Category: Dell
Dell Precision 5540, Windows 10 1909, and endless automatic repair cycle
Last month I created two Windows 10 1909 images for a Dell Precision 5540, one image for “naked” Windows 10 including all drivers, and another image complete with all our usual software. That laptop came with BIOS version 1.3.3, which was upgraded to 1.4.0 before any of the images were captured.
Read More → Dell Precision 5540, Windows 10 1909, and endless automatic repair cycleDell Precision 5530 boot firmware 1.8.1 almost failed to recognize USB memory stick
Today, I received a brand new Dell Precision 5530 running boot firmware 1.8.1 to be handed out to a colleague. The first attempt at booting off an USB memory stick didn’t look promising as I never saw an entry for the stick in the F12 boot menu.
Read More → Dell Precision 5530 boot firmware 1.8.1 almost failed to recognize USB memory stickDell Precision 3530 and Symantec Ghost
Be sure to change SATA Operation from RAID to AHCI in the BIOS Settings before running Symantec Ghost from a memory stick. The former setting will effectively hide your NVMe drive. Better safe than sorry, reinstate the RAID selection afterwards. Ref.: https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/04/sln301036/windows-10-install-with-nvme-ssd-and-sata-drives?lang=en
Read More → Dell Precision 3530 and Symantec GhostFirst attempt at running FreeBSD/amd64 12.0-BETA1
I spent the better part of the weekend upgrading my laptop to 12.0-BETA1. Three hickups has been discovered so far.
Read More → First attempt at running FreeBSD/amd64 12.0-BETA1Strange mSATA SSD behaviour on Dell Latitude E7240
One of our Dell Latitude E7240 exhibited strange mSATA SSD behaviour. Disk requests didn’t complete on time. This computer ran the A13 firmware. The case was eventually solved by upgrading to the A21 firmware executed from an USB stick as the mSATA SSD was unreliable at this point. Apparently, the A18 firmware corrected some mSATA […]
Read More → Strange mSATA SSD behaviour on Dell Latitude E7240CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED BSOD on Dell XPS 15 9550
Earlier this week, a student walked into my office with his Dell XPS 15 9550 in hand. Sometimes his computer would behave, and sometimes, during heavy load, it would die with a CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED BSOD. Dell’s own recovery DVD image was unable to restore the computer to a working order. The support personnel at Dell suggested […]
Read More → CRITICAL_PROCESS_DIED BSOD on Dell XPS 15 9550Strange storage systems at Dell
I’m in the process of readying a brand new Dell Precision 7710. I’m close to completion. The only thing I’m missing is a driver for the nVidia Quadro M4000M GPU.
Read More → Strange storage systems at DellDell PowerEdge R320, JBOD, mfi(4), and gpart(8)
One of the old webservers at work, a Dell PowerEdge R200, crashed a couple of weeks ago. I suspect the six year old motherboard finally gave up.
Read More → Dell PowerEdge R320, JBOD, mfi(4), and gpart(8)FreeBSD/i386, stable/10, OpenSSL from ports, optimized assembly code, Dell PowerEdge 1950, Xeon X5450@3.00GHz, and BIOS 2.5.0
The strange combination of FreeBSD/i386, stable/10, OpenSSL from ports, optimized assembly code, Dell PowerEdge 1950, Intel Xeon X5450@3.00GHz, and BIOS 2.5.0, resulted in core dumps for all applications linked with OpenSSL from ports.
Read More → FreeBSD/i386, stable/10, OpenSSL from ports, optimized assembly code, Dell PowerEdge 1950, Xeon X5450@3.00GHz, and BIOS 2.5.0Loose camera connector in Dell Latitude E5540
A colleague came into my office claiming the camera in his Dell Latitude E5540 didn’t work. Here’s a link to the Dell Latitude E5540 Owner’s Manual. After a bit of troubleshooting, I removed the display bezel. Lo and behold, the camera connector was halfway out of its socket. Once I pressed the connector into place, […]
Read More → Loose camera connector in Dell Latitude E5540