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@KlemI just tried removing all the RAM and powering on the laptop, then powering it off, and then inserted a new RAM module of a different size to all of them, and I'm still just getting the beeps on startup. :/

 

EDIT: Just removed the coin cell battery having removed all the RAM and the battery, and have managed to boot successfully!

Edited by Papuang
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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello everyone,

My Alienware m17xR4 has official A13 bios. After the update i noticed that my laptop has slowed down by A LOT. And then i noticed that once i load my cpu fully the clock speeds go to 2.2 Ghz. Right now all i can do is use software like Throttle stop to increase my cpu freaquency by increasing current limit (changing multipliers does nothing in bios) and that software is annoying because once the update is released you are forced to update and once you do all your settings are gone and you have to do everything from start...

 

My question is if i were to install unlocked bios could i make such changes in the bios without having to rely on software ?

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On 12/16/2018 at 6:02 AM, Papuang said:

For anyone new coming to this thread, I have yet to get my 970M to work properly in my M17x R4 running Windows 7 64-bit, but these are all the steps I have tried so far.

 

1. Downloaded and successfully installed Eurocom modded driver version: M17xR4_05511028_9xxM_399.07_W7_W8.zip [Alienware (Dell), GPU, Nvidia driver version, supported OS]. MSI Afterburner showed GPU1 (970M) activity, meaning the driver worked correctly. However, I still felt I was lagging in games unnecessarily considering I have 22GB of RAM. Therefore, I wanted updated modded drivers because I thought that might fix the issue given that these drivers were more than 2 years old.

3. Downloaded newest default 970M driver version from Nvidia website (417.35).

4. Edited nvdmi.inf file so driver would work on M17x R4 as per this guide.

5. Successfully ran setup.exe and downloaded the updated modded drivers. However, although recognised in BIOS and Device Manager as installed correctly, MSI Afterburner showed no GPU1 activity and I lagged worse in games. Therefore, I thought I might need to have an updated and/or unlocked BIOS set to start using PEG (PCI Express Graphics [970M]) for it to work.

6. Downloaded most recent default M17x R4 BIOS (A14) from Dell website.

7. Ran BIOS setup file and successfully updated BIOS from default A12 to default A14. However, still no GPU1 activity.

8. Requested an unlocked A14 BIOS from @Klem (many thanks <3).

9. Formatted a USB drive to run FreeDOS using Rufus as per this guide.

10. Extracted the DOS version of FPT, prr tool, and unlocked BIOS files all kindly provided by @Klem into the USB drive as per @svl7's original post.

11. Restarted the laptop, booting from the USB drive using the boot menu accessed by pressing F12.

12. Ran Flash.bat successfully and restarted again.

13. Opened successfully modded BIOS and selected 'Load (or restore) optimal defaults' under final 'Exit' tab, before pressing F10 then enter to save and exit.

14. Same as initial situation - outdated modded Eurocom drivers showed GPU1 activity and modded newest drivers showed no GPU1 activity.

15. Restarted and opened BIOS and went into new second Advanced tab, and changed Primary Display to PEG and saved and exited.

16. Laptop failed to start and it beeped several times with the fans running loudly.

 

Up until two days ago, I had no idea about driver modding or BIOS unlocking or how to do any of this, but I feel I have pretty much comprehensively tried everything I have been able to find to no avail. I am very tired as its 4am and am truly at a loss as to what to do. I've seen people have managed to fix their laptops by booting into the old AO5 BIOS or something, so I will be doing that shortly, but after that I'm pretty lost.

 

Any help on this would be insanely appreciated. :/

 

EDIT: I'm going to sleep now, and would be super grateful if someone could quote the fix for the beeps problem that was posted earlier in this thread, because I really don't want to have to look through all 26 pages again because I just finished doing that :'(.

Hey if you still need help with your 970m or anyone else having the same problem heres how... a year ago i had same problem... I followed online guide on how to mod nVidia drivers to work on Dell hardware (i have Alienware m17xR4). After changing inf file and installing the drivers my gpu was recognized in all the programs yet the load would still be at 0%.

I followed this guide : https://null-src.com/posts/nvidia-notebook-driver-inf-mod/post.php . It all came down to wrong section number (which is mentioned in the link).

For example, after opening device manager, getting the hardware ids and formating the string for my gpu it looks like this : %NVIDIA_DEV.13D8.0551.1028%, once i looked for this string in nvidia .inf file i got multiple entries with: Section250, Section251,Section253 and so on... 

 

My fully formated string looks like this: %NVIDIA_DEV.13D8.0551.1028% = Section252, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13D8&SUBSYS_05511028

 

After installing the drivers i would try to load the gpu. If nVidia card got 0% load that would mean that i got the wrong "Section number" so i would change it to another Section that matched my string. Another match for string %NVIDIA_DEV.13D8.0551.1028% was with Section250 so i changed the string to : %NVIDIA_DEV.13D8.0551.1028% = Section250, PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_13D8&SUBSYS_05511028, removed the drivers with DDU and installed the drivers with new string and it WORKED, my 970m was not only detected but now when i opened heaven benchmark the nVidia gpu load would go to 100% and massive increase in fps suggested that it really worked. So i suggest you give it a try if you still cant get it to work.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • Bios Modder
51 minutes ago, koslow said:

Hello, i'm planing to upgrade my M17XR4 (660m) to 980m i need A14 unlocked bios.

 

So @Klem here is my results

 

https://www.sendspace.com/file/jofwhg

 

Hope you still unlock these :D Thanks

 

 

Hi!

Ok. Your fully unlocked bios A14 done. Check PM.

Edited by Klem
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  • Bios Modder
40 minutes ago, BlackEagle said:

i mount GTX 980M on Alienware M17x R4 with A11 unlocked by svl7 , it's correct or i need update it to A14 ?

Hi!

Yes, in your case, you can use  A11 unlocked bios by svl7.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hi All !

The day has finally arrived : My 7970M has completely crashed and is not working anymore on my M17xR4 after 6 years of use :'(

Still, I can boot windows when disabling the 7970M from the settings, therefore relying on the intel chipset.
However, due to the stupid Windows 10 policy forcing the updates down your throat, any major update also tries to enable/update the 7970M GPU, which result in instant PC freeze everytime.

 

Is there any modded Bios (most recent up-to-date version) that can allow me to completly switch to the intel chipset, hiding the 7970M to the OS ?

 

Thanks a lot !

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  • Bios Modder
1 hour ago, yaboul said:

Is there any modded Bios (most recent up-to-date version) that can allow me to completly switch to the intel chipset, hiding the 7970M to the OS ?

Hi!

Yes, in your case, you can use unlocked bios from the first page of this thread, where you can completely disable (in bios setup menu) your 7970M card.

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On 2/18/2019 at 6:25 AM, Klem said:

Hi!

Are you sure you want to unlock the BIOS version A13, and not A14 or A15?

 

Hi Klem, what do I need to do in order to get the latest bios version (A15) unlocked ? How can I install it afterward ?

Sorry i'm a bit lost since the first post links are all dead :/

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  • Bios Modder
3 minutes ago, yaboul said:

 

Hi Klem, what do I need to do in order to get the latest bios version (A15) unlocked ? How can I install it afterward ?

Sorry i'm a bit lost since the first post links are all dead :/

Hi!

All links in the first post of this thread still works. But to use it, you need your account promotion. Just read "User Account Promotion Rules".

https://www.techinferno.com/index.php?/announcement/4-user-account-promotion-rules-read-before-posting/

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Hi all, 

 

     I'm new to this forum and haven't really posted anything yet, other than on the welcome page.  I'm about to start a new project I'm calling, "Alien Resurrection".  It began about a week ago when my neighbor dropped off his M17xR3 at my house and said, "Make me a Clown Funnyman!".  (I guess that was a reference to the movie, 'Wedding Crashers', when a guy asked a balloon artist to do the impossible...).  Since that time I've been doing nothing but reading the forum.  I've a TON of issues to work out with this thing!  For openers:

1- The keyboard is trashed (If it's worth it, I would spring for a replacement)

2- BIOS and Device Manager DOES see the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M, but I cannot establish any communication with it.

     (NVIDIA Control Panel exists in Windows Control Panel, but will not open.)

3- Battery is 0% available (plugged in, not charging)  ((...so using Insyde Flash within Windows environment is pretty much out of the question))

4- It's at REV A08 and NOT-UEFI ready as far as I know.  (I'm only going to bring it up to Rev once, then NO MORE BIOS upgrades, but need EXPERT advice on the best Rev to settle on.)

 

It was non-functional when I received it, but I was able to get it running.  It was super super slow- almost unresponsive, but I was able to put BelArc Advisor on it to get a look at what I was dealing with.  It had Windows 10 on it, (I'm pretty sure THAT was a BAD idea.).  Being that my neighbor and I had nothing to lose, I wiped it, by cleaning and re-partitioning the 800Gb drive, then did a clean  install of Win 7 on it.  I think that where I want to go with this M17xR3 is to upgrade the BIOS sufficient to do a clean UEFI reinstall of Windows 7, (if THAT is an unwise course of action, I would appreciate some input from more experienced techs - backed by strong arguments for doing what they suggest).

I would like to chronicle the journey to document the experience for others to see.  I'd like to break it down like this and fill in the rest of the outline later:

 

I.     Identify the unit and all the hardware within it, noting the limitations of said hardware.

       A.     Diagnose everything, possibly doing some bench-marking for comparative purposes to similar systems

II.    Begin the actual resurrection process.

       A.     Document all hardware, firmware, software changes made (In the preferred sequential order backed by strong arguments from more experienced users)

               1.   Outline the procedures performed in an easily understood manner, (including embedded links to knowledge resources both within and without this forum)

III.   Put the resurrected Alien to the test and provide some final bench-marking

       A.    Document the bench-marking process in an easily understood manner, (including embedded links to knowledge resources both within and without this forum)

IV.   Prepare a summary of what was learned and where other hardware and software choices could, or should have been made.

 

I'm in no real hurry, and it appears this forum isn't either.  I don't have the $$ to spend right now, but once I'm back to work I'll have plenty.  My neighbor certainly doesn't have the money, and there's a REALLY good chance he'll just gift the Alien to me when he finds out there's going to be some unavoidable expenses incurred.  I'm on day 2 here at T|I and I have NO PROBLEM whatsoever biding my time and making the required posts to gain my promotion, so I say:  Let the journey begin!

 

I suggest a new thread to chronicle the experience might just be in order, but I will not presume to do so unless somebody important concurs.  I'm going to settle in and be here for the duration of this project, so I hope I'll see some others around that take some interest in what I'm about to do.

 

EXCELSIOR!

 

Tom

1675167605_Image1.thumb.jpg.ea44d736874f018d9fff51cdf7957eae.jpg

BIOS_1A.gif.901da87c4f7f32e914b946349b59da11.gif

BIOS_1B.gif.79966e67896ca927da39e0ba9719834b.gif

BIOS_2.gif.787dfcb876e50031d0493c0eca52a31c.gif

Edited by Mr. Tom
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According to the thread titled:  "Alienware M17X R3 UEFI"   My Idea of Going UEFI is going to be a little more involved than I thought.  I better start doing my homework.

With any luck, I might be able to find the items I need to cobble together an Alien-Frankenstien at a reasonable price given that these things are on the order of 7-8 years old, or given the fact that I'm currently between jobs, give up on the UEFI thing altogether.  Having never used a forum before, it seems this is completely the wrong venue for my (above) post, even though I likely will need a BIOS mod to attempt to solve my "Plugged in, not charging" issue.

Sorry about that.

Will put all future posts in more apt locations!

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What is the difference of the A11 unlocked bios and A14 unlocked bios, and why is the A14 unlocked bios not a public download like the A11?

About my alienware:

Alienware m17x R4

10GB Ram 1067mhz

MSI GTX 1070

i7 3920xm

Watercooled

Dual PSU mod

 

The problem I am having is, I just installed my new i7 3920xm and was excited to start overclocking but it overclocks like shit!

I am also having an alienware m18x R2 with unlocked bios and watercooled with a i7 2960xm and it overclocks up to 4.9ghz with flex set to 50 without a problem. In games it runs smooth but a stress test will cause a crash. fair enough.

 

My m17x r4 with 3920xm in other hand will overclock up to 4.4 ghz with flex 15, if I go up to 4.5 ghz I have to set flex to 70!!! This is very weird behavior.

My problems does not stop here. The TDP is limited to 68 watt no matter what I adjust.

I can not run a stress test with all cores running 4.3ghz, they will stay on 4.1 ghz.

My 2960xm does not care It will try reaching 4.9 ghz on all cores under a stress test but it will crash after few seconds.

My last problem is the 2960xm will not even work in my m17x.

 

Also I have tried copying the bios settings using in my m18x but I noticed at the power page, the menus are different.

 

When looking under: POWER -> Advanced CPU Control on m17x there is no:

Long duration PWR limit

Long duration timewindow

Short duration PWR limit

(picture from the m18x bios)

 

instead there is:

Config TDP Configuration

(picture from the m17x bios)

 

I suspect it might be the issue. I cannot figure out how to use config tdp configuration.

 

Does anyone having the same problem as me?

muagqd.jpg

25tuhpx.jpg

post-80-14494993486212.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

@Klem

 

I have a m17xr4 with a 7970m and 2D display.  Currently on A15 running full UEFI on Windows 10.  I am trying to upgrade to a 1060n and a 120hz display, but have figured out I need an unlocked bios to set to PEG.  What bios version would you recommend, and can you provide an unlocked version?

Thanks!

Xachary

 

https://www.sendspace.com/folder/ptc28o
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  • Bios Modder
8 hours ago, Xachary said:

@Klem

 

I have a m17xr4 with a 7970m and 2D display.  Currently on A15 running full UEFI on Windows 10.  I am trying to upgrade to a 1060n and a 120hz display, but have figured out I need an unlocked bios to set to PEG.  What bios version would you recommend, and can you provide an unlocked version?

Thanks!

Xachary

 

https://www.sendspace.com/folder/ptc28o

Hi!

Send me your current file bios backup from your laptop. 

For creating backup of bios use attached program. Extract attached archive directly on the Desktop and run the program as Administrator (right click mouse). Program will create archive "results" directly on the Desktop. Send me this archive "results" via PM or or upload it to any fileserver and post the link.

https://www.sendspace.com/file/mxoavw

or

http://www120.zippyshare.com/v/NC9WuxRI/file.html

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