[Release] Alienware 18 BIOS A12 Unlocked

Okay guys..

Now i have taken the machine apart, re seated everything - all been repasted.

Working perfect, every restart

However - every time she loads , the fans are not working for GPU 1 or 2 under load ?

Why is this - this particular 18 came from the factory with 980's not sure if there is a fix for this?

 

Try and use HWiNFO to control fans?

 

All sorted thanks bro !!

I just installed the sli fix from dell as this is a native 980M 18 Viking, everything working a treat!!

No HWiNFO - fans working passively

 

any news on this?
Would be nice to have NVME in AW18 + 1070 !

 

Guys such a problem occurred, flashed BIOS Alienware 18 12 Unlocked then set the SG mode and the laptop does not start, it buzzes and the dark screen, what can be?

 

This might be a better option.

https://www.newegg.com/p/14G-0076-00089?item=9SIAEGB8U32627&source=region&nm_mc=knc-googlemkp-pc&cm_mmc=knc-googlemkp-pc-_-pla-micro+sata+cables-_-hard+drive+controllers+/+raid+cards-_-9SIAEGB8U32627&gclid=Cj0KCQjwx7zzBRCcARIsABPRscN8ZUFFiwb3XLGGqqkeBrImW7efLVGohFkg2nLk2MoN9_1e2-7NcrIaAv_PEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

https://www.ebay.com/i/274009168737...Mfj7NqwxjElxBio2ujwFJrlwV-VZeU34aAiqdEALw_wcB

 

That will not give NVME speeds. It will drop down to SATA III max speeds.

 

Just remove all RAM and try to start your laptop several time.That will bring your bios to default.After put your Ram back .

 

https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=a1z10.1-c.w137644-22238591753.26.6e112c5eMyjGdy&id=607393772035

if anyone wants to try it!

 

It's a noble thing, you should take it ))

 

I would if i can get a hold of it.

 

i just flashed the BIOS using the sleep bug and as descripted my laptop BRICK so i tried to do nvram reset several times
my system has 4910mq CPU, 32GB of ram and 880M SLI
1- i remove all the rams
2- disconnect COM battery and main battery
3- hold power button for 30 seconds
4- connect AC adapter and power on
5- wait until 2 beeps sequence finish and while the laptop shutoff and before it powers on i insert one ram at the back
6- laptop started to beep 5 beeps so i disconnected the AC adapter then started again but with no success, same thing the bios is greyed out
am i doing something wrong ?
what can i do ? i'm really lost
please help

 

i cant even enter windows to reflash since the default is raid

 

Hello. Sorry to hear of your difficulties.

Maybe someone with an Alienware 18 can take a BIOS dump with an SPI programmer and save it as a .bin or .rom file for you. Then you could use an SPI programmer with another computer to program the chip.

 

thank you Mr. Fox for your fast repay , unfortunately i really dont know what u meant since i have a limited knowledge in bios . if u can maybe explain a bit more or give me any advice , i know u sold your 18 long time back , i would really appreciate any tips here

 

UPDATE.. i just figured it out , my A12 bios had a password and i flashed the unlocked version without removing it so once i disabled the password my bios started to work again
thank you Mr. FOX for your replay , by the way u may not remember me but we knew each others back in 2013

UPDATE.. i just figured it out , my A12 bios had a password and i flashed the unlocked version without removing it so once i disabled the password my bios started to work again
thank you Mr. FOX for your replay , by the way u may not remember me but we knew each others back in 2013 due to teh 780M SLI on M18X R1 on another forums

 

Just switched to Alienware 18 from Alienware 17 Ranger .Installed Windows 10 in new MSATA . Having single 880M in it and somehow i cannot get the computer to go to SLEEP when i close the LID or push the POWER button. It might go to sleep but when i try to wake it up by pressing the Power Button, the backlit of the screen lights up and screen remains blank for 2-4 seconds and then the laptop starts from POST screen and then back to login screen after loading windows and everything in the background is closed. I dont know whats the issue with it i have double checked the POWER SETTINGS and they are all fine. anyone ?

 

i had this issue one time before so here it is what caused the issue for me : it started after i changed my screen refresh rate to a higher one from nvidia control panel. however when i was googleing this issue and how to solve it, i found many reported the same issue and all of them changed something in the nvidia control panal . so my advice is reset all nvidia settings to default and try

 

Dude !!! you are a life saver . Yes, i overclocked my panel to 100Hz that was the issue . Changed it to 60Hz and everything went smoothly . Thanks again

 

glad i can help

 

i just installed a 4930MX CPU on my alienware 18 with the A12 unlocked bios but i cant install the intel dynamic platform driver form any of these links :-
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-ca/drivers/driversdetails?driverId=D4G6R
or from the official Alienware 18 driver page here
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/alienware-18/drivers

i know there is a thread about the intel dynamic platform confusion here
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...r-on-dell-drivers-downloads-confusion.681669/
but its no longer accepts replies . @Mr. Fox any idea why i cant install the (intel dynamic platform & thermal framework driver) even when i have the 4930mx now ?

 

From whaI remember, you'll need change settings in bios (change to cTDP) to let it install. But why do you want this installed?

A few post regarding DPTF
http://forum.notebookreview.com/search/36102800/?q=DPTF&o=relevance&c[user][0]=612304

 

From what I understand ( which I could be wrong ) that this software will allow the bios to show all the hidden settings for the fan tables so i will be able able to control change them . I got this idea from another thread here , which was showing all the fan tables for the alienware 18 on A9 bios ) and it was the reason why we got the A12 unlocked bios .. correct me if I'm wrong

 

It's a very long time since I tested DPTF on my Aw17. But from what I remember I got less performance from my overclocking. Not so into this with "show all the hidden settings for the fan tables with DPTF". Maybe bro @Ashtrix have more info.

 

Thanks man, to be honest my top priority is the cpu speed . So if this effect it negatively then I don't need it . I'm using HWinfo to control the fans manually and its more then enough, but I thought it could be a bonus to fix the fan speeds that I like over the bios and let it work automatically without me needing to adjust it Manually every time I run a heavy software

 

Yeah, performance will always come first. And Hwinfo to control fans is enough.

 

For the first link you posted there the Alienware 17/18 aren't listed and it's the updated for Win10 Creators Update which is very old by now it's public release was on October 17, 2017 (SAC release 18Months EOL) , as for the AW18 page for driver downloads the .exe installation the OS support lists as Windows 8.1.

Not sure if you have all the OEM chipset drivers installed or let Win10 install them for you, perhaps you can try to do one thing, unzip the DPTF .exe package from the AW18 page with 7zip and if you see any Driver unidentified in the Device Manager you can try to point to that extracted driver files to install the DPTF.

That is the general process that I would try to do it. Maybe the driver that Dell has works only with Windows 7 and 8.1, I don't think anyone here uses those OSes anymore I run 8.1 but I do not have an MX chip to test it, AW18 BIOS though has that Maxwell VGA driver for the 980M to boot with Win7, maybe try Win7 installation ? Pascal definitely needs Win8.1/10 to allow the GPU upgrade for sure for that full UEFI.

As for the Unlocked BIOS to show hidden settings, yeah as per this thread initial pages of discussions what was established is overriding the EC control to enable the Temperature control to ramp up fans quickly.

Also as Papusan mentioned HWinfo maxout is a good option, the fan full blast only the BIOS flash sadly. Stupid Dell BS limits to make people think everything is fine as long as I do not hear noise.

Brother Papusan, unfortunately so far no AW17+Unlocked sBIOS confirmed DPTF driver + MX chips working on the AW17, last time I heard here.

 

Thank you Ashtrix for the detaild reply,
Great idea about unzipping the driver and check, didn't cross my mind .
I would agree with u that it could be a windows version issue .
But I think if as @Papusan said if it will reduce the overclocking performance then its not worth it since HWinfo can solve the fan issues in a convenient way.

 

You got a great score here , may I know what is ur overclocking settings ?

 

Hi.
I have a Alienware 18 2013 that came with Windows 8 (upgraded to 10 now) and sli gtx 765m.
I've bought a single Gtx 980m 8gb with Dell vbios to make the upgrade.
I'm at the last original Bios for the Aw18, the A15.
Installed the new gpu, in bios it is recognized, but when windows 10 loads for the first time, no problem but when windows tries to install the drivers, it freezes, giving me pink stripes all over the screen.
In safe mode, it works with no problem.
Used DDu in safe mode, booted again in w10 and tries to install the newer driver, but at some point during the installation, same problem...

Any advices??

 

A problem with memory, I had this, I need to replace the memory cans.

 

Hi Masterbest.
Thx for the reply in this Christmas Eve..

Sorry, but what is this Memory cans?

Maybe that is why gpuz shows no memory in the info..

How you replaced this memory cans?

 

Here are these on the 8gb card 16 pieces, some of them are out of order or even a few, it is necessary to solder the soldering station.

 

Hello.
Thank you so much for the unlocking work done.
I installed the unlocked BIOS and I had a couple of questions. I understand that if there is only one card, then it only works in "SG" mode? And I also noticed that my card is working in (Pci-e 3.0 / Pci-1.1) mode. After several reboots, I manage to enable pci-e 3.0. Tell me is this a bug of this BIOS or do I need some special settings for this? I have a 970m 6gb card on a blue PCB. There was no such thing in the 17r1 ranger. Is it realistic to make this card work in "PEG" mode, or do you need some other mode?

 

I am having the same issue, did you get it sorted ? I've not updated the vbios on my cards and running A15 bios.

 

Out to the people using the unlocked BIOS.
What are exactly the features of this unlock?
I know SG mode, worth if i ever will change to 10xx+. However is for example also TPM or better PTT usable? Which should be in thoery possible. Haswell was the first CPU line got this on board, but sadly in stock BIOS not exposed. Etc.

As i understand it correctly it should be no problem downgrade from A15 to A12 and then flash Unlock right? Thx

Edit: OK its only Haswell U not MQ or MX forget it.