AW13 R2 BIOS 1.2.12 / AW15 R2 & AW17 R3 BIOS 1.2.12

13 R2 BIOS
Fixes & Enhancements
[BIOS]
-Disabled Deep Sx Policy
-Update Intel MCU to Rev.0x84
-------------------------------------------
15 R2 / 17 R3 BIOS
Fixes & Enhancements
[BIOS]
-Can flash bios via BIOS Flash Update in F12
-Disabled Deep Sx Policy
-Update Intel MCU to Rev.0x84

 

Nice! do you have any information regarding the SSD nvme reboot bug? Has that been fixed now?

 

I haven't installed the BIOS update yet (I don't have the CMOS battery in the laptop, and I don't have my NVME SSD in the laptop (using my MX200 in its place)).

 

What is Deep Sx Policy and Intel MCU?

 

From Googling, Deep Sx is Deep Sleep mode, and the Intel MCU is the Microcontroller Unit (I assumed Micro Code Unit; I was close).
Keep in mind there may be a change (a fix, a problem, etc.) undocumented.

 

What's this bug?

 

Not sure what this is supposed to fix. All of the issues I'm trying hard to live with are still present:

Throttling to 3.6ghz after resume from sleep (OC set at 4.0ghz)
Keyboard repeat rate is still slow after sleep
Experienced the slow reboot on my nvme Samsung 950 Pro right after the BIOS update.
Coil whine

Meh. I like the computer, but this is the third unit I've experienced with all of these issues, so its clearly not a one-off issue. Half a mind to try the new EVGA SC17 in its place.

N

 

I just did the update. WIll check later if the rebooting works normally now.

When some users including me do a reboot from windows, the operating system cannot be found when it passes the bios screen. No nvme ssd can be found in the bios. After shutting down the laptop and powering it up again, everything works as intended. Nvme is still a bit tricky.

Isnt the slow reboot because of the Kionix freefall sensor outdated driver?

Coil whine comes with the territory of higher performance laptops unfortunately. I rarely worked on a laptop without, and I tried a **** load of laptops.

 

Correct the slow reboot is the Kionix Freefall sensor, I believe they have posted the updated driver now that fixes it.

 

Re: the slow reboot thing, and I apologise if I have asked this before but have you checked that your "Legacy Option Rom" is disabled? That being enabled definitely causes slow reboots....

The drives disappearing after reboot (including spinners, which would suggest some sort of glitch with the controllers) was fixed by rolling back to BIOS ver 1.2.2 in my case.

I posted a link to Dell's FTP somewhere so that others could try it out, I'll dig it out and post here should anyone need it.

Edit: http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/alienware-15-r2.html

 

No, not that slow reboot. I have the updated Kionix drivers. I have a different issue where sometimes at reboot, the period in between shutting down and the BIOS screen just stays blank for up to 30 seconds. Doesn't happen every time, just maybe 1 in 4. Its not as annoying as the sleep throttle and the keyboard repeat rate.

I do have the disappearing nvme issue too. I usually have to use a Win10 flash drive to recover, it seems to lose the boot sector. Like I said, same issues across 3 units.

N

 

I have been seeing issues very similar to this too. Also as posted in other threads I have a problem with the TPM so thought it was connected but maybe not

Is this problem with all nvme including the PM951 sell typically supply?

 

The pm951 boots real quickly with ahci instead of raid. Around 10 to 15sec. But rebooting was an issue. Still have to thoroughly test that with the new bios.

 

It would be nice to know the intended consequences of those changes. What issues are they supposed to address? What's the impact of disabling deep sleep policy on battery life? @Alienware-L_Porras - any hints would be appreciated. I'm still having issues with occasionally failing wakeup and keyboard rate I'm hoping MS, Intel or Dell will fix

BTW any chance we get support for SSD passwords in AW 15 BIOS?

 

This new version took away the manual Overclock settings in the 13r2. I could set memory xmp or custom timings now all that is gone.

 

That sucks.

 

Careful, I just purchased a alienware amplifier and spent i kid you not 9 hours trying to get it working, it seemed off at first, i would constantly uninstall drivers and follow guides on the net when I realized via GPU-z that the link PCIE speed was only PCIE 3.0 @ x1 as opposed to the intended PCIE 3.0 x4
Basically reverted to A03 for it to work. I've contacted dell as well. Now my gtx 970 is running well.

 

My amplifier is working fine they just dumbed down what little over clocking and tweaking features I had in the bios. So sick and tired of dealing with Alienware I don't know why I end up with their machines.

 

really? i couldnt get it link at 4x.... Might have to try again, which is the best bios so far? Obviously A03+ has pcie 3.0 support

I literally tried everything, resetting the GPU & control board, unplugging the amplifier cable and what not, sigh.

 

I tried updating to 1.2.12 again and same thing.

Straight away when I checked GPU-z
PCIE 3.0 x16 @ x1 3.0

Restore to bios 1.2.2 (A03 - first bios to support PCIE 3.0)
and voila
PCIE 3.0 x16 @ x4 3.0

I'm not crazy?

FYI Running MSI kombustor 1M particle demo 1080p preset yields ~90fps on x1 link and 110+ on x2 link. This translates to significant performance decrease in games as well! not upgrading any time soon!

 

I'll check it again tonight. I'm about done with it all anyway. Gonna let someone else have fun with AW and this stuff.

 

You using a 13r2?

 

No 15r2

- We all use alienware for the amplifier, used to just be these guys now razer does it... The tides have changed, overall I'm still happy with my machine.

 

Having the same issue as intelseb Revered back to A03 and its fully working now.

 

15?

 

Look at his signature, he has the 17R3 which uses the same bios as the 15R2

 

Only does razer not have a reliable machine and Thunderbolt performs less well than a dedicated external PCI express cable.

 

I can't see signatures with this mobile version I'm using.

 

Ah roger!

 

Thunderbolt from memory has x4 PCIE lanes in it just like the alienware amplifier connector

 

Correct!

 

Yeah it does, but after reviewing more details. You lose some performance from the THunderbolt translating the signal from PCI express.

 

Interesting - Anyhow Dell 'PRO' Support just got back to me and told me to update my graphics amplifier software, which I already had the latest version..... sigh

 

The reboot bug is sitll not fixed. Very annoying. How hard can it be when it did work the first 3 firmwares.

 

So no reason for me to budge from 1.2.2 then?!

 

Dont update. For now it seems that it only caused more bugs (pointing at the AGA issues). Not fixing issues. Still thinking if I should downgrade to 1.2.2 too.

 

Thought as much, I read that people are noticeably losing performance and some OC options have gone (memory oc?) is that right?

 

I never checked those on the original bios so I cannot say for sure.

I just wish Dell/Alienware would post a way howo to unbrick failed bios flashes ourselves so itis save to flash to an older firmware. I really dont like flashing these machines because of this.

 

I updated to bios version 1.2.12 no problems so far. They did remove some memory timing settings not a big deal to me, have Kingston hyper x running @ 2400mhz. I do not have a graphics amplifier to test its functionality. The past 2 bios updates for me version 1.2.8 and 1.2.12 would not update the bios when ran from windows. Would reboot and give me some initialization error. Work around was to put bios .exe file onto a flash drive and F12 boot selection Bios flash update utility.

 

Yeah the update works fine if you dont have an AGA, but you do loose intel overclocking options from within bios.

AGA performance reduced by about 30% due to the x4 downlink to x1

 

I wish what little presence AW has on the forums (I am grateful for what we do have) we need a more technical and and substance presence to explain why AW does what it does. As well as address these issues.

 

Yep. We all remember the issues the Kionix sensor caused.... When we got our alienware laptops

 

So this is the response I got from alienware, after a week... of waiting...


Hi Sebastian.



Sorry for the late reply.



I will take notes on this update. So, as conclusion BIOS version 1.2.8 and 1.2.12 will causing those issue and you have to revert it back to version 1.2.2 as a workaround.



I just check the spec for this Alienware Amplifier for graphic card support which as per stated below.

-Provides support for a single, full-length, dual-wide, PCI-Express x16 graphics card.
-Up to 375 W graphics cards supported.
-NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 600 series and newer.
-AMD Radeon™ HD 5000 series and newer.



But appreciate if you could elaborate it in details the issue for "Alienware graphics amplifier linking at PCIE x1 speed instead of x4 speed both are at PCIE 3.0 though". If you installing a graphic card on this Graphic Amplifier, appreciate to provide me the model of it as well.



Looking forward your feedback here for us to investigate this problem.



Should you have any further inquiries, please do not hesitate to feedback to us through this email or contact us via the contact number in the signature below.

Thank You & Best Regards,

Azlan

 

Jfyi... If u are interessted in getting that issue solved fast, i would write to Frank Azor via twitter.

That Dell Support doesnt have much technical Knowledge... The guys over at alienware are quite better but very rare

 

AW needs to hire @Prema to fix their junk.

 

boom

 

Let us know how it goes.

 

What exactly is the issue can any one explain? I purchased 15 R2 yesterday. Will like to know more about the issue

 

All the info is in the thread