SOLVED: Alienware M18x + AMD 6990s overheating/cold boot bug.

[Brian]

6990s are in the other M18x I have on hand. I'm typing from it right now, I'm about to run some furmark tests to see if its a motherboard issue. If it is I'll be pretty pissed but at least it'll answer some lingering questions.

Test 1:

HDD used: The original one with Dell software and catalyst drivers.

Result: Fans come on during cold boot!

Test 2:

HDD used: my SSD with Catalyst 11.10 v3 + Cap 4

Result: Fans come on during cold boot!

About to run a few more cold boot tests to make sure these aren't flukes. If it proves to be a defective mainboard, I'm going to call AW and try to convince them to ship me one or just ask for a new system (which might make more sense).

Test 3: Final test

HDD used: SSD + Catalyst 11.10 v3 + Cap 4

Result: NO COLD BOOT BUG!

It's definitely the motherboard that is defective. So those of you that have the cold boot bug will need to get your mainboards replaced. I'm going to ask for a system exchange.

Update: For those that have the cold boot bug, remove your bottom panel and battery and look at the motherboard near there. You will see a label that has the revision of the mainboard, mine is as follows: Revision G2 1142. I'm betting that those of you with the same problem have a Revision G. The working motherboard is a Revision E (if I remember correctly).

Edited November 2, 2011 by Brian

[svl7]

Same BIOS and EC on both M18x?

[Brian]

Yup it was. Now question is: How do I reset the service tag so I can swap mainboards? I got an asset tag utility from Del (Drivers and Downloads) that requires me to boot into the EFI shell, any idea how to do this?

[svl7]

Hmm, ok.

For the EFI stuff try this (if you haven't already): Change the order of your boot devices so that it first boots from an USB thumb drive, copy the files to the USB stick, let it plugged in the system and then reboot. It might need to be formatted as DOS bootable stick, no idea, just give it a try.

[mw86]

i've seen uefi disable and enable in the unlocked bios on the last tab... does that help?

[Brian]

Hmm, ok.

For the EFI stuff try this (if you haven't already): Change the order of your boot devices so that it first boots from an USB thumb drive, copy the files to the USB stick, let it plugged in the system and then reboot. It might need to be formatted as DOS bootable stick, no idea, just give it a try.

Tried booting it with a dos usb disk and its a no go. The .efi files are there but they can't be run from within dos. Somehow I need to boot into an EFI shell but I'm not sure how this is accomplished.

i've seen uefi disable and enable in the unlocked bios on the last tab... does that help?

That came to mind so I flashed the system with the unlocked A04 and enabled UEFI but it didn't work.

[mw86]

Sounds like there may be a special keypress at boot to pop it up maybe im wrong one that's not marked for consumer access? Do you still have contact with that Dell rep that worked in the back of the processes? Maybe he can get you the info?

[svl7]

[MENTION=5]Brian K.[/MENTION]: I think I might have something for you that works, PMd.

[Brian]

@svl7 i sent ya a PM.

[mw86]

@svl7 i sent ya a PM.

Brian can i check for mobo revision with hardware or is it only possible removing all the covers again or can you see that code with just the bottom off only?

[Brian]

Brian can i check for mobo revision with hardware or is it only possible removing all the covers again or can you see that code with just the bottom off only?

Just remove the battery and its visible from the slot.

[chiefule]

Just remove the battery and its visible from the slot.

Any update or news on this Brian? Guys?

I have just checked my MOBO revision and it is REV: F2 1131

Am I at risk? It seems mine is an older revision..............

Cheers.

[mw86]

Any update or news on this Brian? Guys?

I have just checked my MOBO revision and it is REV: F2 1131

Am I at risk? It seems mine is an older revision..............

Cheers.

Perhaps not you have no issues thus far? Your revision is different from both of the ones Brian had a chance to check...

[chiefule]

Perhaps not you have no issues thus far? Your revision is different from both of the ones Brian had a chance to check...

Hey mw86,

Nope no thermal shutdowns thus far. I have been playing BF3 and FEAR 3 co op quite a lot the past week. So far so good. No signs of throttling either; fingers crossed for the ongoing future.

However I am currently waiting for replacement GPUs as my current ones are Artifacting and producing red green lines all over the screen.

Hows your M18x going mw86 ?

Hmmm my signature hasn't changed/updated. Had too many lines. All fixed now Woot!

Cheers.

Edited November 6, 2011 by chiefule

[mw86]

Hey mw86,

Nope no thermal shutdowns thus far. I have been playing BF3 and FEAR 3 co op quite a lot the past week. So far so good. No signs of throttling either; fingers crossed for the ongoing future.

However I am currently waiting for replacement GPUs as my current ones are Artifacting and producing red green lines all over the screen.

Hows your M18x going mw86 ?

Hmmm my signature hasn't changed/updated.

Cheers.

I am enjoying mine it seems to be in complete working order. i seem to have working 6970m's... they were horrible stock paste... vram io got to 90C quick in just games. I don't see over 72C most times and that overclocked much less on stock clocks... I hope you get nice cards this time. I am going to upgrade these to 7000 series if i can or gt580m sli next year for cheap my hope maybe NVidias answer to 7000 series who knows...

[chiefule]

I am enjoying mine it seems to be in complete working order. i seem to have working 6970m's... they were horrible stock paste... vram io got to 90C quick in just games. I don't see over 72C most times and that overclocked much less on stock clocks... I hope you get nice cards this time. I am going to upgrade these to 7000 series if i can or gt580m sli next year for cheap my hope maybe NVidias answer to 7000 series who knows...

Yup I too can't wait to get my hands on some Next Gen 7000M Series or Nvidia 600M Series GPUs.

I'm guessing it will most likely be AMDs 7000M series due to prices but you never know if Nvidia can do a reasonable price for performance value I will just have to jump back to Nvidia FINALLY!!! lol!

Man I just saw your mobile CPU clocked at over 5Ghz. AMAZING SCENES!!! WOW:bananapowerslide:

Whats your best score in 3d mark 11?

I will definitely update my findings/progress once I get my replacement GPUs.

Cheers.

[mw86]

Yup I too can't wait to get my hands on some Next Gen 7000M Series or Nvidia 600M Series GPUs.

I'm guessing it will most likely be AMDs 7000M series due to prices but you never know if Nvidia can do a reasonable price for performance value I will just have to jump back to Nvidia FINALLY!!! lol!

Man I just saw your mobile CPU clocked at over 5Ghz. AMAZING SCENES!!! WOW:bananapowerslide:

Whats your best score in 3d mark 11?

I will definitely update my findings/progress once I get my replacement GPUs.

Cheers.

not as high as Jimbo since the 6970m is my bottleneck... so far 8050~ but hadn't pushed it yet. Going to work on vantage and 3dmark soon. Yeah 5ghz 8thread for a few secs was my max lol it was in intel processor id utility which has a very light load in 8thread, 8080~ about 10170 on cpu. Still a work in progress. Thank you for the compliment. Glad to help you in the future... unlocked bios helps more than XM...

[johnksss]

to funny...that revision code is just a date code. all boards are exactly the same. but keep up the good work over here.

side note:

it is the gpu, but it's the crt circuit on the board. the problem is why does it zero out on some and and not all. zero out means it turns the fans off when it spikes. when the default value is suppose to be 100 percent fans.

in the end, it can be both parts...crt circuit and mb bios ec code as a bad bit setting. but they are working on it.

[Brian]

to funny...that revision code is just a date code. all boards are exactly the same. but keep up the good work over here.

side note:

it is the gpu, but it's the crt circuit on the board. the problem is why does it zero out on some and and not all. zero out means it turns the fans off when it spikes. when the default value is suppose to be 100 percent fans.

in the end, it can be both parts...crt circuit and mb bios ec code as a bad bit setting. but they are working on it.

Yes I heard about the call with Louis and what he said. Even if it were a date code and all boards are the same revision, the latest boards have issues which means they could have a bad batch or something else. Hopefully Dell sorts it out soon enough.