M17x BIOS A03 Discussion Thread

You're talking about audio or video stutter? Because on Crysis I have a weird problem. On some part of a level or two I get incredible lag which basically unplayable. But yeah just only between 3-4 checkpoints throughout the game.

And I never have audio stutter in game.

 

video stuter

 

Ouch! So maybe its kinda similar. I have zero stutter in any game included Crysis Warhead except a few moments in Crysis.

 

Dell is giving me a new mobo - inconvenient waste of time, but they have to work through their steps I guess.

It's a software issue.

 

Turns out I had hybrid graphics on. Put it off. Ran fine.

 

yeah thats what im thinking too now, XP and linux have no problems.

 

I hope they sort this hybrid feature for the future. I love having an icy cool laptop for casual surfing and it only getting warm when really gaming. Turning the hybrid off just keeps the laptop warmer than Id like.

 

maybe it keeps the laptop warmer, but the motherboard cooler which is the reson why I have it disabled

 

Disabling Hybrid Graphics and Integrated Graphics is fine IMO. Even if you move around the house and disconnect from AC you will still be fine. Sure you will have a lower battery time - if you anticipate staying off AC for an extended period of time then just re-enable and reboot. As long as PowerMizer is enabled, you won't see a vastly warmer temp difference between the two states.

Just a thought.

 

Just got off the phone with alienware tech support, showed him the DPC checker with the current drivers, and A03 and with no Nvidia Drivers installed and how the Latency dropped, and I'm sure he accidentally read this aloud but according to notes from the Upstairs Level 3 Development team, Posted on 1-15-06 "The current issues with the Nvidia 280 Sli setups in the M17x were supposed to be fixed with the current A03 Bios update....however calls are still pouring in over audio/video stuttering, while watching movies/gaming, Currently the issue is traced to both the Nvidia and Windows 7 Mass Storage Driver, at this point we are working on a updated driver, or registry edit to work arund this issue, reccomend advising customer to allow us more time to investigate this issue"


So in other words to me, this is saying "We know these laptops when equipped with the 280's are useless paperweights, however we reccomend you keep them til your 21 day return period passes, thereby giving you no options for resoloution"

 

you've got dpc latency with a03 ?

 

its a software issue. soon it will be a memory

and the issue is practically non-existent in vista I have re-spawned and the stutters are gone unless I try to invoke them.

 

That's great for Vista, however, Mine shipped with Windows 7, and yes, I still have it, thought I had fixed it, but nope, play a video, and try to surf the web at the same time, and it stutters all over the place.

 

are you really sure about that ?

 

Exactly my point, Damn wish they had the M1730's still in stock, at least with them yes the graphics cards died, but I never once experienced stuttering, while gaming, web surfing, or watching a movie, or with a combo of any of the above, they need to fix this with a Mass Recall, or....just start issuing refund checks.

 

+11111111111

 

or replacing systems with the i7 refresh which I am sure will not have any of these problems

 

Amen Brother, Amen, Of course I'm sure that goes with the old saying though Crap in 1 hand, wish in the other, and call dell when you figure out which 1 gets full faster.

 

If the i7 systems end up not having these problems, I will try to see if they will upgrade mine lol

 

+1 from me too

 

Don't forget the wish and crap theory, their awaiting our answers

 

i acctully the 186.82 GFX driver laptopvideo2go seem to down clock properly

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/topic/24999-v18682-windows-7vista-64bit-nvidia/

 

best driver for us

 

it seems that the reason they changed the thermal table on bios A03 is to prevent downclock of second gpu with their dell driver. so using an other driver prevents their so called fix dont you think? if they would like to fix our systems and didnt care for quarantee they would release a driver with powermizer off but they didnt for obvious reasons.

 

theres no stutter at all with that 1 ?

 

no there is still stutter :/

 

ahhh the st stu stu stutter is killing me! I am playing counter strike and my machine is going nuts.

 

Hi all; sorry to be here with you . I received my M17x as a replacement for the last of two previous XPS 9300s that tanked on me. Out of the box, a 64-bit with Windows 7 and BIOS A02.

Processor: Intel Core 2 Extreme CPU Q9300 @ 2.53GHz, 2534 Mhz, 4 Cores
One NVIDIA GeForce 9400 and two NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280Ms

Zero issues on video and sound and undemanding games (zero stutters), but there were no hybrid graphics (discrete and integrated not working together) so performance was lame. Just had system updated to A03 and all relevant, tech-recommended drivers installed. Now, Hybrid Boost mode is functioning, but . . . Wham!: latency issues right out of the gate (never had them, on any system [at least noticeably] ever before. Constantly getting spikes and stutters, with sound on or off, with video or without, doing undemanding programs or not.

http://www.riversideconnect.org/images/latency.jpg


Beyond sound and video stutter, I get hick-ups simply interfacing with general software (MS Office, Adobe Suite, etc.); mouse cursor will blink/time-out and break work flow with each spike. Seems like the system is limping along with some serious internal conflicts. Alien-Tech indicate that engineers are working it, and they and NVIDIA should have updated drivers shortly (seem to suggest problem narrowed to NVIDIA drivers conflicting with A03).

Just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. Anybody have any further feedback?

 

It been like that for all of us plancus. The main problem is powermizer and the cards downclocking. I'd say the best current workaround is to download Dox 195.62 drivers and install with powermizer off.

 

another 4 months of chasing dell for me then if the i7 ones dont have the stutters.. maybe ill wait till the r2 refresh hits my country then ill start calling. then i can get the 5870s or maybe the gt300 cards

 

Guys,

After a ton of testing this afternoon I've found some additional info on the issue of the nVidia graphics cards failing to properly downclock back to 2D mode.

This issue is present is all drivers prior to 186.81. 186.81 WHQL and all drivers AFTER it do in fact up- and down-clock correctly with the A03 bios.

This issue should be easily fixed by Dell with an updated video driver for us.

Thought this information could be useful to those folks fighting with this particular issue while we wait for a permanent solution from Dell.

- Denver

 

After updating to A03 with 195.62, no more sound...should i roll back to A02 or use another driver?

 

ive got a03 and 195.62 and im listening to music atm.. so you should look at different potential causes

 

same here check device manager and see if there are any errors

 

installed the AO3 over the weekend and i'm liking it, it hasnt fixed my DPC issues 100%, but its a hell of a lot better now, and CS Source is running a lot nicer and isn't randomly freezing for a second every once in a while!

i just hope they get to work on an AO4 sooner rather than later

186.82 & no issues with downclocking

 

my stutters have been relatively unnoticeable when on external monitors. gaming on the laptop screen itself has massive fps loss(down to about 10 fps) every few minutes when sli is enabled. single gpu mode no issues.

even with a03 i dint notice any difference.

not sure if its been mentioned before but the dpc latency spikes up when the cpu or gpu downclocks, is ok when it upclocks again but spikes again when it downclocks.

 

i think i missed something here. did dell officially said something for A04 bios?

 

Probably yes, as official it can be from the agents I talked with. The actual question is when....

 

and they wait for acpi.sys of win7 to be fixed at the same time?

 

That's a different story. Either they will fix the current issue with this ACPI or they could wait for MS to write a new ACPI so they can work in a new basis. Don't forget about NV too

 

why is the M17x the only laptop with such an issue with ACPI process in W7?

 

I suspect that the hardware like the motherboard and all the peripheral devices like GPUs were not properly tested with win7 contrary to vista.

ACPI is the key because it allows the OS to control some aspects of power management, such as requesting the system to enter into sleep mode or suspend. Other functions, like screen blanking are controlled by the firmware, and it is the firmware that performs the actual hardware-specific mechanisms by which the system enters suspend or sleep mode.

 

Well after weeks of complaining Dell Customer Resoloution agreed to replace my M17x because of the stuttering after me displaying the DPC with the Nvidia drivers installed, and lack of when they were uninstalled, so they called me and told me to expect the shipment today, Well I looked up the lappy they sent, exact same specs with Nvidia cards again, so they have intercepted it before t reached me, and now starting the build all over again *sigh*

 

ok install the same programs-drivers and tell us results on your new machine.

actually its not tested at all with win7 but they sold it with win7. this is a crime!


http://support.dell.com/support/top...7D6DAE5F62382E1EE040AE0AB8E15C86&docid=364604

i feel great with vista now even this os is more demanding

 

Ive had playtime with 186.84/A03 with a fresh re-install of 7 and the registry change and its been great almost like ive never had the stutter batman arkham is playing amazing....i dont know what alienware tech did but its been awesome since i called them to fix my issue. i had a bad audio/graphical stutter with hybrid sli and its non-existent now.

 

I too have had the audio/video stutter but noticed today after update A03 AND setting your personal settings to Windows-7 Basic, you will have no audio stutter! The only way I could avoid the audio stutter before was by disabling SLI. I'm using all th ecurrent DELL drivers. Give it a try and good luck!

I would also like to thank everyone that has been posting information about this issue and others!!

 

I'm done with the BS. Mine is up on Ebay now.

 

Guys,

For those of you not following multiple threads on here, Dell-JohnB made an official announcement a little while ago in the Dell blogs:

Update, 1/18: Just wanted to know this story isn't quite over yet. NVIDIA and Dell engineers are working together towards a driver fix, and this I was told today. I apologize for any confusion. Hopefully we can come to a complete resolution very soon. I'll update you as I hear more.

- Denver

 

Thanks for the update DenverESullivan

 

as soon as we press them by publishing the problems they will fight for a fix. this is for sure. otherwise we will press them for replacement and the budget from all m17x sold will cause dell to have serious problems.