BIOSs seem to be really picky