In this post I will show you how you can modify the BIOS of a Dell OptiPlex 3010, 7010 or 9010 so that it can support an NVMe SSD drive as a boot device. This is a follow up to a post I did on how boot a Dell OptiPlex 7020 with an NVMe drive.
I also wrote an upgrade guide for the Dell OptiPlex 7010 which showed how to use Boot Disk Utility to boot from an NVMe drive by using a USB Stick. The method described in this post will allow the machine to boot natively without the need for any additional hardware.
Although these machines have a UEFI BIOS, they do not contain the NVMe driver. By adding the driver into the BIOS you can boot from a PCIe NVMe SSD. I managed to achieve these speeds with a Samsung 970 EVO Plus from Amazon:
This is the same drive that I put into an OptiPlex 7020, but for reasons that I do not understand, the same drive is even faster in the 7010.
Here is the PCI adapter and the Samsung NVMe SSD installed in an OptiPlex 7010 Small Form Factor:
Warning
This blog post contains instructions on how to modify your BIOS.
You could easily break your machine. Proceed at your own risk!
Table of contents
Required Hardware
In order to carry out this upgrade, you will need a few things:
- An NVMe SSD. I used a 512Gb Samsung 970 EVOPlus
- An NVMe to PCIe Adapter, I used this one from Amazon.
- A Dell OptiPlex 3010, 7010 or 9010 to upgrade.
The procedure is slightly different depending on the model and form factor, but mostly the same.
Procedure Overview
This process involves the following steps:
- Upgrade to the most recent BIOS from Dell:
- Installing Required Software and drivers.
- Backing up your current BIOS.
- Adding NVMe driver support into the BIOS backup.
- Writing the modified BIOS back to the system.
- Optimising BIOS settings.
Install the Required Drivers and Software
Before being able to read from or write to the BIOS, you need to install the Intel Management Engine Components from Dell.
Download the Intel Management Engine System Tools v8 r3, which contains the tools required to flash the new bios.
Also download the NVME Driver which will be injected into the BIOS Image.
Finally you will need UEFI Tool 0.28 to make the actual BIOS modification. Here is a direct link to that version.
Put the machine into Service Mode
Now that you have the machine prepared, you need to put the machine into service mode before you can proceed:
- Shut the machine down.
- Remove the mains power supply.
- Locate the two pin service connector and put a jumper on it.
If you are upgrading a Small Form Factor machine, the service jumper is in an awkward position which will require you to remove the Optical Drive and Hard Drive cage to access it. Once those are out of the way, you can find it just above, and to the right of the RAM slots. Here is an image from a 7010 SFF:
If, like me, you do not have a spare jumper, you can borrow the one from the Password reset jumper.
On a Mini Tower – the jumper is in a different position and easier to access:
You can now boot the machine again in service mode, but you will receive a couple of warning messages:
You will then receive a message informing you that the machine is in Service Mode:
If you do not put the machine into service mode you will not be able to backup or update the BIOS properly.
Modify and Upgrade the BIOS
Now that you are in service mode, you can continue with the modification. I’ve also made a video that shows how to insert the NVMe driver into the BIOS:
Backup the existing BIOS
Open a command prompt as an administrator and change to the directory where you extracted the Intel ME System Tools. Then navigate to the subdirectory \Flash Programming Tool\Windows64 (or Windows if you are on 32-Bit installation).
Within that directly use the command:
fptw64.exe -d backup.bin
Modify the BIOS and Inject the NVMe Driver
Next, open UEFI Tool and open the backup.bin file. Expand the sections as per the following screenshot:
Scroll to the bottom of this section and you should see an area that looks like this:
Next, right click on item with the name D95D6B4F-92FA-4E78-9C48-C68C0813688E and choose Insert After.
Choose the file NvmExpressDxe_Small.ffs that you just downloaded earlier and you will see it appear right after the OemLinkDELLPwdLib section:
Now go to File -> Save Image File and save the file in the same location as the flash tool as NVME.bin. Go back to your command prompt and run the command:
fptw64.exe -bios -f nvme.bin
Shut down the machine and remove the jumper from the service pins and move it back to the password reset pins if you took it from there.
The BIOS modification is complete!
Install the PCI NVMe SSD
If you have not yet installed your SSD into the machine, you can do it now. If possible use the Blue X16 PCI slot, it is much faster than smaller black one.
Optimise BIOS Settings
Now that you have written the new BIOS, restart the machine. If you do not have any SATA drives connected you will receive a warning on start-up that says:
Alert! Hard Drive not found
You can fix this by going into the BIOS Setup and then System Configuration -> Drives. Untick all the SATA ports which do not have drives connected.
Finally, if you want the maximum possible speed from your new drive, consider disabling C-States in the BIOS. This makes it marginally faster, but I doubt you would notice much difference.
Conclusion
Now you can install an operating system of your choice or clone one of your existing drives to your new NVMe drive and enjoy a decent performance increase.
Upgrading the Dell Optiplex 7010 with PCI NVMe Solid State drive is a brilliant value upgrade, and completely transforms the machine. Especially if you are upgrading from a hard drive.
Again, here is the PCI adapter that I used:
- 512Gb Samsung 970 EVOPlus
- NVMe to PCI Adapter (The adapter comes with a heatsink also)
If you try it, I would love to know how you got on and what your results were.
Tony says
I will try to follow this post step by step tomorrow on my Dell 7010 and let you know. But How can I clone the existing hard drive to the NVME Samsung 970 EVOPlus SSD card after I finish ? Please advise! Thanks!
Paulie says
Suggest you follow the video instructions on this page:
Dell Optiplex 7010 Upgrade Guide. But as you have a Samsung SSD you could also use the Samsung Magician software to migrate your data, it is really good. Don’t forget if you are not already using UEFI/GPT boot it won’t work on the NVMe SSD without some additional effort.
Maybe you want to try a fresh install of Windows on to the NVMe first to confirm boot is all working as expected and then clone your existing drive.
Tony says
My problem is that the Win 10 is pre-installed by DELL. I do not have any Win 10 disc for fresh installation after I finish the procedure here in my Dell 7010. I wish that I can clone my hard drive to the NVME SSD . Any advice? I get stuck! Thanks for your prompt reply!
Paulie says
As long as your current system is booting via UEFI boot and not legacy, I think you should be fine. Samsung Magician software I think will take care of the rest for you. It is dead easy to use. If you manage to successfully mod the BIOS, then you’re halfway there.
Tony says
Dear Paul, By following your instructions in this post, I successfully upgraded two Dell OptiPlex 7010 computers with WD BLACK 500G SN750 NVME SSD. They are running much faster than my Dell 5050 which comes with Dell’s NVME SSD. They are running very close to the max official speed of 3430 Mb/s. I am surprised. You are my hero! I am working on the next upgrade project, my Dell 3020. I will let you know my result. Thanks!
Minkwon says
Very surprise news, Paulie !
Thank you for your efforts. Can I ask something about ?
I have a optiplex 7010 MT (not SFF) and I would like to try your creative trial.
Is there any problem for application ?
please advise. thank you.
trs96 says
@Minkwon it makes no difference which form factor you have. They both use the exact same 7010 A18 BIOS.
trs96 says
Meant to say the A29 BIOS. The 7020 models use the A18.
MINKWON says
Thank you for your helpful feedback.
Great day!
Guy says
Hello Paul, would there be an issue to do this upgrade with adding a single slot graphics card in the blue PCIe and the NVMe PCIe adapter in the black slot. Thanks in advance.
Paulie says
Hi Guy, no problem to do that. It will work fine, just at a slower speed.
alex says
how to modify the bios on dell optiplex 790/990 please help
Tony says
Hi Pual,
I successfully upgrade my Dell 9010 with 500G WD Black SN750 NVME SSD.
The write speed is faster than the Dell 7010 that I upgraded earlier with the same 500G WD Black SN750 NVME SSD .
I am impressed!
My next project is Dell 3010
Thanks!
glnz says
Tony – I would very much like to know your results with a 3010, and — very important — which files you used that are different from this article’s links and references for the 7010.
Paulie – as I said elsewhere, your careful, well-organized explanation here is one of the best how-to articles for adventurous non-tech people I have ever read on any computer subject.. I wish you would just write computer articles non-stop!
Paulie says
Really appreciate your kind words! It’s a lot of work to write it all up but very satisfying seeing so many people having good results.
Paulie says
Glnz – I have all the details of the differences for the 3010 and 9010 and the procedure is near identical – I will add the details for those machines.
glnz says
Paulie (and fans) – a few technical questions.
1) Your starting point includes
a) installing the Intel Management Engine Components from Dell.
b) downloading the Intel Management Engine System Tools v8 r3, which contains the tools required to flash the new bios.
My concern – My 7010 has always had the MEBx feature from Intel, which I have never used. Unfortunately, however, I set its password years ago and have forgotten it. I have read that I can reset its password by removing the CMOS battery and replacing it with a new one.
So — i) given your reference to the Intel Management Engine Components and System Tools V8 r3, should I first take out the CMOS battery and replace it? Then should I reset the MEBx password to something I can remember?
ii) And if I remove and replace the CMOS battery, what other things will happen? For example. will my BIOS be set back from the last A28 version to something earlier? Will I lose other presets I’ve forgotten about, maybe like UEFI?
2) Your list also includes downloading the NVME Driver from your link, which will be injected into the BIOS Image.
Question – is that file good for any NVMe M.2 I might buy, or is it good only for the model NVMe you bought, the Samsung 970 EVO Plus? If I buy a different NVMe, should I then get its own driver file for this step?
3) If I’m not mistaken, our 7010s have only PCIe 3, yes? So maybe we should stick with an NVME that is good for PCIe3 and not waste money on a newer and more expensive NVMe that would also be good for PCIe 4? Do I have that right?
Thanks!
Paulie says
I don’t think the password will matter, because if you read on to the next step, it involves triggering the password reset anyway – so the password will be wiped out in any case. You don’t need the password to install the Intel Management tools.
The driver will work with any NVMe drive.
glnz says
Paulie –
1) I hope to do the BIOS mod on a second (extra) test 7010 this weekend (or soon). My plan is to do the mod only before I buy the SSD or the adapter card – to see first whether the machine will reboot into its normal HDD after the mod. Please let me know if that is not a good plan.
2) Question – somewhere I read that before doing anything like this, I should first replace my CMOS battery with a new one, just in case the workload here kills an old CMOS battery. After all, most 7010s and 3010s are 8 years old or older. Do you think that is advisable, and what happens when one replaces the CMOS?
Thanks again.
Paulie says
1) you can modify and boot from your existing HDD. The Modification adds NVMe support / it’s takes nothing away.
2) it certainly won’t do any harm to replace the battery. You’ll lose your existing bios settings – but it’s no big deal to put them back..
Vinay says
Isit applicble for dell optiplex 3040
cypek80 says
Hello !
Encouraged by the article.
I was able to modify the BIOS on my Dell 7010.
I am waiting for a PCI adapter
and Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB Sata M.2
I’ll let you know how it went.
Thanks for the advice!
trs96 says
@vinay — Is it applicable for dell optiplex 3040
The Optiplex 3040 should allow booting from NVMe without having to make any BIOS mods. Try it out.
trs96 says
“Somewhere I read that before doing anything like this, I should first replace my CMOS battery with a new one, just in case the workload here kills an old CMOS battery. After all, most 7010s and 3010s are 8 years old or older. Do you think that is advisable, and what happens when one replaces the CMOS? ” @ginz
Yes, replace the battery if it’s still the original. Once you remove it, reboot into the BIOS (F2) and change the BIOS settings back to what you want. You will lose any changes you’ve made to BIOS settings after the battery is pulled and replaced.
gerry says
Hello. great work! I did it like that and i see the drive in the boot options now, but is have the problem on installing windows 10, if i am installing it from USB drive i see the SSD but i get the message that it is not able to install windows on it because it is not a bootable drive in bios… hope you can help me, are there some settings in bios to do? Thanks
Paulie says
@gerry – this means you have booted in BIOS mode, not UEFI mode. You must boot in UEFI mode and then run the windows install.
Sevlor says
I followed all the steps listed above got success with the bios upload after the driver import, but I am unable to boot from an NVMe, I don’t see it in the bios anywhere, and if I modify or even just go into the bios with the NVMe installed into the system and exit out the system just comes back with the power led flashing amber. I unplug mains until it stops flashing and plug it back in, I am able to power on the system but still same result, no boot from nvme.
gerry says
@Paulie Thanks for you fast and helpful answer and also thank you for the great desciption to upgrade the optiplex!!! Now everything works fine… It helps a lot if you know what UEFI is and how it works 🙂 and i learned a lot about this the last night.
@ Selvor i did it yesterday the first time but maybe it helps if i tell you what i learned: You must change the boot mode in UEFI.
In UEFI Boot mode you don´t see any HDD drive or USB Drive, you have to make a bootable UEFI win image on the USB stick to install windows. I used Rufus for that. After the Stick is prepared in UEFI (i also set GPT) mode then you see the Stick in the bootable drives and you can start the Installation.
In UEFI mode you don´t see the drive.. you only see the operationg system…
I am also a beginner but i hope i could help you
Harjeet Singh says
This was a random upgrade I thought I would do to my OptiPlex 3010 and that too after ordering Samsung 970 EVO Plus NVMe M.2 from Amazon. It became quite a challenge for me to find out that there is no NVMe M.2 Slot on the motherboard. After searching a lot for a solution, I was almost at the verge of returning the SSD and instead ordering a SATA SSD for upgrade. and then I hit this blog on Google. Ah! What I relief I had to know that there is a hope.
Then I came to know PCIe slot, I honestly had no idea about it and how it works. Searched a lot about it n YouTube and got familiar with various versions and slots for PCIe. This was the moment I thought that this upgrade may work. Although a challenge but this was quite an interesting one to accept and worked for.
Downloaded all the required drivers, flashed BIOS from A13 to A22, had a hard time putting the machine to Service Mode since the jumper was different but I figured out. Edited BIOS with NVMe driver and flashed successfully but even then could not find NVMe SSD to boot from under BIOS. I searched a lot about it and figured out this article which really helped with remaining steps: https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-in/000132410/what-are-pcie-ssds-and-how-to-use-them-as-a-boot-drive-for-a-dell-pc\
IMPORTANT: To make it work with Windows 8.1 or later, you need to enabled UEFI BIOS with Secure Boot OFF, format the drive using GPT disk type. Also make your bootable installation media to boot as UEFI mode, NOT MBR else it will not work. Install the Windows normally and choose the SSD from install options. Once the Windows is installed successfully, There will be a Windows Boot Manager option that will appear under UEFI Boot options under BIOS and THAT IS your NVMe SSD and this will work normal going forward. You don’t need clover or anything else to make it work, just a NVMe to PCIe adapter, appropriate BIOS flash and UEFI mode to boot from and it should all work fine to give your 10 years old PC a new life.
I’m sorry that for a long answer but I hope it helps someone to proceed with if they’re stuck anywhere in the process.
Once again, thanks a lot Paul for this article.
cypek80 says
Thank you very much for this article.
Everything works.
I used the cheapest PCI-E X4 M2-SSD NVME MODEL EM2-5001 adapter and NVME M.2 SSD 970 EVO Plus disk.
On the Dell 7010 and 9010 I have very good speed results
Regards Cypek.
the results in my gallery https://postimg.cc/gallery/hjRYJfX
glnz says
Haven’t modded my BIOS yet, but in getting ready, I discovered something on my 7010, and maybe this will help others.
It turned out my 7010 had a PCI Simple Communication Controller Driver error. I discovered it only by chance and fixed it quickly per this Dell article and its recommendation for a download from Dell Drivers & Updates:
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000132422/how-to-fix-pci-simple-communication-controller-driver-error
I think the moral of this story is this: before running Paulie’s BIOS mod steps, check your Device Manager, and if anything has a yellow ! or other warning, you might want to attend to it first.
Thanks, and stay tuned for when I finally have a chance to do this.
MPeter says
Hello,
I put a Kingstone 256GB NVMe storage with a PCIe 16x converter in the Dell Optiplex 3040 and then successfully installed x64 Widows 10 from a USB drive. After the reboot, it doesn’t see a UEFI boot device, although it can see “Mass storage” in the PCIe slot. Only the USB “Windows boot manager” appears in the BIOS setup UEFI boot list. If I want to add a new UEFI file, I get the message “File system not found”. I am using the latest (this year) Dell BIOS version.
Unfortunately, the ftpw64.exe -d v8, v9, v10 versions all give the same error message, of course in Service jumper mode: “Error 201: [FPTw64.exe] cannot be run on the current platform.” so i can’t do the NVMeDX modul injection into new BIOS either.
Please help. Will only the USB Clover boot help NVMe boot Windows now?
cmaciel63 says
Dear all,
Just a quick stop to say that I did all the steps and it’s working like a charm. In my first attempt I got a wrong version of Intel-ME-System-Tools-v8-r3 and it didn’t work. In my second attempt I got the right one and everything went smoothly. I also had previously updated to Win 10 Pro so I had do use the Intel-Management-Engine-Components-Installer_C3VMM_WIN_11.0.6.1194_A02 version.
Thank you Paul, you really rock!
glnz says
With my usual clumsiness, I have added the NvmExpressDxe_Small line to the BIOS in my Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower (Win 10 64-bit v21H2), and it has indeed rebooted!
(I mistyped fpt as ftp, and I moved my jumper to some wrong pins right next to its original location instead of across the motherboard to the correct location, but then corrected those errors. Happily, I didn’t burn down the house.)
By the way, on the final reboot, I checked again that my BIOS settings are UEFI only, without Legacy ROMs.
So Phase 1 is done.
Now on to Phase 2 – buying the NVME M.2 SSD and the adapter card.
But questions:
1) I’m going to go for the Samsung 970 Evo Plus, which is Paulie’s selection, but I will probably go for the 2TB model, as this jet-fueled hotrod 7010 will become the new Win 10 production machine in my wife’s mini-office — a dramatic upgrade from an old Optiplex 980 running Win 7 Pro — and I have also read that SSDs with greater capacity tend to last longer.
? So, is there any reason to avoid the 2TB model and stick with 1TB?
2) Paulie’s link to an adapter card is to a model by the MHQJRH brand that uses flat rubber bands to hold the NVME to the heat sink materials A number of Amazon comments say that these rubber bands disintegrate quickly, which is not surprising given the heat. At the same time, Paulie’s photo is of a different brand, Supageek, which maybe sells only in the UK.
? So, does anyone have a strong recommendation for a good adapter card with heat sink but maybe not with rubber bands?
3) I see that some adapter cards have relatively few teeth that fit into the PCIe slot, and others have many teeth. I am guessing that the few teeth will connect to x4 only, but the many teeth could also do x16. Both Paulie’s linked MHQJRH brand and his photo of Supageek are few teeth.
Also, my 7010 does not currently have a video card, so all its PCIe slots are available.
? So, are Paulie’s suggested models with few teeth (maybe x4 only?) good enough, or should I try to find an adapter card with many teeth?
Paulie – How did you ever find that needle in that haystack? Is that a thing in the UK? You are amazing! If I ever get to London, I’m buying you a pint.
Paulie says
Ha ha – thanks for the comment. You can buy me a pint from the link on this page without having to visit the Uk.
Using a 2Tb drive is no problem. The adapter linked seems to update often.
I don’t know the answer to the question about the number of teeth. I’ve used plenty of them with the very low number of teeth, they all worked fine.
glnz says
Paulie – something just occurred to me. I put NvmExpressDxe_Small.ffs on the Desktop. Must it stay there?
Does the new line in the BIOS expect to find it there?
So if I were to delete or move it, the BIOS would no longer work to boot from the NVMe M.2 SSD?
Thanks.
glnz says
Paulie – I have just contributed to your pub fund!
But please let me know about my Q above.
Cheers, and thanks!
MPeter says
@Vinay – Did you successfull boot from NVMe PCIe drive on Dell 3040?
Kanishka Wijesuriya says
Can you provide the instructions for the Optiplex 3040?
glnz says
Paulie – We all hope you are well and that your absence here for some days is only because you have a real life outside this excellent blog.
I’m about to go on to buy the NVMe and adapter, but remain concerned that I made a strategic mistake in my steps to mod the BIOS.
I put NvmExpressDxe_Small.ffs on my Desktop and not in a different folder . Must it stay on the Desktop? Does my modded BIOS expect to find it there, which means that if I move it the 7010 won;t boot?
Thanks.
Paulie says
It doesn’t matter where you save it on your computer because it’s going to be in your bios.
Reason for no response is because I am on holiday in Spain.
glnz says
Many thanks. If you’re in Barcelona, I suggest the wonderful book The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Follow the map in the book while you’re there, and then it is a great read.
Tom says
Thanks Paulie,
I have successfully upgrade my 2nd PC, an Optiplex 9010 MT. It runs like new now. With this machine I use the new NVMe SSD as boot drive and 2 SATA 3 as RAID 1 for my data. It works so great now. The other one is Optiplex 9020 MT, they are almost the same PC.
Paulie says
Great news Tom – well done. I hope it runs much better than new! When it was new it would have had a hard drive ?
Tom says
Yes, you’re right. It had HD but I did change for SATA3 SSD since long time. Now with NVMe SSD it runs even better. With the Samsung 970 Evo Plus I get 3424/3270 MBS. It’s so amazing.
matt says
No service jumper on the 3010..I see people say they figured it out, none have said what it is…so what is it?
charlie says
I wondering what happens in terms of running hotter at NVME speeds in an Optiplex 7010. Could I expect more heat and more fan noise after the upgrade? thanks!
Mendoza says
Does this work also if I install the adapter in the PCIe x16 2.0 slot? The 3.0 slot is currently being used for a graphic card.
Paulie says
Yes, but it is not as fast.
glnz says
Having a problem. On my Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower, I have cloned my old HDD to the Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB SSD in the PCIe x4 slot using Macrium Reflect Free 8’s clone feature, but on all reboots, I get an early error message (white letters on black background after the first Dell logo but not yet the spinning golf balls) of “Alert! Hard Drive not found. To continue press F1 key. To change setup option press F2 key. To run onboard diagnostics press F5 key.”
If I press F1, i do boot into the SSD, and it’s much faster than the old HDD. But I can’t seem to avoid the initial error message and the need to press F1 to continue.
If I press F2 and go into the BIOS settings and look at “Boot Sequence”, It shows Windows Boot Manager checked and no other options, and the Boot List Options below is set to UEFI.
I have also run Macrium’s “Fix boot problem” option in the Macrium Reflect Free a few times now, but no luck.
If I reconnect the HDD (which still has the OS), the machine boots into the SSD without the error message! But then, after a few reboots, the SSD goes from “Disk 0” to “Disk 1” and the HDD becomes “Disk 0”, although the SSD remains the C:\ drive and it is booting!
If I disconnect the HDD again, after a while (and with another shot of Macrium’s Fix Boot Problems), the SSD becomes Disk 0 again, but I get the error message on every reboot and need to hit F1 to continue.
FWIW, my new CrystalDiskMark score (upper left) has gone from 195 to 1650, but not the 3,500 you all are seeing.
Any suggestions? Should I start over from scratch? Is there a specific Samsung driver I need to add somewhere?
Thanks.
glnz says
One more clue to my problem directly above: If I plug in the Macrium Reflect USB stick and reboot to go into it and hit F12 on the reboot to get the boot option to select it, I get the “Alert! Hard Drive not found. To continue press F1 key. …” error message before I have an opportunity to hit F12 to select that USB stick with Macrium, Does that tell us anything?
Paulie says
Read the section of the blog post with the heading “Optimise BIOS Settings”
glnz says
Paulie – that did it, and I just made another donation to your pub fund! Many thanks!!!
I should have re-read your full article after these weeks. Not for the first time, I serve as a negative example.
A few things:
— For later readers, the following video (link below) is very good — at almost your level — for showing how to use Macrium Reflect Free to do the clone AND expand the cloned C:\ partition (as my SSD is larger than my original HDD). I did not implement the next-to-last part about wiping the original HDD, but at the end it also shows how to use Macrium’s “Fix boot problems” option: (To use this option, one must run Macrium Reflect from its Rescue Media on a USB stick, which I would also advise for the clone )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHCENfs87F4
— While my CrystalDiskMark speeds for the Samsung SSD are eight times higher than my speeds for the old HDD, I am sad to report that they are only half what you and others get. (My first two Read speeds are 1665.39 and 1286.73; my first two Write speeds are 1493.42 and 1149.61.) Any thoughts? Maybe because this PC is an Intel i3 and not an i5? But I wouldn’t have thought that would make a difference. Maybe because I haven’t put the heat sink stickers on the SSD yet?
— Apparently, the Samsung SSD does not report temperature. At least, there is no temperature indicator in Speccy, while the old HDD showed a temperature indicator in Speccy. Is there a way to monitor the SSD’s temperature?
Thanks, Paulie !!
glnz says
Paulie – you might delete my three posts above because they don’t add much, except for the Youtube link about Macrium reflect cloning.
I have discovered that the various Intel CPUs for the Optiplex 7010 might not all have PCIe 3.0. My test 7010 has an i3 3220 CPU, and Intel’s specs for that CPU say it has only PCI 2.0, which is probably why my new NVMe M.2 SSD speeds are initially 1,700 GBs rather than 3,500.
a) Would be curious to know what your and others’ CPUs are (and what speeds you’re getting).
b) My OTHER 7010 machine has an i5 3470 CPU, and the Intel specs say it can handle PCIe 3.0. But I can’t tell for sure that its PCIe slots would actually provide 3.0. (Nothing is in those slots yet.) What do you all think?
c) After the x010 models from Dell, what is the next Optiplex family that definitely has PCI 3.0 for both its x16 PCIe slot and its x4 slot? 3020, 5020, 7020 and 9020? This will guide my strategy of buying used machines and modding them for the family business.
d) Maybe my NVMe M.2 speeds of 1,700 ± aren’t bad for my wife’s mini-office. Wouldn’t that keep the heat down? Samsung Magician indicates that the SSD hit only 56 C (“good”) during the CrystalDiskMark tests. Do your SSDs get hotter during those tests?
Thanks
Charlie says
Bought the Samsung EVO and the adapter and installed it in my 7010 MT. After sweating bullets, mumbling do you have to type so fast and squinting at the screen I was amazed that I had actually modded the bios. Then the process of cloning the drive kept failing with the Samsung software, so I grabbed a program and managed to finally get a clone, Then the time it took to remove cables to the C drive and then eventually having to uncheck SATA connections in the bios, the nvme drive did boot, but the partition was tiny, so I eventually figured out how to use the software and it was done. In my case, I’m running a GTX 1050 ti card that takes up to two spaces, so the best I could get with my EVO is 1600. Only! I would have to give up my card to get the 3500 MBS potential. This is something for people to consider. I’m a little let down, but from 550 to 1600 reads is pretty sweet.
glnz says
Charlie – what is your Intel CPU, and which slot did you finally use for your Samsung EVO?
For example, my Intel CPU is i3 3220, I discovered it supports only PCIe Gen 2.0 and not 3.0, and so I also am getting only 1500 – 1700 (in the x4 or x16 PCIe slots, respectively), not the hoped-for 3,500.
Curious to know your situation.
Charlie says
My CPU is the i5 3570. I am forced use the 4 times lane as I indicated. I have since pulled the graphics card just to check and ran the nvme adapter in the 16 times slot and got the promised 3560/3404. I could put in one my GT710’s but game play would be really limited compared to the GTX 1050 ti.
Charlie says
Not that Intel will be issuing any bios updates any time soon, but what would happen to the hack if I were to update my bios?
Charlie says
Made the modification to my Optiplex 9010 DT and the second time around is was a little easier. The Samsung migration tool failed again. I won’t try that again. This time my machine has a TV beside it, so it was easier to see the text of the the video tutorial while I paused it about 200 times. This machine has the i5 3470 CPU and running the nvme SSD in the times 16 PCIe slot I am getting the promised speeds of 3500+ MBPS. I moved the little GT 710 card to the times 4 PCIe slot, where I expect very little loss of function.
Paulie says
Nice one Charlie. Always good to hear the success stories!
glnz says
Hey, Charlie – feel like experimenting more? In your second PC, the 9010 DT with the i5 3470, what happens if you move the NVMe M.2 SSD to the x4 slot? Do you still get 3500± MBs?
And I found that Macrium Reflect Free (running from its PE Rescue Media on a USB stick) clones very nicely and has a built-in function to fix the EFI startup as well. There’s a very good YouTube at
Charlie says
Maybe I’ll check it out at some point. I’m certain that slot is only times 4, so it won’t work. I have actually used Reflect Free in both instances. When the Samsung migration tool failed for me. I just downloaded it and ran the app from the desktop. Worked easily. I was using another free one that only allowed minimal cloning options and only the pro version would allow for extending or shrinking when cloning mix-matched drives.
glnz says
New small issue: My 7010 MT’s DVD-RW drive (formerly D:) no longer shows in Explorer – This PC. If you look at Paulie’s advice above for “Alert! Hard Drive not found”, that’s logical because all the SATA boxes in my BIOS’s System Configuration –> Drives are now UNchecked. If I recheck the box for SATA-1 (my DVD’s connection), I then get the “Alert! Hard Drive not found” error message on reboot, which in my setup I cannot permit (because I will want remote control of this PC with problem-free rebooting).
– Is there a solution?
– If I put a non-bootable hard drive into the PC and connect it to a SATA slot that I then recheck, will the “Alert! Hard Drive not found” problem go away? (I intend to add such a hard drive anyway to have a target for automatic nightly backups. But it will be non-bootable.)
Thanks.
trs96 says
Is there a solution? Connect up any old HDD or SSD with a Linux distro on it to one of the sata ports. Then the “no hard drive” alert should go away.
Paulie says
I just created the same configuration on my system. No hard drives, but DVD write connected and only that option enabled in the BIOS. No hard drive error message.
glnz says
Paulie – thanks for your test. Unfortunately, I continue to get the “Alert! Hard Drive not found … push F1 to continue” when the box for the SATA socket that has my DVD-RW drive connected is checked in the BIOS. And I have now confirmed that the DVD-RW drive works — I just used it to boot up a Macrium Reflect Free Rescue Media PE Environment CD which I had made in 2016. (That is, it works after I press F1.)
I wonder why you and I are seeing something different. Could the reason be that my test 7010 Mini-Tower has an i3 CPU that offers only PCIe Gen 2 ? Does anyone else have such a 7010 and i3, and could you advise whether leaving the DVD-RW’s SATA box checked gets you the F1 error on reboot?
I’d love to fix this only because my wife will complain again about my using dusty old beat up junk computers in her employee’s mini-office if I install this test 7010 without a fix and — for the first time in years — someone tries to “play” a CD only to find the DVD-RW isn’t working. If that happens, I will have to hide out in your pub for a looooong time.
Thanks.
Gary says
Paul, Just did the bios update on my 7010, works great. I had a few issues, I had to use an earlier release of the Intel Management Engine Component (A0). Yours stated it could install on this platform. I have another 7010 to update when the PCIe stuff gets here. Cheers.
glnz says
For the issue I’m having – that on boot I get “Alert! Hard Drive not found … push F1 to continue” if SATA-3 is checked in my BIOS because it connects to the CD-DVD-RW drive — maybe there’s a clue.
When SATA-3 is NOT checked in my BIOS (and so my CD-DVD drive does not work), the Device Manager entry “Standard SATA AHCI Controller” has a yellow ! triangle and the Device Status is “This device cannot start. (Code 10) an I/O adapter hardware error has occurred.”
When SATA-3 IS checked in my BIOS (and I need to press F1 to continue my bootup but my CD-DVD drive works), this Device Manager entry is NOT there and there is no yellow ! triangle,
Does this have any bearing on my issue? Those of you enjoying Paulie’s mod here, if you have all your SATA boxes UNchecked in BIOS, what do you see in Device Manager?
Thanks.
pop says
I wish these Bios mod could work on the USFF (ultra small form factor) 7010 or the 9020 which use the mini pcie slot. The nvme card on the mini pcie dapter produce no post and orange light with beebs. When removed, the system post and says no memory was found on previous attempt. strangely these variants use the same BIOS as their bigger brothers, which aren’t producing these symptoms according to many owners.
Ron says
So, how do you enable service mode on the 3010 SFF? I don’t see a service mode jumper on this motherboard.
Paulie says
I’d be interested to try this on an USFF model. But I don’t have one to hand. What model specifically are you trying it on?
pop says
@paulie i tried both, the 7010 usff and the 9020 usff both with the same behavior…I have been troubleshooting this for a long time and so far still no success. Very good size machines. When the nvme drive is inserted into the adapter, the system doesn’t boot. when removed, the system boot but saying no memory was found on previous boot so the NVME making the memory to disappear.
trs96 says
“When the nvme drive is inserted into the adapter, the system doesn’t boot. when removed, the system boot but saying no memory was found on previous boot so the NVME making the memory to disappear.”
I believe that Dell intended that these mPCIe slots be used only for mSata SSDs not NVMe. The models that are a few years newer from 2016 on, probably suppurt NVMe but I haven’t bought any of those to test. So don’t attempt to get faster read/write speeds by using an NVMe drive in that slot, even with an adapter. It just won’t work.
trs96 says
Here’s an article that may help to clear things up a bit.
https://www.velocitymicro.com/blog/nvme-vs-m-2-vs-sata-whats-the-difference/
The best way to go with a Dell ’10 or ’20 USFF model is to use the fastest 2.5″ Sata SSD you can afford. Those give you good boot times and with enough ram the system shouldn’t lag at all.
pop says
@trs96 its a long story and as previously said it took long time troubleshooting this issue. I know what you are trying to say about the sata route. Its not about the speed but drive size capacity and physical size also. M.2 sata is limited to 2TB in size but nvme is up to 8TB currently. let me try to be brief if I can, The two systems were bought to be used as nas/home server for their sizes. So perfect. no big nor small. just correct. but unfortunate Dell ignored this size in their ugrade models (3020,3040,3050,3060 etc…) and only releases these in the micro and small form factors. The small form factor is too big for my need. The 7010 usff mpcie slot doesn’t support msata but the 9020 does msata. The 7010 support mpcie to sata adapter (its my current setting but sata cables still needed) but the 9020 doesn’t support this (i tried). The 7010 also support mpcie to ngff m.2 a/e key adapter, which then connect to a/e to m.2 nvme adapter. the nvme drive is visible doing this way but as you can see 2 converters affects stability. connecting it this way doesn’t work on 9020. That is the reason i really want the mini pcie to nvme adapter to work as this involves only one adapter but the system beebs on me with this. I am quite sure both systems can work with NVME drives because when the drive is inserterd after the system has already posted, the bios and windows see the drive. but doing it this way is not safe for the motherboard and the drive itself. Cold boot produce the beeb and no memory found error. so strange. I even tried an nvme with Dram chip on the board, thinking that dramless drive could be the cause of this conflict, but same thing.
Greg G says
On the 3010 you need to jumper “Clear CMOS” to get the system into service mode. I added the driver at the end of DXE driver..And it worked.
Leo says
Greetings from Ecuador excellent information and I appreciate the fact that you share it. My question is whether this procedure can be applied to a DELL Optiplex 980 since this model’s BIOS is not UEFI. Please help
Anonymous says
Thanks a bunch for the write-up, still works on my Dell 7010 SFF. For any non-Windows users wondering, the BIOS update and flashing tools work in live-bootable FreeDOS as “ftp -d backup.bin” and “ftp -bios -f nvme.bin” respectively. UEFITool does have a Linux release as well, but be sure to grab a non-“NE” build.
glnz says
This technique is great. My only half-problem is that, on my 7010 Mini-Tower, I’m getting only 1,700 Mbps instead of the hoped-for 3,500 Mbps.
Did some digging in other forums, and the consensus is that, in my 7010 Mini-Tower, my Q77 chipset will provide only PCI-E Gen 2 no matter which CPU I have, and it will make no difference whether or not I replace my i3 CPU with an i5 or an i7.
I’m beginning to wonder whether my new Samsung NVMe M.2 is not as good as everyone else’s.
Those of you who have 7010s and are getting close to 3,500 Mbps – please advise what are your CPUs and what are your chipsets. Please then also run Speccy and CPU-Z. In CPU-Z, on the Mainboard tab, it might give you “Bus Spec”, which might say what CPI-E Gen you have.
Thanks.
freddy says
buenos dias soy de lima peru deseo hacer esa modificacion para mi placa gigagyte GA-F2A88XM-HD3, GA G41M-ES2L, GA-F2A55M-HD2 PUEDES AYUDARME TE LO AGRADACERE MUCHISIMO
trs96 says
@freddy Ninguna de sus placas base tiene UEFI BIOS Desea usar algo de al menos 2012 o posterior que sea compatible con UEFI.
Erik Miller says
Want to thank you for writing up this process and making it available. I have an Optiplex 7010 i7-3770 that I use for digital audio workstation and video editing chores, so every bit of performance I can pull from it counts. I’d been booting using the Clover-on-thumbdrive method, which always bothered me because I didn’t like having the thumb drive sticking out, and it also makes for a slightly longer boot. This BIOS patch, however, let my system fully recognize the drive, as it should. There was a snag because I somehow got hold og the Intel System Management Tools v. 9 instead of v. 8, but then I read the comments and that happened with someone else. Changed versions and it worked like a charm!
Peter says
Hello from Germany!
The following machines have been successfully updated and booting from NVMe:
– 790 > 25 units
– 990 > 60 units
– 3010 > 30 units
– 3020 > 30 units
– 7010 > 100 units
– 7020 > 100 units
– 9010 > 80 units
– 9020 > 250 units
not a single problem with all those machines. Just follow the steps and you will geht the best result!
Feel free to get in touch, if you need further assistance.
Best regards
Peter
Paulie says
Wow Peter – You have been busy! Incredible amount of upgrades you have done. I guess it is a business environment, are the users of the machines happier now?
glnz says
Peter – on the 7010s, what CrystalDiskMark speeds are you getting, what model NVMe M.2 did you use (and size), and what model CPUs do they have?
(I ask because I’m getting only 1,700 Mbps, not the hoped-for 3,500 Mbps, and I have some other PCs to mod.)
Thanks.
trs96 says
Booting from an NVMe drive makes Windows 10 much faster.
Here’s another way to make Windows 10 even faster than that. Debloat Windows 10.
https://christitus.com/debloat-windows-10-2020/
Before you run this script, make sure you know what you are removing. Everything it does can be easily reversed so there is not much risk but be careful with it nonetheless.
Jim B says
glnz – I too have a 7010 with only SATA-3 enable for the optical drive and still getting the “No Hard Drive Found” at bboot. Did you find a fix other than adding a dummy drive or disabling the optical drive?
Thanks
Jim
glnz says
Jim B – no I have not. I disabled my optical drive – have not yet tried a dummy drive with (for example) Linux.
But please advise –
1) What numbers are you getting with CrystaDiskMark? (Mine are only ~ 1,700 ± MBps, not the hoped-for 3,500)
2) What brand/model NVMe M.2 did you buy?
3) What is your CPU?
Thanks.
John says
Thanks. Got it working from your very detailed instructions.
I did have the “No Hard Drive Found” at boot message. That was my mistake I had booted my USB stick in BIOS mode and inadvertently installed the OS in BIOS mode rather that UEFI. I had to boot the USB stick in UEFI mode and then re-install the OS.
I. M. Fletcher says
Paulie! Wow! Thank you so much for putting this together for the 7010. You really know your business. I tried your other instructions I think for the 7020 and nothing would work, but these worked well. However, after inserting the new driver and loading the bios with no issues, it still doesn’t boot from the drive. I can read/write to the drive, but just cannot boot. Looking in the comments, I see another user with the same issue. I just get no drives message and then it tries to boot from the NIC. If I go into bios and switch to UEFI mode, it also just goes to the NIC. If I click ADD in the UEFI dialog, it says “No Filesystem”. It’s very interesting. I’ve been working with computers for 40 years and there is always something new. The only differences I see in my installation is (1) I have a video card in the blue slot, (2) I don’t have your same card. Now, there are comments that say they switched to UEFI mode and THEN installed the OS, so maybe I might have to do something like that. Right now, I used Macrium to clone the hard drive to the nvme drive and then I’m trying to work with it. Maybe this requires a UEFI install?
I. M. Fletcher says
A quick follow-up. I read through all of the comments, and I think I have new info that explains what’s going on. In order to boot in UEFI mode, I have to have a GPT disk, which I don’t. I’m working on converting it. After I finish, I’ll post an update. Right now, it’s MBR mode.
Jim B says
glnz-
Thanks for your quick reply, I apologize for my late reply. I was not able to get it to boot free of the message unless I either turned off all the SATA ports. I tried switching the optical drive to different ports without success. I was able get rid of the message by connecting a hard drive to SATA_0 and leaving the drive unformatted so it didn’t show a drive letter but that was too messy for my standards. Since this was for a customer, I opted to pull the NVME/adapter out and use a SATA SSD. In my 40 years of being a computer tech I am still as curious as the first day so I plan to try again with a test machine. The one variable in my case was before cloning, I converted the old drive from MBR to GPT and didn’t do a clean UEFI install. I used Acronis to clone the drives. I didn’t have time to experiment with this machine.
The system was a 7010, I5-3470, SSD is a WD SN570, and the adapter was the one linked in the article. I was using the Blue slot. It booted fine and was definitely faster but the ALERT message was a deal-breaker. Below is the results of the performance test. I’ll post again if I have better luck.
Seq Read was 3439
Seq Write was 1878
Jim B
glnz says
Jim B – thanks for your info. It’s still a mystery to me why my 7010 is getting Reads of only 1,700 MBps ±.
Could it be because I have an i3 and not and i5 or i7? So maybe the i3 delivers only PCi-E Gen 2 and not Gen 3?
Or maybe I have a defective Samsung 970 EVO Plus (but then would it just not work at all)?
Jim B says
glnz – I’m not an expert but I would bet that the PCI-e version has a lot to do with your speed difference. As you might already know, V2 is half the bandwidth of V3 so it stands to reason. You should be able to quickly mod your other machine to find out for sure. Or, just swap CPU’s as a test.
Good luck and let us know the outcome
Jim B
David Herring says
Upgraded dell 7010S –
1768 is the read speen in KdiskMark (Ubuntu equivalent of CrystalDiskMark ) – impressive but not the 3500 number others seem to have got ?
Thanks for the brilliant write up !
glnz says
David Herring – I also have only 1,700 MBps ± in my 7010.
What CPU do you have? (I have n i3.)
And others with 7010s getting 3,500, what CPUs do you have?
Thanks to Paulie and all here..
I. M. Fletcher says
Just a quick follow-up, and thanks again, Paulie for this EXCELLENT write up. I’ve learned so much from this experience. So switching the drive to GPT did the trick! The 7010 found the drive and I was able to install Windows on it without issue. Boots fast (after turning off the SATA drives) and Windows works great. I never thought I’d ever be editing a BIOS image. Almost like being back on the old IBM 9121. Thanks again!
Paulie says
It’s really great to see so many people having success with this. Keep the success stories coming!
Timothy Hudgins says
Will this upgrade work on Dell 9020? Worked great on my 7010, thanks.
Paulie says
No, but I have a separate guide for that machine which will work.
Timothy Hudgins says
Do you have a link on that one?
trs96 says
It’s under recent posts on the home page. Right above recent comments.
http://tachytelic.net/
Stu says
Created a Clover Boot Disk on a flash drive using Samsung 970 EVOPlus with adapter you recommended. I am using the Optiplex 7010 SFF. I disabled SATA 0. It does boot successfully, but when I did a benchmark test using CrstalDiskMark, I am getting no difference in speed from the original SATA SSD installed. The directions seemed plain enough, but am I missing something you see? Thank you.
Phillip May says
There’s nothing showing up under pci ports in bios. Could this be due to the sata ports both being enabled? I only have the hdd and DVD drive working currently.
glnz says
Update – In my test Dell Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower:
– I have FINALLY replaced the original i3 processor with a used i7-3770 that I bought on eBay,
– it IS providing PCI-E 3.0 in the x16 PCI-E slot, and
– my NVMe M.2 is now showing the full expected speed of 3,400 MBps per this article.
It’s alive !!!
This is on my TEST used Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower, which might become a fourth computer in my wife’s mini-office.
Now, my PERSONAL computer is also an Optiplex 7010 Mini-Tower with its original i5-3470 and HDD. According to responses in other forums, this i5 should also provide PCI-E 3.0 in the x16 slot, so I should be able to convert my PERSONAL 7010 to NVMe M.2 pursuant to this article without the half-speed issue.
Final issue is that (with the BIOS mods in this article) the PC will not connect to its DVD unit unless the PC also has a SATA drive with something bootable, as outlined in the comments above. i created a new partition on the original SATA HDD and installed a bootable Macrium Reflect Rescue in it. That works, but on reeboot, Windows always asks whether I want Win 10 or “Other”. Ideally, the reboot would always go directly to my Win 10 and I would only see this alternate bootable Macrium Reflect Rescue option if I hit F12 on the rebeoot for the one-time boot option menu. But I haven’t found yet how to do that. Please point me to any links that you think will help me fix this “no connection to your DVD without extra bootable SATA drive” problem.
Paul, many thanks, and God Save the King!