BIOS A02 for M17x-R2 is now available!

Dracomagus Here is a guide to get to the GPU's created by The_Moo™
How to Remove/Replace your GPU in the M17x Allpowerful
Though it's for the R1, the construction is the same.

I tried the dell site to get the A01 BIOS but Dell has removed it from the Drivers & Downloads for Alienware Laptop M17xR2 site. Just try reflashing the A02 BIOS again. You may want to try this first since it is the easiest.

 

Yeah, well, after looking at it, it is beyond my level of "security" so no checking the cards for me.

I am on the phone with Alienware tech right now, checking my problem

Update of my status : Seems like my problem is not the BIOS.. 1 of the way to temp. fix the flickering problem with BIOS A01 was to turn Turbo off. So the tech made me turn the Turbo Off with my new BIOS and test again Xfire. Result : Same flickering, so the problem probably is my second card or cable

 

Well, then. I guess it is safe to flash to A02. Now, are the changes only for the 920 or could there be more changes and bug fixes for anything else? I don't know if I should flash or not... I want to but feel lazy.

 

Well, just flashed and flickering is gone in the few places I saw it, so I am ALMOST happy camper.....no VT..BOO. Oh well

 

Updates : ok, more tests for Alienware tech. Now testing A02 Bios with the original Alienware factory ATI Catalyst drivers, still with Turbo Disabled

 

Thats what i said before.

 

Yeah I know, but I will not remove half my computer to get to the cards... I don't feel confident enough, even with Moos video.. so I am doing all the tests they are asking me, then they'll have no other choice to send a tech to do it

 

I'd trust you, with your fragile confidence, over a banctec/qualxserve tech any day

THAT's how bad they can be.....

 

Ok, let's say I do it, open the computer to check.. what do I have to check for exactly ?? I just watched Moos video about changing the GPU.

There is only 1 big thing he calls GPU. So how do I tell wich one is my main, wich one is my second Card, and where is that damn cable everyones says they had to plug correctly ?

 

Maybe you live near another member?

 

Montreal, Quebec, Canada...

 

ok guys, I just tried anyway to open the laptop and check the cards and cable.

I only half-knew what to look for, as the video from Moo only had 1 card.

So I opened, saw the first card, with a blue cable going from it wich wasnt on Moos video going to the other side of the laptop. The cable seemed well plugged. Then I went on the other side, removed the black bracket, and saw my second card. Got it out, checked the cable, wich seemed well plugged, but it was hard to tell since it was hidden under the copper thing ( going I think to the heat sink ? Sorry guys, but when it comes to the physical parts, I am truly a noob ). Anyway, everything seemed fine, so I placed everything in place, opened the computer, and just for kicks, tried Crysis in Xfire..... NO FLICKERING !!!!! Trying another game right now

 

awesome, glad it worked out for you
you just might have saved your precious from the evil hands of dell techs

 

Woo hoo...good luck hope the other games work out just as well. Maybe the cable was just not quite seated all the way, or maybe physically re-seating the video card did the trick...I know re-seating memory or cables seem to be a pretty comon practice to fix these types of anomalies...

 

Grats! Good news for R2 owners!

 

We were rooting for you to go the diy route, so congrats Draco

 

FWIW, I just played an hour of battlefield bad company 2 at 1920x1200 2xAA/8xAF and it was VERY smooth, highs in the 70+ range and the lowest I hit was 45 fps during heavy combat. If the dual 4870s are running this good, I think some nicely OC'd 5870s will yield 60+ fps constantly or close to it. If I OC the cards to a mild 600/920 I get a low of 50 fps which is awesome. I think having the 920xm CPU helps quite a bit.

Draco, glad you got it sorted out.

 

joker, did you notice a frame rate increase with the new bios ?

 

I haven't bothered with the new one since it's the same as the one I already have. I think AW just put the bios through QA and released it without really changing it.

 

Gratz Joker !! As for me, all games runs smoothly !! Yes Greywolf, reseating the video card itself probably fixed the problem!

So, BIOS A02 is now working for me Yay !! No problem left on my M17x-r2 !! I'll finally be able to properly enjoy it bug-free and full power !! Thx guys for all the help you guys provided !!

So far :
First problem, computer freezing when unplugging / going to sleep :
Alienware Tech spent 2 weeks on the problem, unablt to help me, spent 5 calls with them
You guys here : told me to update to Catalyst 10.3 BETA = worked

Second problem : My flickering continuing even after Bios A02 patch
Alienware Tech : spent over an hour with them + they gave me test on my own to do and send them by E-mail. Still waiting on them to call me.
You guys here : showed me to open up that thing and do stuff.. wich WORKED !!

Total Score :
Alienware Tech = 0
NBR guys = 2

Thx guys, really appreciated

 

Glad someone else sees this behavior, it's like a flash or an occasional roll when a game's graphic engine is loading.

Once in game only under heavy load does it occasionally do a quick "flick".

 

Yup exactly. I mentioned it to nagshead but I guess this final version of the A02 bios still has that minor issue. It's no big deal but it would be nice if they raised the power trip limit another 10W. I think the 5870s in xfire will fix that little issue altogether. Anyone know if this new A02 fixes the issue with the battery not charging if you pull the power cable out? I have to do a hard reset (take the battery out, reset cmos) in order for it to start working again and it can be annoying. I guess one more thing they need to add to their "to do" list.

 

Dracomagus Glad to here that worked out for you. I'm sure it helps the other worried lurkers.

 

I must repeat that the caliber and knowledge of people on this forum makes me feel better and more secure about purchasing this laptop for the simple fact that if a problem does arise that they will do their best to help solve it kudos to you all and I hope that you will be here for quite awhile.

 

Yes, this forum is *very* helpful.... with details on savings, tweaks and tech support it's invaluable!

@Joker - with the re-seating "fix", did you try this on the system you had first at all? I am wondering for the minor flicker if it is worth looking into at this point. Kind of like a car, you hate to crack it until you really need to : )

 

Flashed my BIOS over lunch will try some games tonight. Looks like everybody is workign now though so I can't wait to finally get full speed out my M17xR2!!!!

 

I've reseated the cable many times. It's not that unfortunately.

 

Yep, I've seen it too. I'm not sure if its a power issue, as I'm almost positive I've seen it with crossfire disabled (I'm still using the old A01 BIOS). I'll avoid upgrading for the next couple of days, and see if I can be 100% certain it happens with only one GPU enabled.

That said, the single "flick" is extremely rare for me. I get one every 4-5 hours of gaming, so its not a big issue.

 

It's very sad to see that Dell and AW have twice in a row shipped out PC which are defective and take months to fix the issues. I surely hope they will not repeat the mistake for the R03 version if and when ever that comes out...

 

Interesting, I'd have to guess I see it like about once an hour or so, it's so brief and infrequent sometimes it hardly registers that it happened. Even with that I think I could live with it but it worries me a bit because it's effectively like a brown-out, its hard on the electronics I would think.

 

Is everything completely playable at least? Can I finally put an order through?

 

Well, so far, mine is fixed of any issues... about that micro-flickering Joker and others talks about, I'll try to check more for it, but so far, I haven't seen it.

 

Yes you finally can.

Might want change your sig.

 

Well my flicker seems to be fixed played about 3 or 4 hours of l4d2 with no flickering at all. woot woot

 

Quick question has everyone been flashing their BIOS using the CD-Rom or USB key method? Or have others attempted running the BIOS update directly from Win 7? I've seen a post earlier in this thread that it can be done that way, but tend to stick to the recommendations when doing things such as flashing a bios. I can do any of the above mentioned ways, but was curious if someone would choose to ONLY use the directed methods (from the readme), vs some other method.

 

I always flash within windows if given the option.

I know some people are scared to do it that way, but I have yet to have a problem.

 

Hi all,

Glad to see the BIOS update has solved the issue, has anyone without the screen issues applied the BIOS update?

 

Well my last flash nearly bricked my M17x (the battery had to be fully charged before comancing within Windows). Don't know if it's the same with the R2?

Lucky at that moment I still had old 2 BIOS's whitch I could Referd to. (If I followed the DELL rep, a tech was nesessery to and come to replace my Mobo, which was very unneeded because I could fix the problem).

 

I did the CD method. Burned it to a CD and installed on next boot. Worked great.

 

Hi when you did the upgrade it flash the BIOS then ask to press any key to exit, did it then show another screen then go into some from of standby?

 

Yea, I think I ended up just pressing the power button and it booted up.

 

as I said in the owners lounge mine still flickers with A02, I tried reflashing and just took the graphics cards out and reseated the crossfire cable on the side with easier access but no go, still flickers >.<

 

Iused the CD method to patch the new Bios, and I think it powered down once over, so I just push the power button after

 

Quail, what Drivers do you use ? If your not using the new Catalyst 10.3 BETA, might wanna try that since I think everyones using it now. As for myself, I have A02 BIOS, Catalyst 10.3 BETA and once I reseated my card, everythings fine

 

yeah I have the 10.3 beta drivers, my system has crazy flickering with all of the 7 or so games I've tried only when crossfire is enabled, much worse than your video of ME2.

 

I also have the 10.3 and the ao2 bios worked for me and booted from disk when installing.

 

If you reseated cables and cards, then maybe your second card is defective...

1 test I have done to double-check if it was power/bios based problem is this : people, to be able to play with Xfire before patch, were turning the Turbo mode off in BIOS A01.

So try to go in your BIOS A02 and turn Turbo OFF, then try running in Xfire. If it still doesn't work, then the problem is not the same as everyone else (as was mine). And since you already reseated everything, a safe bet would means your card might be defective...

 

Just tried that and didn't see any difference, good idea though.

 

Your best bet would be to call Alienware tomorrow morning then

 

I may very well have a bad gpu then. Come to think of it, when I had my system open there was a piece of tape that was broken in the middle where the crossfire cable goes with another piece of tape next to it holding the cable down. As if the cable was ripped out at one point or another.