R4 A09 EFI bug -- can't disable legacy boot when Enduro off

Someone else came across a bug and I verified it that when Enduro is off you can't disable the Legacy Option Rom (for Legacy Boot functions) without getting an error. The error is "Can't detect MXM card GOP driver" so it appears that it may be looking for some kind of driver in the EFI for the 7970m in my laptop. Is someone at Alienware aware of this? Will this be resolved in a future update? The impact is that this prevents us from accessing the Secure Boot and Windows 8 Fast Boot options while Enduro is disabled.

The way it looks right now is I have 2 options with A09:
1) Enable Secure Boot and Windows 8 Fast Boot options (while Enduro is active) and quite possibly forfeit the ability to disable Enduro (unknown what would happen if I did).
2) Forfeit both Secure Boot and Windows 8 Fast Boot options in order to maintain ability to toggle Enduro on and off.

I don't really see either as acceptable as it compromises the capabilities of the EFI firmware that we have.

Update: This also affects systems with 680M 3D as well. Those are in a worse situation because they don't have a choice.

Reported issue links:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/694543-m17x-r4-bios-a09-680m-legacy.html
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/694426-uefi-boot-m17xr4-windows-8-a.html

*bump*

Can someone from Alienware please respond or at least acknowledge this post?

Update (1/3/2013): This bug appears to still be active in UEFI firmware release A10 pushed yesterday.

Update (1/12/2013): Found the updated vBIOS that was mentioned later in this thread. Claims are around that it fixes the issue. Linked thread on TechInferno contains updated vBIOS for all but the 675m. Looks like they are dumped from newer system builds. Flash at your own risk! [M14x R2] [M17x R4] [M18x R2] - UEFI fast boot / secure boot GPU issues *SOLVED* Thanks to senshin for helping me find it. The copy/paste that was done on another thread lead me to this in a google search.

Update (1/13/2013): Confirmed working! Both myself and Prasad have flashed the vBIOS update and confirmed that it does work. For those verifying it the new vBIOS checksum is 0x912F. The old one was 0x9300 (at least my backup was). This does completely resolve the issue that this thread is about. Now if Dell would only officially release it...

 

Just a shot in the dark, but could this somehow be related to the issue that quite a few of us are having with our M14X R2 GeoForce GT 650M machines after flashing bios A09 and getting the error "You are not currently using a display attached to an NVIDIA GPU" ? I have reinstalled drivers, used driver sweeper, re-flashed the bios with no luck. Dell appears to be mute on our posts as well. Sorry to butt in. This stuff is way over my head.

 

The fact that this is not an isolated issue is great news and hopefully that means we can get a Fix ASAP. I've got an M18x and have exactly the same issue as you guys, you cannot enable Secure Boot and Fast Boot when using Discrete Graphics, and when you switch over to integrated you can, but you're then locked out of your discrete cards. I had to switch back to Legacy and use my Respawn Disks to get the 680M SLI enabled in my system before trying Win 8 again.

It has been impossibly hard trying to get the attention of anyone from Dell through these forums, the Dell Forums or even through Phone Support - you need to get escalated to someone with the know how to deal with this issue but it's proving impossible.

It seems the m14x is affected similarly here M14x R2 BIOS A09 Nvidia problem - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

and my original post here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/694272-stuck-integrated-graphics.html

I doubt many people know about UEFI and have made the switch and that's why we haven't heard more complaints.

 

That's good confirmation there. I'll try to get in touch with Alienware on it for the M17x and see if I can make any head way.

 

I've tried all sorts of workarounds, but to no avail. This is a confirmed bug! I hope this reaches AW soon and we get an updated fixed BIOS!

 

I am gathering the data and sending it off to engineering.

 

Thanks Chris! I hope that we can get a fixed release for this.

 

About this issue, what you need to do is to use the DELL Drivers only. Delete the driver software for both cards (intel and nVidia) then re-install the drivers. Intel 1st. Both of them from DELL.com. BIOS A08 was released to fix this specific issue.

 

Thank you Porras. It looks like Dell has released a NVIDA driver update for all Alienware Systems and graphic cards. It also appears that at least for the M14X R2 both the BIOS updates A08 and A09 have been pulled.

 

Same deal on 680M with 3D....Can't even properly use UEFI. It seems nothing gets fully tested before sending it out to everyone.

 

It appears that this issue affects discrete only configuration. That's the common denominator.

P.S. - Enduro being disabled would make it a discrete only configuration.

 

No problem! We are here to help.

 

*bump*

Any updates on this?

 

SVL7 confirmed the problem is with the vBios. Dell need to release vBios updates for this to work as intended.


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Ok. That's fine and great but has Dell/Alienware confirmed this yet? Since the fix does ultimately have to come from them and everything.

 

Any news? Would really like to enable uEFI. Thanks.

 

Same here, i boot in EUFI but with legacy on so no quick boot.
hope they fix this soon.

 

Any updates from Dell/Alienware on this? I know Windows 8 is supported so it should be 100%. I would like this corrected before I make the move to Windows 8. I have the license already but have been holding off until the bug in the UEFI firmware is fixed.

 

is this the same bug i encounter when i want to switch to discrete only via fn+f7? If i do so the system restarts, powers of, shortly powers on and off again and after that it starts normal with both intel and amd graphics.. I have a bug in FC3 that can only be avoided if i run the 7970m in discrete mode -.- its very anoying that its not possible to boot in uefi and win8 fastboot...

 

Maybe. The bug is that due to an error that is generated in the firmware we can't turn off the legacy option rom when enduro is turned off. If you already have the legacy option rom disabled when you go to disable enduro (via FN+F7) then this may be why.

 

......Bump.

 

the problem is fixed with bios a10! can confirm this!

 

When did they release the new bios update? (Update: Found it... came out yesterday. Sneaky of them)

Fix list:

1. Update 306A9 CPU Microcode to M12306A9_00000015.
2.Reduce post time.
3. Update Intel legacy RAID OpROM to 11.6.0.1702. (The corresponding driver version is 11.6.0.1030.)
4. Update Intel UEFI RAID driver to 11.6.0.1702. (The corresponding driver version is 11.6.0.1030.)
5.Fix Intel UEFI RAID driver 11.6.0.1702 can't display ODD name in Setup Menu when UEFI mode.

The bolded ones are fairly rare sometimes...

EDIT: For anyone trying to get to the BIOS and Intel RST driver update... (BIOS notes recommend Intel RST update)

BIOS A10 - http://www.dell.com/support/drivers...?driverId=MPPG1&osCode=W764&fileId=3103819456
Intel RST 11.6.0.1030, A02 - http://www.dell.com/support/drivers...?driverId=R0T8R&osCode=W764&fileId=3103817994

Both released yesterday.

Update: I flashed this firmware today. It does NOT fix the "Can't detect MXM card GOP driver" issue on my configuration. The bug is still present. At the moment the only way to disable the Legacy Option ROM (So that Secure Boot and Fast Boot can be enabled) is to leave Enduro active. Still waiting on a fix from Dell/Alienware. On the up side the Intel OpROM is updated to 11.6 so I think you can see SMART information from drives in RAID arrays now.

 

Will try it now. Thanks guys!

EDIT:

Yes, this hasn't fixed our issue at all !!

Please elaborate!

 

it has fixed the problem for me! I can disable enduro + have fastboot and uefi activated... no legacy! i also did a clean install of windows to doublecheck and also tried to switch between enduro and amd only: done without any problems!

edit: i dont have secure boot enabled. Dont know whats the advantage of that so i just enabled fastboot

 

But when I try to re-enable Secure/Fast Boot by first disabling Legacy Option ROM, I get the "Can't detect MXM card GOP driver" error. Can you confirm this is not the case with you?

 

Word over on techinferno indicates that the VBIOS would have the UEFI driver embedded in it so that is what we need at this point I think. That's why it was mentioned that someone confirmed it was the VBIOS that needed updating.

 

i can confirm that this is not the case
My M17x R4 is brand new, just 1 week old. Maybe it has something to do with that.

 

Can we get a vBios dump from GPU-Z ?

 

Would you be able to get us a vBIOS dump from GPU-Z so that we can determine if it is a newer version than what we have?

 

Hello Everyone,

Please correct me if I am wrong, but don't we need 'Legacy Option ROM' enabled to use Intel SSD Caching? I have a 32 GB mSATA SSD (factory installed) to cache my hard drive. It gives me ~12 second boot time (BIOS A09). Thanks in advance!

Rich S.

 

I believe that it only enables the ability to boot in legacy bios mode vs using UEFI mode. I don't think turning it off would affect the Intel SSD Caching but I could be wrong. I'm welcome to corrections on this.

 

No you don't. I have a 64GB SATA SSD caching the 500GB SATA HDD with an additional 120GB mSATA SSD in there too. I don't have the 'Legacy option ROM' enabled.

The only time I have enabled that option is when I want to boot from a CD or USB stick (to run SSD firmware upgrades etc.). You can't do either with it disabled unless those said media are formatted in such a way that UEFI can see them during post. I have one USB stick which I can boot from with legacy disabled and that's the one that houses Windows. It's format is correct for UEFI boot.


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Hi Chris_c81,

In order to boot in UEFI mode, the media needs to have a GPT partition type. The Windows 8 USB stick is formatted that way, which is why it works. So, you can confirm that Intel SRT is enabled and working in Windows with the Legacy Option ROM disabled? The reason I ask, is that at least when UEFI is disabled, the SSD caching uses the the RAID BIOS to boot. Assuming you are correct, this is fantastic news, as it means that you can enable Fast and Secure Boot, while maintaining SRT caching, and get the best of both worlds! Thanks.

Rich S.

 

Yes, I can confirm it works 100% with fast and secure boot enabled. SATA operation mode must be in RAID however.


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I just purchased my first SSD today. Now that I'll be reformatting the PC with a fresh copy of Windows 8, I'm curious as to whether I should use the RAID is AHCI or RAID mode, considering I'll be opting to install with UEFI and maintain Windows Secure/Fast Boot if possible.

EDIT: Will TRIM work in RAID mode?

 

Did you do the vBIOS update already Prasad?

 

Nope. Is there a new vBIOS out ?

 

Not officially. I linked the original TechInferno thread in the op post. It is the one that supposedly fixes the issue and is from the newer system builds. I plan to call Alienware and speak them about it and see if they plan to officially release it in the future.

P.S. - I am holding off for now...

 

Thanks! I'll flash this ASAP.

 

Yea... Keep in mind that it is an "at your own risk" bit. I didn't do the post over in TechInferno...

 

Already flashed and I can confirm the issue has been resolved.

 

Thanks for confirming that it works!

 

I just saw the edit on your one post. I believe the ability to do trim in raid mode was added in OpROM 11.2 and the new A10 firmware includes OpROM 11.6 so I think it should work. Make sure to use the updated SATA drivers.

 

guys has this issue come to past with the A10?

 

Read the OP. It's extremely clear.