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    Alienware 15R2 Slow Boot

    Discussion in '2015+ Alienware 13 / 15 / 17' started by sjbain86, Apr 2, 2019.

  1. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    At first I thought my issue was related to the Intel ME issue that everyone else is having, but I'm not having any shutdown issues, just boot issues.

    When i press the power button to turn on the laptop, generally nothing happens except for the cpu light turns on. and then after about 5 mins or longer the keyboard lights turn on and then the Alienware splash screen comes up and then everything else works as normal.

    I tried turning off Secure boot in the BIOS, resetting the CLRP1, but it didn't change anything, and i'm not really sure how to trouble shoot other options

    Currently i am running BIOS 1.6.1. Let me know what other information i could provide to help troubleshoot.
     
    sjbain86, Apr 2, 2019
    #1
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  2. SMOKE_SKULL

    SMOKE_SKULL Notebook Deity

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    It sounds like its looking for another boot device.
     
    SMOKE_SKULL, Apr 3, 2019
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  3. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Nothing else is plugged into the computer when this happens and I have my boot drive listed in the Number 1 slot for Boot order. Not sure if anything else would affect it?
     
    sjbain86, Apr 3, 2019
    #3
  4. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    A screenshot of Advanced section of BIOS will be helpful
     
    Vasudev, Apr 4, 2019
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  5. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I'll send you one when I get home later tonight, but if it helps I never changed anything in that section so it should be set as whatever the defaults are.
     
    sjbain86, Apr 4, 2019
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  6. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Optionally, you can clean the RAM's gold contact as well. I fixed mine that way. Or you can download ME11 Tools and FW bin to update to latest FW.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 4, 2019
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  7. Mofoist

    Mofoist Notebook Geek

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    Also, check your device manager and confirm whether or not your TPM (Trusted Platform Module) is working correctly.
     
    Mofoist, Apr 4, 2019
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  8. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Mine never worked correctly. I usually switch between secure and insecure boot and maybe that invalidates TPM and I also know that its a driver issue caused by windows 10 v1803.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 5, 2019
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  9. Mofoist

    Mofoist Notebook Geek

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    Strange, mine has worked fine except for when I had the ME probs.
     
    Mofoist, Apr 5, 2019
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  10. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Yesterday I updated MEFW to 3572.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 5, 2019
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  11. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Didn't have time to get the screenshot last night. In regards to the TPM, what exactly does that do?

    I tried disabling it a few days ago, and then i wasn't able to log into my computer using a PIN anymore and it was still slow to boot up. After messing around with it and re-enabling TPM, i was able to get my PIN set up again and still had a slow boot. So I assume we can rule out TPM?
     
    sjbain86, Apr 5, 2019
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  12. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Use a normal password, PIN based security can log out authentic users if the mobile device or internet is poof!
     
    Vasudev, Apr 5, 2019
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  13. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Thanks for the advice. But that doesn't really help explain what TPM really is
     
    sjbain86, Apr 5, 2019
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  14. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    TPM is a security chip for FDE(Full disk encryption regardless of OS). Ours is not a dTPM like Thinkpad or precision or Probook, just a SW based solution using Intel MEI.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 5, 2019
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  15. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Got it thanks. So back to troubleshooting my original issue it sounds like we can rule out TPM if i still had slow boot after i disabled it, right?
     
    sjbain86, Apr 5, 2019
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  16. Mofoist

    Mofoist Notebook Geek

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    I wouldn't rule it out. You never said whether it's working correctly or not in device manager
     
    Mofoist, Apr 5, 2019
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  17. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    TPM never even worked correctly for me, on v1803 errors will come and go randomly, 19H1 aka v1903 made it worse. I think its denying TPM thinking its insecure due to MEI bugs. That's why I disabled it completely. Even Linux refuses to configure it correctly on 16.04 LTS.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 6, 2019
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  18. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Not sure if you need anything else from Device manager besides this
     

    Attached Files:

    sjbain86, Apr 6, 2019
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  19. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    BIOS Screen shots
     

    Attached Files:

    sjbain86, Apr 6, 2019
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  20. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Enable adapter warnings. Then Restore BIOS to defaults and see if it fixes the slow boot.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 6, 2019
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  21. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    What does adapter warnings have to do with any of that?
     
    sjbain86, Apr 6, 2019
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  22. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I had slow boot when I enabled USB wake support so that I can use my mouse or keyboard (external) to wake up the PC but instead it slowed down considerably say 2-3mins of Boot time. I reverted the USB wake option and everything was good. It seems Dell does not want the users the meddle with firmware.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 6, 2019
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  23. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    I never changed any of the settings in the bios except for function keys to multimedia keys. Everything else is default
     
    sjbain86, Apr 6, 2019
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  24. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Dell BIOS has amnesia and my older machine with inferior BIOS options is somewhat flexible than Dell's.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 6, 2019
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  25. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    OK I'll try it out. What is the best way to restore bios to defaults?
     
    sjbain86, Apr 6, 2019
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  26. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    You can create a USB recovery or go to last section and press enter key on Reset to defaults.
     
    Vasudev, Apr 6, 2019
    #26
  27. con4n007

    con4n007 Notebook Guru

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    have the same problem, i think it started after it installed the latest Windows big update. was thinking to reformat the laptop but too lazy to reinstall the whole drivers and programs.
     
    con4n007, Apr 9, 2019
    #27
  28. Vasudev

    Vasudev Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Try this guide and use latest BIOS 1.6.1 or 1.3.12 which are very good. *OFFICIAL* Alienware 13 R3 Owner's Lounge
     
    Vasudev, Apr 14, 2019
    #28
  29. sjbain86

    sjbain86 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Still sufferring from the same slow boot times even after updating to the 1.8.0 Bios
     
    sjbain86, Nov 13, 2019
    #29