m17x and Vista x64 Saga

Ok, since the m15x seems to have been successfully installed with Vista x64, I am now on a mission to prove that the same can be done on the m17x.

I don't know if someone else has tried this, but I would be happy to be the first. So, hopefully with all the help of the gurus on this forum, maybe we can get a ,m17x 64 Bit guide.

However, I need to get past the first hurdle. Booting the m17x from a Vista CD. So far, I have been unable to boot anything. I am thinking I may have a bad DVD drive. But it seems to work for everything else.

Has anyone else with an m17x been able to boot either a Vista32 or Vista64 DVD?

What I have tried:

1) Vista Original - Burned from Iso File. Booted, but failed looking for Drivers.

2) Vista SP1 - Burned from iso file - Fails to boot. Loads files, then locks up trying to start the opsys.

3) Finally, I went out an bought a full version of Vista Ultimate 32 and 64 bit (2 dvds). Fails to boot either the 32 bit or the 64 bit version. Locks up in same spot as step 2)

So, either I have a bad drive or Vista cannot boot on this machine.
I can call AW and see if they can send me a new drive. Or I guess I can try buying an external DVD and see if I can boot from it (if that is even possible).

Any ideas to get me past the boot up step?

 

Well, next attempt to boot Vista DVD. Tried to boot from an External DVD (USB 2.0) drive. But, I cannot seem to find a way to tell the AW bios to boot from a USB device. The bios setup is VERY basic, and in the boot order menu, there is no USB support. Anyone know if AW machine can be told to boot from a USB device?

 

I can tell you about m15x and it does support USB boot by default. I can boot even from my 2gb memory stick.

 

Press F12 at the alienware splash screen, should bring up the boot menu. I booted off my USB stick into Backtrack that way.

 

hey sliqsystems im right there with you just got my two 320 GB HDDs and gonna use that so that i can install 64-bit on that i can just put my old HDDs in if i have too many problems will let you know how this goes.

 

Hi omaryunus. I say good luck to you. I finally got the system to boot on my usb DVD. I was trying this to see if my AW dvd was bad. Turns out it wasnt.

Unfortunately, the resuls are grim. As far as I can tell, the m17x will not be able to install Vista64. I have tried everything I can think of and I just flat cannot get the system to boot up a factory Vista64 disk (or any other Vista disk I have). It just wont even get to the Vista start install screen. It just hangs.

If you boot from the respawn CD (x32), it goes thru the install boot sequence and gets into the install program no problem. But then I tried a stock Vista32 DVD (factory) and it wont boot.

So, bottom line. If you cant boot the setup DVD you are dead in the water.

I called today to see if there would ever be any support for x64, but I got the basic answer "no". Or more precisely, the next system (due in Oct) will have Vista 64 support. And they "MAY" support older systems. But to me that means at best maybe, or worst, no.

So, since my 30days is running out, and I require x64, I started the RMA process. I didn't like doing this becuse every other thing about the machine I like. Except the fact that they sold me 4gb of memory that I cannot use.

So, my final steps are to see if I can interrupt the Vista boot sequence and get it to ask for additional drivers. I seem to recall that you could do this in the older opsys's. Maybe just maybe, if I can get the right drivers to the setup program I can actually get it to start up.

What I would like to know, if anyone else out there with a Vista DVD (32 or 64) can get it to boot and start the setup process with no problems on this machine. Maybe there is something else wrong here with my machine that I dont know of. So, if anyone reading this could try and let me know I would appreciate.

 

this might help you.

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...new_search=1&p_search_type=answers.search_fnl

 

also try this out too if u have no luck with the first link.

http://4help.alienware.com/cgi-bin/...eCBwcm9jZXNzb3I*&p_search_text=m17x+processor

 

Thanks Apoc2k8 for the links. But unfortunately RAID is not my issue. I only have a single 320 drive. Still searching for solutions though. I have the weekend to find them otherwise this pretty rig is going back

 

Good luck sliqsystems.

I've kept all my packaging just in case and will be sending it back if they haven't resolved how the Vista-32bit system they sold me can address more than 2GB of the 4GB they recommended to me (as per this thread..)

 

it very likely could be the issue. you'd need to use a program like vlite to start slipstreaming files into the installer, so that it has what it needs when it starts to try and find parts of the system...

It's quite possible that the system has some rather non-standard components and setup is getting rather confused... I'd look at the video drivers initially, probably check hdd drivers (aka RAID drivers... even if you're not using RAID, it's on a RAID controller, something windows nearly never has stock support for)... perhaps northbridge, etc...

imo, the drive bus is probably being confused. if the USB controller and RAID controller are both foreign to the vista setup, you'd hit a critical error, that the setup system can't find the installer... which may or may not give you an actual error (probably just hang). the HDD and DVD-ROM in the system are probably controlled by the same drivers, so it'd be worth a shot.

but if you're insistant on paying the restocking fee, be my guest.

 

I'm definitely not insistent on RMAing this thing. I like it very much. That is why I am trying so hard to get this to work. With help from others like you I am hopeful. I will check out vlite (whatever that is and see if I can progress. Thanks again.

 

if you get windows 64 to install halfway then it crashes, and then u get an option to start windows in safe mode or last known good configeration go all the way to the bottom of the screen and pick ignore digitally signed drivers that helped me finish the installation. Now i'm working on finding 64 bit drivers for my m17x.

 

I booted up vista 64 using my thumb drive with J-Micron RAID drivers in it. But vista gave me the option to load the drivers. Thats what made it easy for me to install vista 64, need to find a way to load those drivers. Hopefully its a driver problem and nothing worse.

 

Apoc2k8, that is good news. I was (had) given up. But now I am diving in again. How did you get a bootable Vista on you thumb?

And again, my Vista boot never even gets to the first setup screen. It just hangs just before that screen is shown (with the black marquee screen). No crashes, just hangs.

 

i got to the part where u can load drivers on vista, what kind of drive u have dvd or blue ray?

 

I just have single 320gb hdd and lightscribe DVD.

You got further than me. I played around with vLite a little hoping I could get a little farther. Tried it with Vista 32 and still couldnt get it to boot.

Its funny, because if I use my original Vista 32 CD (with no SP1), I can get to the same point as you. But no further. The sp1 Vista disks just plain wont startup.

 

i got my alien with the dvd-rw drive, you should give microsoft a call they might know some other way to get your drivers or vista to load to the next step at least.

 

my vista loaded and got me to the part where u can format the hard drive, but after that it was asking for drivers, it was asking for dvd, cd, and floppy disk drivers. I was told by a friend that the dvd drive and hard drive probly run on the same raid channel, and i should look around for some raid drivers, after i found the raid driver i loaded them and it worked. But then it crashed when vista restarted then i got an error i don't remember what kind of error it was i forgot from all the aggrovation i was getting from vista lol, at the error screen i had some options and i picked ignore digitally signed drivers and windows restarted and everything installed fine after that.

 

So you got x64 working though, right?

 

Yeah i got it to work.

 

What Vista do you have? (Version and with or without SP1?)

 

Apoc2k8. Great news. I am happy for you. I just wish I had more time. But, unfortunately, I am boxing my m17x up today for its return back to the mothership. I had to get 64bit up and running asap, and start generating product for my customers. I cant afford to take anymore time to play with this. Hopefully all your efforts will help others (like benem) to get at their elusive extra 2gb of memory.

How about a How To Guide for m7x and x64 Vista?

If I had more time I would have loved to compare the parts/settings of our two systems. I just flat out could not get my Vista setup disk to boot. I would be curious to know what was different in our setups.

Good luck to all. I am now off to the Sager forums. Hopefully with nothing else to complain about

 

Apoc2k8. One other question. Do you have an SLI setup? If so, were you able to get it working with no flickering? I tried running 3dmark06 in SLI mode and all the tests had a green flickering/washout on all the demos. I installed ever driver version up to the latest on Laptops2go but with the same issue.

Can you run the 3dMark in SLI mode with no problems?

 

sry to hear that, yeah i got sli to work.
I got mine the first day of release.
Sry to respond late been working alot of overtime

 

when i first got my alienware m17x it was running like garbage, i was getting low fps on world of warcraft, around 20-39 fps. After installing vista 64 i'm loving my laptop now lol. My fps jumped to 54-62 fps. Thats a big difference in fps.

 

When i get a chance i'll try 3dMark. I havn't got any flickering and my laptop is running smooth.

 

So is there a "how to" guide for installing vista 64bit safely on the m17x?

 

Unfortunately there is not but together we can make it.
I do not have a m17x but I am confident that I can make OSD and Command Center to work on any AW machine running Vista x64.
So I will start a new thread and anyone successful in running all other drivers like Display, Sound, Network can share their experiences with me and I will update the GUIDE. Command Center and OSD part will remain the same as m15x and it already WORKED on ALX Desktops as well

 

I thought of it and did a hardware comparison with m15x and m17x and they are quite similar so started a thread on it. See if you want to try it... check my signature for link

 

Ok I have found out how you can install using the CD sort of for X64 Vista.

Start up from the Boot CD, when you get to the Marque screen you can actually hear the CD begin to Skip and go no further. At this point simply remove the DVD Rom, NOT the CD, the actual DVD ROM, from the system. This will allow it to continue into the Windows install portion.

It will then pop up a message asking for a driver, which is for the DVD Rom and the onboard Raid. You can not simply insert the Support CD which has these. You will need to Copy the JRaid AMD64 driver onto a USB drive or in my case I just copied to the C drive. It is located at

D:\DRIVERS\ESATA\DRIVER\AMD64

Just copy the entire contents to USB or the C drive.

Then simply Browse to that directory. At this point push your DVD Rom back in, and say NEXT. It will install the drivers and Poof you are off and running.

I hope this helps some of you out there that are trying to get the 64 bit OS on your m17x as I was.

 

anyone having windows hang at the windows loading screen? when the raid/cdroom in?

if i pull it out, it loads ok, if i leave it in, it will loop forever at the loading screen... help!

 

Tayzor... does the above works for you ?

 

i have 64 bit installed, it just that after sp1, i cant not load windows with my cdrom in.

It will only go pass the windows loading bar, if i pop out the cdrom driver.

 

uglyashell, you are the man!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

So I have been reading through this thread and still have the 64 bit install sitting at the windows loading screen.
I let it run all night to see if it was a time issue and it was not.
I have tried booting from the 32 bit full install, the 64bit full install, my external dvd drive, and still nothing.
I have been messaging alienware back and forth and they are just going through the normal support options stating that it should install just fine, which it is not.
So tonight I am going to try this and I will let you know how it goes.

(The way to get a boot menu on the m17x is to disable the hide boot messages feature in the bios and then when it reboots you will see the option to hit ESC for BBS and that is a boot menu that had my USB drive in it)

How to create a USB drive you can install Windows Vista

Posted on September 29th, 2008 by Jason(thx if it works)

Get your hands on a USB drive that’s at least 3GB in size. You’ll also need a Windows Vista installation disk.

Format the USB Drive

1. Insert the USB drive into your computer.

2. Right-click Computer in the Start menu and then select Manage.

3. Select Disk Management under Storage in the left column of the Computer Management window.

4. Right-click the USB drive in the bottom center section of the Computer Management window and select Format. Warning: Make sure you select the right disk to format.

Formatting a disk will erase all data on it.

5. Change the file system to NTFS and then click OK to format the USB drive.

6. Wait for the USB drive to be formatted. The formatting progress will be shown in the Computer Management window.

Set the USB Drive’s Volume to Active

1. Open the command prompt with administrative privileges by going to Start, All Programs, Accessories, and the right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.

2. Type diskpart in the command prompt and then press enter on your keyboard.

3. Type list volume and the press enter.

4. Find the USB drive in the list of volumes. In this example Volume 3 is the USB disk I’m using. Select the volume by typing select volume X (with X being the volume

number of the appropriate USB drive) and then press enter.

5. Set the volume as active by typing active and then press enter.

6. Type exit and then press enter.

Create a Boot Sector on the USB Drive

1. You’ll need a utility called bootsect.exe which can be found in any Windows Vista DVD in the boot folder. Copy bootsect.exe from a Windows Vista installation disk and

past it in the C:\Windows\System32 directory in your computer.

2. Once you copied bootsect.exe from a Vista installation disk to the System32 folder on your computer, type bootsect /nt60 X: (where X is the drive letter of the USB

drive) and then press enter.

Copy Windows Vista Installation Files

1. Insert a Windows Vista installation DVD.

2. Open Computer from the Start Menu.

3. Right-click the DVD drive the Vista install DVD is in and select Explore.

4. Copy all of the files from the Vista installation DVD and past them in the USB drive.

Now you can install Windows Vista from a USB drive!

 

Ok well I did this and it started installing but started to hang again... so reading back through this post I reread the part about removing the actual dvd rom drive during the process... As soon as I disconnected the drive the install went to the next screen... will let you know how the rest of the install goes.

 

Success! on to the m17x setup guide for 64 bit!

 

Sorry for digging up an old thread, but it's silly to make a new one when this one allready exists.

So, I'm trying to install vista 64 on my "not all powerfull" m17x system.

I got past the install lockup (followed by a bluescreen in my case) by removing the dvd slot during the dvd skipping.

Now I'm stuck at a screen that is asking me for drivers for the DVD-rom. Uglyazhell pointed out that one needs the driver in the AMD64 folder. I copied it to my thumb drive and tried it. The green loading bar at the bottom fills up about 5 times, then popping back to the start. After that it tells me thatt "no new devices could be found", not beeing able to get past the screen ...

Any advice? ;<

Greets-
Bed.