*OFFICIAL* Alienware 18 Owner's Lounge Thread

Again if you want me to tell you what changes to look out for in A04 that you wanted I will look for them,

 

I'll just wait and let it be a surprise since I can't actually do anything until it is available for testing. If you want to post images of the menus so we can see if they have been opened up, that would be cool. Be sure to block out your service tag if you take a photo of a screen with that showing.

 

Tried to upload a jpeg but keep getting a msg saying failed to up load image,

 

Means the image is too big.....

 

A04! Wow, I never thought I would see the day. Hopefully, there are some meaningful changes to open up the fan tables and BIOS.

 

Wow, I really have been out of the loop.

 

Both Brother Ammo7 and Faiz23 have confirmed that A04 has been released on the recently built machines. I still havent seen it drop on the Dell site though :S

I personally cannot speak to the changes but we will see...

 

As soon as we have the update posted I'll create a new thread.

 

I really hope on my side that the fan contrôle will work now with HWinfo64 because I am very dissapointed at this time, if it was not that I need the 18 for is 3 2.5'' SATA3 port for Raid 0 I would put it on sale already for come back to a R2 or switch for Clevo.

 

I hope that fans behavior is corrected as well as being able to use HWiNFO64 fan controls. The fan malfunctioning issue adversely affects everyone, whether they are overclockers or not. So does the default CPU power settings that cause the CPU to not function normally even at stock clock speeds. Faiz23's XTU benchmark score suggests they may have fixed something to improve performance.

 

Why the bios is not for download right now, if they have already shipped system with it ?

 

That happens all the time. We saw the same thing with M18xR1/R2. New systems often come with a newer BIOS version ahead of a public BIOS release being available for download. It usually follows a week or two later for existing users to download.

 

What I week or two to wait again ? I was front of my laptop all the day because I think that this was a question about couple hours ...

 

Assuming A04 is the solution to the performance limitations, it's sort of ridiculous how long it took them to address it. But I suppose it's good they finally did.

 

Assumption is the mother of all f-ups....and since when did Dell start shipping machines with unlocked bios ?

The 4930mx has been factory overclocked for some time, doesnt mean it actually works like it should....

 

Fingers crossed that A04 will sort out the long running issues for everyone.

 

I hope it brings Alienware back into good light with all the hardcore enthusiast. I miss my 18

 

^^This pretty much explains it
It takes a while for our PG to post the drivers and downloads on the website.

 

You don't have it Porras ? Because if yes upload it somewhere please !!

 

Well, let's hope it is. If they took longer to make sure it was done right and put it through some testing exercises to avoid other issues it will have been worth the wait. Since we do not know how things work internally at Dell and their relationship with Compal, there may be a reasonable explanation for the timeline being longer than we would have liked it to be.

 

I do but I won't upload it. xD Just kidding, don't have it. We are expecting the release as much as you guys are.

 

If you work for alienware, why just not call the good people for he send it to you ? it not 1TB date only a bios :s.

 

I wish it was that simple, but unfortunately it is not. We aren't supposed to release/share anything until they send it through an official channel (support.dell.com).

 

Hopefully someone here will be able to help me. I've just received my Alienware 18 today, everything is in excellent condition. However it came with the OS installed on the 7200rpm HDD instead of the msata SSD. So I went ahead and re-installed Windows 8 with the dvd it came with. After that I installed all the software and drivers but now I can't seem to find the WiFi driver. Even when I enter my service tag on the dell support site it doesn't show any drivers.

I have the Broadcom 4352 Wireless 802.11ACN. Would anyone be able to tell me where I can find the proper drivers for that? Thanks!

 

Here you go. Download File | Dell US

 

It is hard to find and can be somewhat confusion because of the way it is identified. The WiFi and Bluetooth drivers are included in one package "Broadcom BCM4352 Wireless Bluetooth 4.0 Driver" under the category of "Model/Communications" and the link Bumbo provided above is the one you want. I am not sure why they did not file it under the "Network" category. (That is where I would expect to find it.)

It is better to look for drivers by laptop model instead of using your Service Tag. For some reason using the Service Tag seems to hide everything. If you look for drivers by model it will show all of the available drivers.

 

That part would be normal - Dell would load the OS onto the HDD and use the mSata to cache (speed up the HDD) as opposed to install the OS to the mSata - the other guys have sorted you regarding the drivers!

 

That's weird. Because I also installed those drivers and the Bluetooth worked fine. However the WiFi stil didn't work.

On another note, The keyboard types really really really nice

-Edit: Scratch that it randomly started working!

 

Does anyone have some good equalizer settings for in Dolby? I can't seem to find a good setting. By default everything sounds extremely off... I'd like to bring out the lower frequencies more like the M18x R2 did.

 

If you are not running an AC router, the Broadcom wifi is horribly bugged.

I have had to use a usb adapter to properly connect to my asus rt-n16 router as the Broadcom one drops and sputters terribly.
Speedtest shows 4Mbps difference in download speeds between the AC (11Mbps) and my b/g USB (15Mbps) constantly.

I'm looking for a good equalizer set up too. I was spoiled by my Acers 5.1 sound.

 

Guys I need help .
When I turn on my Laptop. Just for the first few seconds when the laptop is booting it, the fx lights but suddenly they dim and fade. The lights are looking extremely dull and yellow colour appears orange. The faded lights are barely visible.
I think this is a software problem because the first two seconds the lights work perfectly, right now I am reinstalling the command center. I will let you know if that helps. Help!

 

Reinstalled command center no help it seems like yellow color especially is not working but as I said on startup the lights look absolutely fine for first 2 seconds but turn green immediately
Yellow color on fx is reddish orange
And orange color is a faded yellow
Sent from my HTC Desire X using Tapatalk

 

This is supposed to be red - yellow - green - blue from left to right

Sent from my HTC Desire X using Tapatalk

 

I received my brothers laptop with the following specs that included msata ssd for caching. Genius technicians at the Lebanon, TN plant setup the msata as a regular drive instead of a caching drive. I don't mean boot the computer of the msata ssd since it is only 64gb card and would be pointless. It is just setup as a blank formatted drive. The parts description for the order state it is a cache drive and should be setup as following. I had to setup the cache drive my self to actually take advantage of what I paid for. Also if you search google for "pm830 msata", you will see it comes back with Samsung PM830 Msata SSD. What I received what a liteon msata ssd. I am not going to waste my time with Dell but technically they are doing a bait and switch along with false advertising. You have expectations to receive what was sent to you via email but what you actually receive is a cheaper part.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-r4-enable-caching-msata-ssd.html#post9198114
How to Enable Caching on mSata SSD for Alienware Laptops? | Dell US
http://bit.ly/1fwND6D


Item Number Quantity Item Description
JP7KP 1 Base,Notebook,Balanced Technology Extended,RANGER
K972H 1 Module,Adapter,Alternating Current,240W,Delta - Ac Adapt World Wide
N971H 1 Module,Cord,Power,125V,2M,C13 United States
611P7 1 Module,Assembly,Base,Optical Device Drive,AW17R1
3XWVK 1 Module,Cover,HNG-UP,Wireless Local Area Network Card,AW17R1
NXGDN 1 Module,Software,W8H/P64,Digital Video Disk Drive,MUL24
JC80D 1 Module,Software,W8H64,England/English,DAO/BCC
7P3MG 1 Module,Processor,HSW,I7-4700MQ,2.4,17R1
5C2R1 1 Module,Dual In-Line Memory Module,16GB,4X4GB,1600,DDR3L
MDDF9 1 Module,Hard Drive,750,7.2,P11,4K,MX375
RY98H 1 Module,Solid State Drive,64,MCARD,PM830,ISRT
K68JV 1 Module,Dvd+/-Rw,Hitachi Lg Data Storage,BARE,Alienware
YFWNC 1 Module,Card,Graphics,NV14E-GS,AW17R1 (770m)
8132H 1 Module,Card,Network,BCM4352,World Wide,Artwork
YXWJH 1 Module,Shipping Material,Notebook,Alienware,17,REGLR
C112J 1 Module,Documentation,SERI/WSI English,DAO/BCC
W753G 1 Module,Information,Direct Ship,Compal,TSINGMA
RC4TG 1 Service Install Module,Software,BCM4352,Alienware,Logitech Dovebar
68CGP 1 Module,Software,Microsoft,Gml Inc,Operating System,W8,Consumer
4F9D1 1 Module,Label,Intel,CI7,Small
GCK79 1 Module,Information,Hard Disk Drive Cache,Solid State Drive
F0TH9 1 Module,Palmrest,N-VPT,AW17R1
KHCK5 1 MOD,INFO,GNRC
CXR80 1 Service Install Module,Software,Alienware,AW17R1
WCRMT 1 Module,Software,Cyberlink,Suite,ESLS,Consumer,Board
8RJV4 1 Module,Software,Windows,Live,Essentials
J5V02 1 Module,Software,DSPRT-CTR,3.X
CVYV4 1 Module,Software,DBR1.0,BASIC,CSMB
NR5YV 1 Module,Software,Quick Fix Engineering,WIN8
6WC8X 1 Module,Liquid Crystal Display,17.3FHD,AG,Legend,AW17R1

 

Guys I finally sort it out I don't know how but I solved my problem
I let it cool down for 4 mins and lights got normal

 

Apologies if this has been mentioned before, I did search but couldn't find anything.

I have noticed a strange clicking sound coming from my Laptop, near to the in socket for the power cable; it seems to repeat slowly, maybe every half hr or so....give or take a bit. Is this normal? I haven't noticed any ill effects but that doesn't mean something isn't going on.

 

So under full load my 4800MQ doesn't go any further then 2.97GHz. The ratio stays at 30.0x..... Is this normal or is this caused by the the bios?

I'm also experiencing low 3D Mark 2011 scores.

My system
4800MQ
780M SLI
16GB 1600
256GB mSata
Windows 8 64bit

I'm only getting a score of P11227. : http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/7915761

Edit : Overclockig the gpu only lowers the scores....

Seeing as other systems score way higher with the same config I'm wondering what's wrong. Using nVidia drivers : 332.21

 

unlock level 3 overclock in bios

 

There's no such option in my bios. Care to specify where it should be?

 

What's your BIOS version?

Have you seen this?

 

Hello all I have A question
I just installed a 750Gb 840 evo and I also have a 1Tb 840 evo do I need to remove the 80gb Msata. I got a warning from rapid storage saying it is incompatible.
I also switch to ACHI from raid. it does not see the Msata drive In device Manager either

UPDATE for Bios AO4 my system shows A04 date of 12/17/2013
when I ran 3DMARK, Fire Strike score 7642 max temp was 73C CPU max 3.955.

 

If the mSATA was used to cache a HDD, you need to convert it back to a basic disk first.
This is what I did a while ago: Re: How to turn cache msata into regular partition?

 

guys what u tell me about his laptop vs the asus g750jh or the msi dragon gt70 v2?

 

I also put in a 1TB EVO, I just ignore the warnings and keep the MSATA as is, you don't need the extra space with the EVO's. It doesn't hurt anything, my system runs great. I reserve it for when I want to remove the EVO and go back to the old 7200 rpm hard drive, once my system is obsolete, for archieving stuff. If you have any freezing issues where the system freezes and nothing is operable until hard shut down, I have the settings for the EVO Magician to cure the freezes. Off topic, just got an e-pen, pen tablet, an IntuosPro PTH-651 medium, its great for controlling 2 external monitors in addition to the main 18 inch screen. The small size e-pen tablet is too small for 3 monitors and only good for one monitor. Gets rid of CTS issues.

 

I took out the Msata and put it along with the original HD for safe keeping in a barrier bag. I cant stand error messages they drive me LOL

 

L@@K: Alienware 18 System BIOS - A04 Release

 

While it doesn't fix the fan tables, the nVidia N15 MXM is interesting. Same goes with the AMD Neptune. I got a feeling a "small" refresh is coming.

BTW on Facebook, AW posted this: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?....285384318154671.89169.278473465512423&type=1

This definitely got my intention.

 

With what specs ?

 

a04
screwed up all my wireless passwords so save first
no real changes so far maybe mister fox has a more detailed observations