Precision 5820, 5860, 7820, 7920, and 7960: Windows 10 Install Fails with NVMe Drives

A behavior with the Dell Precision (5820, 5860, 7820, 7920, and 7960) systems has been seen where the Windows 10 Operating System Re-Install (OSRI) fails to install. It gives an error when trying to reinstall or "Recover from Disk" on a system with an NVMe drive.

The Windows 10 media contains the iaVROC 5.2 driver which does not properly recognize all the drives currently shipping with the 5820, 5860, 7820, 7920, and 7960 systems. In this situation, the OSRI media fails while trying to get everything ready to recover the drive. The iaVROC 5.3 driver resolves this issue.

No cause information is available.

The Windows 10 April 2018 Update (1803) OSRI media will contain the updated iaVROC 5.3 driver. If you are using older OSRI media, adding the iaVROC 5.3 driver in the Driver Boot Critical folder present on the media helps. It loads the drivers when the OSRI is loading and use this driver instead of the iaVROC 5.2 driver that is embedded in the media.

1. Download RSTe 5.3.1 from the: Dell Support Site
2. Extract the drivers to your OSRI media into the Drivers -> Boot Critical folder (Figure 1).
   
   Figure 1
    
3. Use the install OSRI media on the system that you are trying to recover. Power on and boot to the correct media. It will now load these additional drivers while booting to the media.

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Driver Installation for RAID Controllers During an Operating System Reload

During a reinstallation of Windows with an active RAID array, the operating system may prompt for a storage controller driver. The driver must be installed before the software may be loaded. If the operating system Image does not include the correct RAID controller driver, Windows cannot see the hard drives to begin installation.

The correct RAID controller driver type must be determined. The Dell computer hardware configuration indicates this. Appropriate drivers can be downloaded from the Dell Support site.

Example of the operating system prompt to install the missing storage controller driver (Figure 2).

Figure 2

Installation of RAID Driver with Intel Controller

1. Check the BIOS of the computer and ensure that the RAID On option is selected.
2. Set up the wanted RAID array in the RAID BIOS.
3. Download the correct Pre-OS driver from our support site and have it extracted.
   1. The driver to download is different for the two versions of IRST. Be sure to get the correct driver, often designated the F6 driver.
   2. If loading Windows from a Dell DVD, the IRST driver is part of the load and does not have to use this process. The IRSTe driver is not however (Figure 3).
      
      Figure 3
       
4. Load the extracted files onto a USB drive.
   1. This has to be completed on an alternate computer.
      Example of Extracted Files on USB drive (Figure 4):
      
      Figure 4
       
5. Once the files are extracted, proceed with the installation of Windows as normal.
   1. The USB drive with drivers must be plugged into the computer in order to install the drivers.
   2. On the left side of the screen, select the option to Load Driver(Figure 5).
      
      Figure 5
       
   3. Windows should detect the correct driver. Select Next.
   4. There are instances where the folder which holds the driver must be opened. Browse to the correct folder (Figure 6).
      
      Figure 6
       
   5. If no driver is listed clear and recheck Hide Drivers box.
6. Drives for the installation should be listed once the driver has been installed (Figure 7).
   
   Figure 7

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Recommended Articles

Here are some recommended articles related to this topic that might be of interest to you.

• Dell Precision 5820, 7820, and 7920: Windows 10 Installs on Wrong Hard Drive
• Dell Precision 5820 Tower Windows 10 Driver Installation Guide
• Dell Precision Tower 7920 Windows Driver Installation Guide
• Dell Precision 7820 Tower Windows 10 Driver Installation Guide
• Dell Precision 7920 Rack Workstation Windows 10 Driver Installation Guide