Custom modify BIOS in Dell Optiplex to boot from NVMe M.2 ???

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Since AskWoody is all about updates — and so very helpful — here’s a question about maybe doing a CUSTOM update of the BIOS in my Dell Optiplex 7010 MT.

Please see this link and advise HERE what you think about this method of MANUALLY modding a BIOS file.  The author is apparently a MS MVP and certainly his article and video are very well organized.

https://www.tachytelic.net/2021/12/dell-optiplex-7010-pcie-nvme/

Why do this?  My Dell Optiplex 7010 MT has a classic physical hard drive, and I would love to change that to an NVMe M.2 SSD that is plugged into a PCIe socket (x4 or maybe x16) to get ultra-fast boot-ups, updates and file saves.  But the Optiplex 7010 BIOS will NOT boot up from an NVMe M.2 drive connected to PCIe unless the BIOS is modded (or other workarounds are used).

But modding the BIOS is scary !!

Second question – if this bricks my PC, is there a way to restore the BIOS?

Thanks.

 

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His instructions sound trustworthy and fully documented.  If your 7010 MT is the exact model he mentions, I am optimistic.  He uses a backup command fptw64.exe -d backup.bin

Before editing that file, if you copy it to a usb drive, you might be able to recover from some errors.  But bios updates do have risk, and recovery is not always possible or easy.

From a psychology comparison, you have a chance of losing your computer which lets say the replacement value is $400.  But if you don’t make it boot from NVME, you have the constant nagging in your mind of what an NVME could be doing for you.  Better to rip off the bandaid and put the problem out of your mind.

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Alternatively buy a refurb board, or upgrade throw out board and chip with the same motherboard and experiment on that if you have a digital entitlement license, that said it must be a known thing with the model looking at the refurb pricing but if you can get it working it should be worthwhile.

https://cpc.farnell.com/dell/7010sff-i33220-8-250/pc-i3-3220-8gb-250gb-hdd-w10p/dp/SB07776

 

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BTW, sorry – I meant try it on the gash board first, to refine technique and ensure you retain a working machine – I cut my chat a bit too much there..

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I found a user manual for your motherboard.  In the specs, see “gen3 (x16)”.

I presume the latter refers to the primary PCIe x16 expansion slot, closest to the CPU.

Here’s a completely different alternative that you may want to investigate.

We upgraded a refurbished HP Z220 tower workstation with a Highpoint SSD7103, populated with 4 x Samsung M.2 NVMe SSDs.  That controller needs a gen3 expansion slot, in order to harness its full upstream bandwidth (x16 @ 8Gbps).

We installed the vendor-supplied driver with no problems.  The latest driver version can be downloaded from Highpoint’s website.

After testing a RAID-0 array configured on that SSD7103, we ran “Migrate OS” using Partition Wizard.

Then, it was a simple matter to change the boot drive in the motherboard’s BIOS.

Another more recent Highpoint product is reportedly “bootable” from the factory e.g. SSD6202 and SSD6204.  The latter only have x8 edge connectors, which are a major factor limiting maximum feasible performance.  That’s why we went with the SSD7103 (x16 Gen3 edge connector + 4×4 NVMe M.2 sockets).

I seem to recall that ATTO measured >11,000 MB/second with that SSD7103.

No need to risk bricking your entire PC with a failed BIOS mod!

Bottom Line:  browse over to Highpoint’s website, where all their latest products are documented in detail.

 

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SupremeLaw – please provide the link to that manual for my motherboard.  Thanks.

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https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_optiplex_desktop/optiplex-7010_owner%27s%20manual4_en-us.pdf

.pdf Page 56

Bus Type   PCIe gen2, gen3 (x16), USB 2.0, and USB 3.0

As long as INT13 is enabled in a RAID controller bios and not DISABLED, a PCIe 3.0 motherboard should recognize it as a “bootable” device that should appear in the list of “Boot” devices in the motherboard BIOS.

The latter logic controls booting BEFORE an NVMe device driver is needed.

In the case of our SSD7103, our HP Z220 tower workstation hands control of the STARTUP process to the SSD7103, and the latter controller does the rest.

 

CDM measurement:

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