How long does registration take?

I bought my M17x R3 through AAFES, and I called about an issue I was having on Friday, June 1st. They told me I had to register online and that it would take a few hours. It's Sunday, and it still isn't registered. So how long does it normally take?

Tech Support says the people that handle that only work Mon-Fri and that it could be as long as Tuesday to get it registered. So you take 4 days out of my warranty where I can't get anything done? And I can't even use my computer this entire time + how long it takes to get this problem resolved.

Not a good way to do business. Don't see why we have to register if they are only built after we pay for them.

 

It will not shorten your warranty, so no need to worry. Registration merely sets up your service tag online so you can log into your Dell Support account to see warranty information, drivers, manuals, etc. It has taken as long as a couple of weeks for me in the past, but it's not going to present any problems for you.

I am assuming based on how you acquired the system, but if my assumption is correct, thank you for your service to our country. Have a happy July 4th.

 

I am confused. Are you calling AAFES for tech support? I assume you are calling Dell because AAFES can't help you with that. Also it's 4th of July weekend, so expecting anything until Tuesday is kinda unrealistic, it is our biggest national holiday after all. Also if you are calling AAFES, things may take even longer. The military pretty much shuts down everything that's not combat related for federal holidays, people like to take leave during holidays to get extra days off.

If it makes you feel any better my replacement M17 won't be delivered until Tuesday, even though it was shipped on Friday next business day, due to the holiday. It's just the way it is.

 

The thing is, I can already see the laptop on my Dell account. Under the My Products page, it shows my R3 with my service tag. And how will it not present problems if they won't do anything support wise until they see it is registered to me?

I am calling Alienware Tech Support. They are based out of India, and the guys I have talked to all said they would be there even on the 4th of July.

I'm not worried about having to wait for the holiday, I just want my system to be registered to my name so I can have it fixed.

 

Is the issue where something is physically broken or malfunctioning? Just asking in case it is something we can help with instead of you having to wait for Alienware Support.

 

Yes, the 6970M took a crap on me and the screen won't even turn on with it in. Keyboard lights up and that is all.

With it out, the computer works fine. Was just testing out some OCing Thursday night, put it back to stock that same night. Friday morning turned it on used it for a little while, turned it off to shower, came back and it wouldn't work properly.

 

Man, so sorry to hear that happened. It's fortunate that it still works on the Intel IGP until it gets fixed.

How were you overclocking? If you were using software, it may be forcing bad settings on the card. If you did not mod the vBIOS, there is a chance that incompatible clock settings have stuck in place of the stock settings and clearing them may get it working again.

 

I modified the vBIOS using the method in that other thread just to undervolt it, but I did bring it back to stock that same night. It was fine Thursday as well as Friday morning. Not sure what made it occur.

 

Have you tried to re-flash it with the original vBIOS ROM file again? I've had to do that before with the 5870's. If not, might give that a shot. Otherwise, I think you'll need to have the card replaced.

Dell Support is based out of India, but Alienware Tech Support is generally based in the US and Costa Rica. (Dell's India-based tech unit is incompetent IMHO and you'll generally get nothing but the run-around from those people.) Perhaps there's a unique reason (like the holiday) that your call was transferred to India, but you should not normally end up there. Did you call 1-800-ALIENWARE or the Dell Support phone number?

 

Not sure how I would be able to because with it installed the screen won't even power on. Can't tell if it even posts or not... Any ideas? Sadly, I don't have any adapters like I would for a regular desktop card.

 

You should be able to flash the firmware from DOS using a bootable USB device rather than within Windows.

FYI - I edited my last note with a question about the support unit you were calling.

 

I'm guessing I would have to do it blind? Do you know the steps/commands to use to reflash it? Never did it before with a bootable USB drive.

Also, I did call the ALIENWARE number. All 3 times it was not someone from the US. Could be Costa Rica, but they all seemed to have Indian accents. Could be mistaken, I am not great with accents lol.

 

I thought your system was working with the IGP, but not the 6970.

It will depend on what you were using for the flash operations. Check compatibility with the 6970, but I use the ATI Flash Tool on my 5870's.

- ATIflash here : http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads...lash_3.60.html

The DOS command is atiflash -p followed by the file name of the ROM. For example using "BIOS.ROM" as the file name: atiflash -p BIOS.ROM

In a multi-GPU environment you have to specify card 0 or card 1. If that is required with only one GPU, the command would be atiflash -p 0 BIOS.ROM

I'm not sure if this will be useful to you or not. I don't have any additional suggestions at this point.

 

It does work with the IGP, but not the 6970. The screen will only turn on if the 6970 is removed, and I didn't see a way in the BIOS to only use the IGP. Once I install the 6970, screen does not power on at all.

 

I suppose I can set the boot sequence to USB first, install 6970, plug in USB, turn on, wait for like 30 seconds, and then type the command in? What should happen after that, will it restart automatically or do I have to press Y or anything?

 

At the command prompt you would get a message that the flash operation is successful. You have to manually reboot.

It sounds to me like your card could be hosed, but there's nothing to lose by trying this.

 

Just tried it out. USB boot works fine, got it to work with the 6970 not installed. Installed the card, turned the computer on with just the USB stick installed. Screen still doesn't turn on so I waited 30 seconds for it to get into the DOS mode, then tried to enter in the command. Started typing, and after a certain amount of spaces used the computer made a beep for each keypress. Tried to restart and still no go.

I think with the card install the computer won't even post. As soon as I turn on the laptop I see power go into the USB disk, but then the light turns off as if it lost power.

 

Well, it was worth a shot. I gave you a rep point for trying.

You know, having the switchable graphics is pretty cool if for no other reason than being able to still use the system until you get a new video card sent to you.

 

Agreed. Though, this laptop is only used for games, I have another laptop just for browsing. I'm sure I could play games with the IGP, but only lower-end ones.

 

This all sucks, sorry man, I'm sure dell will get you a new card, just don't tell em about flashing the vbios (obviosuly).

 

Haha yea, lesson learned for next time. I like to undervolt in laptops because it can help save power, but this thing is always plugged in so not sure why I did it? Oh well.

Hopefully it gets resolved. Just kind of strange how it worked fine then without any changes wouldn't boot. *shrugs*