*OFFICIAL* Alienware Area-51M R1 Owner's Lounge

nVIDIA Graphics Driver v27.21.14.5687

 

Same... exactly the same for me.

 

I must have missed something - did they actually say no new AGA is forthcoming?

 

You'll need it... Alienware M51 laptop not powering on

Too many boards have gone to hardware heaven.

Here's the thread...
*OFFICIAL* Alienware "Graphics Amplifier" Owner's Lounge and Benchmark Thread (All 13, 15 and 17)

 

Dell would be stupid to kill the AGA concept... oh wait.... it's Dell .....

New Buyer: "Hey what's that port on the back for"?

Dell Rep: "Ummmm.... *cough*.... Upcoming feature! Yeah! Just wait!"

 

No one knows anything other than that the current AGA is “soon to be EOL” per official statements in Dell’s website.

 

Hi guys, I have a weird issue here that I can't figure out. My 51m won't charge past 78% no matter what I do. I have tried all the bios settings (adaptive, normal, custom an so on) I have even went as far as swapping batteries with a known working one (off of my friend's identical 51m), and in both cases it won't charge past a certain percentage. With my battery it won't go over 78, with his over 75. Either of the batteries in his machine charge to 100%. I have ran all the bios and dell tests all passing, and after 3 hours on the phone with Dell, they're sending a tech with a new battery... which won't change anything. For power adapters I have tried combinations of the original 330 + 240, 330 + 330 and 330 + 180. No change. Hwifo is reporting 2% wear on my battery. Windows just says Power Mode (plugged in) 78%. No "charging" or "not charging"... just plugged in. Any ideas?

 

Mine also just says “plugged in” but does charge. I’ve set it to charge 50-80% though. lol, as I read I was going to suggest the different things you’ve already done. I’m stumped! Sorry.

 

I'm gonna rule out Windows as well, installing ubuntu now.

Edit: Mint says 78% charging but it hasn't moved from that number in over 10 minutes. I don't think it's the OS. I'm gonna try a BIOS downgrade now.

Edit 2: No change after downgrading to 1.5 from 1.12...

 

Hello guys, I have been busy with alienware tech support lately. My laptop has an issue with battery. Every time i run a cpu stress test on battery power the laptop shut down or refuse to boot up on battery power and i get an error message from support assist: this battery is temporarely disable....try again when unit is back to operationnal temperature.

My original purchase was 2016 (15 R2) and i took 2 times extended warranty for 3 years so that gave me 7 years. I had multiples system exchange under warranty (bad temps, On site tehcnician that broke laptop attempting repairs etc...) wich led me to an upgrade to area 51m (after 100 hours on the phone arguing with tech suppport).

Now with my latest issue: Dell attempted to replace 3 Motherboard ( 1 new, 1 refurbished and 1 used that still had thermal paste on it and broken pins on the CPU!!!) they also gave me 3 replacement batteries and Audio MB and DC-IN replacement. Everything they tried: FAILED The problem persist.

I then requested another system exchange.

Today i received a phone call from dell Advanced resolution teams and they told me: Sir we will repair your laptop or replace but it will be the last time because we will void your extended warranty and reembourse your money on pro-rate basis .
The reason he gave me was: we made a mistake a year ago and we should not sell extended warranty for more then 5 years.

5 years would be may 2021 in my case but still they want me to cancel my warranty right now. On top of that they have have sent me an email in wich they offer a replacement system and they gave me instruction that i should say that I no longer wish to keep the extendend warranty when in fact it is them that force me to cancel it!

So Alienware Dell is tired of multiples system exchange they have sent me. The fact that they were never able to correctly repair their laptops or deliver what they publicise and made them work as they should have (gaming) is not my fault. The solution they have now found is let's cancel this customer warranty!

Edit: Just spoke with Dell resolution team and they have agreed to keep my warranty active untill May 2021. They are sending me a new 51m R2. In exchange i had to write that i wished to cancel my warranty. That was the deal. So at least when i receive the system it will have a bit more then 4 months warranty. The person was generous with the config....that is how much they wanted to get rid of me! lol.

 

What you have discovered now is exatly the same as bro @VICKYGAMEBOY

Dell got tired when he reached + 20MB replacements. I' think he have the world record in MB replacement Maybe @Vasudev remember correctly how many swap have he have done before Dell said now it's enough.

 

They have replaced almost that much for me in the past 5 years but....i don't fell guilty at all. The thing is i don't give up, i never did and never will, when i see injustice, incompetence, lies etc....i try to make things right and will speak to as many people as needed until i ear reason. Now this time i will not have satisfaction, This contract dell has signed with me will be cancelled by them for their best interest only since they cannot deliver what they promised.

 

I am at my wit's end with this laptop again. I've done my best to go through the undervolting guides and it's like I just can't get through it all before becoming overly frustrated and giving up.

It seems like repasting on this is going to be way over my head as well. I've never worked with thermal pads and I'm not even sure that will help. Or even if my issue is fixable because it's just so bad.

Sometimes only 5 minutes into booting up and it will start throttling, other times it will throttle every 10-20 minutes. It's just insane.

I successfully rolled back to BIOS 1.5.0 and that helped for a while but it randomly started happening again months ago.

I'm never going to buy another Alienware again but I really wish I could just at least get this thing to be stable. I paid way too much for it but I want to throw this on the closest set of train tracks I see lately.

I'm going to attempt to go through the undervolting guide again starting from the beginning and hope I make it farther but I am just so frustrated. This is easily the most frustrating high end purchase I've ever made.

 

Maybe Dell is calculating EOL date for warranty from 15r2 and not A51M. They say, max is 5 yrs for parts.
Extended warranties can be cancelled as per AW team's wish. I'd recommend choosing Lenovo Legion or HP Omen or Eluktronics as your next gaming laptop since Dell is starting to look bad and blaming the users for its hardware issues. Newer revisions to A51M should have solved 90% of the issue 15r2, r3,r4 etc. Maybe you can ask Dell for money and return A51M and buy something else and tell them you will never recommend Dell Jokebooks be it , XPS/AW or Precision laptop for my friends and family and always recommend competitor's laptop which has better thermals, reliability etc...
I think VICKY's record was 25 and still going.

 

That is exactly what they did. That is also what tech support confirm to me yesterday. 5 years is the maximum time they keep the parts for laptops and that is why they do not sell warranty over 5 years.

 

I totally agree with this statement and will be looking other options on my next purchase. Thank you for the advise, i have been shopping the internet for an alternative.

 

Try Helifax19 guides on youtube. He's a member on here and they are decent guides to undervolting.

 

I think I initially shyed away from this one because of the runtime but at this point I'm definitely going to try it. Thank you for reminding me.

 

The HP Reverb G2 VR headset i ordered back in August just showed up in the mail. hopefully the A51m plays nice with it. i have been using a Samsung Odyssey for the last couple years.

it kinda sucks that new VR units use the display port so i have to unplug my external monitor every time i want to use it. i didn't have to do that with the Odyssey since it was HDMI.

 

My wife and I bought my daugther a Lenovo Legion Y740, and honest to gosh, I was a little jealous. If I had it all to do over I would have gotten one myself. The power for the build and quality of components, its just a steal.

 

I just got the Reverb G2 headset to work, but it was a big pain since i have been stuck on windows 1809 as it would fail to upgrade to 1903 or 1909 for a few months now. obviously with 1903 or up required for the newest windows mixed reality updates and Reverb G2 support

i was able to get the headset up and running by manually installing the hololens driver and hp motion controller driver. only problem is i can't get the HP controllers to show up in Steam VR. they work fine in the windows mixed reality cliff house. but they don't show up in Steam VR. they are acting the same way they did in the WMR cliff house before i manually installed the driver package for the HP motion controllers. it's like the driver files didn't apply to Steam VR too. WMR for steam VR files app is up to date. odd.

i can use it for now with my Samsung Odyssey controllers though.

i tried to update to windows 20h2 last night, but it's locked out near the end of installation. it says they are locking out the update for some computers with thunderbolt ports since external thunderbolt connected SSD's can cause issues and they are working on it.

 

Bios 1.13.0 released:
https://www.dell.com/support/home/p...wt64a&productcode=alienware-17-area51m-laptop

 

So it basically just fixes a bunch of Intel’s sins, and does nothing for the system’s performance, at all. Waste of time!

 

anyone tried it yet? Does it affect undervolting?

 

I'll be the guinee pig since i am exchanging my system in a couple of weeks. Hold on a minute.

Edit: Ok so i have installed it and the undervolt is still active in ThrottleStop and in HWinfo so i would say that it is safe for undervolt with this bios. Now is it good? that is another question.

 

Thanks for guinea pigging it

It looks like it SHOULD just be Intel fixes and security updates, but they are really bad for not putting everything in the BIOS notes. I am surprised we got any info at all, usually there is nothing.

 

But, disabling undervolt IS a patch for an Intel vulnerability, too, but it's not listed there (it's CVE-2019-11157).

So, if you see it listed in a BIOS update, you can be sure that undervolting will be disabled with it.

 

Patch for Plundervolt was already implemented in bios from May (Version 1.10.0) https://www.dell.com/support/home/e...wt64a&productcode=alienware-17-area51m-laptop

Edit. Enhanced the compatibility of the Alienware Graphics Amplifier for new generation graphics card. 3000 series? Nope

 

I installed it to guinea pig it. I actually see a small CPU drop in 3Dmark as a result. I don't know if I want to be the guinea pig for rolling back or not.

 

Can't see the image , it's broke, but it might be my work laptop.

I decided to be the guinea pig to roll back as well, it did not go well.....

I am stuck a a black screen with a rainbow keyboard after the flash. I go back to 1.7.3 vs 1.5.0 and it does not seem to be working. I can manage to access to BIOS recovery screen again and flash 1.7.3, but when the machine comes back up I go into the BIOS and disable capsule firmware updates and then it won't boot, just a black screen endlessly.

I just did it again, but this time I didn't change any BIOS settings, I let it do it's thing. This time it said there was an update, presumably 1.13, and it had the progress bar. The machine is not back to black screen and no rainbow keyboard

Would highly recommend avoiding this if you can for now.

EDIT: Holy crap it's back...it took a LONG time ,but it's back. Checking to see where I stand.

 

It settled back on 1.12, not 1.13. Something has clearly changed here, or I had a bad flash, I don't know. I did let it set for quite some time after the flash back to 1.7.3 but it was just not going anywhere. Once I left it to update itself to 1.12 then it finally came back, but boy that was not good for my heart.

I assume that some of those Intel Fixes are not meant to be removed at this point. So if you Don't want to lose the ability to go back I would suggest NOT going to 1.13 at all.

 

Right, you never EVER wanna interrupt a BIOS update. Sometimes it takes an abnormally long time to boot as it is training the RAM but good thing you didn't power it off otherwise it's an insta-brick.

 

Yeah... the first and last rule about BIOS updates is: DON'T TOUCH IT UNTIL IT FINISHES, however long that may be... Hahaha

Also, yes... we all don’t know what goes into these bios updates... it might update EC, but not microcode, or vice versa, or who knows what components... but what is for certain is that when there are locks in place by Dell to downgrade, it most likely has to do with some dependencies that make a downgrade path risky, unless you find a previous BIOS that overwrites 100% of a future BIOS, so that there are no “holes”/mishmash of different BIOS version components.

 

Oh I know, I didn't. This was after the BIOS did it's usual stuff and you wait for the system to come back up and then you enter the BIOS and make the changes. Once I did that it wouldn't come back up at all, this was well after the usual 5 or so reboots it does before you see the splash screen again. The flash itself was done, something else was weird here, I have been through this many times in the past to roll it back and never experienced this.

 

Scary sh%t!!!!

 

Indeed....

My assumption is something here has changed with 1.13 and there are changes that can't be reverted anymore. I feel like I am lucky it came back at all.

 

Nice. The physics score is already too low on the R1. Be careful be a guinea pig on new bios updates. Not worth the risk. Provided fixes can be for unwanted behaviour (Dell hide most of fixes in release notes). High RMA/support costs will always force changes in firmware.

Btw. A new one bite the dust.

Area 51m left DC port fried

I suppose my area 51 m laptop has met the same date as others. While I attempted to charge it, it made a sizzling noise, and it smelled absolutely terrible. The jacks still smell like that, and I can't power on the laptop at all.

 

Well shucks!!!

Mine still survives to this day! Hope it lasts...

9900K 2080, CPU UV, GPU UV+OC

Haha more power pumping thru mine than that poor soul’s with the 2060, so I’m a bit scared lol.

Full throttle fans all the way (for thermals) and power delivery is the 330+180 adapters.

 

Also if just the port fried, they’re removable IIRC. Should be easy to source in eBay/Alibaba or something and replace. Question is if it shorted something else on the board

 

It sounds like he was having issues for awhile, he says that the port used to shut off the adapter but the other one worked. He makes it sound like it was an ongoing thing for quite some time, so he should have gotten it fixed under warranty if it was doing it while covered...I don't know why people wait on these things.

EDIT: Now he is clarifying that this all just started yesterday, so I guess it's a sudden thing.

 

Good Morning. Every time I run "Alienware Command Center" Windows 10 shows the message that "OC Controls" needs to be updated. I have reinstalled the driver numerous times, but the problem persists. Any solution?

 

Sitting at 1.50 forever now, I don't think I will play with any more BIOS updates on this machine.

 

I know I have rolled back from 1.12 to 1.7.3, but after yesterday I don't know if I want to roll that dice.

EDIT: I apparently like to live dangerously.....I tried it again. Successfully back on 1.7.3 this time, so either I had a bad flash and when the machine updated to 1.12 it fixed that and allowed me to go back, or you can't go back from 1.13 to older version directly and need to possible go back to 1.12 and then further back from there, maybe it's a multi step process now.

 

Not sure if you remember this....but.... look at step D

I downgraded my BIOS to 1.5.0 (by force using the BIOS Recovery Method) and also downgraded my VBIOS back to the 200W version. (although this is not as important or critical as downgrading the BIOS itself in terms of performance loss)


See:

Force downgrade Alienware Area-51m Bios (or any Alienware) to locked lower versions

Note: The USB Flash Disk must be formatted as FAT not FAT32

Area-51m BIOS / VBIOS Collection (mirrors)


Here is what I recommend:


a) Uninstall Alienware Update AKA Dell Update and Dell SupportAssist otherwise they will keep nagging you to update your BIOS.


b) Flash the BIOS using the Recovery USB which you created using the guide I showed you earlier.


c) Immediately head into BIOS and make sure you disable Firmware Capsule Updates in the Security tab otherwise Windows will immediately upgrade your BIOS!


d) Once you're back in Windows, reflash the same 1.5.0 BIOS again but in Windows, I had to do that last time as I was getting weird behavior (I can't remember what exactly but once you have flashed 1.5.0 in recovery mode, you will be able to flash 1.5.0 again through Windows since you're not technically downgrading anymore you are just reinstalling the same BIOS) so do that to ensure the BIOS is 100% flashed correctly.


e) The moment the BIOS is flashed, go back into BIOS and load setup defaults then save and exit (from the last tab in the BIOS)


f) Now enter BIOS again, set your battery from Adaptive to Custom and tell it to start charge at 50% and stop charge at 90%. This will ensure the battery is never over charged and will thus prolong its life.


g) In the 2nd tab in the BIOS, I recommend turning OFF Power Share as that will drain your battery if your laptop had a USB device that needs power overnight (such as an external HDD or Game Pad)


h) While you're in the BIOS, ensure that Firmware Capsule updates are OFF

 

Oh I remember it, that's the problem though. On the original flash you couldn't get to Windows, it was completely non responsive. The only way to get it back at all was to enter the BIOS recovery menu, if I didn't use CTRL ESC then the system wouldn't boot at all.

In the end I did get it back, it might be a coincidence or it might be that they changed something and you can't jump back like that anymore, ultimately I am not trying it again to find out . I am sure in time someone will.

 

Guys, can someone please share a *. Bin backup of 51m rtx 2070 vbios? It can be done via gpu-z in a couple of clicks.

I have got a machine, reported to be after some vbios tinkering - failed update and blackscreen on start.

I would like to reflash it via hardware programmer and try to restore it.

Unfortunately was not able to extract necessary 1mb image from the Dell website vbios updater/installer.

It's a shame to have such hardware just lying around as a brick

 

The windows key on the keyboard is not working on my R1, I've tried removing the key to clean it but it didn't work, I've also tried with another keyboard and it works. Any advice?

 

There is a function key on Alienware that disables the Windows key, try FN+F6 and see if it starts working again.

 

God I feel like an idiot right now. In my defense there's no way to know that by looking at my keyboard. Thanks you Mog