Next Generation Dell Precision Mobile Workstations press release

I was playing with the PM951 that came with the system. Win 10 default Image with RAID On and UEFI.

I followed the steps to put in safemode and switch bios to AHCI (msconfig.exe > Boot > Safe mode, then boot and hit F2, then change from RAID to AHCI). Worked fine with no issues. After in Safemode, change back to normal boot. Booted fine. I went ahead and switched back to RAID again, no issues. So switching from from RAID to AHCI or AHCI to RAID seems to work with no issues.

In device manager, only difference is the Storage Controller.

with RAID On the Storage Controller shows:

Intel Chipset SATA RAID Controller
Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller​

With AHCI On, the Storage Controller shows:

Microsoft Storage Spaces Controller
Standard NVM Express Controller (I did not try installing Samsung Driver with the PM951)
​

For the Samsung 950 Pro with AHCI, the storage controller reads Samsung NVMe Controller (I installed the Samsung Driver).

I ran some crystal diskmark tests in both AHCI and RAID on the PM951 that came with the system and the results are similar.

 

Is the Dell Command Power Manager worth running. I did a clean install of Win 10 and did not install that yet. I do not think that was on the factory image. There was a dell power profile, but Dell Command Power did not show up in the list of programs.

thanks,

 

It was not on my factory image either. I've not tried downloading or using it yet. I don't really miss not having it. But if I waanted to have more finite control over fan speeds, etc. I would probably try it before downloading another 3rd party fan control program

http://topics-cdn.dell.com/pdf/dcpm2.1_User's Guide_en-us.pdf


Key Features
• Battery Information – Display health information for up to six installed batteries, depending on system capabilities, and edit battery settings or create a custom battery setting.
• Advanced Charge Mode – Control battery charging to prolong battery life.
• Peak Shift – Reduce power consumption by automatically switching the system to battery power during certain times of the day, even when the system is plugged into a direct power source.
• Thermal Management – Control processor and cooling fan settings to manage performance, system surface temperature, and fan noise.
• Battery Extender – Conserve battery charge by affecting CPU power level, screen brightness and keyboard illumination levels, and by muting audio.
• Alerts Management – Enable or disable adapter, battery, docking station, thermal, and other types of alerts. • Group Policies – Easily apply default settings and/or prevent users from changing power alerts system events, power management, thermal management, battery extender, and battery settings.
• Product Feedback – Provide feedback on the software.

 

Dell Command Power Manager gives you the ability to change the fan profile (also can affect max CPU speed), I use it with the profile set to "Quiet" most of the time.

 

looks like new bios for 7510/7710.

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=2W20P

Edit:

I updated the bios on my 7710. Took a little longer than I thought it would.

I did have to restart with the TB15 connected two or three times before it recognized the USB on the TB15.

Post time for restart or start from power off did not seem any faster.

 

ha. I just updated my BIOS a day or two ago to 1.3.12. I'll try the new 1.4.8 later this week.

Fixes:
- Addressed USB KB/Mouse not working smoothly on Dell Thunderbolt Dock.
- Addressed systems takes long time when wake from Sleep state via Type-C USB device with wake function enabled.
- Fixed the "Touchscreen" item missing in BIOS after system resume from Hibernate or Cold Boot with touchscreen function disabled.

Enhancements:
- Updated to the newer version of the Intel CPU microcode patch.
- Updated to the newer version of the Intel Memory Reference Code.
- Updated Intel Management Engine Firmware.
- Updated Intel Video BIOS.
- Enhanced Battry Life.
- Reduced POST time, Sleep and Hibernate resume time.

 

I updated my BIOS from 1.3.12 to the new version from today and now my computer is DEAD.

 

That sucks. Can you get into the bios. I thought I recall seeing something in there about a bios recovery.

Does an external monitor work? I think it does the video bios too. Maybe it messed that up and cab be re-flashed.

Did yours auto re-boot and just go to that screen? Maybe pulling the battery and resetting bios may solve the issue.

I did my update undocked and plugged in. Seemed to take a while and I let it be. I want to say 10 minutes for all teh bios and firmware updates, but I did not time it.

Edit:

Manual states this is in the bios:

BIOS Recovery
This enables the user to recover from certain corrupted BIOS conditions from a recovery file on the user primary hard drive or an external USB key. This options is enabled by default.•
Enable Recovery from Hard Drive.

I have no clue what to do with this, hopefully Dell Support will know.

 

Crap, I just started the update too. It was going fine, then I went to make some coffee. And now I return to an all black screen for past 5 minutes (LED backlight is on keyboard and display backlight appears to be on, but no image, just black). I don't see any snow though. I'm just waiting to see if it changes. crap

Would removing CMOS and batteries help? I don't know what to do in this situation. I'm afraid to try reboot. By the way, I had my external display, usb wired keyboard, ethernet, USB optical drive and power, all plugged in during

 

I would let it sit for 30 minutes and see if it does anything. If nothing, then chat with support (from another machine).