Alienware m15x FAQ!

1.I have just spoken with alienware and they said that is HDMI IN not out.I'm a little confious now.
2.I have qouestion about delivery in UK.If my laptop will be ready to sent will I get some call or mesage that my notebook has been send?How does works?
2. Does anyone knows how much does it cost if I would like upgrade vista 32bit to 64 bit?

 

I have tested it. I have only been able to get HDMI out.

 

Alienware Command Center (AlienFX) program is now available to download:

http://support.alienware.com/Support_Pages/Restricted_Downloads/CommandCenterBundleSetup1090b.exe

 

I've tried to d/l this about 10 times and it never finishes. Always stops freezes around 1 minute remaining. Any other source to download it. I don't see it on any of the disks so this seems like the only place to find it.

edit: must have been the crappy internet at work. d/l fine from home.

 

Hey guys... got an issue with my m15x. I've searched the best that I could (google, thread searches), and forgive me if this isn't the forum for this question...

My m15x will not detect a non-powered firewire 1394b or 1394a (aka bus powered) device of any kind.

I have tried with traditional firewire devices as well as two firewire 800 CF card readers. (everything works perfectly on a tower machine at home)

I also have a firewire 800 external drive that works with the m15x when powered with the external power supply - yeah like I want to carry an extra power supply around....

Alienware says this a 9-pin firewire 800 interface suggesting it is powered -- so where is the power? firewire 800 1394b specs 9 pin interfaces carry plenty of power to do what I want (at least I should for the bus powered card reader!)

I am concerned because there is a precedent of Dell not powering their firewire ports on other laptops....

Drivers are good. Just no detection. I have tried trimming the rubber seal around the end of the cable (thought being the cable doesn't go far enough into the case to seat properly)

I have tried all manner of ways to get this work. With the AC adapter / without. With "stealth" off/on.

No luck...

Judging by other info on the internet of laptops failing to have power with older firewire interfaces.... I am not getting a good feeling about this.

I am making posts like this to every forum I can find in hopes of a solution/answer.

My next steps are:
1) contact tech support at alienware (I'd rather have a root canal).
2) Take off the back panel on the bottom to inspect the firewire hardware and how it is seated.
3) Lookup the pinouts for a firewire800 port and test with a multimeter
4) Try with XP and see if this is a vista issue should the multimeter display voltage.

If anyone else can test and tell me if theirs works differently I'd appreciate it. At least I'd know that I have a faulty firewire800 interface...

Thanks!

 

Just got off the phone when Alienware tech returned my call

Firewire 800 port on the m15x is NOT a powered port even though it has a 9 pin receptical.

So... if you want to use a fancy new firewire 800 cf card reader or anything else that is unable to accept external power you better be putting it through a powered firewire 800 hub or have some kind of DIY battery pack made for it.

I'm looking into both of these now.

Sadly... the newer macbooks have functional powered firewire ports - wish they had that 8800m gtx too...and the blueray....

Lack of a powered firewire has been an issue since way back to when they first started appearing in laptops. The usb ports get power, but firewire doesn't - go figure.

I understand the draw on battery issue. Firewire can theoretically take 30v which is a lot. But come on guys! This can be solved with voltage limiting on the port so storage card readers could work. Or how about letting us power the ports optionally with the AC adapter connected!

Anyway, so you know...