Hello,

Looking for some assistance. I just got a Dell 7285 and it has the option for two PCIe NVME drives. Placed two drives in the 7285 and the drives are recognized in BIOS. I get the sense that the RAID software is locked/crippled by Dell. Once I get into the IRST Device Configuration Utility any key options other than F1, F2, F3, and F4 appear to lock/freeze the machine. I have to power cycle to get out and back to POST Menu.

I had to make some changes to my Dell 7440 to get the RAID functioning. Thinking I may need to do the same for this 7285.
See this post: Dell 7440 RAID Post

I noticed a few other posts talking about Dell locking down the BIOS. Can enlighten me with some options, please?


EDIT by Fernando: Inserted fullsized screenshot resized (can be enlarged by clicking onto it)

@oflo23 - Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean by this (I don't use RAID and haven't for a while, so forgive me if this is common Intel RAID knowledge hotkeys inside RAID management) >> key options other than F1, F2, F3, and F4

For your 7440, I read a few of your posts on the page you linked, seems you just updated RAID rom there in the BIOS correct, that's what UBU does, not actual BIOS editing to RAID options/settings etc

Show me an image of your visible RAID settings within the BIOS, not the Intel RAID management page.

Also, please confirm this is your BIOS - https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER0555113..._7285_1.3.1.exe
From this page - https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/...-laptop/drivers

Looks like all settings for PCIE ports are RST controller or not, is set to disabled for all PCIE Ports (#1-23) (This is something usually hidden from you, but something we may need to set to enabled for the ports being used)
To know what those exact ports are, you need to connect something else to the ports one at a time, and find out which is used via HWINFO64 or this software (once each, for the ports you plan to use these devices on)
Utility to view some info on PCI devices

Setting "Use RST Legacy Rom" (OoRom) is disabled, so if we update you'll want to be sure we update the UEFI RST Rom too - after checking, this wont be an issue because there is no legacy oRom in BIOS, only the UEFI RST Rom (version below)
This is not an old version, well not super old, but it may need updated for NVME, I'm not sure.
EFI IRST RAID for SATA - 15.2.1.2771
EFI AMI NVMe Driver present

However, what is your chipset? @Fernando says here, seems like you need 100series or above chipset to have proper NVME RAID support
[Guide] How to get full NVMe support for all Systems with an AMI UEFI BIOS (201)

@Lost_N_BIOS
Thanks for the quick response. You are correct, that is my current BIOS, 1.3.1
I also have the PCI Device screenshot - I will update my post with the screenshot.

My end goal is to take the two PCIe NVME SSD drives and run a RAID0 or RAID1.

What is your chipset? If you are not sure, please post a screenshot of CPU-z motherboard tab

@Lost_N_BIOS
I have updated my post - see above.

Sorry, CPU-z doesn't show the chipset like I was expecting (Kaby lake is a CPU type not chipset type, so that's not helpful)
Please send image of HWINFO64, close the CPU-z-like window after you run it, and then on the large window, on the left, select motherboard and then show me image of the right side where it shows chipset type

Had to add new reply post - wont let me edit me original post.

Based on this article here it might be a 200 Series Chipset?!?

200 Series Kaby Chipset





Does not look like it will help much - I will do some research also.

Quick update: I contacted Dell Support and they have escalated my request to engineering to identify the chipset.
Dell said they will change the Chipset "Model" since they adjust the chipset specs and those specs will often NOT reflect the chipset specs on the Intel Datasheet. In other words, they cripple the original Intel Chipset and rename the chipset so it can be identified in-house more easily.
Dell did note the chipset is integrated into the processor - I'm guessing the tech pulled that info from this page on the manual. See screenshot below.



@lost_n_bios

It's OK, we've been testing some editing changes recently because some people come in and delete all post info once they've got the help they needed and then no one can get help/info from that thread in future. So right now it's set to 24 hour edit limit on each post

I did come across that page, and another one at same site too, but it wasn't very clear about what chipsets and being used with what CPU's
Thanks for new images, still doesn't show what I expected to see, but hopefully google will find me the info needed. I expected to see Z170, H150, HM150 etc, something like that, I'm sure you know what I mean.
Maybe there is no actual chipset, since it keeps giving CPU-related info, maybe it's all in the CPU on these models? Looking up Kaby Lake Rev. 02, or Kaby Lake-Y all results are CPU's, not motherboard chipsets, so it's driving me crazy (and probably for this reason, there is no chipset used)

Looking up iHDCP 2.2 Premium PCH leads to some info, but unsure if it's helpful here. @Fernando may really need to advise you about this when he has time to check into it all (He's on vacation right now)
From your first post PCI device images, I can see Intel RST is being used, so we may just need to update that to a newer version. In that PCI device image, do you have anything connected to the port you want to use this RAID array in? If not, please connect a drive there and show me new PCI Device image
You also need to install Intel ME drivers, indicated by the red bang/warning in that image, probably similar in device manager

I can edit BIOS to change settings to anything you want, and we can update the RST Rom too, but I'm not sure if that's needed or just some BIOS setting changed that you can't see.

Lets check this way! On the large window of HWINFO64, go to "Bus" section below memory and motherboard, and expand that out, do you see "Chipset" and any actual chipset ID?
Here's mine from a Z87 board for example

@Lost_N_BIOS

Wanted to follow up.
After several emails and phone calls to Dell this is the final response, see below:

My name is ******* and I am the tech for your case. I was reviewing your case and Kaby Lake 200 series is the actual chipset for your Intel Core i7-7Y75 Processor. The examples you provided from that chart ( B250, Q250, H270, Q270, Z270) actually apply to motherboard technologies and we would not be able to provide an equivalent as Dell motherboards are proprietary and do not match other industry standards. The link that ****** provided is all the technical information that Intel has released on this specific cpu but I hope this has sufficiently answered your question. Please do not hesitate to reach out if there is anything more either *****, or myself can do for you. Have a great day!


Is it still possible to proceed or am I screwed at this point?
Hoping I can make changes to the RAID and IRST.

@Fernando @Lost_N_BIOS

Got my machine back up and working - any update on this?

I'd like to have more access to the RAID options on this machine - any direction or help would be appreciated.

I can mod BIOS as originally mentioned, but I am not sure what is needed here. Fernando might be able to answer you about what I linked above in post #2 he said, having to have 100 series or above to do NVME RAID, but from Dell's reply it sounds like it's some 2xx series chipset, or 2xx series in-CPU type chipset.
Show me some of your BIOS pages inside Advanced or chipset/RAID related areas, I can make it all visible for you probably, but as I mentioned in post #2, I have no clue what you need to make it "work" in this type of a system or if that's even possible.

@Fernando
Thank you for the response and feedback. I have read the post(s) you have linked above.
This specific laptop is used in the field to collect logs from proprietary equipment - they generate a few hundred log files that can vary in size 2MB-600MB. Once the logs are collected these laptops will process random logs for integrity checks. We have tested a few larger laptops Dell Precision 5520/5530/7720 but they are too bulky to have in the field. My hope is the RAID0 configuration would perform close to the larger laptops and add the convenience of portability.

@Lost_N_BIOS I have attached the screenshots of the RAID config screen that has zero options and may need to be enabled. Device Configuration is what gets me into the Intel RAID config utility.

That is not the RAID Config screen, that's just BIOS option/disk/controller info. RAID screen would be the Control + I for the actual RAID array building once enabled, but what I meant would be in BIOS itself in advanced or chipset section, show me what all you can see in there
And please resize images, we only need 800-100px wide images to view a BIOS, small jpg or png is fine (80kb-500kb plenty) please put all in zip. I checked your BIOS, main entry for first enabling RAID is on "SATA Operation" form and RAID ON is default as I mentioned before.

So it may just not be possible for NVME, or certain ROM needs used, or PCIE settings I mentioned on post #2 need changed/enabled, or RAID0-10 needs changed from disabled to enabled etc (Lots of possible things need changed, enabled etc)
I need to see your BIOS to be able to guess anymore.

@Lost_N_BIOS Here are some additional screenshots - hopefully, the sizing is correct.