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OFFICIAL: Alienware M17x R3 / R4 - Owners Lounge


Brian

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I have a problem with my M17x R4 running on A10 bios

Whenever I start my system, there's around 10 to 15secs before the alienware splash screen or when the alienware splash screen shows up, it takes around 10 to 15 secs before it loads Windows. This was not the case yesterday (A09) before I flashed the A10 bios.

this what I already did:

-reset the BIOS (remove CMOS battery)

-reflash again the A10 bios

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Dear Gurus, My Alienware m17x r4, suddenly gets superslow when compiling C++/Cuda with visual studio 9,10,&12 on windows 7 64bit, it just suddenly happens, and after that everything is super slow, it takes >140x the normal time to do even simple stuff like starting a program or even opening a text file..!

I especialy wonder if this is spesific to the Alienware! Anyone else have this problem with their Alienware ?

Its difficult to identify the problem; ProcessExplorer and whatishang.exe does not reveal anything, cpu and memory use is all normal, investigating the log files does not show any special happenings, so I'm in the dark here, anything else one could use to pinpoint the causal factor ?

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Alienware m17x R4 Linux Cuda Issues:

I'm shocked to discover that Linux does not find my 680m Geforce Gpu, because of the Intel Integrated Graphics Processor (IGP), what is the options here ?, this far I have found 3 potential options:

1. Flash the bios with unlocked bios version, thanks to the amazing work by svl7

2. Use fn F7 "switchable graphics system" as alternative to bios flashing, as the F7 key should allegedly disable the IGP.. but does this work, anyone tried ?

3. Is there a motherboard jumber swich to disable the IGP ?

4. ?

I would prefer 2 or 3 as bios flashing puts me at risk of bricking my laptop..

This is really infuriating, seems like Dell and Intel has conspired together to make Alienware inaccessible to Linux, they are probably breaking a lot of anti marked lockout laws by doing so.

Again thanks to @svl7 for providing a sound solution to this.

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Bumblebee to the rescue ! It turns out someone has made a linux software workaround for this :

bumblebee enables the usage of both NVIDIA and Intel IGP card with the proprietary drivers. Installing bumblebee in Ubuntu 11.04 is easy: just add the ppa

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:bumblebee/stable</pre> and then install the bumblebee package

sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install bumblebee</pre>

Source : CUDA + Nvidia Optimus in Ubuntu 11.04 | tech

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I ordered my m17x on the 16th January and I have flashed my 7970m no problem.

May have been a bad ROM?

That was my first thought but the vBIOS I flashed was the exact same one as I successfully used with a different 7970m.

Alienware m17x R4 Linux Cuda Issues:

conspired together to make Alienware inaccessible to Linux...

Actually (some) Alienware laptops are among the last to fully support Linux, with the ability to switch exclusively over to the dGPU and avoid this forever broken switchable graphics implementation. Using the BIOS/FN + F7 method should work properly, though I have had issues getting the iGPU working normally when switched to with the unlocked BIOS.

Lol dang triple post about software issues? You should probably talk to Alienware Tech Support; improper CUDA functioning on Windows involves a platform they're fully expected to support. Besides, Bumblebee is slow and your solution would only work for a Debian derivative, not to mention there isn't any VS support under Linux.

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Bumblebee worked ! now cuda works mint 14 on the m17x R4, as bublebee bypasses the igp. the trick is to use the optimus keyword when calling eclipse. The gl rendering might be slower as it it passed from the gpu to the igp for rendering, but othervise it should be as fast as normaly, I have to make some timing benchmarks. How to use the FN + F7 in linux ??

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You can't use the key combo in Linux as far as I know, boot Windows if you need to switch over. The unlocked BIOS shows you the same option the key combo does though, which is switching between PEG and SG for driving video output. PCI will crash it, and at least for me IGFX doesn't get 3d initialized properly.

Why not just keep it on PEG? Bumblebee is a crazy amount of work if it isn't absolutely necessary (like with the truly hobbled Optimus laptops), and will never be more than a workaround.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I just got my M17x, did a fresh install of Win7 on my SSD I put in and installed the latest drivers for the HD 4000 I got of Intel's site and for the 680m. The problem is, with Optimus enabled the Desktop Windows Manager (DWM) crashes at boot and restarting it from Run->Services doesn't help as it just crashes again immediately. I am forced to have the IGP disabled and run only off the 680m. I suppose that's a software issue...

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  • 4 weeks later...
I just got my M17x, did a fresh install of Win7 on my SSD I put in and installed the latest drivers for the HD 4000 I got of Intel's site and for the 680m. The problem is, with Optimus enabled the Desktop Windows Manager (DWM) crashes at boot and restarting it from Run->Services doesn't help as it just crashes again immediately. I am forced to have the IGP disabled and run only off the 680m. I suppose that's a software issue...

There seems to be a similar issue with the ATI Grafics Card, remember I also had to update the driver of the Intel Card, because it was causing problems. Another source of problems seems to be the Logitech Gaming Software, causing random crashes from version 8.45.88 onwards...

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I updated that opinion :

Intel® Core™ i7-3920XM Processor (2.9-3.8GHz, 1600 MHz DDR3, 8M cache)

Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate 64bit (English)

17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) WLED LCD Panel

4GB Dual Channel 1866MHz DDR3 SDRAM 4X4GB

500GB7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 7970M

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  • 4 weeks later...

For the nvidia guys on linux. There is another solution coming up in the 319 series of the proprietary drivers, it's fairly technical to get it set up and you need linux kernel version 3.9(+), Xorg version 1.13(+) and xrandr 1.4(+).

So, not really a solution viable in Ubuntu unless you want real breakage with the repositories.

But more info at : Chapter*32.*Offloading Graphics Display with RandR 1.4

FYI, I couldn't get it to work with the modesetting driver. Did get it to work with the Intel drivers though...

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Is M17x R4 much different from R3? I had R3 and it was just a peace of crap not machine. I remember it was throttling in games all the times (had 580M GTX), cidnt wake up from sleep and constantly was BSOD (IRQ less or equal), killed 2 hard drives (SSD included), had an terrible issues with (plugged in, but not charging), terrible fan noise and then just died and gave 4 beeps (not memory or motherboard issue, because they got replaced, after that was giving 8 beeps).. I had to switch to Precision M6700, but i guess you cant compare them as the precision is a way much better.... Anyways question is, is alienware m17x R4 big improvement from R3 or it does suffer the same symptoms that the older version had?

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  • 2 weeks later...

+1 for M17xR3 not waking up from sleep! Apart from that I love my M17xR3, keyboard, touchpad, cooling all excellent. I had the GTX 560M, but I've switched it out for a GTX 670MX a couple of days ago. 4498 GPU score in 3DMark11, with a core OC of +135, and a memory overclock with frequency 1000Mhz. Temperature doesn't go over 61degC at 100% sustained load. Using the same heat sink that came with the GTX 560M, they're both 75W GPU's, but the 670MX runs a bit cooler anyway. svl7 created a modded vBIOS for it, that will unlock the +135 core software overclock limits, so will be trying that soon to see how high the core will go at stock voltages. Really happy with this upgrade to 670mx, good value upgrade, have to sacrifice Optimus though.

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Hello. I have M17X R4 3d /w 675m and I bought 680m from M17X R4 non 3D. But it doesn't work on my alienware. No respond and just keep beeping 8 times.. So after clear CMOS I pushed power button and.. beeping 5 times and no respond either. Is there something I missed?

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Hello. I have M17X R4 3d /w 675m and I bought 680m from M17X R4 non 3D. But it doesn't work on my alienware. No respond and just keep beeping 8 times.. So after clear CMOS I pushed power button and.. beeping 5 times and no respond either. Is there something I missed?

The 5 beep thing happened the first time I installed my 670MX. 5 beeps shows that there is somekind of problem with regards to the video card. I reseated the GPU in the slot, and then it worked, must have been a poor connection. You could try reseating the GPU in the slot.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I just picked up a refurbished M17R4 recently. Dell made it a headache, though. I got it using Dell Financial Services, and they had the account locked pending verification for months. Then I bricked it with a BIOS update, which took weeks to get anywhere, since DFS refused to let the warranty department repair the machine until I cleared up the verification situation, which was mainly caused by me using an old number on the app to avoid Dell trying to sell me shit, which meant they couldn't contact me at the number on the account to verify. I had to restore service to the old phone number to get it fixed, otherwise I'd probably still be having problems.

Anyway, they replaced the motherboard twice, first motherboard, the sound was dead, windows didn't even detect it, not even an "Other" entry in the device manager. Second motherboard caused problems with the keyboard. Their policy dictates I can get a replacement system if two repairs failed. First guy says I can get one of the new Alienware 17 systems, even confirmed that when calling back in to check on it, only to find out later that they hadn't realized it was a refurb and a new one wasn't possible. Guy tries to send me the best refurb unit available, but dell requests fedex return the package when it was about to be delivered (they did the exact same thing with the original system due to the DFS problem). Eventually, I convinced them to send an even better one with a 680M, so in the end, I went through a huge headache, but made out quite well:

i7-3610QM -> i7-3840QM

750GB HDD -> 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD

8 GB RAM -> 16 GB RAM

GTX 660M -> GTX 680M

1600x900 screen -> full HD 1920x1080

Nearly twice as powerful, going by the 3dmark scores, and nearly twice as expensive. I just hope I don't have any more headaches with Dell.

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  • 2 weeks later...
I have an M17x R3. Yesterday, my GTX 460m died (it doesn't show up in the bios).

Any tips or tricks to try and revive it?

Yep, it's happened to me before. Try removing the GPU & then reseating it. The procedure is outlined in Dells Manuals, I've attached it for you here. You don't need to remove the heatsink, you remove the fan & fan cable, and then just lift out the card & heatsink as one unit (after unscrewing the card from the computer). Follow the anti-static procedures, and all the other advice they give on 'before you start'.

M17xR3 service manual.pdf

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