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    *OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R2 Owner's Lounge

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by Spartan@HIDevolution, May 9, 2020.

  1. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    What I do is on the factory image, I uninstall all the drivers/utilities, then I use Driver Store Explorer to wipe every single driver off the system, then I install the latest drivers. So this way I have the factory image/easy restore if I needed it but with the same effect as a clean install.
    True, they give us the hardware, then we as enthusiasts have to make it work.
    [​IMG]
     
  2. tmarshallg

    tmarshallg Notebook Enthusiast

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    That's actually the only two Alienware programs I installed. Lol
     
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  3. doofus99

    doofus99 Notebook Deity

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    And it also works on my AW17R5 just tried it - nice!
     
  4. mrboh

    mrboh Notebook Enthusiast

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    With the bags, I have an Everki Titan as well as the Area 51m Elite Backpack and Gear Bag (messenger). Of the three, I strongly prefer the elite backpack. It fits the gear nicely, is the most stylish and certainly appears more compact than the Titan (although I'm not sure the dimensions are all that different). I prefer the zippers on the Titan but build quality of the elite backpack is still pretty reasonable. The gear bag is okay (same materials/quality as the elite backpack) but it's smaller and much less comfortable to carry with the full kit inside.
     
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  5. etern4l

    etern4l Notebook Virtuoso

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    The Area 51M Elite Backpack would be a great prop to for Sheldon in Bing Bang Theory, or something @Spartan@HIDevolution could safely use in real life, since very few thieves would risk their lives having a go. :)
     
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  6. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    I have the white one:

    2020-09-27_182020.png

    It looks ok but I had a client last month who purchased an Area-51m R2 from me who didn't like its looks so we ordered the Alienware Vindicator 18 for him and he says it fits perfectly. Looks much better IMO:


    alienware_vindicator_backpack-overview2_1.jpg

    @etern4l I am not able to find the white limited edition that I ordered with my laptop on Dell's site anymore. Do you know where to find it or do you think it's out of stock as it said limited?
     
    Last edited: Sep 27, 2020
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  7. etern4l

    etern4l Notebook Virtuoso

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    No idea, I've been using this:

    https://www.thenorthface.co.uk/shop/en-gb/tnf-gb/surge-backpack-3etv

    Super comfy, takes two laptops and has the easy airport security function which of course is useless now.
     
  8. kylera

    kylera Notebook Consultant

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  9. etern4l

    etern4l Notebook Virtuoso

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  10. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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  11. Busa Dave

    Busa Dave Newbie

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    Well an update and in 35 years of buying high performance computers I have never had these many issues with factory software image. Spent over 12 hours waiting on on-line chat support over the last 48 hours total using Microsoft Technical Support as Dell folks are in the weeds. Bottom line waiting on a level 3 tech to call me tomorrow to see if they can get my Outlook to run correctly. Dell has sold their last piece of equipment to me that is a factual statement lol. Buggy and really not much better or faster than the HP Omen X it replaced.

    Live and learn I guess.. I still like the machine especially the keyboard but Alienware can only go so far selling on bling. :)
     
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  12. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    What issues? I'm on the factory image and it has 0 bloatware and 0 bugs, I also updated to the latest Windows build just fine. Using Microsoft Office Home & Business 2019 setup with multiple accounts.

    The only thing I did was to uninstall every single driver from its roots and update them all to the latest
     
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  13. Busa Dave

    Busa Dave Newbie

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    First issue that unresolved is the windows search fails even after removal and reinstall and some other things the level 1 & 2 MS tech's did yesterday. Outlook will not show the correct path where the pst's are. I keep all of mine except a 3 or 4 on the D drive and some of those it shows on the C drive. Still works but should not do that. Outlook (2019 Office Professional) does not return complete search results despite having tables rebuilt twice and indexing done which by itself took about 20 hours.

    The Tobi had to be disabled completely (Dell tech) as it was causing my display to dim after 15 seconds or so of not touching a key, TB or pad. Alienware has installed or attempted updates to the AWCC for 3 day's and hangs up about 10 minutes into the process. Still have to call about that one.

    To your point cannot tell you how many of the drivers were replaced however, the level 1 tech spent 30 minutes or so removing windows and office files and drivers replacing with new ones. Over this entire process my machine was rebooted I would say 15 times. :)
     
  14. circuit

    circuit Notebook Evangelist

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    I have had my fair share of issues with AWCC. A lot of times I used to experience 'Fatal Error 1603' while doing a fresh install of AWCC. Called Tech support once and they suggested that I just install AWCC through Microsoft Store. I did that and oddly enough I have never had issues since. If there is an update for AWCC, the main program itself generally gets updated through the store and additional components are updated through either AWCC (direct download through the software) or Microsoft Store. Anyways, AWCC decides and takes care of where to get its updates from for the components.
     
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  15. Busa Dave

    Busa Dave Newbie

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    Thanks--now I have Critical Error Message ---with the version build service tag. Error Code - 2000-0244 Validation Code 125770.... Oh well the Dell may be on the way back or someone will be out to fix it lol, Someone is supposed to call me in 24 hours but am going to call now. :rolleyes:
     
  16. b.kolev

    b.kolev Notebook Guru

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    Hey Spartan,

    do you know if there are any other differences between the two motherboards except the RAM XMP profiles?

    Thank you in advance!
     
  17. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    Not that I know of
     
  18. ratchetnclank

    ratchetnclank Notebook Deity

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    Wait there is a different mobo just for faster ram?

    That is a new level of stupid.
     
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  19. kylera

    kylera Notebook Consultant

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  20. win32asmguy

    win32asmguy Moderator Moderator

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    I still think its just confusion over how to enable it (no offense Spartan and circuit). My machine was ordered without XMP ram but I can still see the XMP option in the bios, if the "CPU Overclocking" option is enabled. The only XMP ram I have here is a 32GB CL15 2666mhz kit, but I am tempted to pull it and try, just to see if it's XMP profiles show up in the bios.
     
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  21. Busa Dave

    Busa Dave Newbie

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    After a few hours on the phone with Dell tech and taking the back off and disconnecting the battery even. 20 reboots later the escalation from Dell means now that Worldwide is coming to see me in a few days with a new motherboard. Also got a call this morning from the Level III tech with Microsoft about the other issues. Have decided that I am going to defer that activity until the new motherboard is installed because if the motherboard does not fix it then a new machine may be in the works. That means software install again. :(

    Got to love it. Laugh or cry but would rather laugh.
     
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  22. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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  23. ninedragons

    ninedragons Notebook Enthusiast

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    Further to my previous post if anyone knows the date that the 360hz monitor option is available, Dell has now officially listed the 360hz as an option on their website.

    I will also be placing my order now. :D
     
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  24. Busa Dave

    Busa Dave Newbie

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    Made the call to return it. New replacement being built. Hope to have better luck with that one!!!
     
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  25. ratchetnclank

    ratchetnclank Notebook Deity

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    Yeah it would be strange to go through the hassle of designing another SKU when the cost to make the motherboard capable of those ram speeds would be minimal anyway compared to manufacturing multiple SKU's and managing the inventory for both.
     
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  26. kylera

    kylera Notebook Consultant

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    Is that 60Hz gonna make much of a difference? Or are you getting it just because? :p
     
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  27. pathfindercod

    pathfindercod Notebook Virtuoso

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    you won’t really see a difference on a 17” screen between 300 and 360. You also won’t see those frame rates on any AAA title. I’d take a better quality 144 or 240 if available over a 300/360 any day.
     
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  28. win32asmguy

    win32asmguy Moderator Moderator

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    It is too bad they cannot offer the 120hz 4k panel. I would take that over the 1080p options for the wider color gamut, even if the response time is a little worse. The few reviews I have seen of the Razer Blade Pro 17 people seem to really like that panel. Although it seems like for some reason the RX 5700M cannot even support the 1080p 300hz panel so it is a moot point for me..
     
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  29. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    The 360hz screen has a 5ms response time while the 300hz has a 3ms response time. Since you won't notice the difference between 60hz as 300hz is fluid/smooth as heck, I'd pick the lower response time screen.
     
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  30. etern4l

    etern4l Notebook Virtuoso

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    LOL. If true, it would be ridiculous. A 360Hz would need about 2.5ms response time to handle those GtG transitions at 360Hz (and ideally much less than that since some transitions take much longer).

    For example see a proper external display specs:

    https://www.asus.com/Monitors/ROG-Swift-360Hz-PG259QN/

    0.5ms monitors are also beginning to crop up.

    These very high refresh rate are most relevant to high-level online gamers (CSGO players most of all perhaps), and in that case a laptop screen is a non-starter to begin with due to insufficient size. Worth looking at other specs too, such as contrast ratio and colour reproduction.
     
  31. ratchetnclank

    ratchetnclank Notebook Deity

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    The difference between 300hz at 300fps and 360hz at 360fps is less than 0.5ms frame to frame time.

    It literally doesn't make a difference. It's a marketing number, anything over 240hz is just a marketing number, some would even say 144hz.
     
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  32. etern4l

    etern4l Notebook Virtuoso

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    Having tested a 240Hz 25 inch Alienware monitor (too) extensively, I can offer the following comments, based primarily on playing CSGO at 200-300 fps.
    * The difference between 144 / 120 Hz and 240Hz is very clear
    * The difference between the different overdrive modes: 4ms, 2ms and 1ms is again clearly noticeable (unfortunately 1ms is just a marketing gimmick in this monitor due to heavy ghosting)
    * FPS dips below 200Hz are noticeable (although not fatal)
    * There is no perceivable screen tearing at all (with Gsync off)
    * Gsync does cause very noticeable input lag
    * The extra scrolling smoothness in desktop is again noticeable even vs 144Hz

    Based on these observations, my conclusions are:
    1. The whole "240Hz/very high refresh rate monitors are a gimmick compared to 144Hz" is a myth - there is a clear benefit

    2. I would rather have a monitor which delivers 1ms GtG, although 2ms is playable

    3. By extension, I assume I should be able to pick up on the improvement offered by 360Hz vs 240Hz, but a hardware upgrade would be in order in order to consistently push 300Hz+ fps.

    300Hz vs 360Hz in a laptop display would indeed be harder to distinguish, I wouldn't bother because the display is too small and has inferior response time and contrast ratio to begin with. Sounds like another trick to push out the remaining deprecated RTX Series 20 stock.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2020
  33. doofus99

    doofus99 Notebook Deity

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    Is this similar to audiophile talk? Can a human really distinguish more than 60 FPS? What does he see? Would a "blind" test (sorry for the pun) reliably point out a 240Hz vs a 120Hz monitor+system?
     
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  34. etern4l

    etern4l Notebook Virtuoso

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    The 60Hz is an old myth. Best to experience the additional smoothness and responsiveness of a high refresh rate display for yourself, which I comfortably assume you haven't yet.

    https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frame_rate

    "Modulated light (such as a computer display) is perceived as stable by the majority of participants in studies when the rate is higher than 50 Hz. This perception of modulated light as steady is known as the flicker fusion threshold. However, when the modulated light is non-uniform and contains an image, the flicker fusion threshold can be much higher, in the hundreds of hertz. [2] "

    https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/t/mythbusting-human-eye-cannot-see-beyond-60-fps/420316
     
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  35. pathfindercod

    pathfindercod Notebook Virtuoso

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    Yes, I have a 17” Razer Blade Pro 2020 with 2080super and 120hz 4k. It is a BEAUTIFUL screen. I’m about to sell this machine BTW lol
     
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  36. ninedragons

    ninedragons Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yes the 5ms for the 360hz is a disappointment but since Dell took off the option for 300hz there's no turning back :(
     
  37. tmarshallg

    tmarshallg Notebook Enthusiast

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    The 300hz was there early today on a certain configurations when I looked.
     
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  38. win32asmguy

    win32asmguy Moderator Moderator

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    Is that the model that has the fixed shift key layout? How much do you want? haha
     
  39. Normimb

    Normimb Notebook Evangelist

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    This guide is not up to date @Spartan@HIDevolution

    This guide was there like 5 years ago. It was never updated. For example they forgot to include in the regestry these key to delete:Ordinateur \HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Dell\AWCCService
    and this one doesn't exist anymore: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\WOW6432Node\Alienware

    This is why is asked you 2 months ago to write a procedure for this, because even Dell's procedure is not up to date. Only a SPARTAN can do it .
     
  40. ninedragons

    ninedragons Notebook Enthusiast

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    Not on Dell Australia, they only have option for 144hz, 360hz and 4K 60hz now.
     
  41. pathfindercod

    pathfindercod Notebook Virtuoso

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    It is. this model:
    https://www.razer.com/gaming-laptops/Razer-Blade-Pro-17/RZ09-03295E63-R3U1

    Yes sir, sells for 3799.00. I have the three years Best Buy accidental damage warranty on it also that cost $400. Going to look at $3k shipped (not set in stone) and insured to the lower 48 US. Only 3 months old and used for a review and thats it. Never traveled with and less than 5 hours use never left my desk and packed away back in the original box.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2020
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  42. Medoyute

    Medoyute Notebook Guru

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    Just got my Area 51M R2 last Friday and liking it so far. Question though: can the rgb for the power button be customized? Seems dumb that it is called out in the ACC software as a zone and you can make changes in color, but the changes arent made on the physical button.
     
  43. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    2020-09-30_103428.png
     
  44. Medoyute

    Medoyute Notebook Guru

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    Thanks Spartan but I've been in there and it still doesnt work. It is called out as zone 4 yet it isnt in the list(just like your pic here) with the tron, alien head, etc. I can make the color changes in ACC but the power button head remans default blue. I contacted Dell Tech Support about it and got this answer:
    "The power button acts as a battery-charge indicator, you will not be able to manage it the same as the other lights to set the colors or effects you set on them."
    Is this really true?
     
  45. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    Please watch this v!d30 = https://we.tl/t-PfRjyBWMmW
     
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  46. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    FYI Guys,

    I have 4 Western Digital PC SN730 NVMe SSDs in my Area-51m R2. When I tried creating a RAID Array, only 3 of them appear so I am guessing the 4th slot isn't NVMe.

    I physically checked, the 2 slots next to each other are slot 2 and 3 NOT slot 1 and 2 (on the right hand side that is).

    Also just for the sake of testing, I tried creating a RAID Array out of the 3 SSDs, the performance is exactly the same so don't bother unless you simply want one large big partition.

    hfeDMaq.jpg

    @ratchetnclank @MogRules
     
    Last edited: Sep 30, 2020
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  47. Medoyute

    Medoyute Notebook Guru

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    Thanks a lot Spartan your video helped on this. What I realize is that the current active theme allows you to change the power button color. The flaw is that it only extends to the currently active theme.
    I have an all red theme which I have now made my active theme(previous was default out-of-box blue). I also have themes assigned to different games; when those games run the assigned theme activates. However the power button color remains the same as whatever the default theme currently is. Not sure if there is a work around for that.

    It's amazing that you were able to offer more support on this as opposed to the people who are paid to do so. Thanks again and hope to be able to contribute to this forum as time goes on..
     
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  48. circuit

    circuit Notebook Evangelist

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    Just came here to mention that I recently ordered 3N3W3 heatsink for M.2 NVMe SSD. It comes with a thermal pad attached (even though the rep told me otherwise and I ended up ordering a set from Amazon). This post is to help anyone in the future who needs to order heatsink for NVMe SSDs on Area 51m (R1 & R2). It cost me $6.99 CAD + Tax. Shipping was included.
     
  49. Spartan@HIDevolution

    Spartan@HIDevolution Company Representative

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    I understand, it's probably a glitch in the Alienware Command Center. Are you on the latest Command Center v5.2.97.0 ?

    If you had upgraded to this, have you tried a clean install by uninstalling OC Controls, then Command Center, then rebooting then deleting all the Command Center files under C:\Program Files and from the registry?

    I still need to do a full guide on how to do a clean install when I have time.

    If you had done all of the above, a temporary workaround perhaps would be to set the default active theme to Red since you said the active theme works but not the ones you create, then set the one you create manually to the default blue color or just ignore this for now I'm sure a future update would work.
     
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  50. Medoyute

    Medoyute Notebook Guru

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    I'm using ACC v5.2.97.0 and did a thorough uninstall twice using Dell's instructions(deleted program folders, registry entries, the whole works) and it's still the same thing. After doing all this Dell's technician basically said that you cant change the color, which we have both confirmed is not true. As you stated this may be a glitch and is not a deal breaker for me; just wanted to be sure that I didnt receive defective merchandise given the price I paid for this.
     
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