A03 Bios bricked my M15x

The bluray thing is a pain. I had to restore to factory install to get rid of it. I did notice that it partially came back when I updated to the newest nvidia drivers. So I rolled back to the 186.xx and I think this is the best of seen it run. The 195.xx nvidia drivers run like crap on STO, which was the first reason I rolled back, and then I noticed my bluray playback was almost flawless.

 

Strange ...most of you guys got your Mobo replaced but it came with Version A00 or A01 my brother and my friend got it already with A03,and i am still waiting for the new Notebook to arrive...2 more days to go, so does that mean you are getting old mobo's ?

 

My replacement mobo is A01.
I suspect these are "service" mobos and they havent flashed these with A03 just yet.

 

Hi!

My replaced mobo was A00. I upgrade to A02 and no problem.
My machine are working very well know. After, i will be put pics about the motherboard change.

 

Hi Vipereyes,

I would guess that yes, we are getting older motherboards. I was assured by the "Premium" tech support that they have not changed the motherboards. If this is true, then it shouldn't matter. I am thinking that there has been a revision of the PM55 chipset (at least), as I did not have the infamous iTune issues with my first motherboard, but I have it now. Just out of curiosity, what chipset version does CPU-Z report for you guys?

Mine is :
Rev 11

Unfortunately, I do not know what my original motherboard states. Thanks!

Rich

 

Well after that problem ....9 days finally and i got my new M15x off dell now posting from it..i got a brand new machine with A03 installed on it.

wsh to meet you guys in better chance than this sucky one and have a great days all

@Rich Mine Also is Rev 11

 

I was told by Alienware tech support that he received an email stating A03 will be available in 2 weeks.

Round 2........FIGHT!

 

I would wait 1 month before I would install A03 this time..

Hell its still A01 right now...

 

Finally got my motherboard replaced. The board came with A03 installed so i dont need to worry this time about updating to it

 

Motherboard Replacement UPDATE: It has now been 9 days since my motherboard was replaced (13 Jan) and a week since I was told that my current issue has been elevated to Tier 3 Research. I called back today, and was told that Research hasn't gotten back with them yet. So, they said wait another week. However, I have made some headway on my own. It seems that the keyboard does not work at all once the diagnostic mood starts, and as soon as you press a key, it will hang. This includes pressing ESC to cancel he diags. Typically, I wouldn't touch the keyboard until prompted, at which point it hung. It seems to ba an issue with the keyboard. I have tried an external (USB) keyboard, and it doesn't make a difference. Hopefully the Research folks figure something out soon. I will keep posting updates as news develops.

Rich S.

 

I am still down for a replacement system: order went in January 19 and was supposedly expedited. M15s have run into a supply delay, apparently keyboards are an issue, so the order is delayed: Dell responded to my email enquiry today that my EDD is now March 1. Long time and seems to be more than a supply issue: wonder if that's it or if some sort of refresh is in order?

 

I ordered jan 13 and it shipped today

 

a working A03 Bios has been release to 1 of the forumer (mohdmatheen)

link is below

http://www.4shared.com/file/207617798/930c61f2/A03.html

i tested myself and its working,currently have bios version A03 with EC 1.0

All the credit goes to mohdmatheen

cheers

 

cough cough...

any brave soul?

 

currently at least known 3 person has been using this iso and it work

1st is mohdmatheen and me another that request the file from him tru e-mail

you can refer to the thread about the a03 bios
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=436150&page=8

 

i'll try it...thanks

update: works great no problems at all. thanks

 

You and I have identical setups, save for the SSD. Have you had any throttling issues before the A03 update? I'm pretty sure the A03 doesn't have anything in it dealing with the throttling, but I'm gonna upgrade to it anyway hoping for the best.......after a few more guinea pigs, flash succesfully

 

yeah i haven't seen any throttling so far, hopefully i can keep it like that.

 

When you say "throttling" what are you referring to?

 

he is probably refering to this http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=439546

 

Also curious to see if A03 will fix the iPhone/iPod sync issues. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Check the thread if you're unsure of what it means. If you're just asking for my definition. Just about on every game I own, if I don't use rivatuner to lock in my factory clocks, GPU-z shows my system downclocking in a cyclical fashion. The timing between the down clock depends on the game, but its mostly around 30-60 seconds and lasts for about 10-20 seconds at a time. When this happens, my fps in those games drops almost in half. The rivatuner fix works for me, and no its not powermizer, or stealth mode (I know how to disable both).

 

Just flash it. Held my Breath and the system boots....thank god, else DELL singapore going to come my house to collect the system. Good post fellow countrymen.

 

FINALLY my replacement showed up today has A03 installed already. Put my harddrive in with my current install and it acted like this machine was a completely different this board in this new machine has to have something different than my original. Ive noticed zero thottling in my games so far also. but ill play with that more later.

 

congrats on getting a new replacement, good to hear you have no issues

 

Interesting......I'll be following your progress. I don't want to have to brick my mobo to get this fixed

 

Those of you with A03 please trying syncing your ipod touch's or iPhones.

Please.

 

More than happy to test for you! but too bad,dint have the iphone or ipod.

from the bios release notes i dint see anything mention regarding ipod/iphone.

how bout try it urself.

 

how many more flash their bios with that iso. please confirm i am afraid to brick my laptop but in the other side i want my enter key fixed

 

i did the flash from this iso, its very safe, flashed it twice just to make sure it safe. so a thumbs up from me.

 

thanks inap. i may try when i get home

 

UPDATE 3: Just got off the phone with AW, and after the technician first tired to blow me off with "wait another week," I asked to speak with a supervisor. After about 10 minutes, he came back on and told me that they had no supervisors there, then retracted and said they were all busy. However, he wanted to try and help, and offered to send out another tech with another motherboard and a LCD, to get the computer working again. I accepted this for now. So, now it is waiting again. I will post updates as they occur.


Rich S.

 

I went through this thread quite a bit over the last few days and I was prepared to use the "safe flash" method on the M15x I planned to pick up from a local retailer. I haven't seen this posted, so I just thought I would share that Dell/AW must be pretty good about getting updates distributed. I swung by the Fairfax (VA) Microcenter today and grabbed one off the shelf and to my surprise it had A03 installed already.

 

Anyone know if the Ao3 bio fix the throttling issue?

 

Nope, mine came with A03 out of the box and still throttles when i used furmark and prime95.

 

i've been trying to find a reseller for alienware here in saudi arabia..you guys know one?im from riyadh..

 

Exactly 3 weeks after the A03 failure, here is what has been done to my PC so far and it seems I'm in a working condition (knock on wood):

- Replaced Motherboard - 1 time, to fix A03 failure caused by Dell
- Replaced LCD - 1 time, to fix a problem that occurred after the MB replacement (on boot the LCD would either start, or won't start, if it didn't start the indicators for num, caps, and scroll lock on the left side would be illuminated - caps lock blinking, scroll & num lock always lit)
- Replaced HDD - 1 time, to fix my clicking sound that I've been experiencing
- Replaced the palmrest panel - 1 time, to fix a squeeking sound that occurred shortly after motherboard replacement

Right now (again knock on wood, cause I don't want to go through the same 21 day process again) everything is working (apart from the built-in diagnostics which also lock at the screen test as with LinkRS), no clicks, no freezes, no squeeking sounds ... But that's approximately 600 pounds they spent on repairs so far, not counting technician salary - I can't imagine such a nice LCD to be cheaper than 300 pounds, approximately 150-200 for the MB, 50-ish for the HDD and probably 30-50 pounds for the palmrest. Hopefully nothing breaks up, but if I have another problem, I would be extremely mad and will ask for a unit replacement - my first ever Dell, from about 7 years ago - Inspiron 8200(?) which I bought in January 2003 has only had a problem two times for 7 years, and both were cooler fan failures. My AW right now is ... pathetic

 

Hi Qrio,

In case it helps, my diagnostic (Pre Boot Assesment) lock-ups seem to be related to the keyboard. If I don't press any keys, it will get to the LCD test (where it asks you to press y or n), and then eventually time-out and go back to the diag screen. If I press a key on the keyboard, it locks up. The first time this happend, I did not press a key until prompted (the LCD test), and that was where it locked. However, now I know that it locks up at any point when a key on the keyboard is pressed. What is interesting, as it does this using an external keyboard as well. This did not happen with my original motherboard. Hopefully the replacement they are sending will fix this issue. Good luck!

Rich S.

 

Exactly the same here with both my motherboards - it goes to the LCD test where I have to press Y/N ... When I do, it locks up and that's it. Hopefully in next BIOS they fix it, but this time i'll wait until I install it

 

UPDATE 4: Wow, that went well. I called Friday afternoon, and the tech was out here to fix the computer this morning. I wasn't home for most of it, but my wife was here. The tech replaced the motherboard (again), but now almost everythign works! The PBA runs with no issues, and all of the USB ports work with my ipod again. This motherboard is the same "revision" as all of the rest (ver 11), so I am not sure what was wrong with the previous one. The only remaining issue is that Dell DataSafe Local Backup still causes DVDs and Blu-Rays to skip while watching. However, as before, killing the stservice.exe process solves it. So I seem to finally have a working M15x

The last thing to do, is to flash the BIOS. This new motherboard has BIOS version A00 installed, as did the last replacement. Unless someone asks a question, this post ends my string of updates. Thanks!

Rich S.

 

Hi, for anybody courious, I can confirm this file worked for me as well.

Switched from A02 to A03. All is running flawlessly.

M.

 

Given this issue has been resolved, I am closing this thread. If it is determined there is still an issue, we can open it back up. Thanks for everyone's efforts in posting their results when A03 was an issue.

Thread Closed.

EDIT:
Apparently some of our Canadian members are still having issues with this - opening thread.

 

that would be me!
thanks.
realize why the thread was closed but for some of us the issue remains open: I was offered an exchange laptop after the bricking and a replacement was ordered January 19, a second one February 19 (then canceled Feb,22) and a third February 23 -- the first still shows "in production" but with no edd, the subsequent orders are from the intervention of the original AW level 2 TS guy and the actions of LisaG from Dell (Dell Community and their associated facebook page)
Nice that AW stepped up to offer the replacement. Pain that none has actually been shipped 6 weeks later.

I am in Canada. All tech support is routed for AW to the States, but all CS is Canadian (well India) and thus inaccessible to the TS people. Just an added issue for anyone going through similar situation (e.g. those with delayed systems)

 

so my March 1 EDD for the replacxement system has now become April 8 or just about 4 months after the original Bios download bricked the system.
Because Canadian tech support for AW is in the US, the tech support people can not access order support or customer support which is nominally in Canada: read the India call center. Same script, no insight. Do you believe one component (the keyboard) has been back ordered for 4 months? Nor do I.
Added bonus of Canadian customer "service" is no escalation nor resolution mechanism. Wonderful.

 

man sorry to hear about all your troubles, i hope dell does you right. good luck man.

 

hope so too: frustrated as the Dell person on their community board also has a facebook and does the escalation stuff and communicated real well but only for US customers -- nothing comparable from Dell Canada. To make it worse,they automatically defer all things AW to the US, which is fine for tech support as the AW tech support I have dealt with have been great but the Canadian customer support lacks responsiveness, doesn't communicate well and appears to have embraced the very worst of Dell's bad attitude reaction rather than their respond and keep the customer happy concept.
We will see if publicly venting does anything: my emails are no longer getting any reaction as I suspect the people I am able to talk to are also unable to penetrate the barriers Dell has in place to prevent disclosure but keep their reps from actually lying -- prevent your CSR people from accessing that part of the system that has the information and you preclude them revealing anything to the customer.
Heck, we do not even have the phone line to mislead us like you guys! Just the website.

 

Well long time not providing some feedback to you, but actually I was in Haiti as part of an emergency response organization and I came back few days ago.

Basically my wife and a friend of mine helped me looking after the mobo replacement that was done in January, in few words my lappie works fine... I got a mobo rev 11 with BIOS A00. My friend that is a freak like me told me that the technician was very careful when working with the guts, but the beauty did not lasted when he scratched the cover of the lid. It is not that bad... but I am still kind of mad at it, but since I am able to work with my lappie again I am accepting the trade.

I haven't had "yet" any tech issue, I have checked temperature management, especially for the GPU... thanks to my friend that reminded the technician to use paste when placing both GPU and CPU's coolers over the chips.

I have tested my iPhone synch and until now I have not faced any issue. All the USB/eSATA ports are working.. display port and VGA port are working, mousepad remains as crappy as before (good indicator ahh!), audio its OK and controls for volume, media, etc are OK. I have not tested the Blu-Ray but as a CD-ROM it works.

Then reading this thread I came across the A03 BIOS update which I am hell scared to apply despite of successful reports... it is weird, I applied A02 without no pain, but A03 became a widowmaker number... I just don't have the guts to do it... if crappy Dell does not come up with a good justified (many fixes covered) BIOS update I will just stay in A02 until the time comes.

Finally, many of you said that when running Diagnostics you get problems, but I am not quite sure that the Diagnostics Tool is a well debugged tool... you see it comes from the same creators of the crappy BIOS update. In many other threads people claim that they cannot successfully pass the diagnostics neither to find a problem or to say that everything is OK. This is for those that had the AW before the crappy BIOS update, so I believe that you should wait until the tool actually becomes a tool. Otherwise correct me please if my appreciation is wrong.

Hope you guys that are still waiting for your systems to be repaired or replaced get your AW back in working conditions. Good luck.

 

good news!
My replacement that had been promised since January and was ordered, re-ordered, canceled and re-ordered, finally came yesterday!
It has the same same specs, still has 1gb for the 240 card and the LG screen, samsung memory and this one has an improved DVD unit. SInce my bricked laptop was one of the early machines, I do notice some differences that indicate Alienware/Dell are listening and adjusting manufacturing of the units as they go along:
keyboard is much improved, no unevenness of key issues
track-pad seems better
log in screen is now a dedicated ALienware logo
screen is beautifully blemish free!

 

Add me to the bricked list... cant believe it got me -_- i was not expecting something like this from dells own site, now what i do expect is hours of long conversations talking to customer service with a problem i know now. I just know im going to lose my temper.... FAST. lets see if this is worth the trouble.

 

How did you end up with A03? Bit more detail on the 'brick' situation...