2013 Alienware 14 Cannot Wake from USB

Ok so I've been trying to figure this out. I can't seem to get the new Alienware 14 to wake from sleep via usb mouse (or by the built-in trackpad or keyboard either, but that's not really a concern for me). I have looked in the bios and there is no option that looks like "wake from usb" to enable and going to power management of the usb hubs in device manager displays "allow this device to wake computer" is grayed out and cannot be toggled. Has the ability to wake the laptop from sleep via a usb device been removed? Anyone else experiencing this as well?

 

Just to elaborate, I cannot wake the computer from sleep via external usb mouse or keyboard regardless of which usb port they are plugged into and i can't find any options whether in windows or bios that allows wake from sleep. The only way I can wake the laptop is by hitting the power button. I want to use the laptop hooked up to an external monitor, mouse, and keyboard so I can leave the lid closed and out of the way like a desktop, but this issue is really frustrating. Can anyone confirm that the new Alienware 14 cannot be woken from sleep by usb?


EDIT: I took a look at the user manual for the 14 and the manual lists a "USB Wake" option after "USB Powershare" settings. However, my bios does not list "USB Wake" at all. So it looks like the option is supposed to be there, but isn't. I am running A04 btw.

 

Ok, so I re-flashed the A03 bios and the "USB Wake" option is not listed either (should be under the advanced tab in bios I'm pretty sure). Can someone please check their bios (f2 at the alien head during boot) and check to see if there is an option for USB wake or something like it under the advanced tab? This is seriously driving me nuts.

 

I just looked... I'm on BIOS A04 and it is on the advanced tab maybe 5 or 6 down. I forget the way it is worded but it says something like USB Wake Support <disabled>... just gotta enable it.

 

I suggest disconnecting everything from the laptop and going into the BIOS with the laptop's keyboard.

 

Ok so this is weird. No matter what I do, on bios A04, the USB Wake support option just isn't there (reflashed, no devices connected). However, flashing back to A00, USB Wake support is present under the advanced tab (and works as expected). Reflashing to A04, the option is just...gone. Any ideas?

Unfortunately, enabling under A00 and flashing to A04 doesn't retain the setting.

EDIT: Ok, so after flashing this thing more times than I care to do, the USB Wake support option is present under A00 and is definitely not present for me under both A03 and A04. Can anyone else confirm that they have USB Wake Support option under the advanced tab on a bios A03 or A04?

I've attached a picture of what my advanced tab has under both A00 (the first picture) and A04 (the second picture).

 

That is very odd. The only thing I had plugged in when I went into BIOS was my wireless mouse adapter (G700). Maybe it needs at least one USB device attached? I have no idea... It clearly intentionally removes it from the list for some reason. Could try disconnecting from wall and removing battery but I highly doubt that will do anything, but if you have nothing better to try maybe give it a shot?

 

@tangerines - A04 here (shipped with A00, flashed A03 and A04) and not only am I not showing a USB Wake Support, but I'm showing a grayed-out " > Intel Rapid Start Technology" option that you aren't showing in your A04 photo. It's right below Battery Health..

What is going on here?

 

Hey slickie88,

I remember having the grayed-out "Intel Rapid Start Technology" when I had my original flash to A04 (I too shipped with A00, flashed to A03 and flashed to A04). After my most recent re-flash of A04, the option went missing.

I have absolutely no idea what is going on here but there must be something up with the recent bios since we have 3 different people reporting different bios options. I'm talking to a technical support rep and he said he would try to check if their systems are having any anomalies on A04.

 

Front line tech support isn't likely to figure this out until they kick it up to the engineers.

 

Yeah I don't really expect them to lol.

@Tweak155: are you showing "Intel Rapid Start Technology" as well? Or are you missing it like I am?

EDIT: You guys don't still have the BIOS file you guys flashed with do you? I'm wondering if maybe something was changed in the A04 BIOS hosted on Dell's site recently...

 

I've got both A03 and A04 locally, both are 11,314,936 bytes. The A04 file I have was downloaded on the 15th. Md5 shows that a newly downloaded A04 file is the same as what I downloaded originally.

 

I'll have to check when I get home. I downloaded the BIOS the day before yesterday if that helps.

I imagine the intel rapid start is based on the hard drive you have installed.

EDIT:

I got the base config system from a retail store - 750gb HD, 750m, 8gb memory & 1080p screen. Since it was a 15 day return period I got the 750m to see how well it would play some games I need it for and it was plenty fast enough.

 

One more thought. I'm still using the 750gb hard drive & base image provided to me by Alienware (I.E I haven't reformatted). Maybe its a driver thing if you guys have done any of that?

 

I did a fresh installation on a new SSD shortly after receiving my 14, so that could explain the Intel Rapid Start option's existence (maybe...), but the USB Wake Support issue doesn't make sense. Also, drivers shouldn't come into play for anything BIOS related.

 

Wondering if we're seeing different mainboard revisions at play here. Could you both check what you have via CPU-Z please?

Chipset - Rev 06
Southbridge - Rev 04

 

Chipset - Rev 06
Southbridge - Rev 04

My other specs:
i7-4800mq
16GB ram
GTX 765m
Crucial m4 256GB msata
Stock 750GB HDD
Blu-Ray
Broadcom WiFi

Also, I am fairly certain I had Intel Rapid Start before I began flashing different BIOS versions yesterday, so I'm not sure why it would suddenly disappear...

EDIT: Okay, so I may have made some problem-solving progress. I think there is a conflict between USB Wake Support and Intel Rapid Start. So previously, I had flashed to A00, found and enabled USB Wake Support. I then flashed to A03 and A04. When doing this, A03 and A04 do not display either USB Wake Support or Intel Rapid Start (as seen in my previously attached images). For whatever reason, A00 doesn't display Intel Rapid Start regardless of USB Wake Support Setting (user manual doesn't indicate that Rapid Start is in the 14's BIOS so I would assume it just wasn't implemented until later BIOS releases).

So, on a hunch, I just reflashed to A00. When I did this, USB Wake Support was still enabled so it seems that settings are retained between flashes, but something conflicts with USB Wake Support in later BIOS. I proceeded to disable USB Wake Support and flash back to A03 then A04 (I know BIOS updates are cumulative and I don't need to flash A03 before A04 btw, I just wanted to stay consistent-I am a scientist by trade after all lol). When doing this, A03 and A04 don't display USB Wake Support but DO display Intel Rapid Start (grayed out under Battery Health).

Now both slickie88 and I have ssd boot drives and Tweak155 is running the stock hdd if I'm not mistaken. I'm also pretty sure rapid start needs an ssd to function. Seeing as Tweak155 doesn't have an ssd, there may be no conflict between rapid start and USB Wake Support for him and he can toggle USB Wake Support. At least, that's what I think so far.


EDIT#2: Also just curious, but there are no potential downsides to flashing the BIOS multiple times like I've been doing is there? Like leftovers of previous BIOS versions aren't left hanging around somewhere right? Just being a bit paranoid cause I've flashed this thing like 12 times in the last day lol.

 

I personally would like to avoid flashing BIOS so many times, although I don't think there is any real threat to it other than increasing your chances an install doesn't complete.

I agree drivers shouldn't affect anything BIOS related - but given that this scenario doesn't make sense from the start, it's something to consider (I.E I'll try anything because no logical options are available).

The only reason I mentioned drivers is while USB 3.0 is not brand new anymore, its still a work in progress vs say USB 2.0. I remember back when 2.0 was introduced, driver updates were important for a long time. I'm just trying to remove all possibilities.

I would confirm:

1 - I installed the chipset drivers from Dell's site

2 - The chipset drivers should contain the USB 3.0 updates (if any) but if there is a separate USB 3.0 package, try installing / uninstalling

Just trying to push down all the pins until there are no pins left.

 

To confirm:

My chipset drivers are the newest Dell drivers. I have also updated to the newest USB 3.0 Extensible driver direct from Intel as recommended by one of the Alienware reps here.

I am thinking this is just a glitch that needs a BIOS update to address. However, if anyone is running A04 and has the USB Wake Support option available like Tweak155, it would probably be helpful if you could post your specs to see if there are any significant differences between our setups.

 

I realize this is a rather minor issue for most and it is more of an annoyance than anything when using the laptop closed connected to an external monitor, but is there some way to let Alienware's engineers know about this so that it may possibly be fixed in a future update? Or is this too minor of a problem to expect that to happen?

 

Lots of people use these types of laptops as DTR. I imagine its something they'd be interested in regardless.

 

I too use my systems in clamshell configuration; this was a deal breaker for me. I would like to get the Alienware 18, but not being able to wake it from sleep is disheartening since I would mostly be using with an external 23" monitor, keyboard and mouse. Also, I did find when I had the 14" that you can wake it from sleep if you leave the screen open when placing the system into sleep mode. However, I prefer not to store the laptop open and exposed. Plus, it wouldn't site under a monitor stand well with the lid open.

I didn't have issues with USB wake from sleep showing up in the bios thank goodness...

 

Is there no new information on this since Sept? I also need Wake on USB. I'm running A06 and the option is not listed in the BIOS.

 

I flashed back to A00 and indeed the option is there, except it doesn't seem to work.

Once enabled, I should be able to check off the option "Allow this device to wake the computer" under the USB Root hubs, except it is grayed out.

Likewise, I can't get it to wake on USB at least not with my wireless USB cable and mouse. Maybe it needs to be corded. I will try that next.

Update: Well I found that the "Allow this device to wake the computer" options were checked (now that I'm running BIOS A00) under the HID keyboard and mouse entries. Although it still didn't work.

Is this why the option was removed from the BIOS? Does this laptop not support Wake on USB?

 

Maybe there is still an unresolved issue with Haswell that Intel has not really fixed. It seems USB 3.0 problems affect many Haswell systems, not only the Alienware 14.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...ll-c2-fix-shipping-usb-3-0-sleep-issue-3.html

Intel Confirms, Fixes Haswell's USB 3.0 S3 Sleep Problems

very disappointed in faulty haswell mac book pros

 

I tweeted the question to @DellCares, but no one responded.

 

I posted the question to the Dell Community Forum. Maybe someone from Dell will confirm whether or not it should be working.

Alienware 14 (2013) - USB Wake Support Missing from BIOS - Laptop General Hardware Forum - Laptop - Dell Community

 

What the heck, is Dell afraid to confirm that they removed a feature still listed in the manual without telling anyone?

I asked Tech Support and he didn't understand what "Wake on USB" was. I posted the question to Twitter and they never answered. I posted the question to the Dell Community and nothing.

 

I don't think they disabled anything. I suspect it is an unresolved Haswell bug.