BIOS A04 for M17xR1 now available from Dell

I tried A04 again for the 4th time since release date and I extracted the files to a location and ran A04W64 to flash. Running A.bat tells me it's not designed for 64 bit OS and need to contact manufacturer bla bla.

Same error with the PSU. Tried couple of reboots and nothing , still there. Reverting back to A03 I guess.

If I boot without PSU (on A04) and once in windows I plug it in there is no problem, no adapter warning, simply works. If I do that and then reboot I dont get the adapter warning on boot. I only get it when cold booting.

 

I'm running Win 7 x64 and I've never had a problem with the actual flash process, regardless of extracting or simply executing. It's possible somehow you're spawning a 64-bit command prompt. Explorer (which is itself a 64-bit process on Windows x64) launches 64-bit command prompts by default. If you want a 32-bit CMD.EXE, you much explicitly reference C:\Windows\SysWoW64\CMD.EXE.

 

i think the flash program is actually a 16-bit program, fwiw

 

I flashed my m17x to A04 and after the initial reboot I got the PSU warning message. I just unplugged the PSU from the wall, and reset the cables (wall > PSU, PSU > PC) and started it back up. It booted that time with no errors but I had to do a reboot because it turned on the integrated graphics. Been using it for a few days with no other issues other than that initial PSU warning.

 

Glad I'm not the only one that had the PSU/Integrated issue right after flashing. Confirms it's not isolated to just me at least haha.

 

it shouldnt be, being a person who has been craving some old games that i used to play on win98, anytime you try and run a program that requires a 16bit process in a 64bit windows environment there is always an error telling you to contact the vendor for a new version that will run on your copy of windows. sad really cause alot of games i wanna play again have installers that are 16bit so i cant even get them installed let alone play them v.v

 

Well, I haven't had another power adapter issue yet since my reflash. Hopefully it was a one-time thing for me. Just wanted to update you all.

 

Well, it finally happened to me again this morning, twice in a row when I got to work:



Booting said it was an unknown adapter type, then look at what the BIOS reported for wattage.

 

It is always 193 watts....you are the third person at least to say that here

absolutely a BIOS glitch then.....

 

I let Chris know it popped up again and pointed him to the post with the screenshot.

 

I also had a screenshot of it up if he needs more evidence

 

Did I say it before? But yes I get the 193w error also. If the case may be I could flash back to a04 and capture it on "film".

 

If you don't mind the nuisance myxcon, a screenshot on here would be helpful of showing it's not only a couple of us that see the problem.

 

Dell has been really having issue's lately with BIOS updates...from bricked mobo's to wierd random issues, and not just with the AW line.

Don't know what's happened to the QC process but it needs some serious attention.

 

Same here with the 193 glitch.
It goes back to 240 once I unplug and plug the power cable again though.
But It's annoying that every time I boot up, I have to go to bios screen.

If I flash back to A03, sometimes it gets stuck at the spinning windows logo of windows 7. I don't know if it happens to other people.
So, I have to stay with A04 since I don't shut down the laptop that often anyway.

 

I've had that happen several times, and there was always a disc in the DVD drive. I've never had it happen without a disc in there. Could be coincidence, but I just never leave a disc in there now.

 

Hi everyone,

I too am experiencing the annoying beep and power adapter warning messages after I upgraded to the A04 bios.

I downgraded back to the A03 bios and the message went away.
I do find when using the A04 bios the only way that i can produce the adapter warning message is to shutdown and then pull out the ac adapter, plug it back in and 100% everytime when i start it back up again on a cold boot it will produce the warning message. Which is quite annoying.

I rang Dell about this issue yesterday and I'm not exactly sure if they are aware about our problems. The guy simply told me i had a serious problem and that he was sending out a new motherboard and ac adapter tomorrow.

I'm not exactly sure how that will help but maybe if they send out a proper compatible mobo with psu and ac adapter that is somehow newer than all the ones we are currently using then i'm almost certain the problems will continue whilst using bios version A04.

Guess I shall see.
Hopefully a bios A05 is coming out soon to fix everything properly this time.

 

I surely hope they will fix this crap asap. I have gone back to A03 also.

 

reborn: If that is the only issue you're seeing DO NOT let them rip open your laptop! Only the potential for worse things can happen. Swapping a new motherboard and power adapter will NOT fix this. It's a BIOS problem.

 

Thanks for the advice Elkay.
The only problems that i can see and have noticed are that very annoying adapter warning message (which only seems to occur everytime I power on the notebook from a cold boot); and also after i reverted back to A03 i noticed the touchbar strip above the keyboard had died. My dvd is stuck in there now lol.
I have since upgraded back to A04 and the adapter warning messages are back again.


I was mulling over whether or not to let them replace anything. I don't really want any refurbished parts in my system. I might try or take the new AC adapter though. (If it is actually brand new that is lol).

I'm going to talk to the techie and see whats what. Not sure whats going to happen yet; maybe they will surprise me LOL.
They will be here within the next few hours so we shall see.

 

Hi everyone again.

Just thought I'd go into the bios after the warning msg popped up. I too see "193w".

I use hybrid graphics enabled and each time i have to go into the bios and re enable it; after it restarts this time the ac adapter warning doesn't show up and it logs me back into windows, however i do notice that the notebook is now running on battery. So i have to pull out the power and plug it back in again. Sometimes it takes a little fiddling too for it to finally pick up.

That is so far my experience with bios A04 for the past few days. Just exactly those same problems everytime i turn on the notebook.

Hopefully Chris or whomever can help us out Cheers.

 

I am not seeing the adapter issue however I am seeing regular instances of the following:

1. BIOS settings are lost periodically - example: Summary Screen Enabled, reverts back to Summary Screen Disabled (AlienHead logo is displayed when disabled).
2. System now wakes itself from sleep - never had this issue before. I put the system to sleep last night by closing the lid and today it was powered up with the lid closed. Display was very warm to the touch.

Anyone else seeing this?

 

I agree, i had a studio 1737 for a while, and there was no way to update it to the latest bios! flash program would ing crash everytime! even in different OS's and even after being restored to factory condition!.

dell sent a tech to replace my motherboard, AND IT STILL WOULDN'T WORK.

Though, the tech also managed to damage the keyboard, and i had complete care. They sent me this m17x with 4870's as a replacement, so i guess i can't really complain.

 

The Dell techie came today. He brought with him a new mobo and a new ac adapter.
He said he wasn't confident about putting in the mobo and this would be his 1st Alienware M17x notebook machine he had worked on.

That wasn't very assuring so I just took the new AC adapter and forgot about the mobo change. Seeing as nothing was really wrong with it in the 1st place except for the ac adapter message which is most likely being caused by a bug from the A04 bios update.

I've given up on bios version A04.
I have reverted back to A03 and will be awaiting A05 if it ever surfaces. Cheers.

 

Unplug the power adapter from the computer and take out the battery. Hold the alien head power button for 30 seconds and put the battery and power adapter back in. Should fix the touch strip problem.

 

BatBoy: Unfortunately I always have the summary screen enabled and never use sleep, so I can't really diagnose that one for you.

 

I've been getting the A/C adapter warning for a few days, finally called

Alienware Support and they are sending me a new AC Adapter.

Hope they fix this stuff soon. I've got a couple games that won't load with

this machine but should.

 

Given that other users are having the exact same warning (and 193W reading) after switching the BIOS, I would not expect a new adapter to fix it at all - it is a BIOS problem

 

Yeh I agree with scook9, the new ac adapter might lure you into false hope that it does fix the problem for maybe a few tries but then it will eventually come back. I pretty much confirmed this yesterday when the tech guy came out to replace my mobo and give me a new ac adapter.
In the end I just took the new AC adapter and didn't bother with the risky mobo replacement. If there was other serious problems with the notebook then I would have tried the mobo replacement.

The only way to stop it at the moment seems to be the need to flash back to bios version A03.

Also unless you get a techie whom is even aware about the bios problems then they will also just blame your notebooks ac adapter or motherboard as being faulty.
Which in most likely case is not true.

Perhaps try flashing back to version A03 and see how it goes there for your games that won't load and then you can always flash back to A04 to get a new AC adapter before the techie comes.

 

Hey Fire1 how did your meeting go with the Dell techie?

Hows the new AC adapter? Did they give you a flextronics model as well?

Cheers.

 

Hey everyone,

I was just wondering if our M17x R1 models were able to accept anything better than the 280m SLi gpus? 5870 or the like? 480m maybe next time or any other GPUs?

Cheers.

 

Nope, no 5870, but you can go with the 4870 which are better cards for the R1

 

Given up on your blog M17x BatBoy?

 

It amazes me that they're sending out motherboards and power adapters for this problem. It really shows a lack of common sense on the part of AW. What a waste of parts and resources rather than owning up to the BIOS problem and fixing it, or at least taking A04 off the website.

 

well those techs (and i use that word loosely) follow a flow chart for diagnotstics. so it's not surprising.

 

I guess it boils down to paying less money to people who can just read a script rather than a little bit more to people with reasoning skills and actual computer knowledge. At least the tech I have been in contact with forwarded my findings directly off to engineering without making me test drivers or start throwing parts at my machine (yet).

 

Question. I may be way off here-but I got my M17x yesterday and the seller didn't ship the power supply. It is coming, but I powered it on just to check it out. The issue is the max resolution in stealth mode is 1440*900. Is this true even if you have the 1920*1200 screen? I ask bc I'm supposed to have 1920*1200 and thought that maybe it wouldn't go higher because the 9400 doesn't support it or won't allow it it stealth mode. Any ideas? And my BIOS is AO2. Also I just thought I was getting an M17x. What is this R1 and R2 stuff and how can I determine what I have?

 

I can run 1920x1200 just fine on the 9400M and/or battery power. Update your video drivers. Also, update to BIOS A03 after you get the power adapter. I would not recommend A04 at this time. You can tell whether you have an R1 or R2 based on the processor. Is it a Core 2 or a Core i-series?

 

Core 2 Quad Q9000. Also, can I upgrade later to an i series? Kinda got me thinking I might've gotten jacked on the 1920*1200.

 

No. The Core 2 and Core i-series use completely different chipsets and different motherboards. I think the BIOS will tell you what your display type is, I'll reboot and check.

 

I looked int the BIOS. Didn't see anything.

 

But I'm also using a 90 watt adapter. Cant adjust the brightness or anything. Might be the whole issue.

 

Ok the BIOS won't tell you - some laptop BIOSes do, some don't. It will tell you your processor type, though. Do you have the NVidia or ATI cards? If it's NVidia, you can go to the resolution page in the control panel and it will tell you the native resolution of the display there.

 

I'd be careful with that power adapter. You'll use almost that much wattage just at idle.

 

260s. I'll check the res but I haven't seen anything to indicate 1920*1200.

 

Yeah. Not doing anything. Just setting it up the way I like. No games or installs till I get full power.

 

You should see this.

 

Hmmmmm! May be a driver issue. I hope. My interface does not look like your on this M17x but it does look the same on my 7805

 

AO4 is available on Dells site. Wouldn't happen to know where i can get AO3 would ya?

 

when on the A04 page you just have to click on "other versions" or something like that