*OFFICIAL* Alienware m15 Owner's Lounge

I tried both, live and installation. Same behaviour.

How can I chose driver?

I was not dual booting when I installed Fedora.

It freezes a few seconds after I log into the system. I did not try that, I will do that later today.

 

Look at this page
https://askubuntu.com/questions/280...nformation-of-current-installed-video-drivers

and try to see if you can get which driver you are running. (Assuming you can boot into a terminal somehow)

I personally bought this computer for linux support too but I have yet to get to that point since I'm still waiting a few months to buy a new 1 TB nvme drive for windows. I'll help you as much as I can, if you are successful I suggest maybe writing a guide for everyone else possibly. There should be no physical barrier keeping us from using linux on this laptop. I simply think it's a driver issue where you might have to change drivers or rollback to a different version or even get bleeding edge drivers.

 

It's related to a different laptop close to m15 for performance (same GPU and CPU) but please try to follow this guide as much as possible: https://www.reddit.com/r/linux_gami...alling_ubuntu_mate_1804_on_the_gigabyte_aero/

 

That's a OEM configured gtx 1070 Max-Q. a 1070 Max-q Nvidia configured, won't run more than 90 Watt.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1070-Max-Q-GPU-Benchmarks-and-Specs.224732.0.html Nvidia just limits the powerlimit so OEM's can configure the card to their cooling solution (something AW should have done, and refuse to do)

 

bios is not unlocked. Can you change your memory timings ? can you change your powerlimits, or your c states ? if no then it's not unlocked. The AW 17 R (2014) was the last DELLienware with an unlocked bios and upgradeable cpu and gpu.

 

What I meant was it is NOT like the Acer predator 700. Can't even turn off raid!

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

I'm strongly considering a return on the M15. That B&H Photo deal on the Lenovo Y7000 is a strong value. Not paying tax adds to that value.

 

Not every manufacturer uses the same Sata controller. And also RAID is much older as AHCI. The reason you cannot change to AHCI is because RAID already support AHCI. Changing from RAID to AHCI won't do jack **** cause AHCI is implemented in RAID. RAID is also more flexible and can handle bigger drivers than AHCI. There is no reason to use AHCI over RAID. People that usually tell that, have no fundamental understanding about how RAID or AHCI works.

 

Can't install Linux on Triton 700, that's what it all comes down to.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

Probably has to do with secure boot and booting from an gpt formatted ssd/had instead of mbr. But does not necessity have to

 

I personally was looking into the triton 700 when it went on sale and they could not install Linux on it due to something they did in the bios (or lack of some option). People on the forums tried changing SSD and changing boot options in the bios but nothing seemed to work.

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

 

https://community.acer.com/en/discu...unlocked-bios-for-acer-predator-triton-700/p2

Nothing is impossible, there is someone that managed to install linux on it, but it was kinda of a hack around. But he did it without unlocking the bios. Dell sells a linux edition of the xps, and you can use some linux distro's in in windows, and run bash commands from command prompt or vice versa.

 

Like you said, it was a hack around (I only see 1 person getting it working on that post, no one else and no guide anywhere else) and I never said it was impossible. I personally hate working in linux inside of windows 10. Anyways, lets get back to talking about the m15 as this isn't a triton 700 owner post m15 so far is awesome!

 

Will plugging in the second SSD end the warranty of m15?

 

No it will not, you can even re-paste the CPU and GPU on this machine and it still won't void your warranty as long as you don't break anything. (correct me if I'm wrong here guys)

 

Tried ctrl+alt+F1 and it didn't do anything. No matter how early I press it, nothing happens, then screen freeze in Linux.

 

Did you try the guide I posted on the previous page?

 

Kwaz,
I wanted to purchase exactly the same config as yours, can you tell about battery life with the 4K screen? Battery life streaming? Wifi?

 

Too much paste doesn't influence temps and definitely doesn't inhibit the CPU or GPU from making solid contact with the heatsink.

 

I don't disagree with your first comment, but I think it absolutely can inhibit solid contact, depending on how much. The pic that was posted here showed a ton of overflow around the sides of the dies which could definitely inhibit contact. It's my opinion but I don't think you can definitively say either way without testing.

It's certainly not ideal in either case.

 

People have tested this before, many, many times. The excess just goes off to the side and doesn't interfere with anything unless the heatsink forms some kind of sealed container along the edges and you use like 2 tubes of paste. Using too much paste is just a foolproof way to make sure you get full die coverage, it's just a bit messy.

 

Ok. I am not going to argue with you. Just logically speaking, if there's excess material between two surfaces, contact is going to be affected. My only point is I could see how excess paste could negative impact contact. That's all. You're free to believe what you want.

 

This has been testes numerous times, just one example:
By the way a question i wanted to ask:
How much does undervolting and simply lifting the back of the laptop improve the temperatures?

 

I undervolted -.125, limited cores to 3300mHz and didn't lift the back up and my temps dropped to about 80-85C under load from Civ 6. With no undervolt and no clock limit my machine hit 100C and thermal throttled down to base, then slowly crept back up to 3000mHz. Temps still hitting 90-95C.

 

I think too much thermal paste on a desktop is a different conversation than too much on a laptop. Especially a laptop with very little to no difference in surface between the die and the heatsink. Again, this is just logic.

 

Agreed - that has been my understanding from what I have read and personal experience. Better to do a little too much than not enough (with the exception of LM).

Regarding lifting the back, I haven't done extensive testing, but I did a few quick tests and I saw at least a few degrees drop by lifting up the back. I've seen some people report more of a difference than that.

 

New BIOS today! https://www.dell.com/support/home/a...osCode=WT64A&productCode=alienware-m15-laptop

 

That's my experience. 2-3 degrees on its own. Still, pretty significant.

 

I did some more tinkering last night with my setup and repasted again and used significantly more paste than I did the first time due to my temps still being less than satisfactory. After the repaste they're much better and more even than they were. I think these heatsinks are more irregular that most desktop ones (they aren't even mirror finished like high end desktop heatsinks) and so it makes sense, at least to me, that you'd need to use more paste to fill in those larger gaps.

I'm undervolted -.150 and with the new paste job I manage to stay in the mid to upper 70's when running XTU with spikes into the lower 80s, turbo at 3.88.

As a side note, it doesn't seem to respect changing the multicore multiplier frequency. I set it to 40 vs 39 for all core, but I still top out at 3.88Ghz

 

"- Fixed the issue where the system fan does not run according to the custom thermal profile settings configured in Alienware Command Center."

Interesting...

 

It lists "disable the ability to downgrade BIOS" in changes. I wonder why.

 

I haven't opened mine up yet, but if your experience is true, it makes me wonder if LM is the right way to go. It also makes me wonder if HID Evolution did a proper job on OOD's M15...

 

The more I think about this, the more I wonder if the HS is just too uneven on these AW laptops to get proper LM performance and longevity.

I had LM on my 15r3 and noticed temps going up (and core differentials going up) after a month or so. I had read about some people having this problem where the LM "dries out" due to not having the proper contact with the HS, so I decided to check on mine. It was fine (still very liquid, etc.) on the dies, but the LM on the HS was no longer very liquid. I expected discoloration of the copper, but I was hoping that with having done a repad that the LM would not have this issue. I'm sure I could try thinner or softer pads, etc. to get more even contact but I'm losing my desire to tinker with it so often.

In light of this (and the fact that my 15r3 is going to be a gift to my son), I decided to repaste with a non-LM paste (I prefer ICD). Temps aren't as low as with my initial LM application, but that's to be expected. I will probably leave my m15 with ICD since I was feeling like the temps I was getting were good enough for me.

 

Anyone try that new BIOS yet? I am at work so I cant test it out until later tonight. Curious if it makes any difference on temps with the Fan changes.

 

Yes, the first comment "(press e on the install ubuntu option in grub and add nouveau.modeset=0 after quiet splash, then press F10)" worked. Thank you very much.

 

If I had to guess it’s because the current BIOS sucks and they don’t want you going back lol.

I hate to say it but they should PL throttle the cpu like BIOS update 1.06 did on the y730 review I covered.

Might not run as hard but it was just a better experience for the majority consumer.

 

I want the ability to disable HT. With 6 real cores I wont be hurting for threads but traditionally HT increases heat and power draw a noticeable amount. You will note that ALL of the overclocking world records are with HT disabled.

 

Was interested in the M15 so any discounts (coupons etc) possible other than the pricing you see on the Dell website?

 

Are you a student? In Europe you get 10% off.

 

Yes - I got Ubuntu 18.04 LTS working with just a few changes to the kernel parameters :

I added

acpi_osi=! acpi_osi="Windows 2009" clocksource=tsc

to my kernel command line.

After reading this thread : https://askubuntu.com/questions/1074792/ubuntu-18-04-install-freezes-the-cpu

I've got the Killer WiFi card so I had no WiFi until I compiled the driver - I think I followed these instructions : https://askubuntu.com/questions/1016903/alienware-17-r4-ubuntu-16-04-wifi-driver , and yes, you will need to use wired-ethernet to download the files needed to compile the wifi-driver.

Hope that helps.

 

Nope not a student anymore unfortunately hehe!

And in US.

 

That video was going all fine till they showed the temps.. How on earth did Alienware manage to have a thicker body than the Zephyrus and Blade with better vents and finally end up with much higher temps!!???

 

Do you still have a .edu email? That is really all you need - many universities leave those accessible years after graduating. Many decent to large sized companies also have some sort of employee purchase deal with Dell that you may be able to take advantage of.

 

YMMV of course, but I promise that at least for me it is the case.

I wouldn't be surprised, my heatsink was very roughly finished and even has a few decently sized imperfections in the metal around where the CPU dies are. It's why I suspect that having more thermal paste than I would generally think needed provided a nice benefit.

 

I installed the new BIOS and it does not seem to fix the custom fan curves not being used in AWCC.

I tried deleting and reinstalling themes and also reinstalled AWCC (the program itself hasn't been updated, maybe that needs to happen and will be coming soon - we can hope). I also made a clone of the "Performance" profile and it also seems to just let the fans run however they want (they should be going full speed if they were a copy of "Performance"). Any custom profile seems to want to let the computer idle in the mid-upper 50's with the fans off (similar to "Balanced").

In the absence of a fix here, I'm hoping that the "Cool" profile will suite my preferences for non-gaming tasks and I can use either "Balanced" or "Performance" for gaming (since "Cool" seemed to throttle the GPU such that gaming is not possible). If they'd at least add some stock profiles that just control the fans and don't mess with the GPU, that would work too.

 

I hope you can rollback, but this is the reason I do not like AW anymore. You could try to install the command center of the 17 R5 or 15 R4 to see if that command center package uses your EC chip better.

 

According to the notes, you can't roll back the bios.

 

I've just installed it. I'm not sure that the fan profiles do what I'd expect them to do though - if I set both fans to fixed at 100% they don't stay on full power regardless of temps...

 

You won't know for sure if you won't try.

 

It is possible to downgrade Bios even if protected.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...3-owners-lounge.797884/page-674#post-10665979

Please check post #6739.