M17x R2 Bios A07 Discussion Thread

Please do look into it. i dont want to have to return my newly ordered M17xR2. already disappointed that the new beta ati drivers are not working as well as expected. hope you guys can fix the SSD issue and ati driver issue because for such an expensive system, users really do expect a lot more. thanks Brian!

 

yeh its been a bit of a dissapointment. issues with SSD when this thing comes bundled with them?!?! my vertex is running at about half the speed it was on my Asus G50VT and that is 2 years old.

i posted on the dell site, so come you guys get on there and keep spamming the thread!

 

same here. this machine even reports wrong speeds or really mishandles my ocz vertex sata II. it hope it wont destroy once again my replaced vertex

 

I just got my Alienware m17x with two SSD's in Raid0. I ran a quick test, it seems not so great. Has anyone found out to improve them?

Thanks.

 

The new Video Beta driver for AMD corrects slow map load times. At least it did for me, sped map load times up dramatically. However with the other issues such as locking up at sleep, Its at your own risk. I lost about 10 FPS in bbc2 also.

 

You're kidding, right?
You might review the last 50 or so posts...

 

ditto. That said, 5mb/s write 10mb/s read on 4K, WOW. I didn't even think that was possible.

 

Also here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/474521-installing-ssd-tips-tricks-benchmarks.html

 

Two gskill falcon 1's, latest firmware, raid0, dell intel rst.
System specs in sig.

Pretty nasty.

-Ash

 

dont forget that RST doesnt support trim for raid enabled ssds. the reason i still dont use raid0 even though i could

 

you are right this beta driver fixes some stuff. not tried extensively but seems to be the best till now. otherwise going back to 10.5 (the latest-best performance driver for M17X R2)

 

there is something i also wanted to say here.

hd tune reported speeds from 140mb/sec to 165mb/sec for the same ssd and without changing IDE drivers. just after a few restarts. even false reading or something going on.

 

in re: to the 4K SSD problem; Has anyone done similar tests on other PM55 notebooks and goten similar results? (sorry if it's already been gone over i admit i haven't read all 7 pages yet)

Also, can anyone recommend a 40-120GBish drive that borders on the M17x's troubling 4K bottleneck problem limit? I'd rather not overspend if it's not going to make a difference. I'll be buying in the U.S. if that matters.

 

yes, it effects all PM55 laptops, and is not limited to the M17x. Which is probally why Dell hasen't done anything about it.

 

To be honest I don't know if it is with every PM55 chipset (I need to perform tests myself on other laptops with this particular chipset be sure) but concerning M17x - R2, I am pretty confident that Dell can work around it with a BIOS update. Though, they first have to acknowledge the problem.

People with the M15x could help us too

 

So I was googling PM55 4K and came across this thred on HP's site
The Next Bench - Poor SSD Performance in Envy 4k Read/Write Times - The Next Bench

It seems like they're having problems too. I just find it so hard to belive intel could have made such a major malfunction, considering the only shining point of their drives over many others is better 4K performance. It's like they've shot their own SSD division in the foot.

Frankly, I'm sorta irritated their top of the line laptop chipset is more crippled than the one in my dell mini. Hopefully Dell/Alienware, HP, etc.. are putting pressure on intel & working with them to fix this and not just sweeping it under the rug.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...top-keeps-crashing-then-no-os-found-help.html

Here is my experience with this new BIOS.

 

the precision m6500(Same pm55) is effected too

 

Yes you are right, there are many laptops like Lenovo, Asus, and HP with the PM55 and the exact same behavior. I have posted links to those threads with the benchmarks already but if you need them I can repost them here as well.
The funny thing is that I have seen another chipset, the HM55 that has low numbers too (4K reads/writes) on an IBM thinkpad x200 with the X25-M 80GB
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6582183-post88.html
This is how it should perform
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6584517-post93.html

I would rather suggest though we continue this conversation on this thread instead
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/474521-installing-ssd-tips-tricks-benchmarks.html
so we can keep this thread clean for BIOS issues like the ATA mode and the POST problem that still remain. I hope Brian - eranweila will take a look at them too.

*EDIT*
These are the links I was talking about:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/6399977-post2096.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/5519041-post2424.html
http://www.ocztechnologyforum.com/f...GB-Slow-4K-Read-Results-on-Asus-G51J-Notebook
http://thenextbench.net/t5/HP-Envy-...ormance-in-Envy-4k-Read-Write-Times/m-p/55680


I would request though, in case you want to reply, do it on the other thread I mentioned above.
Thanks

 

Well hopefully it is a software fix.

 

Garbage collection works no matter what driver is used, thus I consider it as good or better than trim.


-Ash

 

what do you mean garbage collection? performance is good in the beginning but then losing it gradally.

 

Well, seems as if this is now OT. Guys, I know you already know this since I have corrected/moved posts for some of you before - do not derail the thread. If you want to discuss SSDs take it to one of the many SSD threads we have going. For Stamtisx's findings on the SSD, I think he was clear about where to post replies - he has a specific thread for this and AW is investigating as noted in his thread.

Video beta related posts do not belong here either.

I will be removing all OT posts in a bit. Keep the discussion focused on BIOS A07 and observations directly related to A07.

Thanks.

 

OK, so who has done the A07 update? I did should I not have? I can go back to the A05 If I need to..

 

i did. no differences. no benefits no downpoints over previous bios

 

ok thanks for the info

 

Hi mfactal , could you chuck me a link/upload bios A02 please.

Right now, i am on A06 and hated the fan going off its head at first start or back from sleep!

Thanks matey.

 

wouldnt mind this bios as well. Please

 

A02 and the other previous BIOS releases can be found here:
Dell - Support

 

Awsome! Thanks BatBoy. Now i got the balls trying out A07 bcos i can go back to earlier bioses.
cheers.

 

OMG! HELP! HELP! please help! i've just update to bios A07 ...........my Alienware would not boot up automatically , i have to turn it on myself........it just say this ...Missing operating system !!??.

Is there anyway to fix this quick or do i have to reinstall windows.

please i need some advices , please!

 

Enter the BIOS and select the AHCI or RAID (depends on what you have)

 

I got my system setup as Raid0 ?(2x 320gb hdd) when i ordered mine.

I enter bios >Advanced.......AHCI is already there....chose AHCI pressed enter

baloon popup ATA,AHCI,RAID....chose RAID...f10..rebooted ....came up 2 hdds they say incompatible ....then it say Operating system not found!!!

if i choose AHCI ....same thing happen.

I m sorry for being so noob.

thanks for quick response ,Stamatisx ..preciate that.

when i run setup with windows ,it come on with 298gb unallocated while it should be 600gb+ something cos i have 2x320gb ???.

looking like no sleep tonight !!LOL, i can't stand that my baby is out of action.

 

Ok since you have RAID 0, you have to enter the BIOS and on SATA Operation select RAID.
On RAID mode selection press enter and enable RAID 0
If it still says the the OS is missing you need to recreate the RAID and reinstall windows.
It's kinda weird though how you lost the OS from a simple BIOS update...

 

My baby is alright NOW , I enter BIOS and enable RAID 0 saved ..reboot and everything is back to normal .

THANKS alot ,StamatisX .YOU save me a sleepless night and best of all is I could play bfbc 2 tonight and go work tomorrow .

 

The BIOS update will not affect your data on your hard disk for sure.
To unRAID is pretty easy, on SATA Operation select AHCI.
Insert your DVD of Windows 7, save the settings and exit BIOS.
Then proceed with the installation.

 

So in my case by updating bios A07 somehow that it gone to AHCI instead of RAID 0 .

Anyway I had to borrow my 3.5 years old son's lappy to ask for help LOL .

everything is fine now .again thanks to you Stamatisx.
It's 10:30 pm now in Melbourne ,i m gonna jump in a shower and gaming.

 

Yes the BIOS upgrade resets the BIOS to the default values, that's why you saw AHCI instead of RAID and couldn't find the OS.

 

finally, a noobie learned how to rep + to someone.LOL
So rep+1 to Stamatisx and BatBoy.

 

i installed it yesterday hoping it would help with my suspend/hibernate issues in windows 7. i have the ATI HD 5870 card and I've found the thread explaining all of those issues.. As far as A07 - no new problems.

 

Hey, I have the A02 BIOS installed on my laptop, can I go straight to the A07 and get all the benefits from A03-A07?

Or do I need to upgrade one by one?

 

you can do it straight.

just make sure to check your bios setup defaults/optimized settings...

 

Just hit the button.

 

What is the file name for the A07 bios?

Looking for it on the DELL ftp.

Nevermind, I found it.

 

Removing from sticky status - A08 is here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/515247-m17xr2-bios-a08-discussion-thread.html

Thanks.

 

Hi guys,

I just tried to flash from BIOS A06 to A07 using WinPhlash.

It froze while programming block 28 of 70.

The fans are at max speed and the computer is unresponsive.

I can't stop, shutdown or reboot anymore.

Any ideas?

EDIT:

Well after like 15 minutes, I removed the battery.

I could then access the bios and it says version A07.

Seems it was flashed successfully after all...

EDIT 2:

In CPU-Z, it says BIOS Version X30, I guess this is not OK ?

 

what does the bios say bios version is (when you press F2 after reboot) ?

 

It says A07 while in the BIOS...

 

Happened to me once. I re-flashed the BIOS again, just in case and it was fine. I think it flashed ok the first time, but who knows...

 

Ok, thanks!

I'll flash again with A07 and see what happens.