M11x Problem/Technical Question thread for New Owners

how do i fix the R1 battery charging in bios always reset when i unplugged the AC? like when i disable it then it would reset to enable if i unplugged the AC, really annoying.

 

Hello guys. I was looking through the forum but couldn't find a solution for my problem. Here's the thing, my FN+CC and FN+AlienFX are not working. Also, my onscreen display is not working. And... my command center got weird. The graphics are glitching as if I am trying to run a game without graphic drivers. Frames from previous windows stay on the screen etc. This happened since i updated all my software from the dell support site. Except for that, the graphics are running great on other things. It's just the CC

Edit: Fixed the OSD and the FN key issue. All i have left is the glitch and the lag in the Command Center

 

I have a M11xR2, all-round its very good but there is a problem with the internal speakers. They are unable to play any sound in Windows.

The problem started 2 months ago, one day the speakers decided to pack up. The dell guy came over and replaced the mobo as well as the speakers, dell diagnostics test in the disk could play a tune from the speakers. Therefore the problem is with Windows, but after 2 factory-defaults I am still unable to hear anything from the speakers.

Uninstalling the realtek drivers and using the intel ones makes the speakers pop when I try playing music.
One headphones port is working fine, the other just plays back music to one ear.

Thanks in advance for any advice you guys can give, I'm at a loss.

 

Reinstall it, that worked for me, some people also need to uninstall/reinstall the video (intel and nvidia) drivers too...

 

When playing some games that go full screen, it jumps back to windows and minimizes the game, when I click the game it goes to a black screen and goes back to windows minimizing the game again.

What's going on?

 

Used to happen to me when I played Bad Company 2. I found out that the top left corner of the game was a weird spot so the game would minimize if I looked up and left too fast.

Anyway, I updated my R2 to the latest drivers and updated Bad Company 2 to the latest version and it's all good now.

Try doing Alt-Enter and see if that maximizes the screen. If not, update your video driver and game version.

 

Im using R1, and just done a clean win7 install. Everything good so far until i switched to intergrated graphic. The screen started to change its brightness/contrast or watever based on what displayed on the screen. IE when i view a white image, the screen became darker, and when i view a black image, it become brighter.

That problem doesn't happen with discrete card.

What should i do?

 

Hi, I don't know if this is the forum to post it.

I just bought an alienware m11x R2 i7 processor with 4gb ram 2 weeks ago.

and I can only play starcraft 2 on low settings. Anything higher an I would get a really laggy SC2 with low FPS, even when playing single player.

And the fn+f6 hotkey doesn't seem to work, so I dont know if there was a switch in graphics card.

any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

have you got the right graphics card activated ?

 

I used the NVIDEA control panel and selected the "use high NVDEA processor to run this programme" option for running SC2.

So far playing on medium settings is giving me really low FPS. am playing with low settings now

 

Could any1 solve my problem plz?

 

Hello all!

Sorry if this has already been addressed, but I am having issues with my m11x when I put it into sleep mode. It goes into sleep just fine, when I try to turn the computer back on (on rather wake up), the system restarts and gives me the msg asking whether I wish to start in safe mode or not. I am guessing that means the system crashed at some point in this process.

It doesnt happen every time. I would say at least 50% though.

Anyone else having this issue? I would love a fix.

BTW great forum! I am a new user and just read up on the fan fix - really good! Thanks

 

11xR1 or R2? Which display driver version are you currently using? If not on the current version, try updating and see if that resolves your 'resume from sleep' issue. Also, be sure you are on the latest BIOS.

BIOS A03 for R1
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/511209-m11xr2-bios-a03-available-discuss-here.html

BIOS A05 for R2
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/509090-m11xr1-a05-bios-available-discuss-here.html

 

I am having an issue with my on screen display, much like cooldd's issue.

I can adjust the screen brightness and it shows up on the screen. I can mute and it shows up... The only thing thats not showing up is the volume up-down. What should I try reinstalling?

Also the screen brightness auto dimms when not in use for some time (5 mins I think). I can not get it to get back to bright when I move the mouse... any thoughts? I can manually make the screen brighter, but its still a bit of an annoyance.

Thanks

*EDIT* I also noticed that I am having the same issues as DBilodeau - I am running the factory bios on an R1 - A00 (I think I saw that)

 

Update Command Center to get the volume on screen display working. I believe there was an 'Update' button right in Command Center you can use.

There is a setting in the Intel display Driver settings (not Nvidia) to turn off auto-dimming.

Cheers,
Stain

 

Thanks Stain. It says that my Command Center is up to date though, should I try a reinstall?

 

had to pick a different file location

 

Just ordered a M11x with the black friday deal and a few other things. I'm wanting to go with 8 GB 1066SDRAM and wondering what people are going with from newegg. Also planning SSD at some point but RAM right away.
Thanks in advance.

 

Did you update your BIOS to the latest version? I seem to recall that was related to the onscreen display issues as well. I think version A04 for the R1 fixed the OSD issues and the latest version is now A05. Take a look at the Sticky posts at the top of the forum. There is one for the R1 and one for the R2. Be sure to grab the right one and give it a shot.

If that still does not work, then I would try to reinstall Command Center.

Good Luck!
Stain

 

Thanks Stain! I will give the A04 a shot. I have never really messed with bios updates, so I have quite a bit of reading up to do. From what I read the A05 may have some kinks, so Sticking to A04 seems to be my best bet.

 

They are very straight forward. You just run the file and make sure you are connected to AC power (not on battery). You might also want to disable active virus protection, but I usually do not. If there is a backup feature when you run the BIOS file, do that first to a USB flash drive so you have something to get back to just in case

Stain

 

I took the jump to A05 and it fixed the onscreen volume controlls. The fans now come on quicker, which is fine with me. Alien sense was not working though... I deleted the biometrics and finally its back again. Weird... I put it to sleep, then woke it up and it was suddenly working again. EH... Either way, I'm a happy camper.

 

Great to hear, sorry it was not silky smooth for you. Cheers!

 

Hey, I just got this laptop, and noticed that my physical memory usage is a 35% while doing nothing.

I check my memory usage from task manager after turning on my PC and the memory usage is at 35% idle.

Isnt this a little too high?

 

on my R1, i get about the same, if not a bit higher, percentages. but then again even at idle i am running about 11 vista gadgets, rocket dock, rainmeter, rainlendar and alienware FX

right now, with surfing, windows media player and external broadband, i am at 42%

 

Anyone updated the Realtek sound driver to the latest one?
I did and I lost the SRS tweaks lol.

Wonder what did they fixed/improved though..

 

hi i recently purchased Alien ware m11x the specifications are :-
model : Alien ware M11XR2
processor : intel(R) core(TM) i7 CPU U 640 @ 1.20 GHZ
RAM : 8gb ddr3
graphic card : nvidia GeForce GT 335M.

i tried playing ac1 with it and it works really well with no lag. however when i try playing ac2 it lags a lot which makes it not playable. plz any help will be good . (thought they had the same specs?)

 

Guys, tell me, do r2 need special dell driver? Or you can download from nvidia.com latest one for laptops and that's ok?

Cause in XPS thread people need special dell one for their optimus card.

 

You can now download drivers directly from Nvidia. The added native support for the R2 a point release or two back.

 

Hi, I just bought an M11x R1 from the Black Friday deal. Picked up the 8 GB RAM kit from newegg by Corsair too.

Corsair is

2 x 4 GB DDR3 1066 MHz.

I'm having problems installing the memory in the machine. The first 4 GB module installs fine in the lower slot. If I try to put a 4 GB module in the top slot, when I POST I get an error beep code... I think it's 1 and then 4 then 4... running the builtin hardware diagnostic test right now, but I'm getting the same error as this person:

m11x ram upgrade issue 4 to 8 gb - Alienware Forum - Alienware Club - Dell Community

Any help?

Yes, I've already reseated the modules a few times. Each of the 4 GB modules works fine in the top slot, but neither can work in the bottom slot without the POST BIOS beep codes....And I know the bottom slot works OK with the 1GB modules that came with the laptop.

 

The beep codes are 1 beep then 4 continuously after that...

1-4-4-4-4-4-4-4 etc.

 

One of two possibilities here -

1. bad ram from newegg

or,

2. bad second slot

test with known good memory (stock memory), if 2nd slot tests ok, then exchange the memory from newegg.

 

Got a issue with my service tag. I sent Chris M a message on the dell forum about, but I wanted to voice it here too.

The label on the bottom of my laptop is missprinted, it only has 6 digit (7 is what is should be)

When I go to dells webpage and have there system autodetect my number it comes up with a 7 digit number that is not the same as the one on my laptop.

SHould I be concerned? I have a tech coming today to replace my screen... I book marked the dell page that detects your service tag so I can show him that if he questions my number.


EDIT: Chris told me that I should not be worried at all about it.

 

Don't worry about it? Really? So do you know what your service tag is?

 

Yes I do know my service tag, when you go to dells site and click on the drivers tab it will autodetect your number and show it on the left of the screen.

 

You can also access it via the BIOS. Chris is right in the sense that its not going to cause an issue (customer service and support can always access it via your record) - however, I would be a bit peeved about not having the correct label. You could always contact support and escalate it - I don't see why it would be impossible to re-print the label and get it out to you. Might take some footwork on the rep's side but no reason not to push for the new label.

 

When I close my lid to sleep, the m11x r1 doesn't wake back up. I have to hold the power button and select "start windows normally" every time.

I have alienfusion disabled, and hibernate disabled. Could this be because I turned off switchable graphics and am using the latest nvidia drivers? Should I try using guru3d and cleaning out the drivers and re downloading them?

 

Its a known bug that hybernation does NOT work when in discrete graphics only mode, ie if you selected "dedicated" in the BIOS for the graphics option. The only way to get hybernation with the M11x is with switchable graphics. No known solution as of yet.

 

It's not hibernate, it's sleep, but I got it to work anyway with the 260 drivers on full time.

 

Hi, i have a problem with my double headphone sockets. When 2 sets of headphones are plugged in together only one socket works. Both work individually and both sets of earphones work. Anyone else had this problem??

I have the M11x R1.

Thanks

 

Have you checked your Realtek HD sound settings? They must be 5.1 surround for both sockets output to work as surround output, otherwise only one will work.

It will not output 2x the same sound for 2x same stereo sound to different headphones, its meant for surround only.

 

Not true, the jacks will both output the same signal when in stereo mode.

My first r1 did the same thing where only one would work, sometimes it would turn on if I switched the headphone plugs around or opened the sound manager.

My current r1 both work when I have 2 headphones plugged in.

 

By Jove you're right! I just tried it out on my M11x R1!!! I just assumed it didn't cause it never did on my other laptops! Reps to you!

 

Its on of my favorite features... I can watch movies on the airplane with the wife.... though I would rather be killing zombies by my self.

 

Hello all, my M11x has been experiencing odd behavior ever since I got it out of the box.

Sometimes when I start it the fan will run low, then shoot up to 100% and stay there, almost as if the fan controller has gone wrong. When this happens, I usually just shut it off with the power button before it gets far past post and try again. Sometimes it won't do it at all and the fan will work normally, but about 70% of the time, it ramps up to 100%. and it can take anywhere from 1 to 12 resets to get it to start normally.

I have the latest bios and no modifications have been made to the m11x.

Can anybody point me in the way of a fix?

 

try updating the bios

 

Mine did this too, update the BIOS and will it stop. The machine will run slightly hotter, nothing to worry about.

 

OK so I had gotten an m11xr1 for christmas and I just bought an intel x25m 80gb ssd. I used the alienware disc and reinstalled windows. Now I can't connect to the wireless networks in my home. I have no idea why its not even detecting the network?????

 

Off-hand, there are several easy things to check:

- is your WiFi enabled? If so you should see the indicator lit up on the left of the little row of indicators above the ESC key

- Do you the driver loaded in Device Manager? Does it show a ?-mark somewhere possibly? Sounds like a missing driver...

 

I've been searching but i haven't found a good thread explaining the process of installing a new SSD (Intel X-25M 80GB Christmas present) to my Alienware m11x laptop. I am planning to take the drive out and install the new drive fresh and I need advice, tips, maybe even a step by step as to the best way to get it factory default but still have it as a fresh install. If you know of a thread that has all this please direct me there. Thanks guys.