Alienware M17 *OFFICIAL* Owner's Lounge *PART 2*

I certainly don't look forward to a clean install...

 

Ok homies, so installed Windows 7 and works like a charm. Installed Steam and got TF2 going but when I start playing it has the bars on the side and even though the highest res' I can go too in game is 1400x.... something. I have the 1920x1200 display and on Vista it had no bars on the side. Any ideas? Downloading Wolfenstien right now

 

Installed the Win 7 Ultimate upgrade over the weekend. Seems to be running fine. Had to reinstall the ATI drivers and Catalyst app. If anyone is interested, here's a site that sells OEM software really cheap, compared to retail.

http://support4customers.com

Got Win 7 full for $120

 

That site sounds fishy, cd4 for 100 bucks??

 

Heh love source games. Make sure you select the right aspect ratio so that the new modes list for you.

 

Read about how they do it. My Win7 installed fine and activated fine. They purchase OEM (licenses) in bundles at liquidation auctions, etc. Think about it, do you really think Dell pays $1800/$2500 for CS4? Or $299 for a Windows OS on a rig they market at a $499 price tag? Nope. Companies like Dell are GONNA make their money.

Anyhow, it helped me out and I thought I'd pass it along in case any of you guys were interested.

 

My rig locked up on me and there was a beeping noise. When I rebooted, got a message that the raid controller encountered an error. All seems to be fine, but have you guys experienced this before? I am running raid0.

 

clean install is also no good,,,,,, u'll lose respawn ,,,, and there's also one more thing ,,,,, i think all AW owners should know,,,, but when u get ur AW pc ,,, there's a FILE named MY PC INFO. ,, on the desktop,,,, i guess its a shortcut,,,, the file opens in IE and has all ur pc specs and other stuff,,,,, after my clean install i lost that file,,,,,,, i tried to recover it using RECUVA , but no luck,,,,,,,, iz there a way to get it back,,,,, i know there isn't but if there iz, it would be great,,,,,, i just thing itz cool.....

 

The clean install erases everything; it formats the hard drive to prep for install. The information you're talking about is also saved in your "Hive" area on the support section of the AW site.

 

Sorry to change the subject, but I have a question. I've been running Windows 7 for quite some time now, since it was beta. For some reason, Windows keeps updating my graphics drivers to something other than what I've personally installed. This is fine, but under the device manager one of the cards shows the yellow exclamation point symbol ONLY when the Windows update installs it's driver from wherever. How can I get it to quit prompting me to update the graphics driver and leave that up to me. Every time I reinstall the driver manually, Windows sees and then installs it's version again. Thanks in advance for any help guys.

 

Has anyone tried running AlienFusion after the upgrade to Win 7? My fusion will not run and I can't access ANY of my power plan settings through control panel or mobile center. When I try, I get the following msg: Your power plan information isn't available.

Is anyone else experiencing this problem? What's the fix? I don't have another machine to export the registry keys from. If I delete the keys, will the system simply create new, fresh ones?

 

Right click the update and select hide.

 

Are the m17x looking to get upgraded with the i7 processor, or even the m15x getting a GPU upgrade?

 

this is m17 lounge not m17x


damn my m17 started having craking sound comming from the lid and i need a remplacement keyboard

 

i just updated to win7 and i m facing a problem with my app launcher button every thing else has gotten to work i can<t make my app launch button work any one know a fix to that?

 

Some added info:

The options for my power plans have returned. I haven't done anything, so I am thinking that this might be a sleep/screensaver issue? Last night I was working unplugged and was running a power saver plan. I ran the battery to about 40% and it went into hibernation on me. I plugged it back in at my desk and woke it up. Ran fine the rest of the night. This morning, my power plan options weren't coming up. I did a complete shutdown and booted back up, and they were fine.

AlienFusion is still not working at all. AlienTouch and Sense work fine.

 

Hi there. I was having the same problem but i installed a fixed version of Control Center and now its works just fine. Try this version (Its for W7 64bits):

http://go.notebookreview.com/?id=52..._Center/M17_CommandCenter_Win7_x64_1.0.41.exe

 

Thanks for posting the link - worked like a charm!!

 

Well, maybe I spoke too soon. I seem to be having a problem with my power options settings being available. Sometimes they are, and sometimes they're not. This is pretty nuts. Has anyone else had this issue?

Sometimes I can reboot and all is fine. Is this a Windows 7 issue? I can change the plan, but I can't access the plans to adjust them...

 

I'm using win7 and no issues with my power plan, I did not install the command center, so I guess it's better not to use the command center ?

 

Additional Info:

I have confirmed today that this issue occurs MOSTLY when I am stand-alone (both plugged in and in battery mode). However, when I am all hooked up back at my desk all seems to work fine. Here is what I have plugged in at my desk:

Two monitors (one HDMI, the other VGA, via rear ports)
Logitech Z75 speakers (usb via powered hub)
MS wireless keyboard (usb via powered hub)
MS wireless mouse (usb via powered hub - separate usb than kb)
Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-1500 Express Card
And Ultramon runs a dual monitor profile
The powered usb hub is a D-Link running usb 2.0; plugged in rear port
Seagate Freeagent 1.5 TB external HD usb via sata/usb port in rear

My guess is that one of these things - or more to the point, that absence of one of these things - is triggering the issue.

 

How good are 3870's?

 

This machine is very cheap too at the alienware outlet.

 

the 3870 are still in the top ten for GPU power

 

Two 3870s still beat any single GPU laptop card out there. They can pump out 30fps or so average on Crysis @ 1440x900, on my machine at least.

 

Follow Up:

I disconnected everything and performed a cold boot after adding each one at a time. First was the usb hub (might as well get that package out of the way in one swoop), then ethernet cable, then HDMI monitor, then VGA monitor (alone), then both monitors together, then external HD. As I stated, I performed a complete shutdown and boot up after each.

The result was all the same. Power plan settings unavailable.

Then I performed a soft reboot using Windows "restart" option, and BAM! my power plan settings are there.

I am now assuming this is a Windows issue and not a device or driver that I have installed on my rig.

Anything pop into you gents' mind?

This is not a critical matter. Obviously, I can get to the power plans to change the settings but I would prefer they be available regardless of how I start the system.

 

I'm sorry i don't know. I was having a lot of trouble with W7 too. But none with the power options.

 

I decided to call AW and ask about the lagging, skipping audio glitch. I explained to the tech that when my temps go down to below 50c, I have no glitch but when the temp gets over 50c, I get an audio and video glitch. The tech said I needed a bios flash update. I decided to try it and see if it would help. I don't know how to flash bios and it's required to call AW first or else it invalidates the 3 year warranty. I've not called them until now because of the feeling I got every time I've had to call a PC company in the past for help. I always get morons and today was the same. I spent literally over two hours on the phone with a guy that had such a heavy accent, it took forever to understand him and I swear I heard him using an old typewriter to take my information down. He put me on hold like ten times. I gave him control of the M17 and it took him a half hour to download the bios onto my desktop. Then going into bios to make the PCI P4-Optiarc DVD RW AD-7561S number one on the list and the PCI SCSI HDD Intel Volume 0 number two. Several attempts copying the bios onto a cd then restarting the M17. Every time it restarted, it went to a dark screen like DOS that said something like Boot from AHCI Cd-Rom and a flashing cursor. After about 20 or 30 seconds, an F10 Alien Respawn system restore message came up offering to restore if I wanted, then it went straight to my desktop without updating the bios. I asked the tech like four times, should I be typing something where the window looks like DOS and the cursor is flashing for 20 seconds and the window reads Boot from ACHI CD Rom? He said NO sternly acting like he was an expert and I was the dummy. I already knew I was the dummy so he did get that correct. For an expert, he got nothing accomplished but wasting two hours of my time. I finally told him to email me the instructions and I'll do it on my own. He agreed and sent me an email that gave no instructions except to say to flash the bios with version B14 then do the keyboard bios controller version 130e, then install the latest audio drivers. No instructions, just that short list. After doing a lot of searching, I found that when I come to that flashing cursor, I should type "runme" to begin the bios update. I was so angry, I had to leave the house for a few hours. I haven’t followed through with updating the bios yet because I want to make extra sure I don't make a mistake. Does anyone know of a web page with clear and precise instructions I could use to flash the M17’s bios Vista 64?

 

Maybe some help here. When I installed Win 7, I did so with all the perifs plugged in, including the external monitors. I don't know if Win 7 sets the profile during install to something like "home", but perhaps this issue is occurring because I installed with the external monitors plugged in... Because I have my power plan settings when they are plugged in.

Now, damned if I am gonna re-install everything running laptop only. But just a note in case anyone else runs into this issue.

Nova, did you get your Win 7 issues squared away?

 

Is anyone having a problem installing new chipset update from Driver Detective?

 

hey guys,
I asked this in another thread but had no response so I'll try it here,
I'm thinking about doing the copper mod to my qx9300 m17.
Is this still recognised as the best/only way to fix the stutter?
Also the copper I have is 1.5mm thick, is this too fat or will that be ok?
Thanks in advance.

 

You cannot fix the stutter with a copper mod, apparantly it's not temperature related but has something to do with power (if i remember right...).

 

Thinking of upgrading my M17 to bluray. Any suggestions on a drive and screen?

 

See http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=458923

 

I upgraded my bios to .29 but when I change the multiplier, CPUID does not show any change. Any thoughts?

 

I sometimes got that, a restart normally did it i think, but ive not oced in a while

 

You got a q9000 a non extrême cpu wich you can't oc with the multiplyer you need to use the fsb and to do so you need the Intel xtu if you cant fins it ill look what i can do to help you

 

extreme processors rock! Now if I can only find 4850's for sale my set up would be good for a good while

 

I thought the point of 29 was the ability to oc non-extreme processors....according to the notes. Says 28 allowed extreme cpu oc and 29 allowed non-extreme cpu oc.

 

Yeah, but the multiplier won't let you overclock nevertheless.

The extreme processors' unlocked multipliers are built into the processor itself, changing the BIOS won't unlock the multiplier.

You'll have to use the FSB setting to overclock a non-extreme processor.

 

Ok. Thanks.

Used setfsb and got it to 2.3 with no problems. Temps fluctuated between 76 - 83. Too bad ya can't make it a permanent setting.

 

with .29 you can overclock the FSB permanently using Intell XTU i'll upload it later today if you wan

 

Yes, please do!

 

Actually, nevermind. I downloaded xtu but it does nothing. It is reading the multiplier 9.5 from the bios...the multiplier that isn't accurate. CPUID shows multiplier at 7. Probably gonna reflash back to B14 and call it even.

 

you mus overclock using the FSB the multi is locked it's just that the XTU can make it permanant overclock through FSB i pushed mine up to 2.287ghz

 

I tried this but do not get the option to save the new setting. How do I make it permanent?

 

If you're using the .29 BIOS, then there should be a FSB setting in the BIOS options itself. I'm not sure how you set it using the XTU but I think you can save the XTU settings to the BIOS too.

If you're lucky, you might be able to push to a speed of 2.5+GHz. I've managed to hit 2.53GHz in the past, when I actually cared about overclocking. (I no longer care due to little difference in the games I play, and due to the fact that the .29 BIOS gives me horrible stuttering)

 

There is no bios acces to the fsb aparently z forgot to add it as well as man other option to bad he is no longer around he could still bring much more to this platform

in the intell xtu just under the multi you have fsb setting you set it to W/E you wish then you hit apply and save to bios reboot and it should be fine

i would not care about it ethier but last time i tryed a 200 mhz overclock gave me a 15 fps boost in crysis when combined with the 100 mhz overclock on my gpu so i can't wait to see the upgrade the 530 mhz of cpu boost will give me when i'll get the QX and potentialy even more if i get into Overclocking it

 

Really? When I tried it out, I'm fairly sure there was actually a FSB setting in the BIOS.

I might just try out .29 again. You did say there was a voltage setting, right? Because the higher standard voltage of .29 is definitely causing problems.

I can hit the 1333MHz FSB speed on the lower voltage...I guess I've got a pretty good Q9000.

Where could I actually find the .29 BIOS?


EDIT: After a bit of SetFSB fun, I've found that my CPU is quite strange. In the way that sometimes it loves to overclock and at other times it refuses to.

On settings I've already confirmed 100% stable, sometimes I can set it straight up there at startup, sometimes it'll just crash if I try but sometimes it works fine if I clock it up in 'steps'. It really is strange.

 

well most of the time when overlocking through the fsb it's the ram that can't keep up rather then the cpu it self

and yes there definitly is one

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

i think zfactor's uploading is still up i downloaded it a couple of days ago for backup in case it woul go down for any reason





EDIT and you also need to kill the XTU service after use and make sure it won't start at boot cause the service will make your journey a stuter party