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    M17x BIOS A03 Discussion Thread

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by DenverESullivan, Jan 7, 2010.

  1. KC0r8y

    KC0r8y Notebook Consultant

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    I stear everyone clear away from Dell and Failenware. The price you pay for a Failenware clearly isn't worth it. Dell has ruined the name. I've suggested the new ASUS gaming laptop to 3 different people who have all bought them and love them for half the price of a Failenware. Wish I had done the same..
     
    KC0r8y, Jan 11, 2010
    #51
  2. WaR

    WaR Notebook Virtuoso

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    You can still sell yours and get at least $1600. Enough for that Asus G73 (which looks awesome by the way).
     
    WaR, Jan 11, 2010
    #52
  3. NYC Drifter

    NYC Drifter Notebook Evangelist

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    I hope to be one of those new folks. I think the refresh will be a bit less than hoped. My guess is the i7 CPU without anything like a RGB screen, but I can still hope.
     
    NYC Drifter, Jan 11, 2010
    #53
  4. DenverESullivan

    DenverESullivan Notebook Consultant

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    Guys,

    Just spoke with Nagshead, the only Alienware rep still here in the forums...

    He indicated that the M17x update is ready and he would be posting additional information for us shortly...

    - Denver
     
    DenverESullivan, Jan 11, 2010
    #54
  5. Cobraman10176

    Cobraman10176 Notebook Geek

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    Wow.....Still no bios update, and I got sweetly talked into giving them 1 more week....yeesh
     
    Cobraman10176, Jan 11, 2010
    #55
  6. Caustixide

    Caustixide Notebook Geek

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    Lets hope this fixes issues we're all having and not brick our laptops.
     
    Caustixide, Jan 11, 2010
    #56
  7. Mandrake

    Mandrake Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    Believe me there are a lot of employees here, I can name a couple. Some don't want to be associated as such because customer service isn't their job.
     
    Mandrake, Jan 11, 2010
    #57
  8. gatti-man

    gatti-man Notebook Consultant

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    Sorry but to me the M17x is still the superior laptop. Your obviously not aware of the multitude of problems previous ASUS laptops have had not to mention reliability.
     
    gatti-man, Jan 11, 2010
    #58
  9. nagshead

    nagshead Company Representative

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    All,

    Just been informed by the engineer that A03 BIOS is externally promoted and it should be live on the support site in a couple of hours.

    Thanks for your patience on this issue. In addition to the A03 BIOS, it's important you are using the latest wireless driver that is on the support site.

    This solution should address the majority of customers. While you may still see some red bars on the DPC latency tester, the end experience from audio and video playback is greatly improved, if not altogether fixed.

    Engineering is still working and following customer feedback very closely on this issue. I look forward to reading everyone's results.
     
    nagshead, Jan 11, 2010
    #59
  10. gatti-man

    gatti-man Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks for all your help
     
    gatti-man, Jan 11, 2010
    #60
  11. thecore762

    thecore762 Notebook Consultant

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    nagshead, thank you for the update, hope to see some improvements!
     
    thecore762, Jan 11, 2010
    #61
  12. DenverESullivan

    DenverESullivan Notebook Consultant

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    Nagshead,

    Thank You!

    This is FANTASTIC news for all Alienware M17x owners. We all greatly appreciate you and the engineering folks following our lead and making this issue a priority.

    - Denver
     
    DenverESullivan, Jan 11, 2010
    #62
  13. benthedogtrainer

    benthedogtrainer Notebook Evangelist

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    :D :D :D
    lmao......
     
    benthedogtrainer, Jan 11, 2010
    #63
  14. Cobraman10176

    Cobraman10176 Notebook Geek

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    Hrm.....is that a not so suttle hint Mandrake :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
     
    Cobraman10176, Jan 11, 2010
    #64
  15. Mandrake

    Mandrake Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    No not me. I'm in Illinois not Texas. Looks like the bios update is out.
     
    Mandrake, Jan 11, 2010
    #65
  16. Cobraman10176

    Cobraman10176 Notebook Geek

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    Hrm, only shows A02, according to my downloads
     
    Cobraman10176, Jan 11, 2010
    #66
  17. Mandrake

    Mandrake Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    Look at the other thread regarding DPC.
     
    Mandrake, Jan 11, 2010
    #67
  18. cpaqf1

    cpaqf1 Notebook Evangelist

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    same.

    10char
     
    cpaqf1, Jan 11, 2010
    #68
  19. Mandrake

    Mandrake Notebook Nobel Laureate NBR Reviewer

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    It's on the FTP site. LINK
     
    Mandrake, Jan 11, 2010
    #69
  20. nagshead

    nagshead Company Representative

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    It takes time for it to go live on the servers, hopefully within the hour. I'm waiting along with the rest of you at this point to see it posted, but I have high confidence it will be there tonight.
     
    nagshead, Jan 11, 2010
    #70
  21. DenverESullivan

    DenverESullivan Notebook Consultant

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    Nagshead,

    Just a clarification... Is there a NEW wireless driver as well or are we just to use the latest one?

    - Denver
     
    DenverESullivan, Jan 11, 2010
    #71
  22. nagshead

    nagshead Company Representative

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    Use the one posted or the one that came installed on your system. There's not a new wireless driver for this.
     
    nagshead, Jan 11, 2010
    #72
  23. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    flashing mine now
     
    dave-p, Jan 11, 2010
    #73
  24. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    BIOS update seems good

    and DPC results are way better
     
    dave-p, Jan 11, 2010
    #74
  25. NYC Drifter

    NYC Drifter Notebook Evangelist

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    Good luck Dave. Hope it fixors all including latency.
     
    NYC Drifter, Jan 11, 2010
    #75
  26. BatBoy

    BatBoy Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    nagshead:

    Any chance you can share the change details in regards to DPC Latency? Most of the M17x owners are interested in understanding what the Engineering team found and adjusted with this BIOS release. The A03 text doc included with the BIOS does not specify.

    Thanks again for supporting us here on NBR.
     
    BatBoy, Jan 11, 2010
    #76
  27. benthedogtrainer

    benthedogtrainer Notebook Evangelist

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    Copyright (C) 2009, All Rights reserved.
    www.dell.com
    =======================================================================================
    BIOS Release Notes
    =======================================================================================
    ***************************************************************************************
    Systems : QuickSilver
    BIOS Version : A03
    Release Date: 01/06/2010
    VBIOS version: 62.79.60.00.03
    ITE EC Version: 12.57

    =======================================================================================
    Input filename: A03.rom with A.bat
    Word checksum: 0x3F16
    Dword checksum: 0x13D4 3F16
    =======================================================================================

    BIOS change:
    1. Fixed the RAID Setup Utility is failed in AMD VGA card platform.

    EC change:
    1. Update the Thermal Table 2009-08-17.
    2. Match with OSD 2.20 fixed AMD card Fn+F6 issue.
    3. Modify CPU thermal read method to reduce the system loading.

    download here

    ftp://ftp.dell.com/bios/R254103.exe
     
    benthedogtrainer, Jan 11, 2010
    #77
  28. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    Working fine, and DPC testing still looks good

    I got a few spikes when i started the movie but it been good since
     
    dave-p, Jan 11, 2010
    #78
  29. benthedogtrainer

    benthedogtrainer Notebook Evangelist

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    wireless is awesome also issue not present here at all.....dpc tested here too........perfect nice
     
    benthedogtrainer, Jan 11, 2010
    #79
  30. lewdvig

    lewdvig Notebook Virtuoso

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    I have to update my wifi driver. I missed that a few pages back.
     
    lewdvig, Jan 11, 2010
    #80
  31. Speedy Gonzalez

    Speedy Gonzalez Xtreme Notebook Speeder!

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    can some one post the dpc latency checker after the bios update? :)
     
    Speedy Gonzalez, Jan 11, 2010
    #81
  32. PurelySatanic

    PurelySatanic Notebook Geek

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    Give me one second to post my DPC latency...
     
    PurelySatanic, Jan 11, 2010
    #82
  33. lewdvig

    lewdvig Notebook Virtuoso

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    Should the Fan be on all the time?

    Minor annoyance as it comes on during games anyway.
     
    lewdvig, Jan 11, 2010
    #83
  34. Cobraman10176

    Cobraman10176 Notebook Geek

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    A03 watching a DVD sickening, really
     
    Cobraman10176, Jan 11, 2010
    #84
  35. Speedy Gonzalez

    Speedy Gonzalez Xtreme Notebook Speeder!

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    thanks cobraman looks better than before but not what i was specting :)
     
    Speedy Gonzalez, Jan 11, 2010
    #85
  36. stamatisx

    stamatisx T|I

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    This does not seem like a major improvement to me
     

    Attached Files:

    • dpc2.png
      dpc2.png
      File size:
      55.1 KB
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      188
    stamatisx, Jan 11, 2010
    #86
  37. benthedogtrainer

    benthedogtrainer Notebook Evangelist

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    not here let me do it
     
    benthedogtrainer, Jan 11, 2010
    #87
  38. Speedy Gonzalez

    Speedy Gonzalez Xtreme Notebook Speeder!

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    no is not i guess let me post mine :)
     
    Speedy Gonzalez, Jan 11, 2010
    #88
  39. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    my DPC tests seem much better
     
    dave-p, Jan 11, 2010
    #89
  40. dave-p

    dave-p Notebook Deity

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    it also fixed two issues I noted with the adaptor warnings and enabling ASPM
     
    dave-p, Jan 11, 2010
    #90
  41. Cobraman10176

    Cobraman10176 Notebook Geek

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    Seems to work great and aimed toward the quad core customers, guess the dual cores got overlooked
     
    Cobraman10176, Jan 11, 2010
    #91
  42. Speedy Gonzalez

    Speedy Gonzalez Xtreme Notebook Speeder!

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    wow that looks good here is mine with a02 [​IMG]
     
    Speedy Gonzalez, Jan 11, 2010
    #92
  43. Lord_Zath

    Lord_Zath Notebook Deity

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    Mine are good. A couple red spikes when loading large programs (gpu's changing clocks perhaps). No stuttering. Win Vista 64-bit.

    Those of you with large dpc problems still - Windows 7?
     
    Lord_Zath, Jan 11, 2010
    #93
  44. benthedogtrainer

    benthedogtrainer Notebook Evangelist

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    dpc.png


    :d :d :d :d :d
     
    benthedogtrainer, Jan 11, 2010
    #94
  45. airplaneman

    airplaneman Notebook Deity

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    A03 is much better for me, no red spikes at all and very very rarely will I see a yellow one.
     
    airplaneman, Jan 11, 2010
    #95
  46. benthedogtrainer

    benthedogtrainer Notebook Evangelist

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    oh yea me too...just posted...running 2 movies in the background no issues
     
    benthedogtrainer, Jan 11, 2010
    #96
  47. benthedogtrainer

    benthedogtrainer Notebook Evangelist

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    wow is that suppost to be like that ...seems like something else is going on
     
    benthedogtrainer, Jan 11, 2010
    #97
  48. NYC Drifter

    NYC Drifter Notebook Evangelist

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    Looks much improved. Others are getting mixed results?
     
    NYC Drifter, Jan 11, 2010
    #98
  49. PurelySatanic

    PurelySatanic Notebook Geek

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    Yeah, I am doing a playback of BluRay Harry Potter 5 (DONT SHAME ME) and I'm getting between 100 and 800 so I'm well within the green.

    BIOS AO3 worked for me.
     
    PurelySatanic, Jan 11, 2010
    #99
  50. Cobraman10176

    Cobraman10176 Notebook Geek

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    That's watching A DVD I won't even post what it looks like with a you tube video, and that's with a fresh respawn
     
    Cobraman10176, Jan 11, 2010
    #100
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