Alienware 17 R5 (R1) BIOS Unlocked!

....but both panels are 1080p, the laptop came out in 2013, bro

 

Your right, but your still pushing the bandwidth enough I'm assuming -that you need to update/change the vbios on the gpu. The 980m was never officially supported. I'd love to do the upgrade to a 980m too but I've got a lot of xp 32bit apps that won't run in win 7 or win 10 so I dual boot with xp. And the UEFI firmware on 95% of laptops is 64bit, so that makes me SOL.

I can't even update my bios to the unlocked because its got these protected range registers (microcode that Dell puts in place because they don't want people flashing them). So I either need to find another laptop and have all my fingers and toes crossed that its not "protected", or another "proper" revision screen.

More, even if I don't need an unlocked bios to run the 780m card and 120hz screen in legacy, When I try it I get a black screen with some flickering and NO 7 or 8 beeps like everyone is talking about. I've got the right D02 3D screen too.

 

Just curious..what BIOS load time you people have at task manager?
Mine is 12.something secs now with this unlocked bios, sure it was about 5 with stock.

 

Edit: Now its 27!
I added more RAM so thats probably it, but i'm pretty sure that once on 4*4GB 1600Hz I had 5 sec, on 2*8 1867Hz it was 12 and now on 4*8GB 1867Hz its 27secs.
Bought 4*8GB HyperX 1867 RAM a while ago but one stick was faulty so today I got another one

Something weird with RAM, I can't get it to work at 1867Hz, it stays at 1600.
I tried that xm1 profile in bios and had to do a nvram reset coz it softbricked.
Now having those extra two sticks under palmrest I kind of don't want to mess with another nvram reset.
Any manual procedure? Am I missing something?
Thought it was plug&play

 

Mine is at 7.7 seconds right now (do not know if it's same or not for every boot, also has the impact with the applications added to the startup), if I connect my big SATA HDDs to the USB and boot it up it ramps up to 20 due to checking the HDDs, apparently the BIOS bootup is also related to any mechanical disks as well USB + SATA both I guess even if you disable the USB boot up or such, have to check.

As for the RAM kit in my sig, it was PnP, did nothing it just worked when I plugged them into the system, replacing the old 8GB 1600MHz 2x4GB kit.

 

Hi guys, I've downgarade my BIOS to A14 and deleted mcuupdate.dll in System32 folder, and now I can see my CPU Microcode is 1C in HWiNFO64.
However, after all that, i still cannot utilzie the 'sleep bug'. No matter what I do, CMD always give this alert - Error 28: Protected Range Registers are currently set by BIOS.

Anyway, I just want to chech with you guys, is there an option to adjust TDP (power consumption) for MXM slot in the unlocked BIOS?
Alienware set video card TDP to 100w, and GTX 1070mxm requries at least 115w. If TDP is not adjsutable in unlocked BIOS, I shall quit all that effort.

Many thanks!

Alienware 17R1/4940mx/MSI 1070 mxm/Win10 19041.388

 

Im not aware of any 100w limit on the MXM. There is an EC lock at about 118w with my 1070 though, 115w shouldnt have any issues. Highest stock TDP for the 1070 is 115w, simply tune for best performance under that limit and leave it alone after that.

 

Yep, it was written in MSI 1070 Vbios that target power supply is 115w, but 17R5 can only provide 100w through MXM port. I assume it could be adjsuted through motherboard BIOS.

But the 'sleep bug' doesn't work for me, so I never have a chance to explore the unlocked BIOS.

 

Didnt work for me either, I almost gave up.
Try disabling virtualization in stock bios, get offline and try again

 

This is false, I adjust nothing MXM port will supply it.

 

Thanks for your advice. I disabled virtualization, wireless connection, and Windows Fast Boot in BIOS, but still doesn't work. I totally give up

Hey mate, if you have the same hardware as I do, you may experience the same issue. I've updated to MSI1070 MXM over a year now, and it works fine. But I know the 1070 is operating in suboptimal condition because lack of power supply. Here is a quick test. Run a 3DMark testing or play a game while running HWiNFO64 sensor, and check sensor data 30min later. You will see the maximum GPU power consumption never reach to 115w. it was locked by motherboard @ 100w. I’m talking about 15% performance loss.

 

I hold the #1 spot on fire strike and have toiled with that setup for a while. Gpu will work at 115w but the mxm port doesn't seem to like going above 118w with the 1070.

I have since moved on to a p750zm.

I played many game switch it as it was my daily driver, I wouldve noticed if my core clock changed to meet some new envelope due to power limit reason.

My issue wasn't meeting 115w,it was meeting above that

 

After flashing with the modded A16+, I changed a setting in the BIOS to turn off The iGPU. Now my system beeps 8 times. The CPU I'm using is an 4710QM but I also have the 4930MX which I don't want to use for this machine.

When I attempt at doing an emergency BIOS recovery with the USB stick, Its is taking forever!

Also, all the fans are going off loud and the power button just keeps flashing orange. the USB light is fading on and off. No lights on the HDD indicator light just a solid green light on the A padlock.

Any ideas as to what I should do?

 

to turn off The iGPU?

you mean go PEG?

maybe try an nvram reset?

“emergency BIOS recovery with the USB stick, Its is taking forever!“

Forever, but with what end result?

 

Yes, In the modded bios there is an option to disable the integrated GPU, which I did. I didn't touch PEG at all. And now I get 8 beeps and nothing. I tried all the reset methods many times following the instructions exactly. For the emerg bios recovery, it just sits there blowing the fans really loud and doesn't reset once.

I bridged the cmos solder points on the mobo and also the ME1.

 

If your PEG then it would already be disabled, but if your SG and then disable iGPU through some other means then it might not work at all.

Throw the 4930mx in there and see if that prompts a hardware change so it can post.

Though I never needed such measures, simply removing the CMOS battery and draining power was enough. that being said I did ruin my Audio by adjusting the bus clock.

 

@TheReciever

Thats actually really good advice, I've read thru all of the threads in:
(Alienware 17 Overclocking BIOS Recovery Guide) and a lot of the associated links. And it suggests the very same idea. I tried putting my 4930mx in but still got the beeping errors I think 7x for CPU. I used the old thermal paste because of speed -it was only for testing for a short time anyway. Maybe I need to re-paste it properly.

What I did is disable the iGPU and also I turned on the overclocking feature. Thats it thats all. Didn't touch the PEG. Also prior all that I threw in a wrong ServiceTag (one from anolther Alienware 17 R1 but still 7 characters) I have quite a few. And everything still seemed ok and could access the Bios fine. But after changing those settings it all went to hell.

 

Right, but you should create a thread for that, I dont know your hardware configuration or BIOS settings so determining the issue would be fairly difficult

I never needed to use different hardware to prompt a vanilla BIOS, draining power always worked despite complaints about NVRAM

 

So this in the picture is the line you changed to "disabled"?

What were you trying to do (what choosing PEG wouldn't do) anyway and why?

You flashed bios with some random tag?
As I recall, its specifically said NOT TO DO! or face a brick.
I think because IT HAS to match the existing tag already in bios.
Maybe those lovely people that did this unlocked bios can help you

 

Yes exactly that line and I chose (disabled). :\ Now I wish I hadn't! I think if I try throwing in my 120hz screen it may actually post tho. I will try tonight.
I don't know what PEG is all about although it sounds like what I need. -esp. for when I go put in the 120hz.

It says you must change it from "your_st" to (apparently) the actual motherboards st. Which I forgot to because I threw in an ssd from another AW17R1 I could'nt get the sleepbug to work with, all the while thinking I already edited the bin so its good to go.
Strange tho upon entering the bios, it still managed to display the "other, other" st.. Hopefully I can fix this or I'll just buy a new bios chip and have it soldered in then reload the 16+ with correct st.
But this isn't the thread for that really so I'll shut up

I'm under the impression that being such an outdated system, the lovely people that did the work for us have moved onto better things -Even when trying to send a donation to 2 different sources, that was denied.

 

So I've just tested my 780m and 4930mx with the other laptop and they still work fine. I also tried to start the problematic one without any gpu but no luck. Still 8 beeps. Did an NVRAM reset for the nth time and still just the 5 beeps first, then 8 beeps after restart. Also tried with an external tv using HDMI. So looks like I'll be doing some lcd swapping. First the 60hz to test if I have a bricked panel, then 120hz to see if the edp connector overrides the disabled igpu setting somehow. Or kick starts the non-igpu mode I guess. If nothing, then its time to order a new bios chip and wait the daunting 2 months.

 

So I just threw in the 120Hz screen and now the 8 beeps are gone only I get a blank screen with some very faint, almost unnoticeable horizontal distorting lines (intermittently). Only the cpu fan is turning on and not the gpu's. I've got a 770m in there and have also tried with the 880m. Don't want to risk putting in my 780m. I tried an NVRAM reset again and also a blind flash with the USB as per Striker123s method. And yes, I'm being super careful in following the instructions exactly! At this point I don't think it's a soft brick anymore. Although the hdd light on palmrest blinks for a while, stops. Then blinks again and all the FX lighting powers up just like it always did. Which, leads me to try one more thing -put my 4930mx back in once more because I'm using the 120hz screen.

Anyone with a comment or advice please post.
Thanks!

 

Hello, I have a laptop with a 60Hz screen, installed gtx 970m 6gb, where can I download the BIOS so that the usual drivers can be installed on it? If I disable the built-in card, 8 beeps. I have to reset the bios. I also found the unlocked bios aw17-A17 + Unlocked_v1.3 and aw17-A16 + Unlocked_v1.4, which line to change in the Hex editor. Thanks for the help

 

You can only change the ST in the A16+ not the A14+. For that one and (the A17+ I believe), you have to send your ST to someone who can do it for you. For the A16+ do a search and replace all for “YOUR_ST” and put in your 7 character ST.

 

Thank you for the answer. Please tell me which BIOS does gtx 970m support without driver mod, in standard mode? There are links in the topic, but there are no data files for them.

 

Any unlocked Bios will work with anything after an 880m. But you still have to do a vBios update with all those cards for the ranger. I don't know how to do it because I never ran past kepler.

 

Hey can i know the process of unlocked bios last time i did i bricked the mobo ended up buying a new one

 

well, I wrote my service tag, installed the BIOS a14+, still when you turn off the igfx card have 8 beeps. Maybe someone has a file from (#183;#184 post) this topic. They seem to have changed the device id for the video card. I am using windows 7 and have a problem installing drivers. I also tried the 1060m card, 8 beeps. Most likely I need a 120Hz screen via edp. just 970m should work without Optimus? or am I wrong? vbioses is from dell.

 

Wassap ma peoples

So I diligently read the 34 pages.
And what I can't figure out is what the latest BIOS is for AW17 R1 with a 1070 (so that you don't have to disable signature enforcement, yada yada).
The ones I saw were for <1000.

Could you maybe point me to the right direction?

What I've got is this (which is a modded BIOS I downloaded in this thread before):





Regards

Max

 

I'm also wondering why Premamod has stopped posting his driver repacs on:
https://premamod.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/j95-nvidia-inf/

The last one is from a year ago.

Modded the driver myself.

 

Hello... I would also like to see the answer

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk

 

I would also like an answer to this

 

Um, I've got a request, I've made a terrible lapse-of-reason error and switched my Ranger with 120Hz screen and P4000 to Legacy+UEFI which bricked my machine (couldn't access BIOS). I was using the A14+ BIOS with modded ST, but since I've restored it to default values and having sold the stock screen my machine is stuck in SG with Legacy. Can't boot, can't do anything. My request is, could anybody upload a version of A14+ with defaults set to PEG and Pure UEFI? Thank you kindly in advance...

 

Do you have an external screen to hook into?

 

Tried that, with internal attached and without, I'm getting 8 beeps. I was able to tweak my own version of the unlocked A14+ with defaults set to PEG and UEFI, but I can't get it to flash the BIOS. Can anyone help with that? Which port am I supposed to plug in the USB drive? I'm renaming the file to the proper one, given by Phoenix Tool, I'm adjusting the values with H2OEZE, but it just doesn't seem to take, fans go into overdrive, but it just isn't loading the ROM data...

 

Hey Mr.Mogwai, been some time! Hope You had a good Selwester (Polish New Years for everyone else reading). Sorry to hear about your situation. It's exactly what I did to my ranger too! Only with a 780m. I'm looking on ebay to find a new BIOS chip so I can saulder it in myself. They're super cheap. As for the port to plug in the USB.. see picture..

Also, quick question for ya..
What does SG stand for? your machine is stuck in SG with legacy... ?

Cheers!

 

Happy New Year to you too I think I may be able to resolve the issue, I've been browsing through the documentation, there IS a way to reset the CMOS and ME memory without doing the RAM whackamole, but first I want to backup contents of my NVRAM, just in case, and my EEPROM flasher died :/

SG stands for switchable graphics, where the system allows for use of both cards. My machine is stuck in SG with Legacy+UEFI, unfortunately...

 

Ahh. I see. Yeah that's sounds like exactly the problem I've gotten into. I'm going to look into it myself as soon as I get some time. I promised myself I'll take it to the end with this system. If its to my grave so be it.

Keep me posted as to what happens with yours...

 

Hi All,
I've done the flash to the A14+ bios using the steps included in this thread. I updated to my service tag, did the sleep flash, and upon reboot I receive 7 beeps.
I have the 17 ranger with 4700mq and 4x4gb ram sticks. I attempted the recovery process mentioned by striker - but the laptop just sits with the fans running.
i then pulled the ram, hdds, cpu, to attempt that recovery method and no luck.

Are there any other alternatives or something I'm missing? First I've had a bios flash issue after all these years.
Please let me know if I'm missing any other pertinent info.

Thank you!

 

Did you go from a14 to a14+?

 

For everyone here, I've managed to find the way to do the CMOS reset and EM reset with a very simple and fast method, that does not include removing the CMOS battery and any other inconvenient operations.

All one needs to do is open the back cover, and look for a small L shaped hole next to the inscription "Battery Connector". If you put some light there, you can see two pairs of tiny copper contacts with CMOS1 and EM1 written next to it. All you need to do is put a small flat screwdriver in there to short the contact (according to schematics this is what discharges the capacitors holding the memory chips online) and voila. I'm still trying to find out if the power needs to be connected, but from the schematics one can assume that it uses voltage from the CMOS battery). If anyone can confirm my findings (I really don't have a lot of time these days) I'd be glad to hear their findings

 

That is correct, yes. Started with A14 and used the A14+ file from this thread.

 

Hello everyone, I apologise for this post as I am sure it has been asked so many times but I am a bit worried about getting this all wrong.

I am completely new to the forum and Alienware laptops. I recently bough a Alienware 17 with a i7 4710mq, with a 120hz display which used to have a GTX 880m in. I believe this to be from 2014. The 880 stopped working for the previous user and the laptop I received came with none. So I bought a GTX 970m and have installed the card in the machine. It booted up fine and works to a certain extent. Windows found a driver from 2015 and it is read by both GPU - Z, Nvidia Inspector, Geforce Experience and Nvidia Control Panel. However, I cannot update it using either Geforce Experience or manually. The manual installer cannot find any compatible hardware. The Bios is A17 so the most recent version.

The bios version of the graphics card is 84.04.85.00.0B (Modified). I did a bit of research and I think this is a bios for an Alienware 18.

Should I be updating the bios to A14+ first of all and should I be changing the vbios to the necessary version for my computer?

Any help would be very much appreciated.

Luke

 

Actually, I don't believe I did the hex edit right. So I'm assuming that means new mobo?
I haven't been able to trigger the NVRAM reset as it just beeps forever. CPU swap does nothing either.
New mobo the way to go?

 

Make sure you have the A14 unlocked. You shouldn't need A14+
I had A14 with 980m and had no issues. Also, ensure you are setup for UEFI boot.

 

A14+ is literally the same with v22 microcode which is best for haswell

 

Thank you for the suggestion. I've tried put a small flat screwdriver on CMOS1 and ME1, and it did something. The 1-beep problem which I mentioned here earlier, has changed to 7 beeps: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...d-single-beep-error-on-m17x-2013-2014.835243/

Then what to troubleshoot next, check the CPU?



edit, update: Back to single beep after turning off and on again, tried remove and booting without GPU, still continuous 1-beep, no post, black screen.

What to try next, remove all 4 RAM modules and reseat one during startup, as per instructions here? => http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-18-bios-a07.751794/page-4#post9646431

 

Sorry all but I just have to ***** about this microcode crap everytime Win updates I have to do the procedure again

 

Wouldn't this help: https://www.grc.com/inspectre.htm ? I used this on my Xeon desktop and it works great there.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/upgrading-my-ranger.834497/page-58#post-11089267