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    Alienware 15R2/17R3 BIOS 1.2.13 Thread

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by DeeX, May 17, 2016.

  1. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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  2. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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    Last edited: May 17, 2016
  3. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

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    Waiting this one out. Meager bios details and the previous version was a major ****up.
     
  4. iunlock

    iunlock 7980XE @ 5.4GHz

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    Previous as in 1.2.12? or 1.2.7?

    1.2.2 seems to be very stable so far....I was on 1.2.7, but rolled back to 1.2.2.
     
  5. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

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    1.2.8 to 1.2.12. The 1.2.8 suddenly couldnt reboot with nvme drives used. You would receive a no drive found error. 1.2.12 killing motherboards.

    1.2.2 till now seems to be the best. For now i stay with 1.2.2
     
    Last edited: May 17, 2016
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  6. guttsy

    guttsy Notebook Consultant

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    I'll bite, but it'll have to wait for upgrade tonight when I get home.

    1.2.12 was fine for me so I'll keep living on the edge (and being the group guinea pig). ;D
     
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  7. ha1o2surfer

    ha1o2surfer Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah same here, I use the latest all the time. Upgraded to 1.2.13 yesterday morning when it came out. so far so good
     
  8. ha1o2surfer

    ha1o2surfer Notebook Evangelist

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    I can't say for sure, but this might have solved my throttling issues with the Thermal Framework Installed
     
  9. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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    Just dawned on me regarding the killing of motherboards with 1.2.12.
    Along time ago Dell suggested that BIOS(S) were updated in sequential order.
    To me at the time it sounded silly but perhaps there is something to it.
    It dawned on me when I just read that going from 1.2.3 to 1.2.12 was a common factor.
    Just saying..
     
  10. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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    Have you tested with 1.2.13? After all this is a 1.2.13 thread lol.

    Besides to everyone that says the changes are minimal.
    They don't always document all of the changes.
     
  11. rinneh

    rinneh Notebook Prophet

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    Yeah that is exactly what i mean, they dont disclose all the bios changes. But the version 12 was quite bad. So I hope users are careful with this bios. Pray that dell fixed the version 12 issues.
     
  12. Mickbt26

    Mickbt26 Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm on 1.2.12 and still no issues, so I think I'll keep it on this. Not sure what the changes even do.

    Any ideas?
     
  13. guttsy

    guttsy Notebook Consultant

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    Upgrade completed without issue. Reset the BIOS to defaults as I always do after a flash. Everything fine so far.
     
  14. Thatoe

    Thatoe Notebook Evangelist

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    AGA issue is still not fixed with 1.2.13
    Have to roll back
     
  15. DrewN

    DrewN Notebook Evangelist

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    So far so good with the elimination of the Event 256 DPTF error. I used to get 3-4 instances of this error every day, they have since vanished.
     
  16. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    Ran the update, laptop rebooted. Black screen for 30 minutes. Left it 30 mins more just in case. Nope nothing.

    Powered it off. Powered it back on. Black screen. She's dead.

    Stay away from this BIOS version.

    Is there a way to recover/go back to another version? FML.
     
  17. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    Unplugged power cable, held power button until it powered off, rapidly tapped f2/f12. Got a bios screen indicating from image not loaded, from image update denied.

    Looks like I can pop it on a USB stick and load manually. I'll prob just go back to the previous version...
     
  18. zergslayer69

    zergslayer69 Liquid Hz

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    Would you mind clarifying what model laptop you had and what previous version firmware you upgraded from?
     
  19. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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    Man this is crazy. :(
     
    Last edited: May 19, 2016
  20. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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    Were you on 1.2.3 before? That BIOS has been pulled from Dell's download servers.
    People have wondered if that had anything to do with it.
    Another suggestion from Dell was to update the BIOS(s) in sequential order.
    1.2.8 to 1.2.12 to 1.2.13 and so on.

    Another thing I wonder is how many people that have had bricked laptop were also on the Prima vBIOS. Not blaming that vBIOS but we have to start somewhere to find the common denominator. It doesn't happen with everyone but clearly is still happening.
    Lets figure this out.

    So this means @scottdrmyers your info is going to be very valuable.
    Please give us as much details as you can. Do you have Skype? (just for text chat)
    If so please PM me.
     
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  21. iunlock

    iunlock 7980XE @ 5.4GHz

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    Safe to say that BIOS 1.2.2 is the most stable with the longest track record so far? It seems like people are doing okay with 1.2.7 as well....

    Sorry to hear about your AW @scottdrmyers
     
  22. iunlock

    iunlock 7980XE @ 5.4GHz

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    I was on 1.2.3 + Prema Mod on my 17R3 #1 when the mobo fried itself.

    I think the common denominator is the 1.2.3 for sure...
     
  23. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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    It fried when you flashed to 1.2.12? or just randomly fried?
    Mine came with 1.2.3. I think I should flash 1.2.2 asap lol.
     
  24. iunlock

    iunlock 7980XE @ 5.4GHz

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    I've kept it on 1.2.3, never upgraded the BIOS. There seems to be a common link with those going from 1.2.3....hmm....

    It's odd that they've pulled that specific BIOS from the site as well...
     
  25. slayer2333

    slayer2333 Notebook Consultant

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    Got my 15 R2 with 1.2.8 2 months ago. A few weeks later updated to 1.2.12. One week later downgraded to 1.2.2 then 2 days ago updated to 1.2.13.
    Only differences so far:
    -Back to issues of no boot media with the NVMe drive.
    -Takes at least 10-15 sec to enter Bios.

    Except that no problems.
     
  26. jdamien75

    jdamien75 Notebook Enthusiast

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    The NVMe drive boot thing is super annoying. I'll deal with the TPM errors to avoid having to hit "retry boot" every time I restart manually.
     
  27. icewolf247

    icewolf247 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Which TPM issues are they?
     
  28. LinkRS

    LinkRS Notebook Consultant

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    FWIW I just installed 1.2.13 over 1.2.8 (skipped 1.2.12) and have had (knock on wood) issues yet. I am running stock, no BIOS mods or anything.

    Rich S.
     
  29. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    I was on BIOS 1.2.12.

    Attempted to flash 1.2.13 -> Black Screen, nothing happens (even after leaving it for over an hour).

    After a few reboots, says BIOS Flash failed, seems to recover itself on it's own back to 1.2.12. (WOOOHOOO)

    This notebook was a replacement for my previous one that lasted a week (bad touch pad) (1.2.13 was not out then). I got it home, was on BIOS 1.2.8 and updated to 1.2.12. Then this BIOS came out, doesn't work for me.

    I THEN flashed the Prema vBIOS. So no, I did NOT have the PremaMod video BIOS flashed before I tried the stock Dell 1.2.1 BIOS. I also tried again last night to flash the 1.2.13 BIOS, same issue, even with PremaMod video BIOS installed. So I can say they are unrelated at this point.


    I'm just going to leave it on 1.2.12 for now until there is another release, or when I really don't care anymore. I'd rather a working laptop for now hahaha.
     
  30. DeeX

    DeeX THz

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    Perhaps try
    Thats odd..
    Perhaps redownload it again.
    Also going from 1.2.2 might be an idea.
    No one yet has problems with 1.2.13.
     
  31. Paulo Storch

    Paulo Storch Newbie

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    Hi guys,

    Sorry if i'm at the wrong place here, but i was searching for "Remove cTDP ACPI and Thermal Zone declarations for DPTF error in event viewer" description about the new BIOS 1.2.13 Alienware release, and google showed me this forum.

    I´m having 2 problems with my almost new Alienware 17 R3 with Windows 10 (only six months lifetime) that are driving me mad... My BIOS version: 1.1.5. One problem is that everytime i turn it on, it turns off after seconds. So i have to turn it on again, and windows starts normally. The other problem is the battery. My battery is in 74%, saying "Not Charging" anymore.

    For the battery issue, i found on the internet people saying to open the screws and disconnect the battery, but i did not feel safe to do this.
    For the startup issue, unreliable things.

    Could you help me? Should i update the BIOS for this 1.2.13 release? I have a lot of softwares installed (like Adobe Collection, 3D softwares....), and I'm afraid of losing everything and having to reinstall...

    Thank you guys, and sorry for my english.
     
  32. Daniel1983

    Daniel1983 Notebook Evangelist

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    That battery issue with it not charging at any % less than 100% has almost always been resolved for me by unplugging the battery and plugging it back in. Sometimes it starts manifesting that problem when I use a different charger (even though it's the exact same OEM charger for the same laptop, just from my secondary machine). Go figure.
     
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  33. jdamien75

    jdamien75 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I meant the DPTF errors. Wrong acronym popped into my head.
     
  34. jdamien75

    jdamien75 Notebook Enthusiast

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    So I went ahead & flashed to 1.2.13 since i'm having other stability issues & figured "what the heck".

    So far I've rebooted three times without needing to hit F1 to retry the boot. *knocks on wood* Hopefully it sticks.
     
  35. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    Going to try that now. Sorry about late replies. I get distracted then this site pops back into my head a couple days later lol
     
  36. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    Went back to 1.2.2 without issues. Then tried to go to 1.2.13. No go. Same Issue. Going back to 1.2.12.


    There's something wrong with the BIOS file itself at this point. I've even downloaded it on a different network with a different PC. Same issue. I'm not too concerned about it, but it just doesn't make sense.
     
  37. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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  38. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    I'm done with trying to flash it through Windows. Any idea how to extract the BIOS image file from the downloaded file? There's a BIOS update option through the boot menu itself. Might work better.
     
  39. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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  40. raiden87

    raiden87 Notebook Evangelist

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    Can some1 confirm that the Problem with AGA and pcie x1 instead of x4 still exists with this bios?
     
    Last edited: May 24, 2016
  41. scottdrmyers

    scottdrmyers Notebook Consultant

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    Yep, post 14.
     
  42. raiden87

    raiden87 Notebook Evangelist

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    Yeah i mean beside that Post :) its always better to have two opinions :p