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    Alienware 17 R2 raid?

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by rband, Mar 8, 2019.

  1. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    Is raid possible on the R2 , looking for an unlocked bios for this model to shed more light on the options
     
    rband, Mar 8, 2019
    #1
  2. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    Nope. And I don’t think you’ll find a unlocked bios for this Dell model.
     
    Papusan, Mar 9, 2019
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  3. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    I thought so , thanks for the reply Papusan.
     
    rband, Mar 9, 2019
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  4. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    Capture.JPG
    Well folks , raid is possible on the R2 and it works .
     
    Last edited: Jun 1, 2019
    rband, Jun 1, 2019
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  5. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Its SW and not true RAID. I believe you need to use IRST application aka Rapid storage technology application to make changes to RAID volume say change stripe size or whatever.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 2, 2019
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  6. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    I have the bios unlocked and there is Software Feature Mask Configuration page where you can enable RAOD0-RAID10 options individually, and enable or disable the oRom UI Banner etc (lots of related RAID/RST settings).
     
    rband, Jun 2, 2019
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  7. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Ohhh you're using Svet's mods from TI forums correct? 17r2 and its 15" had unlocked BIOS options back then and now few are locked i new updates.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 3, 2019
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  8. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    A generous member over at a bios forum unlocked my own bios , not sure if i can post links here.
     
    rband, Jun 3, 2019
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  9. judal57

    judal57 Notebook Deity

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    yes, i saw the thread and posted my owm BIOSREG.BIN i hope he unlock mine too :/
     
    judal57, Jun 7, 2019
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  10. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    I see he already done it . did it work for you?
     
    rband, Jun 7, 2019
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  11. judal57

    judal57 Notebook Deity

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    YES !!!!! I HAVE MY FULL UNLOCKED BIOS TOO !!!!!!!
     
    judal57, Jun 7, 2019
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  12. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    Dell hid a lot of settings on this one , didn`t they.
     
    rband, Jun 7, 2019
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  13. judal57

    judal57 Notebook Deity

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    @Papusan i managed to OC my RAM and fully removed the power limits of the cpu, also Cstates and undervolted from BIOS too. i dont need throllestop anymore.
    at this moment i am modifiying the intel thermal framwerork to make the fans more responsiveness

    THAT BIOS HAVE TOO MANY OPTIONS !!!
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jun 8, 2019
    judal57, Jun 7, 2019
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  14. Papusan

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    + rep brother. Full package... +5 :)
     
    Papusan, Jun 7, 2019
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  15. judal57

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    lol i am too much excited, that i didn't took photos yet, but let me take for you. there are TOO many options there is insane
     
    judal57, Jun 7, 2019
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  16. Papusan

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    Before you being too exited... Not be 100% sure all bios settings works as hoped :) Depends on how crippled EC is. Good luck, brother :vbthumbsup:
     
    Papusan, Jun 7, 2019
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  17. rband

    rband Notebook Enthusiast

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    Power limits is something i need to address on my Viking , but not sure how.
     
    rband, Jun 7, 2019
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  18. judal57

    judal57 Notebook Deity

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    judal57, Jun 7, 2019
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  19. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Look at Intel acoustics section under DPTF and put it Level 5 on AC and on boot mode to level 3.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 8, 2019
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  20. 0lok

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    wow.. this is good news.. someone managed to unlock dell bios..
     
    0lok, Jun 8, 2019
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  21. Vasudev

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    90% of AW 15r1/17r2 are on modded BIOS from Svet/Lost N BIOS etc...
     
    Vasudev, Jun 8, 2019
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  22. 0lok

    0lok Notebook Deity

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    hmmm.. hope there is for the AW r3.. I bet @Mofoist and @ThomasAAT would be interested..
     
    0lok, Jun 8, 2019
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  23. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    If AMI Bootguard is bypassed then its possible otherwise you get Dell's infamous 7 beeps of death.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 8, 2019
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  24. judal57

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    judal57, Jun 8, 2019
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  25. VICKYGAMEBOY

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    VICKYGAMEBOY, Jun 8, 2019
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  26. Vasudev

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    Every menu items is unlocked.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 9, 2019
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  27. judal57

    judal57 Notebook Deity

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    *all cpu power throttling parameters disabled
    *increased cpu multiplier
    *edited the IDTF to make the fans more responsiveness
    *undervolted cpu from BIOS (dont need throllestop anymore)
    *ram OC from 1600 to 1866mhz
    *enabled PCH thermal sensor ( disbled by Dell, dont know why :S )
    *i can put my both SSD's on raid 0 (later because i have a lot of programs and files i need to finish my master's degree )
    *the are tons of optinos for cpu power eficiency
    *there is an option for LCD and the method to control blacklight ( maybe that fix your custom lcd)
    *there are options to control the speeds of the PCIE lines ( dont want to play with that )
    *i am playing with BCLK oc
    *i can disable intel hyper threading, c stats, set a manual voltage instead of dynamic, etc etc
    *there are a lot of things that i dont need, like enabling or disabling USB, pcie, sata ports
     

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    judal57, Jun 9, 2019
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  28. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    Yeah, Dell with help from Alienware's outsourced and useless in-hired firmware engineers destroyed this first gen Alienware BGABOOK much more than they really needed. And they never tried put it back on track before it was EOL. Just sad! And Dell's brand new 2019 gaming models flagship Area-51m is still on 2400MHz ram as max allowed ram speed. Intel's specs say 2666MHz for 8th and 9th gen processors. Oh'well, Dell's engineers continue in same way as they did for this old Alienware model.
    upload_2019-6-10_3-24-2.png
     
    Papusan, Jun 9, 2019
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  29. judal57

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    I fixed a lot of things just by few clicks, why those monkeys haven't done that before ? I don't know really. Just to remember the USB disconnection issue have been fixed too
     
    judal57, Jun 9, 2019
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  30. Papusan

    Papusan Jokebook's Sucks! Dont waste your $$$ on Filthy

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    Because of.....
    [​IMG]

    Alienware is owned by DELL. And Dell re-use the same engineeers.
     
    Last edited: Jun 9, 2019
    Papusan, Jun 9, 2019
    #30
  31. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Be sure to check all options as most of them are connected.
    My Tb3 port aka USBC is next to useless on my AW.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 10, 2019
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  32. VICKYGAMEBOY

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    dont you think we should also try to unlock our bios, do you want to try first ? or wait for the newbios then submit the dump file ?
     
    VICKYGAMEBOY, Jun 10, 2019
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  33. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I'm no longer motivated for fixing AW because I'll be buying Ryzen A seies or whatever.
    There no easy way to bypass boot guard tech!
     
    Vasudev, Jun 10, 2019
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  34. VICKYGAMEBOY

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    i am going for ryzen as well, project scarlet uses AMD.. good thing, im tired of intel monopoly / nvidia monopoly for long time.. what do u mean there is no easy way to bypass bootguard, did judal just bypass dell signature for the bios unlock ?
     
    VICKYGAMEBOY, Jun 10, 2019
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  35. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Aptio 4 has only partial boot guard and its not enforced. But in ours (Aptio V) boot guard is forced no matter what.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 10, 2019
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  36. VICKYGAMEBOY

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    so that means 15R1 uses aptio 4 ?? and ours different.. hmmm.. thanks for the info..
     
    VICKYGAMEBOY, Jun 10, 2019
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  37. judal57

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    You will never know if you never send him the biosreg.bin
     
    judal57, Jun 12, 2019
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  38. VICKYGAMEBOY

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    ive already checked with him with all kinds of dump, intitially he told he its not possible, because

    "Boot guard is active on this system, so you cannot edit that region of the BIOS that's needed to unlock BIOS [​IMG]
    Sorry, nothing can be done about this unless you replace your PCH that does not have key burned into the FPF fuses
    Any attempt at a single byte change will = brick, so good thing we checked!"

    but he asked me to give others dump files of ME/EC/GBU.. EC is not avail, me is not readable inside windows dos, so he suggested to make USB bootable dos, and try from there, and best thing he said i can flash using rom hardware flasher which comes around 10 dollars, i might probably get one.. lets see.. so far skylake systems are not that easy, he told me..
     
    VICKYGAMEBOY, Jun 12, 2019
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  39. Vasudev

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    Yeah I knew that and that's the reason I was demotivated. I do have a 16.8MB SPI dump with 1.3.12 with old MEIFW.
     
    Vasudev, Jun 12, 2019
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  40. VICKYGAMEBOY

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    VICKYGAMEBOY, Jun 13, 2019
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  41. Vasudev

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    Vasudev, Jun 13, 2019
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  42. bazza2000

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    Sorry for the bringing a year old post back to life
    I totally forgot about the Bios mod I got for my 17r2

    Do you remember or still have the bios setting you changed on your system
    Cheers
     
    bazza2000, Apr 9, 2020
    #42
  43. Vasudev

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    You need to ask at Win-raid. I still the author said he can help after sending full SPI dump 8MB-12MB to unlock the menus. JUdal57 sold his AW for newer prosumer desktop. Ryzen 3900x.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 10, 2020
    #43
  44. bazza2000

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    Cheers for the reply but after 5 years I had to put my 17 R2 to rest RIP the 980m died .
    I've got a legion y540 17 on the way now hopefully not such as mess as the Alienware
    Cheers again
     
    bazza2000, Apr 12, 2020
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  45. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Lenovo fare much better than Dell. Although fimrware is locked pretty tight we do get the advertised performance and good thermals out of the box.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 17, 2020
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  46. Violent Kain

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    How did you fix the Usb disconnection issue?
     
    Violent Kain, Apr 20, 2020
    #46