M11x Problem/Technical Question thread for New Owners

I finally got the "want to" to update my nvidia driver from the stock driver to the 306 and 310beta driver but when i did neither of them worked and now for some odd reason my battery wont charge.... idk if it was just a weird thing that just happened as i updated or it was because of the update,but i downgraded back to the driver dell offers on their website for the m11x. My AC charger comes up as unknown and my battery is just staying at 80%. It stays on when battery is out of the latop and the battery will discharge when i run battery. any advice or help would be nice. Thank you

 

I had a similar problem with my m17x r1 a few years back. I fixed it by just doing a mother board reset (pull out the battery, unplug, and then hold down the power button for 10 seconds).

 

I tried that but it didn't do anything i have the m11x r1. i found a replacement battery for $90 but i dont want to drop that into a battery if i dont have to. is there anyway to check where the problem is actually occurring?

So i tried taking the battery out and the warning for a dell 65w came up again so i dont think the battery is the issue.

 

Did you make sure to run a driver sweep to remove the old drivers completely and do a clean install of the old driver? Pluss I would get the older driver from Nvidia's site or another third party, Dell's drivers sometimes have problems.

Also you can try running a windows diagnostics and memory diagnostics upon startup.

 

Yeah I did all of that and still nothing so I used darik's nuke and did a complete install of windows 7 and all new drivers. But still doesn't charge. I'm guessing it has something to do with the power cable, power jack, or possibly a sensor on the motherboard for the power. But idk ill have to do some trial and error tests

 

Which M11x revision do you have? And what BIOS version are you running?

 

...................
Dont know why it did this....but i cant delete this post

I Have The R1 with Ver 1.00 A05

So i found out it was just something that happened at the same time, but my AC charger cable wasn't working right. so i grabbed my dads Dell charger which is a 90w 100-240v 19.5v 4.62 amps. i was wondering if this would cause any harm to my alienware or battery using a higher power AC cable, i noticed my gpu is running smoother and my battery is now charging.

 

It shouldn't do any harm, glad to hear it worked out.

Dc volts and the adapter's tip are what determine compatibility. Higher wattage is not an issue, your laptop will only draw the power it needs.

 

Gday from Down under, I have a M11x that will not turn on. I have checked the charger and swapped the Bat with another unit so it is looking like the power button or a deeper issue. Just wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction to test the power button out of the machine. On removing the power button, I see a ribon with 8 wires on it, Am wondering which is the power supply and return wires to check if the unit is actulay working. I have probed it with a multi meter and found that I can get a reading on 3 of the leads when the button is pushed. and I take it the other leads/wires need power supplied to allow the rest of the card to work correctly.

Any help/suggestions would be a great help.

Cheers and Thanks in advance. Numnut.

 

Hello people, I recently got hold of an m11xr1 with issues of ALIEN-FX...all lights (kb, speaker grills,activity etc) appear off except the backlid alienhead. I bought it online with no returns.The CC in the directory says version 2.5.54 ..while afx tester says:

Board info :

current ver 2.00.01
upgrading to 2.00.01

when I open cc everything loads i.e the theme.. zone color editors etc. I can edit save colors and all but when the settings are applied nothing happens. I dont have any unknown devices in the device mngr list nor .net errors...I do get a failed installation of 1394 EEE device at win startup but this device reads installed in device mngr. Would upgrading CC to a newer version suitable for m14,m15 n 17x, help or is it a risk? Alien autopsy and the bios diagnostics report nothing but pass for all hardware. Kindly advise all possible solutions.

Edit: Which version of ACC do I Install in the event of the problem resolving? The latest for my m11x is the same old 2.5.54...can I install 2.8.8.0 safely or any other version?

 

I have been getting email alerts for new posts to this thread but cannot see any since Daicharade's 3rd Feb post

 

^ Yo bud sup

 

hi guys.

i was wondering, would this RAM work for my M11xR1 (as in work compatibility wise..? im aware that performance difference will be negligible)

Corsair CMSX8GX3M2A1600C9 NB Vengeance Performance 8GB 1600MHz CL9 DDR3 SO-DIMM Memory Two Module Kit: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories


I ask because it says its for "2nd Generation Intel Core i5 and i7 notebooks"....

i managed to get it for £37 rather than the new price of £65...so even if they dont work I assume theyll hopefully work on my next laptop!

this thread doesnt make it look optimistic..

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19393789.aspx

i think i should have gotten a 800mhz ram and that anything over 1033mhz is a waste...but question is...should i just keep it in its packaging until i get a new laptop?

i cant believe i was such a n00b and thought i had an r2 when i ordered been a while since i bought the machine lol.

 

moved to main thread

 

problem: M11x R4 does not exist.

not sure on the solution...

 

This is my problem. Last night my m11x was working fine, I woke up this morning to a "Alien Fx Controller error" I then procedeed to log in to skype when skype crashes. Soon after I realised most programs could no longer launch and crash at startup.. Google, and youtube work fine however.

Earlier I tried uninstalling command center and reinstalling. Upon reinstalling I get the Alien FX controller error again and the install stops?

I've taken the back peice of the laptop off to view and everything looks ok from a glance. This is so frustrating, It was just working yesterday completely fine, and now this!!?!

Does anyone have advice on what may fix this? Whoever can tip me on some advice that fixes this I would love to tip 20$. Thanks!

 

I'm not techie so I would try restoring to a point before the trouble started.

(Alien Respawn is the one I'm always seeing crash reports for, I just ignore it.)

 

I've a weird problem on my R1. When I hold or lift up my R1 the color on the keyboard changes to either green or red, then when I put pressure on the left side hand-rest, the selected color is restored. What could be the problem? Any loose connections or wires or anything to worry for?

 

Hi,
Does the alien head (Power button) glow when the laptop is fully shutdown and plugged in for charging?

Thanks!

 

Yes thats normal.

 

Just reformated to factory using Alien Respawn after letting a family member borrow my m11x R1 for almost a year. It was running like crap, so I knew it'd be a sure fix.

The problem is, I remember doing a lot more tweaks after getting it and formatting it the last time, and feel like I'm missing some things.

I used windows update to get everything on it, have not downloaded or cleaninstalled any drivers myself yet. I enabled the OC in bios and turned on switchable graphics. I feel there is a lot more to do though to get better performance while keeping the switchable graphics.

Any thoughts? I just feel as though I did more the last time I had a fresh OS install.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/730365-alienware-m11x-r2-recovery-drive.html

Someone?

 

Got a quick question regarding the clockspeed. I've had my m11xR1 for a loong time now(with the SU4100 CPU) Recently I've noticed that it seems to hit 100% CPU usage more often and when I checked CPU-Z the clock is sitting at around 920MHz on both cores. I've got "overclock" activated in BIOS and temps are around 55C for the CPU and 56C for the GPU.

The laptop doesn't always charge when I plug it in which I guess is motherboard-related(it just says "plugged in but not charging")

Anyone got any idea what the reasons for the throttling can be? In the process of getting a new laptop anyways but thought I'd wipe this one and have it sitting by the TV for music and movies.

 

my m11x r2 thinks that intel hd is the most splendid gfx card for gta 4 and i can't change it ! tried the damn nvidia control panel did not work.

 

I've got a 4GB stick of RAM removed from my R3 when I upgraded it, would it work in my R1?

 

Sorry, I have had this computer for at least 4 years? Not sure exactly when I got it, but it's old. It's and Alienware m11x, unsure with model. It runs: Genuine Intel(R) CPU U7300 @1.3GHz, 4GB Ram and 64-bit system type. I'm currently operating Windows 7. I have a long string of problems that have happened within the last 3 months of ownership and would like some help if anyone has any.
Background: Around 3 months ago, I got some wicked crazy virus. I turned it into the IT department on campus and they were surprised by how evil this stupid thing was so they wiped my computer including the OS and reinstalled it. They did not however reinstall any Alienware specific drivers or update anything for me. After the OS reinstall they installed Microsoft Security Essentials, Internet Explorer and Google Chrome. About a month ago my computer all the sudden realizes that the copy of Windows 7 they installed wasn't genuine....which I find highly annoying, as personalization with Alienware is one of my favorite things. Onto the problems,
1. My AlienwareFX keys don't work. Either of them. My keyboard is forever on and lit and will not change colors.
2. I tried plugging my computer into a Panasonic TV as an external monitor, which I've never had good luck with anyways, but I wanted to try again. This time I accidently went to Graphic Properties on the desktop right click options and accidently clicked something about a monitor, now my computer will only display anything past the Alienware head on boot in Safe Mode, which is where I am now. I have tried using the Dell website, turning it off and waiting 30mins and trying again, I've tried remembering the keyboard shortcuts and I've tried looking it up online but to no prevail. Even when my computer is completely disconnected from everything I have no display.
---These are the only things I can think of at the moment, but it is almost midnight so I can't call anybody and I'm outside my warranty. I'm getting rather desperate as I am a college student with no real way of getting my homework done at this point. Any help would be extremely appreciated.

 

I love my M11xR2 ([email protected]), Through the years I have upgraded the memory (8GB) and recently I installed a Crucial 960GB SSD.
My main complaint is the looong time it takes to do a full backup image (~13 hours using Norton Ghost).

Question: Is there any way to upgrade the I/O board to get USB 3.0. Alternatively do you have any suggestion to speed up the creation of a backup image?

thanks

 

The USB is controlled by a seperate chipset on the motherboard - you cant change the I/O board and get USB 3.0. You might be able to get a mini pcie to usb 3.0 adapter however I remember reading somewhere that the mini pcie ports were connected to the USB interface anyway.

 

The other option would be a mini pcie to SATA adapter + esata backup drive.

 

Hi,
I have alienware m11x r2 and I want to go back to a factory recovery.
My steps:
1) Shut down a computer, disconnected all devices.
2) Start a computer
3) Press F8
4) In "Advanced Boot Options" window I select "Repair Your Computer"
5) Select US a keyboard input method
6) Log on with my administrator account
7) In "Choose a recovery tool" window I can see:
a) Startup Repair
b) System Restore
c) System Image Recovery
d) Windows Memory Diagnostic
e) Command Prompt
That's it.
But according to my manual after step 4 must be a choice - "Dell Factory Image Recovery and DataSafe Options". I didn't find this in "Choose a recovery tool" menu.
What's wrong? Any advice?
Thank you.

P.S.
Drive Management shows 2 hidden space in my HDD. One space - 39 Mb called OEM Partittion and the second is 14,65 Gb called Recovery. Both are good healthy condition. I guess there are factory recovery partitions.

 

Hello everyone,
I am currently trying to figure out a way to keep my switchable graphics function still operable after updating the Nvidia Drivers to 340.52. Any one have a way of manually placing this new driver and still having a switchable graphics?

Currently running an M11x R1. Current Driver 263.08.

Looking to update my Nvidia GT 335M to:

340.52 WHQL
Release Date: 2014.7.29
Operating System: Windows 7 64-bit, Windows 8.1 64-bit, Windows 8 64-bit
Language: English (US)
File Size: 274.00 MB

 

All the M11x models had switchable graphics. The R1, however, differs from the R2 and R3 in that it has a manual graphics switch to enable or disable the 335M while the latter two use Nvidia's Optimus system to do so automatically.

Either way, updating to the latest graphics drivers should not disable this function on the R1.

 

Hy!

I got my M11x R1 since 1 week!
I love this machine. I already did some overclocking.
I would have some questions.
I would like to use Solidworks and GT335M has some problem with it. It freezing and laggy..
What would be the problem? I know that it isn't designed for 3d modeling, but I don't wanna find another machine to my work. It is enoght for me...

Could You help me?

Thanks

 

Solidworks' System Requirements says you need at least 8GB or RAM, could that be the issue?
-Did you also make sure to have the latest BIOS ver. and Video Card Driver?

 

I have tried with newer driver and it worked, but now it is freezing the system. I'm so said. I would like to use optimus on my R1 with newer video driver to support opengl 3.3.
Do You have some experiance in it?

thanks

 

Try this maybe?

 

Does anyone know if CPU-Z or HWInfo64 report the VID (CPU voltage) accurately? I'm only asking because I just did the VID pinmod disabling pin 32 on the voltage regulator in overclock mode and both programs still report only 0.9v as opposed to 1.1v. Any suggestions, or do you think I failed in cutting the pin? I have a SLG m11x R1.

I re-applied TIM and my temps are lower than they were and the system seems quite stable. I'm going to run a battery of tests now and if it doesn't crash, I'm just going to assume I was successful. The machine used to crash in regular overclock mode before, so I wanted to achieve a basic 1.6GHz with extra voltage. Cheers.

 

Well, I've used it for a couple of days now and no crash. It used to crash quite frequently while browsing the Internet in BIOS O/C mode, so I must have been successful. Awesome!

 

Good job!! That's always great news.

 

Hey guys im having a huge problem with my alienware m11x r2. The hard drive crashed and I used the alienware recovery disc, I logged on and it did 155 windows 7 updates, now it is running insanely slow and I cannot click on anything or open anything, yesterday it ran fine for 5 min and the bluescreened on me...... please help

 

Try hitting f12 several times and run the diagnostics. I would start there.. Might give us an indication where to go next.

 

I am a happy new owner of a M11x R3 is excellent condition. Only the touchpad is quite shiny, so I want to replace the palmrest. However, there seem to be different versions. Which one is the correct part for the R3? I was looking at this one here: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/331569347085?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT

 

From what I've read, V188P is the correct part number for the M11x R3.