The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Alienware 15 R2 laptop does not turn off anymore

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by rinneh, Apr 13, 2016.

  1. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    This morning when I wanted to start my AW15R2 laptop it didnt start directly. Had to try it multiple times. Which was odd. But after 3 tries it did start but not where I left off after I put the laptop in hibernation last day.

    But when I wanted to shutdown. The laptop goes trough the whole process of shutting down but starts up again after all the lights just turned off.



    A hard shutdown with the power button does work. I reset my bios but that did not help. Turned off fast boot, also did not help.



    Anyone a clue how to fix this?
     
  2. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    it also happens when I try to put the laptop to sleep......

    No clue what is causing this.
     
  3. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    Reputations:
    1,708
    Messages:
    5,820
    Likes Received:
    4,311
    Trophy Points:
    431
    Buggy BIOS/DSDT in the SMBus section
     
  4. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    But can it be reset? This is really coming out of the blue. Never had any problems until this morning.
     
  5. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    Reputations:
    1,708
    Messages:
    5,820
    Likes Received:
    4,311
    Trophy Points:
    431
    Possibly, not sure. Could be the SMBus driver in windows storing wrong/corrupt values in NVRAM. I know on older alienwares, having an old/poor SMBus driver caused all sorts of shut down/restart/sleep havoc
     
    rinneh likes this.
  6. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Thanks for the tip going to look into this. currently making a USB portable windows drive to test it out with a fresh copy.
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2016
  7. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Damn, even with a fresh windows 10 this happens.
     
  8. Raidriar

    Raidriar ლ(ಠ益ಠლ)

    Reputations:
    1,708
    Messages:
    5,820
    Likes Received:
    4,311
    Trophy Points:
    431
    I normally wouldn't recommend this, but download SlimDrivers (avoid installing any of the crapware it may come with), and have it scan to see if it has updated chipset/SMbus drivers available.
     
  9. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    I ran a vanilla bootable USB installation of Windows 10. But even there it restarts instead of shutting down. This is extremely strange. because even the shutdown function before windows starts does this. Afraid this might be hardware related :( or At least on Bios level. But a bios reset also didnt work.
     
  10. pathfindercod

    pathfindercod Notebook Virtuoso

    Reputations:
    1,940
    Messages:
    2,344
    Likes Received:
    2,349
    Trophy Points:
    181
    Windows 10?

    1- Go to Search, type power options and click on Power Options from search results

    2- On the left side of the window click on Choose what the power button does

    3- If needed, click on Change settings that are currently unavailable, under Define power buttons and turn on password protection

    4- From the enabled options under Shutdown settings section, uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended) checkbox to disable Hybrid Shutdown.

    5- Click Save changes button to save the modified settings. Close Power Options window when done.
     
    Last edited: Apr 13, 2016
    rinneh likes this.
  11. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Thanks for the tip, tried this too. Unfortunately no solution :(
     
  12. sirleeofroy

    sirleeofroy Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    22
    Messages:
    506
    Likes Received:
    169
    Trophy Points:
    56
    You mentioned to me that you had rolled back your BIOS, it's possible that the later BIOS has changed/updated something that the older BIOS doesn't like. You might have to install the latest BIOS again....
     
  13. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    It happened with the new bios. So i thought maybe rolling back would help. But it didnt :(

    Booting the first time yesterday was already troublesome. I think something got messed up.
     
  14. sirleeofroy

    sirleeofroy Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    22
    Messages:
    506
    Likes Received:
    169
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Ah I see, maybe download the newer BIOS again and flash over the current version. Just to rule out any download issues...

    Other than that, I got nothing....Sorry

    I'm just gonna stick with 1.2.2 as it seems anything after that is just botched and riddled with issues...... I really wish there were custom BIOS' :(
     
  15. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Yeah stick with 1.2.2

    think that disabling deep six sleep or something like that botched the system.

    Or jsut a freak accident with the EC. The laptop itself works fine. Just it wont shutdown from software. GOing to call them today what to do about it.
     
  16. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    Well they are going to swap my motherboard tomorrow.

    Hopefulyl a good technician will do the job. or else I can do it better myself.
     
  17. sirleeofroy

    sirleeofroy Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    22
    Messages:
    506
    Likes Received:
    169
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Wow, that was quick! good job, fingers crossed for a tech that knows what a motherboard is...... :p
     
  18. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    854
    Messages:
    4,897
    Likes Received:
    2,191
    Trophy Points:
    231
    The technical support in Holland on the phone are great. Come with suggestions. If you follow those and give a response they quickly decide what to fix. But the technicians are outsourced and told me personally they do not come across Alienware systems often. Most of the laptops they see are Acer and cheaper Dell systems. I men a good one who worked meticulously and precise. He was truly good at what he does. But one ****ed up which ment a replacement for my R1. Flaws are always possible with any product. But can they be rectified and how common they are is the difference between a good product and a bad one these days. I dont think the problem I have now is very common. At least it was the first time they heard that.