Two M17x R4s... Same Problem

Just received my second M17x R4 and the SAME problem arises as with the last one:

I attempt to make recovery discs through AlienRespawn then the program fails to write the disc - from that error I click 'cancel' in which to eject the disc and bin yet another wasted DVD.

BUT the machine refuses to eject the disc, so I have to restart the system to then press the eject button in order to eject the disc.

Since this happening, every time I boot my system the 'Windows Jingle' that plays every time before you log yourself in plays but is jumpy and skips. Every time I reboot. What the hell is happening with Alienware's garbage?

I ran AlienAutopsy before hand and everything passed, but this has happened on TWO machines now. TWO. I don't understand why AlienRespawn won't burn recovery discs... It produced it perfectly fine on a USB drive. If the disc batch I have is faulty, fine. But, I don't see why this piece of sh** refuses to eject the disc on MY command then every time I turn it on, the jingle skip - which suggests to me that something ELSE is broken as a result.

Sorry, this isn't a rant but I need help here as the exact same thing has happened on TWO systems of identical specification. What the heck is going on? I don't want to hear this blasted jingle skip every time I log on, every time I've heard a computer do that it usuallly meant it was going to fail within 3 months (personal experience.)

Thanks to anyone who cares to elaborate, collaborate and be helpful. I really do want to love this thing. It seems like destiny doesn't want me having an Alienware though, lol.

BTW the discs are non-rewritable DVD-R.

 

Hi Starscream, this sounds like an issue on your system start up. Maybe you could try to boot clean.
Clean boot:
Start>Search:msconfig>start up>disable all

If you are getting any type of error with the respawn, please post it
Have you tried reinstalling respawn yet? Here is where to get it.
Let us know

 

This is the fault of Alienware's imaging process for the R4. Looks like the image isn't clean and is causing some problems. I wouldn't worry about burning the media anyways as it can be obtained from Dell. Find yourself an OEM/Retail Windows 7 DVD and start fresh.

 

hmmm, i'm also not able to make recovery discs since my last sony vaio on vista ultimate and later win 7 ultimate and now asus g73 on win 7 pro.
both system always returns an error somewhere along the way of writing discs, and i've wasted too many dvds retrying the process before i gave up.
tho both systems have no problem ejecting the failed discs, and i always turned off windows sound btw, i hated them. so, i can't really give feedback on problematic window's jingle.
i'd say....to hell with windows recovery discs and pre-installed windows!!!!

 

Don't hijack the thread please.

 

just sharing my experience, and basically saying its not just alienware that has recovery disc making problem.
and of course the idea is so you don't blame the aw because of it.
and +1 for you for pointed out the solutions.

 

So what should I do with my machine to get it like it was before? It was utterly perfect before this, and seems like a whole load of rigmarole to to a whole clean boot of Windows before I even install my SSD.

Livid: what do you mean a fault of the imaging process of the R4? I've just woken up, but, are you saying that the R4 has problems with writing any media and Alienware are shipping these? :/ If I have got the wrong end of the stick, please forgive me, I just don't get it.

 

Have yo tried writing the recovery to a USB stick?

 

Sure have, mentioned that in the OP. It created a recovery perfectly fine on the USB. But why is it, on TWO machines that this error has occurred and both times resulted in the machine refusing to eject the disc and they causing sound errors on bootup? Alienware rep help?

Or do you want my money to go to Falcon Northwest/Origin/MSI? :/

I did what you said about clean boot by disabling everything yet I still get the windows jingle being all choppy. Seriously thinking about binning this thing (re: refunded) because anything you do to it it becomes all touchy, finicky and weak about. Why the heck is this system:

1) Not doing recovery discs
2) Not ejecting failed discs
3) Choppy windows jingle every time I reload my system.

I've had two of these machines now, and the same issue has occured. I'm getting...annoyed this has happened on TWO machines now. You can't tell me I'm the only guy in the world with 2 R4s that won't make recovery discs and they makes the system go haywire as a result... sure this isn't a fault of the entire line?

Edit: I'm just going to use AlienRespawn to recovery my system to factory settings from the AlienRespawn partition which should make my system like it out of the box, correct? I would still like to know what caused this fault however. Please. Thanks.

 

Why are restore discs THAT important to you? Is the hardware fine otherwise, do you have a Windows and a driver disc? Then just enjoy your perfectly fine computer.

You seriously returned your first one because of software related problems??? That's pretty ridiculous. And a waste of Dell's time and money. From what you say, there is no actual problem with the machine, and if there IS anything wrong (besides user error) its that the Alienrespawn software sucks. And if that software does indeed suck, maybe just stop using it.

 

The best way is to reinstall fresh. I did because i installed a SSD immediately. You should get familiar with this if you plan on future SSD upgrades

The AW comes with a windows 7 disc and a resource driver disc. You could have reinstalled your machine completely clean 10 times by now and suffered zero issues

 

This may be a long shot. Since you have already had the same issue on two laptops, have you tried using a different brand of blank DVD media? Maybe the DVD media / stack that you are using is the culprit? For all you know, maybe the reason for them not being ejectable is that they are warped or something? Just a thought.

The blank DVD media you are using would be the constant common denominator in the scenario causing the same results it seems. You've already replaced the laptop so that is now a variable in the equation.

 

I have the choppy startup sound on my new M18xR2 as well. I believe this is a known issue with the way drivers are loaded:

The startup sound is not played correctly when you start Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7

As for the burning of the DVD, I agree that you should try a different blank media. My first burn failed as well. But reburning immediately afterwards succeeded. And, I know the burn worked because I used it to restore to my SSD.

Restore discs are REALLY IMPORTANT! If you have any warranty issue, it is always good to be able to restore back to factory condition to prove that it is a hardware issue to the CSR.

I go far beyond and actually take out the original HD so that I never use it since I use a SSD anyway.

Lastly, I have confirmed that an easy way to install into a SSD is to do a restore from the disc. The windows install correctly identifies that SSD and enables TRIM, disables defrag, etc.

 

I've been a very polite member of this forum up until this point, but *ahem* I didn't return my first system for software faults... I returned it due to pi** poor workmanship, the software faults were just secondary to that return.

Secondly, it provides Dell no times wasting and money because they didn't REPLACE my system, I had to purchase a new one (with my own money) and wait to claim a refund on the old one I returned - they will lose close to no money on my old system as I've seen some of the prices they charge on the EU Outlet for fully specced out tech.

How was I to know that AlienRespawn sucks? Tell me? I'm not an Alienware evangelist with previous experiences with them, so when I pay a lot of money on a system I expect the proprietary software to be up to scratch.

My bad - my first system was such an utter piece of hot monkey garbage and I didn't know I wasn't allowed to air my grievances (read: ask for help) on here. We're not all technically sound benchmarkers. This isn't an attack, either, I'm just contextualising. I'll even + rep you for the no hard feelings brother.

 

So you can use respawn to restore from a 750gb HDD to a 128GB SSD?

 

Thanks for the response. You weren't supposed to know the software sucks, but I definitely stop trying to use software once it fails me the first time. I didn't know the history of your first machine, so I apologize. I would have been upset if I received a faulty system too. Everything I read in this post seemed to be software related.

From a completely non-snarky standpoint, I really do suggest you just do a clean reinstall and start enjoying your machine. Recovery media, in my very strong opinion, is completely unimportant.

 

Problem with it is, I'm a bit jittery as here in the UK you only get 7 days to decide against having a system (not the 21 they have in the states) I've been offered a pretty good deal for the M18x R2 with the double 7970m GPU's so I needed to do everything (such as overclocking this machine etc) before 7 days is up to decide if its a keeper or if I want the CrossfireX machine (help me decide, if you wish lol). I thought that having another (possibly) faulty system would have meant yet another wait to use the machine the way it was intended.

And I'm only going to do a completely clean reinstall of windows once I have my Samsung 830 SSD as I'd rather not do it twice. So just to clarify, AlienRespawn's ability to produce recovery discs, in general, well and truly absolutely sucks?

Edit: Oh, and your apology is completely accepted dude!

 

The general consensus I see around here is people having trouble with it. But remember that people with complaints are louder than people who are happy.

I WILL say that I doubt any of the problems you are having reflect bad HARDWARE, so by all means, get that OC testing done so you can decide for sure!

I think a single 7970m is plenty of power, and the m18X is unnecessary - esp since you can just upgrade the video card every 1.5 years and stay ahead of the game. Just my opinion. But if you can get either machine at similar or close prices, get the 18!

 

Have you considered simply using System Restore to restore your R4 to the state immediately preceding your first attempt to run Alien Respawn?

 

bloatwares are bloatwares (i assume you'd know what a bloatware is, no offense), and its not just alienware i assure you.

the point is, all of notebook pcs safe for the barebone one will have "convenient" softwares installed, i.e: alienrespawn in this case, and it shouldn't really frustrates you in the first place if it didn't work properly. you're paying for the hardware anyways, and those softwares are bonuses.

 

Your kidding right? You must be kidding?

If it doesn't work then it should be fixed, and a poorly loaded machine is a valid reason for it to be sent back and done right.

Seriously, its attitudes like this that are the reason companies get away with poor Q&A. I always reload my new laptops, after I create the restore disc. If that doesn't work, then there is a problem that needs to be fixed. Customers requesting service will let Dell know there is an issue and they can rectify it.

 

Not kidding, and with your awful grammar I barely want to reply.

Nonetheless, the Alienrespawn software is not very good software, and if it messed up the OP's machine, it is not the fault of the machine. Now, the OP later said the machine had PHYSICAL defects as well, but what I originally said stands true - if SOFTWARE messes up a machine, it is not the company's fault - Dell's job, IMO, is to provide us with good hardware and drivers to operate said hardware. Alienrespawn software, faulty or not, is bonus software tacked on as a courtesy. If Dell does a shoddy job installing the OS, sure that's a pain for some people, but using shipping resources and time just to reinstall software properly is silly. Any computer user should be able to install software him/herself.

My "attitude" concerning Dell is completely fine. If they send me a physically sound machine, and they support it fully through my warranty period, they have done their job.

Many high end computer companies send machines with no OS installed at all...

 

i rather have a discount and no OS. saves me all the stuff that comes pre installed.
first thing i always do with any new system is nuke the software and reinstall.