PowerEdge: Supported Sector Sizes for Direct CPU Attached NVMe SSD Boot Drives

Summary: Dell PowerEdge servers do not support operating system installation, or boot from direct CPU‑attached NVMe SSD drives if the metadata format size is not set to 0.

This article applies to This article does not apply to This article is not tied to any specific product. Not all product versions are identified in this article.
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Symptoms

Dell PowerEdge servers only support NVMe SSDs as boot devices when they use 512, 512e, or 4K sector sizes and the metadata size is set to 0. Although it is possible to modify the default format type using non‑Dell utilities such as nvme‑cli, changing these settings is not supported by Dell for direct CPU‑attached NVMe boot devices.

NVMe SSDs formatted with a non‑zero metadata size cannot be used for OS installation.
On Linux systems, the drive will not be listed by the installer.
On Microsoft Windows systems, the drive appears with a reported size of 0.0 MB.

Windows example:
Windows example displaying drive size of 0.0MB
In Linux, the drive will not be presented at all during operating system installation.

The format type can be verified by inserting the drive into a system running a Linux operating system or by booting from a Linux ISO or USB device.
In the example below, a non‑default Format: 2 with a metadata size of 8 is shown as active (in use) on the drive.
Non‑default Format 2 
The drive should be reconfigured to use the default Format: 0 or Format: 1, as both use a metadata size of 0.

Cause

The Dell PowerEdge BIOS NVMe driver only supports a metadata size of 0 for boot drives.

Resolution

Dell PowerEdge systems using NVMe drives as boot devices must have the drives formatted with a metadata size of 0.

Affected Products

OEMR XL R670, OEMR XL R770, OEMR R260, OEMR R360, OEMR R440, OEMR R450, OEMR R550, OEMR R640, OEMR R6415, OEMR R650, OEMR R650xs, OEMR R6515, OEMR R6525, OEMR R660, OEMR XL R660, OEMR R660xs, OEMR R6615, OEMR R6625, OEMR XL R740, OEMR XL R740xd , OEMR R7415, OEMR R7425, OEMR R750, OEMR R750xa, OEMR R750xs, OEMR R7515, OEMR R7525, OEMR R760, OEMR R760xa, OEMR R760XD2, OEMR XL R760, OEMR R760xs, OEMR R7615, OEMR R7625, OEMR R840, OEMR R860, OEMR R940, OEMR R940xa, OEMR R960, OEMR T550, OEMR T560, OEMR T630, OEMR T640, OEMR XL T640, OEMR XL R660xs, OEMR XL R6615, OEMR XL R6625, OEMR XL R6715, OEMR XL R6725, OEMR XL R760xs, OEMR XL R7615, OEMR XL R7625, OEMR XL R7715, OEMR XL R7725, OEMR XR11, OEMR XR12, PowerEdge C4130, Poweredge C4140, PowerEdge c6300, PowerEdge c6320, PowerEdge c6320p, PowerEdge C6400, PowerEdge C6420, PowerEdge C6520, PowerEdge C6525, PowerEdge C6600, PowerEdge C6615, PowerEdge C6620, PowerEdge HS5610, PowerEdge HS5620, PowerEdge M640, PowerEdge MX5016s, PowerEdge MX7000, PowerEdge MX740C, PowerEdge MX750c, PowerEdge MX760c, PowerEdge MX840C, PowerEdge R260, PowerEdge R360, PowerEdge R440, PowerEdge R450, PowerEdge R470, PowerEdge R550, PowerEdge R570, PowerEdge R640, PowerEdge R6415, PowerEdge R650, PowerEdge R650xs, PowerEdge R6515, PowerEdge R6525, PowerEdge R660, PowerEdge R660xs, PowerEdge R6615, PowerEdge R6625, PowerEdge R670, PowerEdge R6715, PowerEdge R6725, PowerEdge R740, PowerEdge R740XD, PowerEdge R740XD2, PowerEdge R7415, PowerEdge R7425, PowerEdge R750, PowerEdge R750XA, PowerEdge R750xs, PowerEdge R7515, PowerEdge R7525, PowerEdge R760, PowerEdge R760XA, PowerEdge R760xd2, PowerEdge R760xs, PowerEdge R7615, PowerEdge R7625, PowerEdge R770, PowerEdge R770AP, PowerEdge R7715, PowerEdge R7725, PowerEdge R7725xd, PowerEdge R840, PowerEdge R860, PowerEdge R940, PowerEdge R940xa, PowerEdge R960, PowerEdge T550, PowerEdge T560, PowerEdge T630, PowerEdge T640, PowerEdge XE2420, PowerEdge XE7100, PowerEdge XE7420, PowerEdge XE7440, PowerEdge XE7740, PowerEdge XE7745, PowerEdge XE8545, PowerEdge XE8640, PowerEdge XE8712, PowerEdge XE9640, PowerEdge XE9680, PowerEdge XE9680L, PowerEdge XE9685L, PowerEdge XE9712, PowerEdge XE9780, PowerEdge XE9785, PowerEdge XE9785L, PowerEdge XR11, PowerEdge XR12, PowerEdge XR4000r, PowerEdge XR4000w, PowerEdge XR4000z, PowerEdge XR4510c, PowerEdge XR4520c, PowerEdge XR5610, PowerEdge XR7620, PowerEdge XR8000-P, PowerEdge XR8000r, PowerEdge XR8610t, PowerEdge XR8620t, PowerEdge XR8720t ...
Article Properties
Article Number: 000417881
Article Type: Solution
Last Modified: 26 Jan 2026
Version:  1
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