M17x R1 Test Bios 850-9662 - Post feedback HERE

To all M17x R1 users a TEST BIOS is available from Dell HERE or attached:

View attachment M17xR1_850-9662.zip

Follow these steps:

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* The AC adapter should be plugged into the M17x-R1
* Download the file M17xR1_850-9662.rar
* Use winrar to extract the files from M17xR1_850-9662.rar
* Copy the files to a clean USB Boot drive
* Boot to the USB drive
* Run DF.bat
* When done, remove the USB drive and reboot the M17x-R1
* Check the M17x-R1 out in games for Frames Per Second. etc. Was there an improvement? What about in general usage, was there an improvement?
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DellChrisM made it possible.
Please post your feedback here for technical support to see.

 

I have left a message in the other thread and redirected folks here.

From the notes, he mentions FPS. My guess would be this relates to the sudden FPS drop-off we have seen with the M17xR1 throttling in-game for several seconds at random times.

Look forward to checking this out!

For those of you who need help with setting up a bootable USB Flash drive, see this thread -
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...sh-drive-flash-aw-bios-updates-under-dos.html

 

here I go, to later i post results, soo fast the falsh bios about 3 seconds... Its correct ? I use the bios A06 and for video drivers 197.84

 

I can report that this does resolve the problem on my dual-core setup. Back in the day, with a T9550, I used to get major throttling that would last about 10-20 seconds and occur regularly with Crysis, Metro 2033, FarCry 2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Pretty much any game that truly pushes the hardware to its limits would bring with it a consistent cycle of throttling. This throttling is entirely gone. I am happy. It is kinda' worth noting (and mentioning) that it took me 10 seconds to flash this mild update, which pretty much neutralised a problem that had plagued this platform for over a year. We could've used this kind of initiative earlier.

Anyway, just to satisfy the scenario of really pushing the system to some limits, I even overvolted my cards liberally, along with a very high overclock. No throttling to report, yet again.

I plan on concluding my evaluation of this update by running the system through a robust battery of tests with my QX9300 over the weekend.

My gratitude goes to the community for giving a resounding voice this issue, and to individuals such as Dell's Chris M., who actually took this problem seriously in order to obtain some kind of solution.

 

same here, will install and disable TS, see what temps and gameplay feel like.

 

This has also resolved my issues.

I did some lengthy testing and several hours worth of continuous play and no sign of stuttering.

 

"DellChrisM made it possible."

I am only the messenger. The engineers did all of the work.

 

Well, I think thanks are in order for all that participated on behalf of Dell.

I've never been more happy with my laptop.

I don't want to get ahead of myself (which I sure I am), but is there an ETA on when the final revision of this BIOS will be released assuming that feedback points to it being the proper solution?

 

I had a stuttering on metro2033 all options very high, all, about 22 ~ 33 FPS, 3 minutes Latter 2 ~ 6 FPS, I looked was in the battery, AC adapter unplugged my own. After i rebooted again and play metro2033 stuttering returned. I reflash bios A06. Once again usbflash bios, but the stuttering continued. :/:/:/

** is probably my acadapter overcharge ? i have a UPS.
If i remove the MSAA for AAA no stuttering.

 

When you say "Bios A06", you do mean the one through the download link in this thread correct?

The normal bios A06 still contains the issue.

EDIT: Nevermind, I understand what you mean.

I'm not sure what could be causing it. My best solution would be to try other games you've noticed stuttering in to see if you still have it. It could be something to do with your setup.

 

Is the stuttering immediate upon enter the game? If so, then its probably not the same issue. Metro2033 has issues if I recall from other posters...

Remember everyone, the stuttering which has plagued this system was something that just appeared out of nowhere and caused FPS to drop out to sub 10-20 FPS. This lasted for approximately 20 seconds or so and the system would recover (of course by then you had already been owned by the hoarde). I wont have time to test on my R1 until tomorrow but Left 4 Dead 2 was one title which always seemed to have this issue for me. Could happen 10 minutes into a campaign or not until the last act.

 

Yes if my video settings MSAA on, If Off no stuttering.
Now i instal drivers 257.38, and the stuttering lowered, 15~25 FPS with MSAA.
I try other games tomorrow

 

Block number 2 : ------- 3 second
reboot

can some1 tell me whats the different?
after reboot i went to the bios screen, bios : A06 and my bios settings still not changed, ...

update : OMG .. i js tested Mafia 2, and got ~71fps in the end lolz never got this high and yes no stuttering. even thought the room's temp is pretty high, not expected to get such high score.
(maxed before was 65fps,sry i cant seem to take screenshot when i pasted to MSpaint. js a black color)

setings : 1680x1020, 16X, no PhysX, no AA, Vsync Off, all others Maxed setting.
running with 285m SLI 610, 1020, 1550 (modded from 280m, P06 - 197.84), Custom SLI profiles with 80440f5 in AFR2 hybrid SLI directX10, [email protected] (3.86Ghz maxed) PCIE Gen2 Turned On, m6500 240W adapter, ...

 

I've found this update has seriously impacted on the functionality of the trackpad, resulting in stuttered movement with the windows based trackpad driver and almost no responsiveness and a loss of tap clicking with synaptic based drivers.

I tried reverting to the A06 bios on Dells site but it has not fixed the problem.

 

mine works js fine, what bios do you have now ?(i mean after the flash did the bios changed ?) A06 ..?

 

Started on A06, Finished on A06. After i noticed the problem i flashed back to A04 then A06 from dells site but to no fix.

Hmm... might have to look into it some more.

 

Reinstall the touchpad driver, see if that clears it up. You can do this with either the test bios in place or with the last regular bios. Reinstalling the touchpad driver may resolve the weirdness you are seeing.

 

I've tried multiple version of the touchpad driver now and all have different outcomes. Before the update I was using 15.2.7 reference drivers perfectly fine for two finger scrolling etc... not now.

The synaptic driver on the resource CD moves smoothly but does not tap click.

The 15.0.15.0 synaptic driver for the R1/R2 works similarily but has occasional freezes in movement.

The latest synaptics reference driver (15.2.7 - which was working perfectly fine pre-this bios update) is now stops responding every 2-3 seconds, doesn't tap click and is virtually unusable.

I was having the same the same effect that I see on the 15.2.7 drivers and with the 15.0.15.0 drivers until I reflashed with A06 but using a zero out blocks before erasure command. This has improved some of the response in the 15.0.15.0 set but still no touch click (even though the icon in the taskbar shows it as detecting a click).

Might try reflashing through every available bios version and see if that does anything for me.

 

I reflashed with bios A00, then A01, then jumped straight up to A06 and my trackpad is now functioning normally.

 

A06 being the one Chris posted or the regular version A06? They should've changed the version#

 

First the orignial A06, then I thought I'd give chris' A06 another go to see if it happened again. Its working like a charm this time with all versions of the drivers. Strange... least its working now

 

Yep. Very odd. Well, its a good detail and I'm sure Chris will be interested. Good post, thanks for sharing.

 

Not sure what the issue is, but whenever I disconnect from power and start up my computer BSOD's upon entering Windows (Just after the startup screen, it wont get to the login screen).

Once I plug my laptop back into power it stops BSOD'ing.

Can anyone tell me if they have a similar issue?

 

I haven't had that problem. But I have found that I can now only swap between discrete and integrated graphics when I have PCIE gen 2 enabled... having it swiched off now causes me to BSOD when I try to switch.

Previously if I had PCIE Gen 2 on and tried to switch it would cause my system to hard crash.

 

Isn't default setting for PCIE Gen 2 enabled?

 

Yep, I believe the reason why he had it off is because someone suggested that turning it off stopped the hard locks with the new NVidia drivers. Can't remember what thread I read that from.

 

Yes, but I had previously disabled it since turning it off stopped my system from getting the random crashes / BSOD from the Verde driver range.

I will be curious to see if this update makes any difference to that issue.

 

Yep, I have been looking over his thread and was planning on testing it on the weekend. My R1 is set to whatever the default is and I have never had an issue switching over to the 9400M G.

Hopefully by the weekend I'll have the time to sit down and test this BIOS update and also check into that PCIE Gen 2 setting Scyphoz has been discussing.

EDIT: Nvm. I see what you meant. You were able to keep it (PCIE Gen 2) disabled and still switch and now after the test bios update with it turned off, you cannot. Ok. Sorry, misunderstood your first post.

 

Any suggestions as to what might be causing the BSOD without power? My setup is pretty standard. I set overclocking back to stock and that didn't fix it. All regular drivers.

The only thing that's new is the new BIOS.

 

Not sure, one thing you can try is flashing back to regular A06 and then check again. if you do not crash after several attempts of disconnecting from AC, flash back to the test bios and try again. If it goes back to crashing... well, something is either tweaking with the test bios or the test bios itself has an issue. Perhaps Kade and some of the other folks can try disconnecting ac while the system is running and try to confirm.

Dont you miss the M1730 days?

 

If reflashing with the regular A06 doesn't help try flashing back to an early version (A00, A01) using a bootable USB drive, then flash back to A06 and see if that helps. Thats what I had to do to resolve my trackpad issues.

@BatBoy: Can I recommend you try the bios update with the verde drivers first before you try turning PCIE Gen 2 off. Since this update has changed/reveresed some of the bugs that used to occur with my M17x (ie swapping between discrete/integrated with hybrid now needs PCIE Gen 2 on, where as it used to always crash with PCIE Gen 2 on pre-bios update).

I'm going to be testing PCIE Gen 2 on with this new update to see if it does improve anything and it would be great to have someone to compare it with.

 

My tests:
GPU SCORE 3D Mark Vantage [Performace] - Bios A06 Mod and A03 - Nvidia 257.38
10542 on A06 mod and A03 10428
GPU SCORE 3D Mark Vantage [Performace] - Bios A06 Mod and A03- Nvidia 197.84 On Bios A03 nothing change on metro2033 an 3dmark
10260 on A06 mod and A03 10341

I see lower stuttering only in 257.38 and bios A06 Mod, in another bios A03 i see high stuttering.
Really Works Tanks !

Edit: Pci gen 2.0 enable.

 

For those who have had success with the test Bios, can you please list your video card configuration and driver that you used. This will help to keep testing consistent.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

looks like it works for me as well! config in sig with 266.56

 

Tested with Team Fortress 2 last night; had some stuttering (became a slide show for 10s, however, it appeared to be a data issue from server). Need to do more testing before I say whether or not this fixed anything.

Using 266.58 WHQL, PCIE GEN 2.0 disabled (in BIOS), Hybrid Off, Integrated Off

 

Actually, when i do have time this weekend to get to testing this, I want to stick with the Dell driver and BIOS at defaults. In otherwords, PCIE Gen 2 at default setting (Enabled). I want to look at the throttling first and see if I can reproduce it.

Mixing in verde drivers and testing PCIE Gen 2 disabled corrupts the testing. This can be done later. In my opinion of course.

 

To get the purest, most objective result, one must stick to what they consider to be the most stable default settings, and then tweak each factor one-by-one to determine the affect that each factor brings to the table.

I did not have the problem with PCIE Gen 2 enabled or disabled, and I am currently on the verde drivers in anticipation of a few games. I haven't had any BSODs from removing the power cable, and no issues with games like Metro 2033 causing the system to throttle.

 

Okay, tried a few games (about an hour of each)

Team Fortress 2 : No stutters/lockups
World of Warcraft : No stutters/lockups (except from Org load, but that's because there are tons of people there).
Dead Space 2 : No stutters/lockups (even when I accidentally yanked the power cable out because I jumped.... this is my third play through for crying out loud!)

Going to try Magicka and RE5 next.... will also try enabling PCIE Gen 2.0 again.

 

All,

Apologies for the confusion. 850-9662 is an EC (Embedded Controller) update. Not a Bios update. That is why the version does not change in setup. Flashing back to any official Bios release will overwrite this new update.

Also, it appears several of you are using non-dell drivers and disabling PCI-E GEN 2 in the BIOS. The default is Enabled. We need testing to be consistent and would like to see Bios settings at Default and using Dell drivers.

 

Ahh thats true, good idea to keep testing consistent. I will be testing the bios/EC update with PCIE Gen 2 on and dells 257.38 drivers all day tomorrow during my gaming sunday and into next week.

 

If the 257.38 Dell driver has lock issues, try the 197.84 driver. I know others have found it more stable since its pre-verde

M17xR1 Video Drivers - Quick Link

 

I'll swap to my "tech support" drive on Monday (Win 7 + Dell Drivers Only; WoW + Steam Games installed; various benchmarks/monitors) and turn PCIE Gen 2.0 back on (using latest Dell Verde, however, that crashes when I cough... but isn't P06 a beta driver, not official?)

On an aside note, aside from some skipping in Magicka (however, Magicka is a bug-ridden nightmare at times....) everything else is running smooth with no stuttering (logged or noted).

 

I have tride this. But i cant get it to work! I boot up and hit F12 and hit boot too usb i hit enter then i get a Message ---> remove disk and press a key to restart. Sorry for my bad english. wonder what I'm doing wrong. Have the files copied in on a new USB sticks. But do not look like it works. I've tried BatBoys method and made a BOOTABLE USB Flash Drive.

I've now got it, and it works have played black ops for a long time, no trottle! wonderful!

 

A03 bios + this = perfect r1 for me.

using nvidia 266.58 drivers btw.

only sli 280 is on.

ps : not perfect need to open 9400 back, now it is ok i hope.

the problem is with sli only, when i tried to open rift (mmorpg) , got black screen and not response from mouse, need to force close it from windows task manager.

 

Hi

I tested this "patch" with A06 bios and dell 197.84 drivers using crysis benchmark tool and I am happy to confirm that there is no throttling
Good job Dell

 

Any chance of this BIOS addressing the "handshake" issue between the AC power cord and the unit? Having stealth mode automatically enabled if the power cord slips its mooring and then not re-engaging the GTX 260 card until it... well, until it decides it's going to work... is by far the biggest problem I have with my m17x.

Having an option in the BIOS to lock out stealth mode would be a great help, if suggestions are being taken.

 

I will test this asap with my 4870s (Currently only have one of them right now)

 

As I understand it, disabling Hybrid SLi along with Integrated Graphics in the BIOS should solve this problem for you.

 

Nope. The M17x starts in Stealth Mode and abandoning the normal startup sequence by trying to jump directly into BIOS setup doesn't make a difference; this is caused because the AC cord power brick and the motherboard aren't recognizing each other, so it thinks it's starting up on battery power or a AC that isn't within its power range. Disabling SLi and integrated graphics on BIOS startup makes absolutely no difference in performance; it runs choppily and resolution and effects on games need to be turned down in order for hem to run smooth. That's the 9400 at work, not the 260M. It's definitely running on stealth mode; many hours of experimentation bears it out.

If you know of a fix that doesn't involve buying a new power source, I'm all ears. Turning off and turning on multiple times (and cursing) seems to be the only thing that eventually fixes and next time it does, I'm duct-taping the damn thing into place so it doesn't fall out. I am thoroughly unimpressd with this aspect of Alienware life.

The only way I get the frame rate running smooth on Wolfenstein is if the AC cord is recognized on startup and charges/recharges the battery. If it does, everything is fine... of course, should the power cord get knocked out of the slot, we get to start the merry-go-round all over again, seeing if this time will be the one where the handshake between AC cord power brick and M17x motherboard takes place.

Anyone else?

 

This test bios has problem with Overclock through bios. My laptop has single GTX 260M and CPU Q(x) 9200 2.4Ghz.

1. I test (A06 + test bios 850-9662): CPU is default not overclock, GPU running smooth (driver NV beta 197.84) with temperature 42 and full load 72 (C degree). FPS in Starcraft 2 with normal setting ~ 70-80 fps (So good). Cooler fan running so good in 3218 rpm when full load GPU.

2. I test (A06 + test bios 850-9662): CPU overclock through bios to 2.90 Ghz, GPU running smooth (driver NV beta 197.84) but so hot with temperature 90 to 103 (C degree) . Cooler fan not running faster.... It running with 1997 rpm when GPU so hot ...

3. I test (A06 + test bios 850-9662): CPU overclock through ThrotteStop to 2.90 Ghz, GPU running smooth (driver NV beta 197.84) OK same 1.

This test bios has problem with overclock through bios ( Cooler not running smooth )