M17xR3 Owners - **Driver Updates**

I have installed all of the drivers listed in this thread, including the OSD update as well as the 11.5 ATI update (installed over the existing drivers), plus the 11.5b hotfix. I have noticed the following problems: (1) When I use the Heaven benchmark set to a non-native resolution, after exiting the program I get trapped in the black screen problem. It clears with a hard reset. I assume something is going wrong in the switch back to native resolution to the desktop. (2) If I use the function keys to change the LCD brightness, the OSD kicks in and displays but it will neither increase not decrease the brightness.

Are these known issues?

 

Batboy, a suggestion. Can you update your original post to always contain the latest/newest posted drivers? This way folks can always reference this thread to get them. Had I not decided to read the entire thread I'd have missed these and (mistakenly) assumed that the M18x drivers were the latest and there were no new M17x drivers

It makes things a lot easier as these threads grow.

Thanks

 

I have had that problem even with the factory drive and install so i am not sure if its driver related or what but i have read a few posts with that problem so i figured it was a known issue.

It happens where if i run a new game on the first run it will black screen forcing me to hard reset then after the reboot i run the same .exe again and the game fires right up.

On a rare occasion closing out of the game will lock it into that black screen as well but since i experienced this issue before i even installed my SSD or new drivers i assume its some sort of software (BIOS) issue and the only thing that comes to mind is the machine is trying to switch to the integrated GPU automatically and it gets stuck there.

Not sure why it would be trying to run on the IGP but it feels very similar to graphics switching and the black screen of death you get ..

 

Hope I’m posting in the right place: Would updating to the M18x Video driver (6970m) for my M17x R3 improve gaming (Witcher 2 specifically) or is there a better and relatively stable Video driver for this particular game at present? I'm using currently DELL stock Video driver my M17x has just arrived with. Thanks a lot.

M17X-R3 l 2720QM | 6970 l 6GB RAM l 1920X1080 l 320GB HDD l Win 7 P

BaByliss Pro BABNT6610 | Portofino 6600 | 2000-Watt Nano | Titanium Ionic

 

While I do try to post driver updates for each system (current only of course), I cannot always get to it the same day they are released. You might want to subscribe to the RSS FEEDS for driver updates (for the system you own) -


M11xR3:
Dell Drivers and Downloads | Alienware Laptop M11xR3


M14x:
Dell Drivers and Downloads | Alienware Laptop M14x


M17xR3:
Dell Drivers and Downloads | Alienware Laptop M17xR3


M18x:
Dell Drivers and Downloads | Alienware Laptop M18x

 

Great idea for the feed, didn't think about that!

But I probably wasn't clear on my suggestion. What I meant was it might be good to use your very first post in this thread to contain all of the "latest" driver updates. That way someone can always just refer to the first post in the thread for the entire list of drivers and pertinent info.

But the RSS feed is a good way to keep notified. I'll have to setup a subscription.

 

Hi,

I keep getting BSOD for all sorts of different "reasons". Memory management, List something, etc.


Is it possibly some drivers I'm missing?

I did a memory test and it all showed to be ok. I added 8GB from crucial. The memory test showed those were fine. Started computer with ONLY each chip individually and was fine.

So question is, is there some video card/windows conflict driver I need?

I have the NVIDIA gfx card.

Thanks!

 

Hi I have the same problem as yours. One of the forum member told me that everytime it goes black screen just hit the FN+F4 or brightness key and it should do the trick. It does work for me.

Hopefully there would be some Bios update to fix this issue.

 

Good that hitting the Fn+f4/5 worked or you.

But seriously no idea why does this happen.

 

Yeah i finally figured that out after a couple days of doing forced shutdowns ..

Hopefully they do address this issue but more important i wonder if Dell even knows it an issue at all ..

I dont particularly feel like calling tech support and moaning about it because they always act like its the first they ever heard of it and it usually falls on deaf ears anyhow.


It happens also when the machine go's to sleep and when i tap the key on the keyboard i am greeted with a black screen as well. Hitting the FN combo fixes it though .

All i can think of is what i mentioned earlier and it acts like the machine is getting hung up on one of the GPUs or inbetween both the intergrated CPU/GPU and the dedicated one..

 

Hi

I am looking to play Youtube videos on 3d using my Alienware (BRAND NEW LAPTOP yay) but at Stereo HTML5 Video CheckList | 3DVision Live they say my NV drivers are outdated. At dell's site, they provide only drivers under 275.27 for the R3. Should i upgrade the driver using drivers @ NVidia site or using drivers for M18x?

Thanks

EDIT : After upgrading to 275.27, i realized my 3d glasses fails to work. so i downgrade back with the resource DVD. Now, i'm stuck at installing 3d vision drivers. Help!

 

This may seem like a really dumb question but what is the benefit of updating the drivers? My laptop is on 11 days old so do i need to update?

 

Updating the GPU drivers is probably the most important thing so if nothing else do those.

Some games can really benefit from new GPU drivers .

 

I read somewhere once that updating GPU drivers may aid in temps too, cuz it may enable the fans more often/change the threshold yadda yadda yadda.

 

I'm running the standard Dell ATI drivers for my 6970M, and my machine has been very stable...until yesterday.

I left EverQuest2 running for a couple hours while I was off doing other stuff. When I came back, I discovered I had my first BSOD so far on this laptop. System_service_exception 3B, for atikmdag.sys.

I rebooted, played some EQ2 without issue. This morning I fired up EQ2 again and played for a few hours, no issue. I left it running again while I did some work around the house, and came back about 90 minutes later to find another identical BSOD.

Quick internet search on that says, "Update your Catalyst drivers." So here I am. Should I update to the latest download from ATI, or do the Dell-issued M18x drivers for the 6970M?

 

Personally i would use the 11.5b from AMD . I have tried every other driver to date that works with this card and find the 11.5b the best.

Also when you install these drivers make sure you just over install and dont do a fresh install or you will screw up the integrated GPU stuff.

Might not sound like the most practical way to install drivers and until i got this machine i would have never over installed but yeah you gotta do it that way .


I cant speak on your BSOD issue and your card might be bad(to hard to speculate without trying many things like new drivers,fresh OS install etc) but i have run games where i walked away for an hour or so whilst the game was idling at the game menu etc and have had no BSOD's .

 

What do you mean by install over? After I download the 11..5b from the AMD web site this is the default path that its asking me to install:

C:\AMD\AMD_Catalyst_11.5b_Hotfix_8.85.6RC5_Win7_May25

I currently have the dell stock drivers installed on this path:

C:\Program Files\ATI

and also

C:\Program Files\ATI technologies

I am confused as to where Im I supposed to install............

 

When i say over install i mean dont remove the previous drivers like you would normally do..

So just run the installer and it will do its thing then reboot.

 

FWIW, I had this exact same problem, and it was driving me nuts. In my case, I did a clean install of Win7 and it reproduced each time I installed the latest OSD software from the M17x support page. On my third pass, I installed the original software (from the resource cd), and the problem has never occurred since.

 

When you over install this Amd official drivers, also loss the brigthness control under discrete mode. I experience this problem.

 

Is there a way to control brightness without using the FN keys?

 

Yes you can control brightness from the Power Options sitting in your System Tray .

 

anyone else with a external having issues with a 6970 and reference drivers.....the monitor i try and use is definetly not a standard model, so im courious if its jsut me.

 

Thanks, I would have checked myself but I'm in-between M17xR3's at the moment.

 

Does the m17x with 6970m work with opencl? Wanted to run something that required it and noticed it doesn't work nor does it show up in gpu-z. I have a clean build. I did install dells video drivers. I'm just wondering if I needed to install something (I do have ati ccc) or if we are SOL??? It doesn't look like I can install drivers direct from ATI perhaps because of the video card switching functionality (requires vendor specific)???

edit: Found it...AMD Accelerated Parallel Processing (APP) SDK (formerly ATI Stream)
http://developer.amd.com/sdks/AMDAPPSDK/Pages/default.aspx

 

yup..the moment you install the catalyst...experienced this on a 6970M with 11.6 installed on-top of existing Dell drivers

 

Does anybody have any info on the availability (or otherwise) of R3-compatible versions of either of the following two NVidia GTX 460m driver updates:

275.33
275.27

Thanks

 

Please ignore previous posting. Solved the problem with an alternative nvdm.inf file:

New Nvidia Driver 275.33 WHQL

Hope this is of use to somebody.

 

New m17x and all but still having a lot of trouble installing the drivers shown here.

Currently all my driver im downloading from the links in the topic are going to C:\dell unziping and installing.

[Windows score is at 5.9 and trying to get a new score produced the error driver issues and cant get new score or something like that]

Looking at Device Manager, I can see the HM67 Express Chipset Family LPC Interface Controller -has not updated to v9.2.0.1019 and is still at 9.2.0.1015

Cant see this driver on Device Manager?

After installing via safe mode [without uninstalling anything before hand] this has also failed to update according to Device Manager - Its currently 7.0.0.1144 instead of v7.0.4.1197.

This has correclty updated to 10.1.2.1004

Cant locate this on Device Manager to check it out

This remains at 8.800.6.0 and has not updated.
During Install the message "Failed to load detection driver" appeared.

What am i doing wrong to get that message??

Trying to install this in safe mode produced the following message
"the driver being instlled is not validated for this computer.
Please obtain the appropriate driver from this computer manufacturer.

Please can we have clear install instructions with any info about what must be uninstalled (before the update is applied).

At the moment its just a maze for less experianced ppl like myself and Im gnna have to roll back again which is a pain in the backside

 

Hi all, how to know if i use the 6970M AMD card or the internal graphic chip of INTEL?

Best regards
yankeefy

 

If you right click on the desktop and go to Graphic Properties the menus will be totally different so you will know right away which video card is being used .

Thats really the fastest way id imagine.

 

if you enable the Intel tray icon, it will ONLY show up when the intel card is active....

 

Yeah i just keep all the start up stuff to a bare minimum(old habit) so i was not aware of that one but good find .

 

COOL find!! Will give these a try soon.

 

I just installed 11.6

Anybody else try it?

 

I'm running 11.6 over my dell stock drivers. I've had no issues other then the annoying windows areo problems everyone seems to have when switching between graphic cards.

 

I seemed to have a problem with starting up the computer running the Intel GPU. When I switched to the ATI GPU, my frame rates in DiRT 3 were like 11fps and it should be at least 30fps. So I restarted the computer and I got 35fps with everything almost maxed out. I am a bit surprised though, I thought I would get at least 35fps-40fps with everything maxed.

 

Hello sir... I use AMD Radeon 6870M HD, where can i get a latest driver version of it?

 

^ to maintain auto switching stay with the default drivers and install 11.6 catalyst

ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

PS make sure you get the CAP for 11.6

 

I am having an issue, in device manager I have an unknown device but I have installed everything. Did anyone else have this problem?

 

in device manager, if you look at the properties of the device, what is the device ID....you wont get any help without that information..

 

hey guys my R3 has behaved great right out of the box since I got it back in March. Since it has been so stable I am a little disinclined to update the drivers. Are there any that would make a significant difference if I were to install?

 

Oh i hope they release another new set of drivers especially for M17x-R3, i really wanted to get rid of the crashing of display while playing games. I need new driver for Alienware OSD and ATI Radeon 6870M HD, latest drivers.

 

You do know that you can use the m18x drivers right? they are slightly newer...i use the OSD and Video drivers both...

 

What is this CAP? is it a separate program? I have 11.6 installed.......

 

Same thoughts here.

Just noted my 460m driver is dated 12/08/2010 and the one listed in the Dell drivers and downloads currently is dated 4/17/2011.

Wonder how much better (or worse) it is from originally shipped factory driver?

 

CAP are profiles for the Catalyst program to use when you start a game on the ATI radeon...apparently optimises (fixes bugs) etc

 

---deleted---

 

now my turn...ever since the 11.6 (on top of existing 11.5b's) i have noticed GTA4 to be stuttering a fair bit....how do i go about uninstalling the 11.6, without disrupting the switching gpu...which is embedded in stock Dell drivers.

 

uninstall everything.....reinstall stock....then update to whatever version you want to use would be the way i would go