M14X Shuts Down on Battery

All,

In a private message, send me your service tag number and the settings your using which cause the shut down.

 

Hey Chris, I already PM'ed you.

Thanks once again

 

Nice to see a Dell Rep looking to solve this issue.

Not like Gary Keys (Asus Rep) who keeps missing keyboard strokes/broken touchpad issues going on for 1+ year and not replying when you message him about it.

+1 to Dell!

 

these results are pretty alarming...hoping I won't have to return my incoming unit

 

Hi everyone.

I ordered a red M14x with 3GB GT555M with all the bells and whistles on April 27th and Dell’s website shows the order status as in production and May 20th as the delivery date.

Is this shutdown on battery while stressing the GPU, a model range issue now?

I’m located in Istanbul, Turkey now. My M14x will be delivered to my friend’s address in NY and she will be bringing the laptop to me in couple weeks.

Considering all the hassle returning a laptop from overseas with all the shipping charges, should I just go ahead and cancel my order?

Dell has a very well established service network here and the international warranty transfer works fine. If this shutdown issue is something that could be solved by replacement of the battery or some other parts through Dell warranty, I might still keep my order. It’s a lot of money together with the NY tax.

What do you guys think?

 

I just got off the phone with Dell and they are sending me another battery (which I don't think will do anything, but I had no choice). I should receive it by Friday.

 

Please let me know about your findings with the new battery when it arrives. Unless Dell changes the capacity or ampere of the battery, I don’t see how it fill fix the shutdown problem.

Does the shutdown problem only occur when the GPU is stressed? How about if the CPU is stressed? Does it again shutdown without any notice?

 

It only happens when stressing the GPU. Here are my results stressing the CPU with the battery on high performance with Arctic Silver 5 applied for 10min.

http://i1189.photobucket.com/albums/z428/txpro1/m14x-p95-battery-hi.jpg

 

All,

If you have the issue, engineering wants to know what version of the Intel driver your using? We are trying to replicate the drivers and test on our end.

 

I tried it with both the stock dell drivers and the drivers form Intel.

Dells ends in 23 21 and intels are 23 61

Also, I already messaged you with the information you requested. Check your PM

 

I can report UK version of m14x does same thing following Titan's test with furmark
Hope there can be a fix soon.

It is in factory pre-installed condition out of box. Tried the test as soon as I received the machine

 

glad to hear there are more people having this issue... Not because I want everyone's laptop to be malfunctioning, but because it means we can have dell/alienware give us a solution quickly.

 

in the mean time they should give us a updated bios for the following things

(be able to manually decide video card integrated or dedicated in bios)
(fan adjustments)

 

Do you get to keep your old battery? Eventually the battery is going to get worn out; it would be nice if I could get a spare.

 

Yea, they said it would be free of charge.

 

Okay, Im not sure if I did this right since I am kinda new at this but at the same time, I'm above average with pc tech knowledge...

3.0GB DDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M using NVIDIA Optimus

I whitelisted furmark to run using the GT 555M

It was 99% GPU Load / 51C / Set it to 60hz / Average FPS = 4 / Memory Usuage = 2% / 1280x720 Rez / Ran 30 Minutes Non-Stop

I saw no crashes and my Alienware M14x did not shut down on battery while using Furmark.

Is that a good thing? or any additional things I need to do in Furmark?

What game should I try and play to see it shuts down on battery with max settings? I have quite a few games on Steam. Name several games that are graphic intensive (see which game I have) and I will see if it shuts down while gaming on battery. TIA

 

Crysis 2 did it for me at the opening in-game cinematic.

 

I just got my M14x yesterday. I am subscribing t this thread and I suggest all other M14x owners do the same. Will test this tonight following BatBoy's driver update guide and Furmark. Only game I own is WoW

 

Spent 1.5 hours on phone with a technical support rep.

Another way of waking up the shut m14x is to pull out the battery connector and reconnect. So it is definitely something to do with battery.

Got a 14 hours long haul flight next month. Hope this can be solved soon. No idea if the aircraft is equipped with power outlet for every seat.

 

Haha. I guess the 3gb video card may have a feature after all

 

someone in this thread with 3gb also report the problem. could not remember the name

the important part of the test is: 1) whitelist furmark.2) In the right bottom corner, click battery, change power plan, advanced settings, GPU -> Max performance. 3) definitely use furmark 1.9 or later, v1.65 will not cause any problem

unigine also shuts the machine after like 1minutes.

 

You couldn't have said it any better... I think on Pg 4 or Pg 5 i stated how do to it but people probably missed it or didn't see it or read it lol

 

We also need to change the refresh rate from 40hz to 60hz...right? this shouldn't so any damages to the battery when this is changed for a GPU Stress test? TIA

 

The one I tested was a 3GB fully loaded version. This is officially model wide, and I hope to see a fix soon.

 

I have the 3GB 555m with the upgraded CPU and my laptop didn't crash when i set my refresh rate back to 60Hz and was under high performance on battery. Ran black ops at max settings and did a few games with no problems.
EDIT: See post below, Advanced power settings shut the laptop down

 

Running only on battery? If you match the settings exactly as other users have, you will get the shut down.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

I have the 1.5GB 555m, with stock CPU and I can play Black Ops with Max graphics settings on battery without crashing. But Crysis 2 can't make it past the opening credits.

 

I will try a more demanding test such as crysis tomorrow after I install my SSD

 

Dead Space 2 plays fine on battery. No crash!

 

I made a mistake. It does infact shutdown on high performance setting if you do one thing I forgot to change.

I just clicked high performance and figured it had set the gpu to 100% on battery.

I went into power settings through control panel. clicked: Graphic Processor/GPU Power State/On Battery and changed it from balanced to Max Performance so it uses 100% of GPU on battery. I launched a few different games and it shut down my computer.

Damn Alienware FAIL

 

also, you are running the 3GB GT555m card. Just proves that the video cards have nothing to do with this.

Thanks for testing though we need a solution for this quick. Thats the only real problem I have with this laptop (Other than my squeaky space bar )

 

With Titan's help earlier (thanks bro) I can now officially confirm after making the exact changes in the settings from Titian's post for the Alien FX Editor & nVidia Control Panel, shortly after my M14x powered down with 10 seconds running the stress test using Furmark.

It won't power on anymore...I would have to plug in the AC and then power on to get it to turn on again...right? TIA

 

So what does every one think, will they solve this? is it worth retuning for another system? Or even try to get some money back from dell?

 

they will fix it and possibly give us free upgrades if needed for it to perform correct ( thats what i think anyway )

 

This might be it.

Anyone who has an M14x, please try the same tests listed in this thread with the setting in the quote above set to balanced, and then to max performance. See if that makes any difference to the crashes.

Might also want to see if running the processor in a lower power state (underclocked) at the same time to see if that makes a difference.

 

There are only 2 ways to wake your slept M14x up
A. Plug in AC for more than 1 second
B. Remove the battery connector, hold power button for 10seconds to release remaining power and reconnect.

 

So let me see if I have this right: If you change the software to use 100% GPU on battery, then it fails when gaming. But if you leave it at "balanced" then it still works?

How good is battery-powered gaming performance on the balanced GPU setting?

 

It'll definitely take a performance hit but it shouldn't be massive. You might have to turn detail levels down a bit though.

It's better than a lot of gaming laptops get. Mine can't play pretty much any game when it's on battery, apart from things like Minecraft.

 

The Menu Screen for starcraft 2 did it for me right away. No need for furmark.. hahaha.

 

I plan on getting this sometime this week and I don't plan on gaming when on battery. I was wondering if it crashes with videos as well when on battery of the GPU is stressed. For example, can I change the settings to 60Hz and watch a movie without it crashing? I assume i'll be barely using any GPU for watching a movie in 720p or streaming. Thanks.

 

you could watch a movie fine on 40Hz and that wouldn't crash on battery

 

What the performance and technology difference when using 40hz vs 60hz for games and multimedia?

 

same goes for me. Let's all do a mass return. haha

 

Running games at 40hz might result in motion lag and jitter because the images on the games are moving too fast for the video card to keep up. I thought it was gonna b same for the videos as well but I guess i was wrong since Paddon said it's not a problem on video.

 

So anyone contacted Dell to see what they are offering for the effected M14x shutdowns? Compensation? Discount? Extended Warranty? Exchange? TIA

 

Depends on the game. Most games will look fine at 30fps, and so running the screen at 40Hz (basically meaning max 40fps displayed) means it should still look fine.

As for video, most movies are at 24fps so once again it's not a problem on a 40Hz display.

 

OK. Cool. I see no reason for me to switch the settings to 60 Hz on batter then. I'll go ahead and order this and ignore this problem ever existed. Thanks for the input.

 

The mouse pointer will look like it's laggy. it's noticable..

 

Tried UK Tech support. Confirmed there is indeed something wrong and reported to engineering team and nothing more. Could only wait for a solution or return within 7 days for no hassle return. After that only repair will be provided.

Only exception is if Dell officially announce a recall on m14x, then there is a third solution.

Glad I paid by credit card so it is fully protected.

 

What did you say to them? Mine arrives about sometime next week, a free spare battery would be nice.