M17x-R2 Driver Install Sequence

Hi Everyone!

I am a brand-new Alienware M17-R2 (i7-940XM, 8Gb) owner, but a long-time Dell laptop customer. I bought my AW mostly for high-performance computing for scientific work and intense scientific animation work (believe me, serious graphics work in scientific applications is a "coming thing"). I practically live on the computer these days...if it had an oxygen supply and a urine dump I'm sure I'd be hooked into them! My main question is probably simple, but I am having trouble getting clear information:

I would greatly appreciate good support from Dell (but haven't seen it yet) on the EXACT order for installing the drivers for Alienware systems. As much as people spend on them and as much as everyone seems to indicate that the order really matters if you want best performance, I would think they would (should!) have clear lists for each type of system they build. I have been all over their website (and others) and I get a lot of conflicting information. Even Dell has two entirely different sequences specified in different places within their support site, neither of which is Alienware-specific anyway!

I have the RAID 1 HD system (but apparently the AW/Intel software RAID is provided by firmware on the motherboard and the Intel RST software is actually just optional, installed at the end if you want it), the ATI/AMD 5870 graphics card, and obviously all the other goodies like Bluetooth, OSD, Infrared, etc. I do not have (or want) a TV tuner card, so any such driver there would not apply to my machine.

Does anyone know the exact driver sequence for such a system? I looked on the Wiki here, and there are drivers posted, but not a clear sequence. I have already downloaded all of the latest versions of everything from Dell, and I have made a few OS wipes and driver installs, but I seem to get strange bugs along the way, and then I chicken-out, afraid that I don't really have it right! Oh, and is the Free-Fall Sensor/accelerometer driver really necessary? Please help before I run out of hair to pull...!

 

Does the following thread assist?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/520251-latest-drivers-checklist-m17x-r2-hd5870-september-2010-incl-vbios-flash-guide.html

PS: Welcome to the club!

Update: I'm planning on a refresh following the release of SP1 for Win7. I think the best advice (from what I have read) is to ensure you have an image of your system, just in case. Some users seem to have had issues refreshing this system for various reasons:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/537728-big-problem-after-formatting-alienware-m17x.html

With respect to the accelerometer, I believe this has also been discussed, however, I can't remember if it's as simple as uninstalling the software/driver or disabling the 'ST Micro Accelerometer' in Device Manager.

Perhaps the answer is in here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/519978-m17x-free-fall-sensor.html

 

Wow! Your response came quickly! I looked at the link you posted, and while it is detailed, it mystifies me. Grim lists the video card way down the list, when very consistently at Dell and other places (even the old Alienware support site) they all list the video driver very early in the sequence; usually it is something like the third thing installed.

I intentionally didn't post this initially, but I actually talked to a guy on the phone at Alienware, and while he seemed to try, he didn't really seem to know the driver sequence too well either. He managed after some time, checking with others I think, to give me an order that is also different than Grim's (and everyone else's). In his sequence, the OSD application goes second (right after the chipset) and when I did that, I immediately had an error thrown by that application at the next startup. Installing the video driver third did seem to kill the OSD error, but I can't help but wonder whether having errors at any point along the way is taboo if you want everything right...

I read the link to the accelerometer, and based on that it does seem that I should install that, even though my drives (RAID 1, so I have two) supposedly have free-fall sensors in them that the Alienware guy seemed to think worked without a driver.

Thanks for your help!

 

I was told by AW technical that , as long as you do the chipset driver FIRST and the video driver SECOND, the rest can be done in a random order....as for free fall sensor, i woulndt say its a must but as you have RAID 1, im assuming your a "careful" kinda guy who wants to protect HDD data....thats all the free fall sensor does....protects your HDD incase you drop the lappy or something!

I would install it personally.....along with anything else that is "recommeneded" on the downloads section....

If you are clean installing the OS, its also a good time (if you havent already flashed your gpu's with the latest vbios or if it came with the latest vbios from the factory) to take the opportunity (if you wanted) to install AMD 10.11 drivers instead of Dell's latest driver offering (8.763).

As you will be required to fresh install brand new gpu drivers, would be an ideal chance to do so.....IF you want to use AMD opposed to Dell, if not, dont matter i guess. Obviously, Grims guide to flashing is in the link above for more info.

 

Thanks Stevie! I just got an email back from an AW tech, and he now claims that if you see an error after installing OSD (second in his list, but I'm doubting) then you can place it after the video driver install! I guess you can see what I mean...

I agree with you: It would have to be chipset, then video, then... but it's amazing how many different opinions are out there on the sequence. One thing I had noticed before was that the infrared (CIR) driver can throw an error if it is too early in the sequence; it must depend on seeing other things installed before it can work.

The AW guy (and several others) seem to think that the LAN and wireless card drivers should go together (most say LAN, then wireless, but AW said either, as long as they were paired together), and should be right after the video driver. How about you? Did you do it similar?

Grim seems to really know what he's talking about, but unfortunately his sequence makes me nervous. He has the video driver so late in it. I totally agree with him on most of his advice to others about skipping the Respawn stuff and all the other recovery methods other than a good old-fashioned OS install and driver rebuild. I noticed that even the Dell/AW Resource disk included is way behind on drivers; you really need to go to the website. The Resource disk is really just for the installed applications that they don't want to give away to people who haven't actually purchased computers from them, like their Cyberlink stuff, disk burners, etc. I don't use any of those things anyway, since Win-7 and its media player by default now support most of that without adding any codecs at all.

When I had the video driver in last, I did re-flash the VBIOS from a disk, and I re-flashed the main BIOS, so I should be good on most of the low-level stuff once I get all the drivers in right.

 

Totally agree with everything you said!

Although i haven performed a clean install on this system, the last time i did one on a previous system, it worked just fine.

The order i chose to install in was:

Chipset
video
newtork gigabit lan
wireless 6300 ( or dell if thats what you have)
audio (IDT)
touchpad
Bluetooth
Intel RST
Freefall Sensor
Command Centre
OSD
ITE Infrared receiver
Card reader

I think thats all of the important ones...i didnt bother with AW wallpapers or schemes etc.....

Regards the media provided by dell for drivers, its soooo out of date as soon as you get your system....i even found that although i had 5870 gpu's, the only video driver on the resource disk was for 4870 cards!!!!!

I think the main thing is to install the chipset driver primarily....if you think about it logically, after that.....what do you need next?...ermmm video drivers o be able to SEE the screen properly LOL (that was my logic anyhow)

Next after that, i thought it would be important to be able to connect wirelessly, so i did the lan/wireless card drivers.....

The rest kind of fell in to my own preference as to what i felt was the next important thing to install drivers for....the last ones being infra red and card reader drivers....

It seemed to work fine, havent done it on my new system yet!

Oh, and yeah, the only thing the resource disk is useful for, apart from a drinks coaster, is to load the software such as cyber link and anything else you may have has preinstalled at factory that you want to use....as you said, you dont have the use for them so its fine not to bother....not like your gonna lose them is it? hahaha....

Grim is really knowledgeable, have learned lots from him in a few months....i dont think his install sequence is wrong or right....i think its one of those things that is subject to your own interpretation....like i said....i was told by AW to do chipset/video and then whatever i choose to do....

Worst that can happen i guess is that if something goes wrong somehow, just restart the whole thing over using a different install priority eh?

It would be good tho if Dell actually published a recommended guide about the order to install, maybe they have, i haent seen or heard of one yet.....

 

Thanks for the info, Stevie. I think I'll use your sequence and get on with it. I'm gathering a lot of knowledge on this over all the attempts that have failed. I will post my experience when I get it finished to my satisfaction, but so far I have learned that:

1. The AW techs don't really know what the exact sequence should be, or they haven't communicated it among their whole team.

2. Chipset goes first.

3. OSD does not like being installed early.

4. Infrared (CIR) seems to like being very late in the sequence.

5. Bluetooth installs a lot of small sub-drivers, and tends to like being late in the sequence too, so it can see most of the other components.

6. AW tech said the Command Center should be virtually last, and almost everyone seems to have done it that way, so I probably will too. I don't know how hard a requirement this is...

7. Dell needs to do a lot better on specifications like driver sequences, and the components in these machines, and they need to lean on their OEM suppliers to make their drivers more clearly documented so we can tell which is which.

I guess I'm off to another OS/driver install party!..........

 

Hi 'Voice' and welcome.

I just want you to know I did a clean install immediately after getting my computer from Dell and I used the order listed by Grim, as have many of the other users here, and I had no problems what-so-ever. I have problems now but that is not related to my install.

 

Thanks, Frozen. I read one of your posts from before, where you said "The Intel IBEX and IDT92 drivers seemed to install OK but after that nearly every driver would report some errors after the install."

With mine, I had nearly the same thing going on. It's a brand-new system, so I'm sure I have the best hardware money can buy, and I'm a perfectionist for clean installs (probably I'm too anal about it, but I can't seem to help myself, and I hate problems even worse). But getting the whole driver set in without a glitch was really a challenge, and I'm not quite there yet. Actually, I am currently fooling around with a Razer Orochi mouse that is being extremely cranky about pairing with my Bluetooth (I think I'll be sending it back for a replacement) so I haven't quite committed myself to the wipe and full redo I had been planning for this evening... I might have to do it tomorrow.

This Razer mouse, by the way, seems like "one of these days" I will actually like it, but this particular one probably won't make it. It has nice slippery feet, real fast, precise pointer response, and even decent software you can (but don't have to) install. I have had the darndest time the last couple years finding a really great Bluetooth mouse, and that's another thing I'm not completely out-of-the-woods with, but I'm getting close. Oh well....

 

FYI, just found this...seems AW have released a "driver installation sequence" afterall for the m17x........not sure that OSD should come before video drivers tho, but , its there for us to use I guess......if that procedure doesnt work, then AW have got it wrong hahahaha....

Here It is: Alienware : The Best Custom Built Gaming PC for the Ultimate PC Gamer!

I wouldnt use the active links though, get the latest versions/drivers for your own system to ensure youre bang up to date...

Thanks to Batboy for digging that one out.....
EDIT: Thers is ANOTHER one from DELL contradicting the one above lol: http://support.dell.com/support/top...install_order?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~lt=print

 

Yep, I've seen this one. In fact the AW tech recited this one to me virtually exactly. I have already verified that if you use this order, the OSD application will throw an error immediately after installing. The AW tech also then followed up by saying that one should (potentially) reverse the order of the video driver and OSD. Perhaps that would work, but I'm rather skeptical. Note that there are at least two other driver install sequences listed at various locations within Dell's support realm, so that's a total of three, all of which contradict each other, and at least one of which WILL throw errors if you follow it, at least on an Alienware.

My thinking has been, since I do have significant software development experience, that most programs, unless stupendously well-written with careful error-trapping (which I never trust drivers to be), will halt with no further execution past any error. Therefore, any driver whose installation package cannot run to perfect completion cannot be trusted to have installed all components and may therefore be corrupt. I'm striving for not only a visually perfect install all the way through, but I also hope that there aren't other less-obvious dependencies between drivers that could limit performance if the "proper" order isn't followed.

I think some middle ground between your order and Grim's is what I will ultimately end up using. I guess I have time, since I still run my M1730 quite happily, so it's my life raft for now.

 

Seems even Dell do not know which order to install or advise to install!!

Its good that you arent dependant on your Alienware and have the option to test different install procedures out....I, for one, have not contemplated a clean install at the moment - only because everything seems to be working well.....having installed the latest AMD drivers, im pretty sure my system is bang up to date with everything.....unless something goes horribly wrong, i dont forsee the need to clean install at the minute.

Although, I do see the benefits in doing so, im not one of those people who will be doing this process every 3-6 months (at least not yet anyhow whilst my system is stable)

It would be great if you DO find a sequence which you are happy with, and works fine, if you could post it here for others to reference to....there are also several other sequences on NBR too so its a bit of a minefield when it comes to saying who is right and who is wrong....i dont think there is oneor the other...just shades of grey open to interpretation.

Basically, if you find something that works for YOU, great, stick to that and tell others....we all may learn something in the process with a bit of luck eh?

Good luck with it anyhow and keep us posted.

Regards
Steve.