*OFFICIAL* Alienware 15 R1/R2 Owner's Lounge

lol why do people ask that question. I'm sorry, it just happens a lot.

 

For some reason I can't find the PCH temperature in HWinfo

 

Have you enabled the appropriate settings in Hwinfo settings?

 

Yep. I just tried rebooting after enabling the setting and got it to show up now. It looks like it's at 48-50C idling. I'm not sure what the normal temps for it are.

 

I do not know the normal PCH temp in this model with idle and max load. But 48-50C idling is a fine temp. Test also with maximum load and ask others who have the same machine.

 

So I picked up my laptop yesterday and I am sending it in for repair today, Alienware says it is a 5 day turn around. I see many people on this site with the same issue as me... I hope it is not just how the laptop is. The problem that I am having is the dim yellowish or tan hue on the 1080 display. I can be using it next to my 8 year old cheap Accer laptop and it looks awful in comparison. Games seem dark and the colors are just a bit off all around. has anyone had any success from sending the laptop in for repair or are the chances high that I will get it back with the same problem?

*Also I swapped out the 1tb HDD for a Samsung SSD. would you think I should put the HDD back in just in case they swap the computer for a new one when it is in for repair or should I be safe?

 

Unfortunately, dell are a bunch of pigs with this crap display. If you're in the UK we have a solution for you, will require a small amount of DIY but very easy.

 

I sent mine out for a sound related issue. It came back unrepaired and with a big dent right on the top metal lid of the computer. It worked out ok in the end because they replaced the unit with a new one after that. The first unit had a slightly better screen than the second one. One unit had the LG model screen and the other had the Samsung version. Dell uses LG and Samsung 1080P screens that are very similar.

 

You both said "sent mine out" & "sending it in"
Where? Please tell me you did not send it to a repair depot when you have an "Next Business Day On site" warranty.
The repair depot people really do suck. I would not be surprised if they are outsourced and repair multiple different manufacturers.
Not to say the on site techs are perfect either but at least you can see what they are doing. Plus the turn around time is much faster.
The lowest warranty Dell offers is called a "Depot Only Warranty" which means you cannot get an onsite tech. If you have a warranty with onsite service why even allow for a lower method of service?
Next time do not allow this!

Also FYI its faster to get an exchange this way. If they attempt to fix the problem 3 times with an onsite tech and it still has the issue they will then exchange the system.

 

DeeX, I think you saw the post from nickbarbs and my response to him. I've sent mine in after an onsite repair did not fix the issue. Alienware wanted me to send my unit in for a more "in depth" diagnosis of the unit. After the computer was not repaired by the onsite tech or by the depot, my unit was replaced.

 

Ok well either way..
If the onsite messes up get another one out there lol. The Depot is "No Bueno".

 

Yep, learned that one the hard way. In the past I had a Lenovo Y400 I sent in for repair and it went really well. I had no idea that Dell's repair depot was that bad until I looked at other people's cases and experienced it. Either way it worked out in the end. I got a replacement computer and they added a 128gb ssd that I didn't originally have

 

My hope is that the Dell repair techs are aware that some model displays are dim/ yellow and if they get a customer who does complain they will swap it with the other. I know mine is the Samsung model. I did not return the laptop to the store because I figured that their other models would most likely have the same display. I love the laptop, just cant stand the display and at 1600 bucks it is at the top of my price range means no 4k for me.

 

I ended up going with a refurbished unit from eBay to start with. It saved me a bunch of money up front and still had a full 1 year warranty through Dell. They replace new units with refurbished ones anyways so I figured I'd give it a try. You could always buy a better display model online for under $100 and replace it yourself. It's a very easy process and there are several threads about what displays to look for and how to do it.

 

guys is bios 1.2.13 safe to upgrade?

thanks

 

I upgraded, minus the errors in Event Log.. I'm happy.

Also anybody who is having issues with the Samsung Pro 950 overheating, uninstall the samsung NVMe drivers. I use the surface pro NVMe drivers. My 950 now idles at 25c and loads around 75c. Before I'd idle at 60 and load up to 98c. I still get full speed too.. I noticed my 15R2 idling at 12watts on battery after I upgraded.. Now I'm back down to 6.9w. I contacted samsung and they are agreeing with my findings. So it might a real issue....

 

Where can you find the Surface NVME driver?

 

If Dell does not fix it I will have to go that route now.
So I have a 2 week return window at Micro Center and the guy at Dell told me it would be back within 5 days... turns out that is not the case, the package is on its way via FedEx ground (5 Days). my original plan was to send it out and if it gets back with the same issue I would just return it to the store but now because the Alienware tech lied to me I will be stuck with this laptop... great...

 

Typically Dell will work on and fix the problem in about 5 days. I'm not sure that includes the time for the computer to ship there and ship back.

 

Yeah after calling Dell they said that it should be next day air shipping but they are not allowed to send laptops by air anymore because of the batteries. interesting....

 

So, I checked my repair status and it says "waiting for parts" I called dell to get an update and they said they are waiting on a main board... strange that they are installing a main board, every post and forum that I have found says that it is a display panel issue, I even put on my repair sheet that it has a samsung display panel that has known issues with having a yellow hue. we will see how long this repair takes now... I asked if they can just send me a new laptop and they said no.

 

Oh boy, hopefully main board is dell slang for display panel....because otherwise your're gonna get back a yellow screen, and a new motherboard for no reason.

 

I always remove any modifications before sending a machine in for repair. They could end up "replacing your defective hard drive" or giving you a new system and poof you have no SSD.

 

^ This. Never send upgraded components to some random depot center. I load the original drive with the factory install as well.

 

I really need to disable the Lid switch on this thing. It keeps changing the resolution when I close the lid so the windows login screen becomes small and unresponsive when I open it for a couple seconds. I disable sleep so the screen comes on instantly. I'll let you know if I find a way to do it hardware wise.

 

I just started having a new problem with my system. Whenever I try to put the computer to sleep it shuts down. After the computer restarts it shows up as a crash in the event viewer.

 

u r lucky, my alienware 15 (seems like a defected unit) NEVER shutdown
whenever i put my system to shutdown or sleep, it restarted
the only way to make my system wont re-booting itself is to close the laptop

 

Haha well actually, mine just started doing that as well. Did yours do that the whole time you had it or after a certain update? I updated to Bios 1.2.14 recently and I'm not sure if it's from that or something else. I really hope I don't have to get another repair. This is my second unit and it was working really well until a few days ago.

 

There's a new bios 1.2.14, is it stable? whats the recommended version?

 

Well that depends if the new bios is what messed up my computer's ability to sleep or not. It seems alright but I haven't had it installed very long, and with the unknown cause of my sleep and shutdown problems, I'm not sure.

 

My Alienware 17 R3 started doing that yesterday after updating to 1.2.14. Besides a few random BSODs and the SD card reader not working, it was fine before... It's really worrying me.

 

I also updated the bios to the 1.2.14 version but i'm not experiencing these sleep/BSOD/SDCARD issues. All is fine so far.
SO i don't think its coming from the Bios...

 

I'm not 100% sure either but since I tried most other driver related solutions it seems likely it was the BIOS update. Also, there is already a history of BIOS updates in these machines being very prone to issues...

By the way, I saw some folks at the Alienware support forums with the same issue apparently after updating to BIOS 1.2.13... I think the BIOS flashing is leaving remnants that may mess up with the system, just like what happened with the update from 1.2.3 to 1.2.13.

As I said, I'm not certain, but be extra careful with BIOS updates just in case.

 

According to this perhaps you should not update.

What bios were you on? <br /><br />This is a very common problem to people that have upgraded to bios 1.2.12 or above. it has happened to me multiple times, You need to copy the instructions on this link to get you going again<br /><br /> http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN301252?dgc=SM&amp;amp;cid=266889&amp;amp;lid=5129275


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

I'm using latest bios on alienware 15 R2, I never experienced anything like that, I had one BSOD on my new system, when windows 10 updated to latest version 10586.420.. it happened after the update, once the dump file is created, it was running fine, still now its running fine.. pretty much loving the new R2, after a year of trouble with R1 throttling, except this Yellow fever panel.. ill post benchmarks and gameplay soon..

 

Mine came with BIOS version 1.2.8 and I upgraded to the latest 1.2.14 on Friday. I thought about doing this BIOS reset although it is currently recommended for notebooks that don't boot at all.

I love my AW 17 R3 as well but this issue is driving me nuts. At least it is working properly when turned on.

 

Solution confirmed! After BIOS reset both shutdown and sleep are working properly!

This also confirms it was the BIOS flashing that corrupted settings. I advise to update it through flash drive. If anything goes wrong, perform these BIOS reset/clear CMOS steps and it'll probably work.

 

Wow I'd never seen that solution before. I'm going to try this when I get home and will post an update with how it works out. Since it worked for DarkKnight919 I am feeling hopeful. Either way, thank you for the suggestion.

 

It will come back of you stay 1.2.13 or higher.

 

I have another issue I figured I would ask about before I get home to mess with the bios stuff. If my computer gets bumped or jolted while running it will blue screen and restart. Anyone else have that problem?

 

I didn't notice this problem but maybe it has something to do with the Kionix Free Fall Driver, which is supposed to lock the hard drive when the computer moves to avoid physical damage. Is your Windows installed on a HDD or SSD?

Otherwise, it can also have something to do with either bad connections or actual hardware issues. It's hard to pinpoint these kinds of problems.

There's a chance the BIOS reset could solve this as well since we have no clue to the extent of the corrupted settings.

 

I never flashed motherboard BIOS from windows, always store it on USB and flash it from main screen..

I had this issue on my R1, 2 different issues, first it shutdowns after touching certain areas like keyboard, or sometimes it resets when I move my laptop, the keyboard issue was there, because there was a transparent sheet under keyboard which went missing during replacement, it kept touching mobo and making it shortcircuit and reset the whole system, the second one was due to kionix sensor fault.. uninstall the software, and like dark knight mentioned flash to latest bios via USB drive. if stil persists, call Dell support and ask for a new motherboard..

 

Thank you for the responses. My OS is installed on an SSD. I'll give the Bios fix a try first and see what happens, then I'll check out the sensor drivers. Worst case I'll contact Dell and have them do a repair if I have to.

 

Wow, my Bios is still at 1.2.3 -- don't think I'm updating it any time soon. It's really sad they don't do better QC testing before releasing such buggy code. I'm amazed these issues have persisted across multiple BIOS updates.

 

So the bios reset fixed the sleep and shutdown issue. I'm still having problem with the blue screen though. I'll probably just have to call Dell for some help with the problem.

 

I learned some things that I thought I would post in case anyone has similar problems. First is that my sleep and shutdown issues were a result of problems with the bios. A huge thank you to panzer06 for the info on how to physically clear the bios and reinstall it fresh. Second, the bsod's I was having from the computer getting bumped were a result of a defect with the wifi card (I had the Killer 1535). And lastly, I replaced the Killer 1535 with an Intel 8260 and found out that the wifi indicator does not work with an Intel 8260 wifi card because the card does not support the pin for wifi indicator lights.

 

What is the wifi indicator?

 

The little light in the top left corner above the keyboard. There are 3 lights. The one on the left shows hard drive activity, the one in the middle shows active wifi, the one on the right shows caps locks on or off. Apparently the middle wifi light doesn't light up for the Intel 8260 card but it does for the Killer card. I've also tried it and it works with the older model Intel 7260.

 

Thats very, very strange. s 8260 any way better than the killer card or the 7260?

 

Guys I have the Skylake Alienware 15 i7 FHD. what's the average battery life you're getting (when unplugged, obviously) on regular usage and gaming.
Also mention which model you have. Thanks!