Alienware 18 BIOS A07

A07 is out.
Driver Details | Dell US

 

Hmm, looks interesting

1. Modify power down mode for 4dimm and 2channel memory.
2. Modify related overclocking items for setup menu.
3. Implement MXM1 and MXM2 Fan control and thermal status for diagnostic.
4. Modify battery OCP protect function.

Does number 3 mean that we will have some fan control finally?

 

well well maybe at last

 

Watching this space.......with interest....hope things are finally unleashed for the 18!!

 

I am flashing it on the Alienware 18 as I type this on the M18xR2. Here's hoping for something awesome.

Edit: DANGER!!! DANGER Will Robinson!!! Do not flash this BIOS.

I'll be back with a photo in a minute.

- - - -

Edit: For help fixing the A07 performance problems, please see this post.

 

awe crud.... Something told me I should of waited on flashing this, everything seems ok thus far though for me. I am curious what Mr. Fox found.

 

Check your BIOS. We thought it was locked down before... looks like it might be worse than ever now. Still testing, but here's what I found as soon as A07 was applied.



Looks like XTU still works, but I am investigating why I now have a SEVERE TPD throttle that I do not have with A05. Running 45x4 under load with the same settings I used on A05 throttles the CPU down to 4.0GHz or less without any temperature problems. I'll look at manual fan control in a bit, but if I can't stop the TDP throttle manual fan control will be worthless in my mind.

- - - -

Edit: For help fixing the A07 performance problems, please see this post.

 

Man, that sucks BIG TIME.........

 

I will have to check bios when I get home. I wonder why OC lvl 2 &3 were removed. In windows though it seems my CPU throttles less. Before it would throttle down to 3.3GHZ under load no matter what, now it stays at 3.8 when under heavy load.

 

Staying at 3.8GHz under heavy load stinks if you have it set to run at 4.5GHz. I don't care about LVL 2 & 3 being removed because I never use those settings for anything. But, I do care that the multipliers are grayed out, especially with an Extreme CPU installed.

- - - -

For help fixing the A07 performance problems, please see this post.

 

I don't expect it to be at 4.5, but I do agree if I was expecting 4.5GHZ and 3.8 I would be ticked. That is exactly how I felt when I was expecting 4GHZ and got 3.3GHZ. Mr. Fox, were you able to flash back to A05 successfully?

 

Hehe in the back of my mind I somewhat expected this.

The 880M SLI that turbo to much higher clock speed would mean that it's more power hungry than 780M SLI. In a system that's operating close to its power limit (since the 18 can't utilize dual PSU), it's likely a trade off they decided to make. I don't like to mess with the OC stuff in BIOS now, I purely use ThrottleStop to control everything. "Overclocking feature" is left as "disabled".

The one thing that TS can't control when the OC option is disabled, is the cache/L3 frequency. I noticed a 0.05 point difference in Cinebench R11.5 when going from 3.9 GHz to 4/4.1GHz, but there's noticeable increase in temperature, so I decided to leave the L3 freq as it's at 3.9GHz.

 

I am actually on A05 and I only have OC LV1 available, I've never had LV2 or LV3 on my Alienware 18 (I am using a 4900MQ CPU), that said, I can control each individual frequencies in the menu so that's not such a big deal, I've had the LV2 and LV3 options on my Alienware M17xR4 though (3820QM CPU).

 

Yes, manual fan control works now, but you won't need it with a a pokey little 3.8GHz CPU.

Someone else that has a 4930MX who already flashed A07 please check the BIOS to make sure it looks the same on yours. Maybe something goofy happened on this system that has the multipliers grayed out.

Look at this horrible 3DMark11 Physics score. The CPU runs at stock turbo max under load and so far no changes I have made in XTU will fix it. This is extremely discouraging.

Nobody should expect anything with a non-Extreme CPU. So, your multipliers are grayed out with A05 with the 4900MQ? I don't care about LV1, LV2, LVL 3 because I never use those settings for anything on any of my Alienware products... I do care that the multipliers are grayed out with an Extreme CPU.

 

Oddly enough, I don't think they are greyed out, I will check again when I get back home though.

 

OK, if you and wheth4400 will check and let us know if the multipliers are grayed out that would be great. I am hoping it's not like this on everyone's machine and something goofy has happened on this one. Also run some hardcore CPU benchmarks. My Cinebench, ThrottleStop and wPrime 32M scores are horrible, just like the 3DMark11 result above. CPU won't hold an overclock with any settings I have tried thus far. It's worse than it was in the beginning now.

 

Doesn't looks greyed out on my Alienware 18 and I am not using an xtreme cpu.

Keep in mind that I am still running on A05, I am not too keen on updating so far.



Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk

 

They are not grayed out, but if you're on A05 that's cool. Mine were not grayed out on A05.

I'm doing more testing with XTU to see if I can circumvent what they have done here. Maybe wheth4400 will let us know what A07 looks like in the BIOS with his 4930MX. It looks like ThrottleStop may no longer be working correctly. Anything I set with XTU is being reset to stock defaults at reboot as well. This is pathetic.

 

this is just unbelievable so far, why are they shooting themselves in a foot so bad...? either they aim to roll down the hill with the reputation they had or there are some complete empty-minds working out there doing whats being done right now... thats a shame

and I do understand why Mr.Fox still holds his M18XR2 close to him till this date

 

I can test out the A07, but first I will need to know, if someone can test it out, whether I will be able to revert back to A05 from A07.

We might need some help from svl7 to take a peep at A07 and see if anymore registers are being locked up.

 

That's a good idea. Hopefully, svl7 can tell us what's going on with it. I may have found some settings with XTU that put my performance closer to where it was before A07... not quite there yet, but close. However, it looks like XTU loses all the settings and it reverts to stock defaults at reboot, which is where we started out in earlier BIOS versions.

Edit: the XTU settings are sticking at reboot, but it appears they are not applied after reboot. I have to reapply them for some reason.

I'll see if I can flash A05 and come back in a minute with a report on that. I hope it's something odd, like my CPU not playing nice with new microcode or something like that. It would be great if it worked OK for everyone else.

Edit: this is going to have to wait until later today, maybe tomorrow. I just applied my best overclock profile from XTU that worked perfectly with A05 and now my 18 will no longer boot. Going to have to try to pull RAM sticks out to see if I can reset the BIOS. Man, this really sucks.

 

Well brothers,

I can report that my 18 with the 4930xm is doing the exact same thing as Mr. Fox's. See the picture below. I will test rolling back to A05 and report back in a few.

EDIT:

I can't get the photo to upload.. GRR

 

So the Fan controlle with HWINFO work now ? , we need a mix or the 05 with the 07 bios .

 

What? What's dell big idea with this Bios?

 

Yes they do. The fan speed limit is still capped, but at least manual controls are available. If the CPU won't hold an overclock properly it will be somewhat irrelevant.

 

Brothers,

We can flash back to A05 with ease. After the flash back I went into bios and made sure I had my OCLVL 2 and 3 back, and my multi's were no longer greyed out.

 

Do you have the option in this bios for 2133MHz memory ? Because I thinked to buy 4*8GB 2133MHz from G.Skill for upgrade my 1600MHz memory.

 

I only have 1600MHZ ram so I have never checked to see if I even had the option for 2133MHZ

 

The 2133 option was there for me before, but setting it did not do anything. Stock RAM ran at stock 1600 speeds and 2133 ran at 1866 even with it manually set to 2133.

 

Wel... This is coconut!!!

 

I was hoping for some improvement of the sound as the subwoofer rarely seems to work but nope

this is the worst subwoofer I've had in a gaming laptop, I was expecting miracles from the Klipsch system but nope...my previous ASUS laptops blow this out of the water

and why do I see people downgrading to A05 and not A06? anything special about A05?

 

I updated mine, here is a screenshot:

 

Alienware 17 (Ranger) /18 (Viking) Owners** - How to 'Un-Brick' Your Mobo

Anyhow, the 18 is alive again.

1. Turn the system off and disconnect the AC adapter
2. Disconnect CMOS battery and system battery**
3. Do a power drain (press and hold power button 30 seconds)
4. Remove all memory modules
5. Reconnect AC adapter and power system on
6. Let laptop beep until it turns itself off
7. VERY QUICKLY, WHILE IT IS OFF, BUT BEFORE IT ATTEMPTS TO BOOT AND LIGHTS COME ON AGAIN, INSERT 1 MEMORY MODULE
8. System will start to beep 5 times
9. Power system off
10. Reconnect CMOS battery and system battery
11. Replace any panels removed for access to memory modules
12. Done…

**Note: It has since been discovered by @Raidriar that removing the CMOS battery should not be necessary. If you have an Alienware 17, please try skipping this step. Accessing the CMOS battery on the 18 is easy. On the 17 you have to remove the motherboard or cut away a small piece of the chassis covering half of the coin cell battery.

I left the memory modules out under the palm rest so I don't have to take it apart if this happens again.

Now, for further investigation on this new BIOS, LOL.

 

yes bro, A07 as I said I just updated. I don't know what you are looking for exactly since I never overclocked yet...is mine disabled like yours or is it enabled? I don't know what are you looking for really

my CPU is in my sig...

what are those scary steps you wrote above?? don't tell me you have to dismantle the laptop just to do a downgrade! LOL

 

That's good news Mr. Fox!... Double Helix, Is that A07. and what CPU do you have? That is very curious how your Multi's are unlocked.

 

Brother Fox.. Those steps you posted. While the laptop is running remove the battery and cmos power plug and memory modules while running? then stick a memory module back in once it shuts down before rebooting?

or

Turn it off remove all ram and unplug the batteries. Turn on and beep then as it reboots add a memory module?

 

No, step one is to power it off and disconnect the AC adapter...

You have to be quick. If you don't slap a memory module in during the second or two the system is off it does not work. I tried it four or five times without doing that and it won't POST unless you insert the memory module during this 1-2 second time window. If you insert the module while it is off, when it powers on it will beep 5 times (memory error). You can shut the system off after it powers up and starts beeping 5 times and then it will POST. That's sort of scary due to ESD, so I made sure I was grounded to the metal chassis and had the memory module already in my hand so I did not have to pick it up off the desk to reduce the chance of ESD problems.

So, in case it was not completely clear...

1. Turn the system off and disconnect the AC adapter
2. Disconnect CMOS battery and system battery
3. Do a power drain (press and hold power button 30 seconds)
4. Remove all memory modules
5. Reconnect AC adapter and power system on
6. Let laptop beep until it turns itself off
7. VERY QUICKLY, WHILE IT IS OFF, BUT BEFORE IT ATTEMPTS TO BOOT AND LIGHTS COME ON AGAIN, INSERT A MEMORY MODULE
8. System will start to beep 5 times
9. Power system off
10. Reconnect CMOS battery and system battery
11. Replace any panels removed for access to memory modules
12. Done…

 

my cpu is in my sig bro

All I did was update the BIOS from A06 to A07, then upon the first boot up, I loaded optimal default TWICE then took that screenshot for you.

If mine is unlocked as you say, then perhaps A07 isn't that bad afterall try restoring optimal defaults twice then reboot end re-enter BIOS.

Another thing to note, is before doing the update to A07, I had CPU overlocking DISABLEd, and only enabled it after the update

 

That's great advice Double Helix, I am wondering if there might be more available overhead on your 4800MQ vs our 4930MX CPU's to allow for the extra overclocking options. I am going to try your steps later tonight to see if I can restore my oc levels.

 

Thank you Brother Fox. I wanted to make a clear mental note for myself and maybe for others. Just in case

 

I am going to try it too, but resetting BIOS defaults with the 4930MX sets the overclocking option to cTDP every time I try it.

Maybe they did something that only screws up the 4930MX. Will report back if it makes any difference.

 

From what brother Helix just said,looks like the Bios with the 4800MQ doesn't behave the same way it does with mr.Fox and his 4930XM. This leaves room for the hypothesis of an utterly mistake made unintentionally from who wrote down the update with the 4930XM series,at least I hope so,for them and for us. If someone updated with an 4900QM,we may check it out and see,either way there could be something rotten behind this related to the new 880M as kh9 suggested.

 

very good point. Each CPU has different overhead for overclocking. While I am no pro in overclocking since I haven't done it since 2000 back then when it was very easy to get 800 Mhz. out of a Pentium III 600 Mhz. with no extra cooling or anything. Maybe my lowerclocked CPU has a bit more overhead to allow more overclocking

Eitherway, I think you should try as the BIOS upgrade was smooth as silk for me. try the setup default I hope that works.

but still, noone answered me, those steps that Mr. Fox posted above which involve dismantling the laptop and removing the CMOS battery...what are those for exactly? I hope to god that's not how you downgrade a BIOS

 

guys is it my placebo effect or did the audio seem to be louder with this new BIOS A07? have yet to test the crappy bass that I had but this is my first observation...even the Windows Ding sounds when you get an error have become drastically louder.

weird

 

No, that's how you clear the CMOS when the 18 fails to POST. Doing it the old way does not work because the new BIOS stores settings in NVRAM. They are persistent regardless of whether the settings are good or bad. It really sucks the way things work now with the BIOS.

Anyway, I reset BIOS defaults three times, rebooted between each time, then flashed A07 again. It did not change anything. Multipliers are still grayed out.

I am thinking they must have added some "malicious code" to the BIOS for Extreme CPU owners to prevent overclocking, or there is some kind of coding error in A07 that only affects an Extreme CPU. If this only happens with a 4930MX (maybe 4940MX also) then I don't know how else to explain it. Since wheth4400 has the same problem with his 4930MX, it must be an error in coding or an intentional blockage that was implemented. The CPU runs at 2.0GHz with default BIOS settings, so it's not even running close to stock speed. Seems like this is similar to where we started... messed up.

This CPU-Z screen shot is with the Dell LVL 1 OC (only BIOS option that exists now) so it should be running a minimum of 4.0GHz on 4 cores.

 

I thought about it at first,but if that was so shouldn't it let Mr.Fox set lower multipliers instead of totally grey them out? also Mr.Fox, stupid question, have you tried to disable it and re-enable like double helix did?

Oh,so i'm not alone. Sometimes I feel like there's no bass at all on this laptop,or at least the only bass i can perceive are the mid ones

 

Yes, I did it several times and no change.

I also just used the option to flash from DOS bootable USB stick and it made no difference. I guess I will be flashing back to A05. Hopefully, whatever changes were made to the EC that allow manual fan controls will not be overwritten with the old garbage.

 

Mr Fox, while I agree there is something up with this bios, I also think that either something is up with your proc, or your outdated ( Ver. 1.69.0) CPU-z is lying to you. My 4930MX with LVL1OC shows properly and seems to function at those settings. Also in your screen shot it shows your proc as an ES, mine does not. I am going to try and upload a screen shot of cpu-z ( Ver 1.69.2) with mine for comparison.

 

Judging by the (admittedly limited) results here, I think you might be onto something. The 4930MX is the only fully TDP unlocked chip that can draw over 140+W during heavy benching. Throw 880M SLI in there and well, you're just gonna choke that 330W PSU.

 

Yeah, but it has always run better than almost everyone else's 4930MX until now. The CPU being an ES should not matter. It never has in the past, but I suppose anything is possible. But, I am back on A05 now. A07 is obviously not a usable BIOS for 4930MX owners.

Edit: just updated to the newer CPU-Z and it is the same.

Maybe so, but they should not release a product that cannot function correctly. Choking the CPU in order to let the GPUs work is not an acceptable solution. They need to increase the power supply so the CPU and GPU both run at full advertised speeds or greater. The only viable solutions are to fix it the right way or discontinue the product and stop selling it. Otherwise, you're just going to have a bunch of unhappy customers that are stuck with a product that does not function as intended. I don't think Alienware wants that for their customers, or for their bottom line.