This is from Dell:

1. Hold the FN (Function key) down while powering on the computer.
2. Still holding the FN key, start tapping the Windows key to bypass the issue.
3. This should bring up the login screen.

 

Thanks for the tip, but no luck still. It just does the exact same thing, keyboard lights up, dell logo appears, then it turns off

 

Press and hold the power button to turn the system off then restart the system. Do this three times. If the system can, it should boot into the Windows Recovery Environment and you can then perform a startup repair.

 

If the above doesn't work you may need to remove the battery and disconnect the CMOS battery and press the power button for twenty seconds to do a hard reset, then plug the CMOS battery and system battery back in and see if the system boots.

XPS 15 9520 Service Manual | Dell US

 

Sounds like corrupted BIOS or Firmware but, without being able to select the boot menu at startup, I am not sure we will be able update or rewrite the BIOS unless DELL has some sort of workaround in place. I have heard that BIOS chips, for various computers, are available on ebay but that would mean getting a tech to look at it and replace it.

 

I might go see a tech tomorrow for this, since honestly unless someone finds a miracle solution I don't see what else I can even try - what is frustrating me a lot is that I don't even know what caused it, my use case was no different than any other day.

 

Thanks all for the tips,

I attempted to power it off, but even after powering it off it self-powers on again, even after holding it for a while. I attempted an RTC reset, but it also did nothing. There is no CMOS that I can see of on the bottom, but I did unplug the battery, drain the power then try all the steps again, then try with the battery unplugged but the adapter plugged in. This sucks

 

Since it is unlikely that you will have time to create a backup image of your main drive, I would suggest you take the drives out and place them somewhere safe. I have heard too many tales of users taking their PC's for repair only to get them back with drives having been wiped and the OS reinstalled regardless of whether it was needed or had helped. From your description above of what you have done, the drives are playing no part in the symptoms .. the Power On Self Test otherwise known as POST is either corrupt or there is a problem that is stopping it from proceeding.

 

Thank you for the advice, I'll be sure to take my drive out before going!

 

I've been scouring the forums to see what others have done. Here's something that we may not have tried yet:

1. Shut off the laptop
2. Hold down the Esc & Ctrl keys
3. While holding down those keys plug in your AC adapter
4. Keep holding down the keys until the laptop boots and you see a BIOS recovery screen.
5. Follow the appropriate prompts on the screen.
   

If this doesn't work, try removing all but one stick of RAM and then try each stick in the other slot if there are two slots too. Beyond that it's probably a hardware repair.

 

I would take the ssd disk out and try to run "checkdisk /r" on it by using an ssd to usb adapter then plug that into another working computer to run checkdisk on it. Sounds like the drive had a shock is is corrupted.