*Official Alienware M18x AMD CrossFire Discussion Thread (re: Dell/AW Conference Call)*

Sure thing - I dont mind test-piloting a new Dellized AMD Driver....nothing to lose by doing so. Might be worth getting others to test out too....Im sure once its up on the web for consumption, many will have a stab at them.

Any idea what "enhancements" have been made (like AMD's release notes maybe?)

 

I boot my m18 to the login screen and reboot using the little dropdown menu in the bottom right corner. I then test furmark to make sure the fans come on.

Think I will try and get a replacement unit or a refund as I should not have to deal with this.

 

I'm pretty sure its a very simple answer: Intel did not produce a mobile chipset for Sandy Bridge that accommodates dual cards + integrated graphics support. That's why we're running on HM67 right now.

 

No, the HM67 has optimus support so does the HM65, MSI has a range of laptops based on HM67 chipsets just like the M18X.

You need dedicated logic for graphics switching AMD or nVidia regardless.

 

Hi Bill, thanks for responding, I read about this work around as well as the bios default trick. I can confirm that the fans kick in and the temp stays at 82*C .

Problem is its not very pratical as I would need to do this multiple times, I don't just turn on the laptop and leave it on till the end of the day. This is fine as a workaround for casual home use or a single long session, but for work its unsuitable.

 

Congrats. Welcome to 580M SLI. This is the kind of service that I was posting about earlier. In the end Dell really wants to make things right. Hopefully we can get an up to date Nvidia Dell driver.......

 

Yes I know it works for single graphics solutions. However, afaik there isn't a muxless solution for AMD or nVidia in Crossfire/SLi. I haven't seen a dual graphics muxless solution yet, does MSI have it? Even AMD's PowerXpress 4.0 aka Dynamic Switchable Graphics seems to only be supported in low end solutions.

 

Maybe the hwinfo workaround is for you? This is a temporary problem. As soon as we find out root cause, we can implement a fix. Until then, we are going to have to deal with it the best we can. Sorry for the inconvenience.

*"We"=Dell.

 

Ah I know what you are trying to say, but the solution for logic for single or dual cards is all completely academic. Nothing complex.

Its not upto Intel beyond the already provided support they have given to laptop makers to provide switching. Its down to Dell giving the contract for making the specialized chips in bulk. You still need to make the chip for single card switching as well. Dell is a large company they can get any sub contractor out there in Taiwan to do this for them in large bulk quantity at cost of 2-3 USD or less per chip. They can have their current suppliers for the M17X R3 do the chips for the M18X as well, but why they didnt do this is the question for the conference call.

 

One question, and all I need is one person to confirm, please.

Do you see the cold boot thermal shut down issue running stock drivers? Or does every single affected system on this thread run modded drivers?

 

Just a quick "heads up" for those interested. As per Bill's post below, I have created a thread seperate to this one for testing and analysisof Dell's new vidoe driver revision. You can find the thread here:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...md-driver-release-scheduled-dell-shortly.html

Anyone who is up for testing and providing feedback on these drivers is more than welcome to post on the thread - the more the merrier!

Thanks Bill for the info. + rep.

 

Bill-

I am running the stock drivers that were installed on the laptop. The first thing I did with my system out of the box was test this issue and it does have it with the stock drivers on everything.

 

Thanks for starting the driver thread, steviejones. As our point person for gathering feedback on the driver test results and a "Team Red" panel member, if there are results to share in time for our conference call, we will have you share that information with Bill and Louis.

If the Community will keep feedback for the new Dell driver on the ***Updated AMD Driver release scheduled by Dell shortly*** thread and avoid posting driver test feedback on this Conference Call thread, it will help make steviejones' job of compiling the feedback more manageable.

 

Thank you very much! Will pass it along.

 

Thanks Fox, looking forward to some positive testing - hopefully. Anyone who wants to post feedback during or after testing, post away on the new thread above. Depending on when the call takes place and when the driver gets released, we may or may not have much to report initially but I suggest that Bill & Team Dell keep a check on the thread, as and when they can, for interim updates.

 

Im not sure Bill, I will install stock drivers and let you know.

I installed the latest drivers for gaming.

edit: someone beat me to it

 

A Dell engineer informed me they will be doing a system capture on my laptop. He said they are working on the problem and would like one from the field.

I'll post details when I know more, they said they'd call back in a few days.

 

Thanks for the detailed explanation of "on-the-fly iGFX switching" - clears up why we dont have it on the M18x, and like you say, its beyond me why the technology wasnt implemetned at design stage if it was not too costly to do so - afterall, I would consider the M18x to be Dell's flagship mobile platform (unless your looking at a precision etc for design work and the like).

+1 rep. (when the system lets me!)

 

I was also contacted by Bill asking if I would be willing to have my system captured. Obviously I agreed lol.

Will keep you all updated.

 

As system capture is a no-go outside the US, I cant....never mind.

 

Also have the reboot problem, and I know Johnk did/does as well....

When coming back from sleep the alienfx comes on ... sounds like the computer boots up fully but the screen stays black. Not projecting black, but as if there is no connection between teh screen and the comp

 

I don't think Johnk currently has that problem. I'm pretty sure no one with SLI has that problem.

 

Is it right for Dell to cancel my replacement parts due to this issue being investigated right now? I do not even have a chance of getting a motherboard replaced? I just talked to an agent and he told me they had to cancel the replacement and I would have to use HWiNFO64. They are basically leaving me with a temporary solution and making me wait with a faulty brand new computer. Not happy about this at all..

 

This is the exact type of behaviour that I have seen with my system. Enjoying a bit of gaming one minute, next minute without warning, either black screen or frozen on-screen graphics which is accompanied with total loss of any control...followed by a reboot - if it decides it will reboot...sometimes it just stays stuck with the on screen graphics frozen in time....hard shutdown in that instance.....not good stuff!

And even as I write this, looking at my external monitor, I can clearly see random flickering...one minute its the top of the screen, the next its a the bottom - its like a horizontal line right across the screen for a split second.......hard to catch, its very quick but its definetly there....very very annoying!

I know its not the monitor as its had little use really and worked perfectly fine with my old M17x R2, its not the HDMI as I have swapped out my quality Chord HDMI leads from my home theatre to test out.....gotta be AMD.

 

To be honest with you, every motherboard replacement that I've received except one has been refurbished. Every single one of them has had problems. You're probably better off with your original motherboard. Currently we have 2 M18x's with their original motherboard. The motherboard is such an important component. I refuse to put a refurbished motherboard in our systems. If they will only send you a refurbished motherboard I would suggest waiting for Dell to provide a fix. It's interesting that they would tell you to rely on HWiNFO64.

 

@YellowApple_ - Not being happy is completely understandable. You are totally justified in that sentiment. However, if they cannot send replacement parts that fix the problem, canceling the order to have faulty parts sent out would also be understandable. They should be investigating it and it would be silly for them to send out parts that are going to produce the same end result.

The good thing is that using HWiNFO64 will actually keep you in business while they develop the cure. It would be terrible to not have that option available and have a non-functional system because of it. I'm confident they will fix this, but it takes time and they are working on it.

Edit: Positive Reinforcement from Dell-Bill_B

Confirmation that the advice from Alienware Support was not off-base.

 

Do you guys have pictures of these HD 6990Ms old and the news ones? I would like to see if there are any physical changes to the PCB layout or components.

Because a simple vBIOS version change could have been cured by flashing to known good ones, but that doesn't seem to be the case here.

Another remote possibility is that Motherboard revisions itself made problems worse for AMD cards due to no fault of the cards but completely down to the board revision. Its perfectly possible for things to improve for one vendor while things get worse for another GPU vendor, nothing sinister but can happen.

 

Wow! We are lucky to have you here. Thanks! your explanations are like a welcomed course. @ least 4 me. +rep!

 

I have no problem, but the flickering.lol

 

Yes, I had this happening frequently as well. Left4Dead 2, Bulletstorm, Crysis and MW2 all did this. It usually was after an extended period of gaming, like a minimum of 30 minutes.

 

i just use speedfan to crank the fan up to 100 percent (about 3800rpms). Its loud but it stays nice and cool. Hopefully alienware will fix it before too long. Checking this thread like every 2 hours.

 

lol me too. I'm even worst, maybe every 45 mins if I'm home.

 

THIS is what I like to see Dell. There is no excuse or explanation for that problem, but one of your employees stepped in and is getting it handled.

Seeing as there is such a large Alienware community here on the NBR forums, I think it would only be proper to have a representative from Dell or NBR (or both) that can directly upchannel issues like what we're dealing with now. Communication is a major problem. We all individually call tech support and get different responses and fixes. Many problems go unsolved - like the post I mentioned earlier where the customer returned his laptop and went with Origin. We need to stop this from happening. If someone has a serious problem, there is no reason why the thread should go on for several pages without someone from Dell stepping in and saying "let me help".

 

A draft of the agenda has been sent to the "Team Red" panel for review. From there it will go to Dell-Bill_B for final review and the conference call will be scheduled. The final agenda will be added to the opening post along with details on the date and time for the conference call. We're getting close, folks.

Additional records have been added regarding the motherboard revision numbers of individuals experiencing problems. If you posted this information, please check the list in the first post to make sure you were not accidentally overlook. If you were, send me a PM with a link to your post and I will add it after work tomorrow evening.

@Nick - I had not seen that thread. Thank you for the link. I agree that it's totally awesome to see guys like Bill and Chris stepping in. Your other comments also have merit.

We can add a bullet point for "Missing CrossFire cable" under the topic VII. Quality Control Issues (Out-of-Box Problems Experienced by End Users)...

 

oh no. i have that problem. that and the dropping sata port 0.

 

Yes. Sounds accurate to me. It doesnt happen immediately, suggesting to me that its when the gpu's have been stressed for a while and they just flake out. I have tried this and it happens on Crysis 2 and Black Ops for me (I tend not to have lots of games installed on my SSD at any one point, meaning I am not able to test lots other titles)

This is the exact pattern I am experiencing too. F2.1136 MB. Havent done much gaming since as its not enjoyable when it all goes pear-shaped. With my symptoms being more or less identical to those of other members, I would (and do) attribute them to this problem rather than something else...

(Fox, have PM'd you regards the list on #1 post as I am down as unaffected)

 

I got my M18x with 6990's a couple of weeks ago it didn't work out of the of the box it would beep 8 times over and over again after finally getting it to boot into the intel 3000 I flashed the bios to A04 it was at A03 it booted once into the 6990's running GPU-Z it looked to me like they were actually overclocked 6970's after shutting it down it just did the 8 beep if I turned it off and on enough times I would eventually get it to boot into the intel 3000 graphics but never again into the 6990's(70's) its on its way back to me now they replaced the motherboard....

 

Oh great! I hope I don't get that problem
I hope Mr. Fox read your post to include that 580M SLI is also affected.

 

I feel your pain.

I had exactly this issue and finally ended up having to completely removed the 6990M cards. BIOS A04 was intended to correct the failure to POST with 8 beeps on systems equipped with 580M GTX cards. After removing the AMD cards I flashed to A04 and reinstalled them... still no success. I also had to reinstall Windows because it would throw a BSOD (even in safe mode) with the AMD cards removed.

We are on our way to a solution. Let's be patient and understanding, knowing that Dell is going the extra mile to help resolve these issues. We are very fortunate to own a product from a company that truly cares and wants to retain us as customers.

I would also like to reiterate what Bill has already shared. If you are having difficulties that are not being expediently resolved by Dell/Alienware Support or Dell Customer Service, please get on Twitter and send a message to @DellCares or use the Support link on the left side of the Dell Facebook page. This is effective.

 

I forget who pointed that thread out to me, but thank you to whomever it was. Chris is on it.

Dell watches these boards pretty closely. There is a lot of traffic here, so sometimes we miss things. Just alert Chris, Terry or myself via PM when something that looks to be systemic is bubbling up. There are also engineers and program managers from all over Dell reading the boards. They are mostly lurking, but they do see.

If you ever have an individual problem, as Mr Fox says, hit us up on Twitter via @DellCares or on Facebook.com/Dell at the support link on the left. That's Chris and Terry's entire team, and they are all seasoned pros in Round Rock and India who know how to get problems solved. They are not the candy man handing out free upgrades for every problem they work, but they are definitely among the best at doing the right thing.

 

wow, so this new breed of 6990m's are NOT better than than the 580m's. and are now super problematic!. wow...so the plot thickens....

 

Mr. Fox did they replace your motherboard as well, did it solve the issue?

 

Oh wow, so the 580M SLI is also affected by the cold boot overheating issue?

EDIT: nvm, i just read the update on first page

 

I am curious about how many of you have called Alienware about the thermal issue? I have not, i just had a system replacement after tons of calls and 5 repair techs. Not looking forward to starting this whole process over again.

 

I did call tech support about 2 weeks ago, said they're sending the 6990 replacement which has been pending for 2 weeks now.
But as my system is going to be captured, they cancelled the 6990 replacement today, and I'm just waiting to hear about the new system exchange now.

 

I think we have enough captures inbound now. Thank you all very much for submitting your information. I saw the email chain between the L3's and the dispatchers. Merry Christmas. lol

 

Man, it sucks being in the UK ......

 

Sry stevie. Least with this problem we have some use out of our laptops, instead 5 beeps at boot than nothing.

 

Free health care not enough? JK. Let's give Jesse and his EMEA crew some time and see what happens.

 

My 'new' motherboard is here. I'm betting it doesn't boot seeing as it's the wrong revision for my cpu, but at least the revision isn't on the list of bad ones. I'll post back with results later. I guess I could pull the cmos battery from the other board.