[Release] Alienware 18 BIOS A12 Unlocked

My laptop worked fine until I set the overclocking option in the unlocked bios, and that's what I've been doing since

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Brother, my computer has been restarted successfully. I was very, very happy to find that the reason I turned it off before and didn't restart was because I closed the screen cover, then I tried to open the screen cover for hot-swap memory, and then miraculously restarted it, so I reset my bios, thank you for helping me. Thank you very much.



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I'm glad you got it figured out, always a relief to resurrect something you think you killed haha

 

And I found that my independent graphics card was not recognized by the system.



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Ha ha ha, when I restored the BIOS by default, my 980sli appeared.

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@Raidriar how do i get a unlocked bios for my specific system? Trying to install a 1060

 

Sent you $5 for sharing this info, via BTC.

Enjoy.

 

Ahhh, so thats what happened. Tripped me out.

 

the money is not for me, it is for pythonic. I did not author this hack, I just tested and distributed it

 

Well thanks to you both anyway.

 

Have you guys tried A14 unlocked ?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...msi-gtx-1070-mxm.818900/page-23#post-10858274

 

Are there any benefits? I thought anything over A12 is a gimping the CPU?

 

Correct, meltdown/specter patches that kill CPU performance

 

Then it looks like A12 is recommended, if you like to benchmark and have the fastest speeds available from installed CPU.

 

This is procedure no good for me...
help me
Im use win 10 pro

 

Hello!Maybe someone can modify bios like in clevo laptop https://www.techinferno.com/index.p...version-intel-haswell-cpu-microcode-bug-hack/

 

Is there a WOL option on this unlocked bios ? Thanks

 

I have the unlocked A12 Bios, modified it with my service tag using a hex editor, so I retained that.
My question is, can I go from unlocked A12 to regular A12 (when/if I need to) and will that retain my service tag, or get @Raidriar 's service tag?

 

It will retain your tag as long as you edit it in the unlocked BIOS before you flash, though there is really no benefit to going back to the locked version

 

I personally don't see a point in switching to the locked version, but its just information for the future I guess

BTW, was there ever a solution to the MOSFETs dying? Read somewhere about some thermal pads/copper pieces etc to absorb heat? About a month ago, I remember my PC shut off completely during a game, and wasn't sure why, never bothered asking. And I havent played any games as intensely since to see if it was re-occuring, aside from running some benchmarks

 

That is a clear indication of the MOSFET problem. I had Dell replace the MB and I am just now starting to get the same issue. The 18 is a p1ece of $hit imo... I mean it's great, when it is working, but this will be my 5th MB replacement (2nd for the MOSFET issue). I have had it since 2014 October.

 

My Alienware 18 started doing this and blew its MOSFETS a couple weeks later. Sell now or part it out, it’s not worth repairing as the fault was never fixed and they will all blow up eventually.

 

Just as a follow up. I have tried changing a few settings with the power consumption and TDP, and ended up soft bricking it lol. Im worried if I alter anything else, I might brick it again. All I want to do is adjust the fan control in the bios.

 

BIOS does not control fan, EC does, BIOS fan values are ignored

 

Hi @Raidriar.
Can you please add an NVME support to your unlocked BIOS?

 

What values were locked were simply unlocked. Nvme support is not available to this system to the best of my knowledge.

 

Yes, but I know some trick to how to use NVME SSD's on this laptop:

It's MXM to NVME adapter!!!

 

Oh quite interesting.

I would prefer slots if that was feasible. Then just turn my ranger into a server when ever I retire it from my DD

 

This stuff are installing to any MXM 3.0 slot, even in master, you just then should use an integrated GPU if it's exist, or if your laptop have two MXM slot's then you just install this adaptor to the slave MXM port and have full speed PCI-E 3.0x4 speed on your SSD and able to use it for boot. But at firs the support of NVME must be added to the BIOS.

 

I just edited the BIOS and inserted the special driver to support NVME. It's A12 unlocked version vith just added NVME support on it. I'm not tested it myself, so you can do it.
Also I'm asking the @Raidriar to recheck my work, is I did it right. I've attached the screenshot from the UEFITool
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aOlK7DJWu-xEWZz3pLi5s3Ka7oDuz4gW/view?usp=sharing

 

Why not just replace the MOSFETs, they are bog standard components and you can put much better parts today for a couple $(with lower RDSon, so they heat less).

 

Probably just lack of know how for many of us. I don't have the 18 personally but would love it for my ranger.

Is there any precedent for this sort of thing? I have seen it on desktop gpu's and such for the overvolt mods

 

My hands shake too much for it to be possible for me to do it, plus I do not have the equipment / know how to do such a task.

 

When I worked in the laptop repair world burned up DC-IN MOSFETs where the bread and butter of the day, its a couple minutes of work after having the laptop tear down, all you need is a soldering iron and an hot air station, if you are in the USA, and dont know how to solder, an hackerspace will be the best place to hit and ask for help.

 

FYI 980M is Maxwell not Pascal. Pascal started with the GTX10xx series: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Nvidi...-1080-SLI-GTX-1070-and-GTX-1060.171566.0.html

@ TheCodeBreaker This seems like a smart thing to do. Do you mind giving a quick explanation of exactly what program you used and where you changed the service tag? Any tips on saving out the file or whatever would be greatly appreciated.

 

That doesnt really relate to @Ashtrix is speaking to, the AW18 cant drive the max potential of the 980m due to how much power it will need to do so (over 115w closer to 200w). This is due to the lackluster VRMs on the motherboard, they tend to burn out.

Would be very interesting if replacing the VRMs with better iterations more suitable to the platform and how that could effect the systems longevity though.

 

Hmmm...OK. I have just purchased a single 980M for my AW18 r1 currenlty with 770M. I see someone got a 1070 running in the AW18 r1 with low power consumption: https://tinyurl.com/vdp4cv2

I would be willing to try to upgrade the VRMs. Is that possible?

 

Can someone source high res photos of the motherboard, so I can take a look into it?

 

If running in SG mode is acceptable than yeah the 1070 works, isn't my personal choice but of course I don't have the aw18.

 

@senso Are you referring to my question "Can I upgrade the VRMs?" or imest's MOSFET problem?

 

I ran 1060 in my M18xR2 fine.

1070 works as well as long as you run SG video mode in BIOS (nVidia Optimus mode)

This one will fit, has 2x980M SLI performance almost in most recent games.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeF...473932?hash=item3d9814534c:g:SH0AAOSwmWxdwPDU

This one will fit too, different seller and more expensive

https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Dell-H...248714?hash=item2abc16f98a:g:mPQAAOSwkR5c64Og

 

@senso So my understanding is that the VRMs equal the MOSFETS, chokes and capacitors.

Is it possible to upgrade them? I'm thinking that may make the i7-4940MX and the 980M worthwhile in an AW18 r1.

 

4930mx > 4940mx in according to many here.

 

I'm thinking I should just sell the 4940mx I ordered on ebay and get a six-core 4930mx for $130. The 4940mx is selling for almost 3x the price of the 4930mx.

Sorry just realized that was the 4930k for $130. The 4930mx is about the same cost as the 4940mx.

Any thoughts on if I should try it or try to sell it?

 

I'd say try it out first if it's aleady shipped.

My 4930MX was able to hit 4.3Ghz. If i remember correctly 4.4Ghz-4.5Ghz was my ceiling.

My 3920XM can hit 4.4Ghz easily. 4,5Ghz is doable, 4.7Ghz requires some extra cooling.

Seems as time went on these mobile chips OC less

2920XM > 3920XM > 4930MX etc.

Today's HK chips are even worse.

 

Yes, It's shipped. I'll try it. I'm going to use the liquid metal and polish the copper pad as @Mr. Fox recommended.

Funny, I keep reading about the AW18 with 4940 overclocked to 4.4 like here https://tinyurl.com/wlxc4e3 and here https://tinyurl.com/t99xojs and here https://tinyurl.com/smfcppn ... like a script they are republishing. Is it possible those machines have better/different VRMs or coolling?

 

Part of the problem was (and still is) Alienware's appeal quickly lost its shine and almost overnight they lost all respect from overclockers due to their crippling and performance limiting shenanigans. And, then that brain cancer spread further to engulf most wannabe-enthusiast laptop owners. The gamer-boy sheeple herd drank the BGA Kool-Aid and things swiftly began circling the drain. Nonsensical gibberish like "people don't overclock laptops" and "people don't upgrade laptops" became the mantra of the kiddos that had to make lame excuses for the garbage they were willing to buy simply because it was so cute, thin and light. Clevo soon became the only available option for high performance laptops enthusiasts. They were (and still are) far from perfect, but in light of the pathetic alternatives, Clevo has not even had to try hard to hold their status as king of the hill... like taking candy from a baby. Even more sad, Alienware's foolishness wasn't limited to laptops. Their desktops have become emasculated garbage in so many ways that it is impossible for desktop overclocking enthusiasts to show them any respect. They are laughingstock among enthusiasts.

https://hwbot.org/submission/2578547_mr._fox_cpu_frequency_core_i7_4930mx_4997.04_mhz

https://hwbot.org/submission/2578343_mr._fox_wprime___32m_core_i7_4930mx_5sec_98ms

https://hwbot.org/submission/2523771_mr._fox_wprime___1024m_core_i7_4930mx_2min_46sec_639ms

https://hwbot.org/submission/2578631_mr._fox_xtu_core_i7_4930mx_1021_marks

 

The CPU VRM's are lets say integrated with the CPU design, you could maybe replace the inductors with ones with lower resistance, but those would be bigger physically, and would have certainly have different parasitic capacitance, and thus different Q factors, on the CPU side, you could try to cool them with a piece of cooper connected to the CPU heatsink, if they aren't already(I dont know how the heatsink sits on the mobo).

On the MXM slot MOSFETs, given that those like to burn up, its easy to do an upgrade, because they are either SOIC-8(or a variation of that footprint) or DFN-8(those require hot air to remove due to the pad in the middle), might be worth to also check the DC-IN MOSFETs so they aren't overpowered(aka, remove the MXM weak spot and then find that the DC-IN now burn up..).

 

What you see in those links is Alienware’s scam OC profiles. Put high clock speed on a single core and pair it with high voltage won’t make you sing hallelujah while Cinebench is running.

 

Guys anybody running sli 980s in an alienware 18.
Every restart I do keeps defaulting back to the integrated gpu, running Windows 10.

When I do a manual switch both 980s perform as expected I'm lost?