HOWTO GUIDE: Running Vista x64 on m17x

NOTE: THIS IS STALE AND I AM NOT UPDATING IT SINCE ALIENWARE HAS RELEASED 64 BIT SOFTWARE FINALLY. THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT AND MAKING THIS GUIDE A SUCCESS, ALSO HELPED PUSHING ALIENWARE RELEASE 64 BIT SOFTWARES

Last Updated On: 10/22/08
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+ Latest command center is supported now

Older:
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+ lots of changes.. guide looks like 100% complete
+ Special thanks goes to Zertoc for validating the guide and providing the missing links
+ Network Interface Card (NIC) Driver need to be downloaded as it is not detected by default. (thanks to uglyazhell)
+ BinaryGFX is not an option in m17x so removing that part (Thanks to VeeDubMeister)

NOTE: I do not have m17x so cannot guarentee that this will work 100% of times and expecting you to give me feedback and share your problems here so that we can make this guide working for everyone​

Alienware Area51 m17x drivers for Windows Vista 64 Bit

INSTALLATION

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1) Install Vista x64 Bit

2) The m17x does not install the network Driver correctly. You must download and install the updated Driver from Realtek.com ( direct link)

3) Install Vista x64 Service Pack 1

4) Connect to Internet and run Windows Update, it will download close to 100 downloads, let all of them finish before you proceed to next step

5) Windows update will install most of the drivers except Graphics Driver, Vista will by default work with Standard VGA Graphics

6) After you have successfully updated your machine with latest software from Windows Update

7) Download the latest Video drivers for nVidia from laptopvideo2go.com and extract them to C:\nVidia ( Direct link for nVidia ForceWare X 177.98 )

8) Download the modded INF file from laptopvideo2go.com for the latest driver and replace C:\nVidia\nv_disp.inf with it ( direct link)

9) Run setup.exe from C:\nVidia and reboot the machine

15) Download and install the latest sound card drivers from Realtek.com ( direct link)

AlienFX Development , Sample Applications
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It was hard to maintain two locations and bug free posts on both the thread. So I have moved the Application development to a separate thread - find it here

DISCLAIMER: THIS GUIDE IS MEANT FOR EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES AND SHOULD BE USED AS PROOF OF CONCEPT THAT m17x CAN FULLY SUPPORT 64Bit OS. THIS IS STILL EXPERIMENTAL, PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU FACE ANY ISSUES

 

After I finish closing on my house I plan on trying this. Gotta get the components I need together. Anyways....just a note the m17x doesn't have integrated graphics to my knowledge. So we might edit out the binarygfx?

 

Thanks I just did.. please do let me know what else you find not working or working.

 

Ok I found the first issue, the m17x does not install the network Driver correctly. You must download and install the updated Driver from Realtek published 9/24

http://www.realtek.com.tw/downloads...d=5&Level=5&Conn=4&DownTypeID=3&GetDown=false

The Network Card is a Realtek RTL8168

After that you can then start the updates.

 

Thanks for the info... guide updated and +rep

 

Ok on the OSD installation, after installing the application and the Keyboard manager crashed I CUT and Paste the file as directed. But when the OSD attempts to restart it is recreating the file back in the SysWOW64 directory and still not working.

Any hints on what I could do to get past this point. Other than that the guide is good till now.

Here is the actual event viewer message I see, I have 3 errors so I will place them all bellow.


Activation context generation failed for "C:\Windows\WinSxS\x86_microsoft.vc80.mfc_1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b_8.0.50727.762_none_0c178a139ee2a7ed\MFC80.DLL". Dependent Assembly Microsoft.VC80.MFCLOC,processorArchitecture="x86",publicKeyToken="1fc8b3b9a1e18e3b",type="win32",version="8.0.50608.0" could not be found. Please use sxstrace.exe for detailed diagnosis.


Faulting application OSDManager.exe, version 0.0.0.20, time stamp 0x47550a47, faulting module OSDManager.exe, version 0.0.0.20, time stamp 0x47550a47, exception code 0xc0000005, fault offset 0x00010b74, process id 0x57c, application start time 0x01c92342e0ae53f1

 

Are you trying the OSD from my guide? I am not 100% sure that it will work fine as its from m15x. Can you please go to your My Hive and download the version for m17x, also upload that to somewhere for me to test it as well

 

Have you got your AlienFX working ?

 

man i have the m17x but when i installed the video driver that support the nvidia geforce 8700m gt (dual)177.81_vista64 from the site u noted:laptopvideo2go wether u enable the SLI technology or disable it's the same :total availble graphic memory:2303MB
dedicated video Memory :512MB
systeme video memory :0MB
shared systeme MEmory :1791
is it right??? i guess it shud change man:S
and there is always an unknown device in my pc .... how shud i know which one is it....and how to dowload its driver??? and besides when i install m15x_OSD_Vista_00020 it doesnt crash and besides wat does this osd for???the hotkeys worked well when i just installed this application m17x_Hotkey_Vista that is downloaded from my hive...and i have one last question....when i installed the command center from my support cd and did the steps u told us to do b4 when i entered the command center i found that it's for the m15x and besides u shud be able to set color for each part of ur keybord in the advanced theme but it appears that u could only change the whole keybord and the apps that u created for the eybord coloration didnt work...only the : turn off keybord worked ..... plz help me coz i need to work things out .... alienware doesnt have support in lebanon :S

 

ok... can you share m17x_Hotkey_Vista because that is same as OSD for m15x
Try the new tool that I have in my m15x GUIDE called "Color Wheel" that is easiest way to change your colors

don't worry if AW does not support it, we are here for it oh they dont have support in India as well

 

I think what you are seeing is OK

this is my m15x with same card as yours but without SLI

 

Actually Stone can answer better about SLI... he is the guru about SLI

 

wat shud i do with the other problems man?????m17x_Hotkey_Vista.zip

 

Sorry could not understand... what is the other problem? unknown device or hotkey application? can you send me a screenshot of device manager ?

 

Vikas, can you send tell me somewhere I can post these files for you. The m17x does not have an OSD install like the m15x does, it seems to be more of a small registery patch that it does.

I can send you both the m17x keyboard patch and the FX for our system.

 

Can you upload them to rapidshare.com or do you use Mesh.com ???

 

nice guide, thx.

For the HotKeys:

go to :

http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Detail_Desc.aspx?ProductID=2789&DwnldID=13612&lang=deu

and install latest ATK0100 ACPI Utility Driver for Vista 64 bit.

Then download ATK Hotkey Driver and Software from (direct link):
http://aliendl.alienware.com/Mobile/m17x/m17x_Hotkey_Vista.zip

extract the zip file an install only the software.

HotKeys are working now.

 

thx buddy... I have updated the guide. +rep

 

Toshiba Bluetooth Stack is availible here :

http://aps2.toshiba-tro.de/bluetooth/?page=download

 

Is it optional or required to have a functional m17x ?

 

it's part of the core m17x setup.

latest Touchpad driver for Vista 64 Bit

http://www.synaptics.com/support/drive.cfm

I thought it's better to write a complete installation guide ;-) if not, ich will stop now.

 

Good idea... can you please draft it and PM me ? I will update the guide. major part that people afraid of coming to 64bit is the legacy software from AW which they do not care to upgrade to 64bit. Since that part is fixed now we can find rest all drivers

 

my last problem ...

Intel(R) ICH8M-E LPC Interface Controller - 2811 is not working

 

i will do...do you have a fix for my problem ?

 

This should resolve if you have installed Intel Chipset drivers... have you?

 

sure i did, hmmm

 

try installing this INF updater from Intel.com
http://downloadmirror.intel.com/14695/eng/INF_AllOS_8.4.0.1016_PV_Intel.exe

 

no my version is newer.. i really don't understand what device that is

 

I am ready for x64.. but for the moment no time to do experiments
need to go for a month to US/Mexico for my work but after that..
format my disks and go for it ( i am using it every day, and no back-up at all.. no other laptop on spare..)

So far i am enjoying it ( a lot) to read all your comments, and your solutions have a rep...

( i going to change my set-up to 2 x 128 GB SSD drives, so should be interesting to see some benchmarks on there with x64...

 

the device is ACPI\ITE8707 ... infared interface maybe ?

 

Do you have a fingerprint reader... usually this device is used for biometric readers in IBM laptops

 

ok solved...Remote Control Receiver Driver 5.0.1.2 solved the problem
It was the ITECIR Infrared Receiver.

m17x with Core2Duo T9500, 2x GeForce 8700M GT SLI and 4GB RAM is fully 64 bit enabled with Vista Business 64-Bit.

 

aha... great!

 

thanks for your help findvikas, great job.

 

np... anyways it was a team effort... please draft me the steps and drivers that you have used for this to work and I will update the GUIDE for the rest of people out there...

 

Updated... thanks once again for validating the guide...

 

hey guys, I am having a hard time upgrading to vista 64 bit.
I have my vista 64 bit disk, and it boots fine, goes to where you select the language, yada yada,

then i get to the screen that say install. After I hit install, it pops up asking me to locate a driver for my cdrom.

It has browse button, so I can browse to look for the cdrom. I have no where the driver is. I though windows would know and install it.

It will not let me install unless I give it a driver for the cdrom. anyone else having this problem?

I tried copying the vista cd, to my external harddrive and installing it from there. that is a no go tooo.. any ideas?

 

Have you checked "My Hive" ? I do not own m17x so cannot confirm that in My Hive... I have heard of asking about HDD drivers but never heard about cdrom drivers so no idea

 

hey guys, i got the upgrade working and updates ok. Here a big tip.

Find drivers for your raid. Once you have it, you can upgrade easierly.
When you update sp1, pop out ur cdroom, or not it will get stuck on the windows loading page.


Last question, I got everything to work, however my command center is detect m15x instead of the m17x.

I got my keyboard working, however only half my keyboard lights are on.

from the letter k to the number pad it is on, but from k to the tab button the keys are off.

Anyway to fix this?

 

now that's something interesting... does m17x has multiple color supports for Keyboard ? It would be nice to know. Can you take a snap of it ?

Hope you have used the correct registry file before installing the Command Center ?

 

if only half the keyboard lights up, wouldn't that imply it actually has two different sets of LEDs? because that would theoretically mean you can light them separately... in any case, i'm sure findvikas will make it possible

 

i followed your directions exactly,
I clicked on those registry files before command center

the only thing, i see differnt was when I entered the reg to edit the keys.

instead of saying alienware, it had asusindustries or something.
but i changed it to ASUS anyways.

Also having another problem,

My cdrom is not working, i notice that when i pull it out, and load windows, it load fine,

however, when i push it back in, and try to load windows, it hangs, at the windows loading bar screen and does not move at all.

When i pull it out at the screen it load fine.

I cant get my cdrom to work, help!!

I have a raid drive, and the cdrom. I guessing it could be a raid driver problem????

anyone have something similar?

 

It is the driver problem for sure. Boot the Vista (without drive) and then plug it in. It should show the driver for Drive in Run->Devmgmt.msc, disable them and reboot the system. If this is driver problem then this time it should boot fine.

do let me know how it goes...

 

i dont see the cdroom, i do see however
!base system device
!base system device
!network controller

i think it my wireless card tho, which i havent installed the driver.

dont see the cdroom driver,


i can hear the cdroom trying to do something, but, it not loading or showing up in mycomputer.

 

i do not owm m17x so not sure what make the cdrom is, anyone can please share the driver?

or better run driveragent and share the output with me so that i can find drivers for it.

 

tiny keyboard - bear the spelling mistakes.
using my WM to type

 

hey guys im having the same thing like tayzor.
the dvd rom is doing something and preventing windows from starting i tried it on ubuntu and it works just fine.
and the keyboard is not detected.
and the registery is not Alienware its asus something.

can someone help.
im trying to fix this for my brother.

 

Can you provide me the exact System Information, since I do not own m17x.
To do so,
1) Run->msinfo32->Enter
2) Inside msinfo32->File>Save
3) Either PM me that file or upload to somewhere and give me the path.

I will have to look for the drivers for it. The DVD seem to have problematic drivers installed

 

games.rachini.com/asd.nfo
games.rachini.com/asd.exe
this is the link for the .nfo file i compressed it in a file asd.exe.

 

have you taken this info file when you booted without DVD rom placed I guess ?
oh yeah looks like you did, coz otherwise it will not boot. hmm.. can you see the drive in safe mode ?