Alienware 14x freezes

I have just received a brand new Alienware 14x which replaced my faulty Dell l401z

I already owned a SSD disk, so I replaced the existing 750gb disk with my 256gb SSD. Reformated and installed and setup everything. Its mostly been running fine, however once or twice a day the system completely freezes.

I'm using it then the mouse just wont move, no keyboard responses both externally or the laptop keyboard. The time doesn't tick over after the minute and while there is no error or bluescreen. The computer is just frozen outputting what was last on screen.

I searched around a lot and cant find anything that can explain this, I turned off all power saving settings incase some power saving setting was kicking in and affecting me. I found some suggestions on faulty memory or the bios having the wrong memory speed, but I cant find this setting.

I guess I'm going to have to call Dell again, but I was really hoping to be able to resolve this myself if possible.

 

Sounds like a problem with the ssd maybe? I'm guessing you did a clean install on the ssd? A lot of people do a disk clone to move thier info and os to the ssd, and thats fine, but sometimes it can be corrupted. If you did do a clean install, I personally would do another install again to rule out any software errors.

 

What SSD you have maybe I can help.

 

Yes, It was a SSD I already had but brand new never used. So it was clean installed.

It is a Crucial 256GB m4 SSD 2.5" SATA III CT256M4SSD2

Sadly I wiped the original disk, I would love to put it back in to establish if it crashes with the original hdd and install. I guess I could clean install that disk also.

 

I ran into similar issues that you've described when I first setup the system when I installed a SSD; the system would act like it's frozen and the HDD light would stay lit constantly for ten to twenty seconds. I installed the chipset drivers and Rapid Storage Technology from Intel's website and it haven't had any issues since.

 

Do you have a link, seems to be two and im not sure im getting the right thing

Intel® Rapid Storage Technology F6 Driver Diskettes
or
Intel® Rapid Storage Technology

 

This is the page I found, hope this is the right thing
http://downloadcenter.intel.com/Det...=Windows 7, 64-bit*&DownloadType=Drivers#help

Doesn't make a lot of sense to me as I dont have raid.

 

So I downloaded and installed that, it found my disk after reboot and made me reboot 2 more times. So its doing something. Fingers crossed it will fix the problem.

Thanks all.

 

It MIGHT help you. However, on my SSD speeds get cut by half. But I think you need stability first. I would try it. If something goes wrong (should't) you can easily uninstall it and Win7 will install its own MSAHCI on restart.

 

That's the one. This application isn't RAID specific, it's more or less a general disk manager for Intel chipset. I'm not keen on exactly what it does, but I do know the random freezings went away. Worth a try, yes?

 

Yes defiantly, I'll let you know how it goes.

 

It just happened again doh!

I left it sit a while thinking it might come alive again as I leave it on every night and never wake and find it frozen. But gave up after 5 minutes

After reboot this popped up


Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.48
Locale ID: 3081

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 101
BCP1: 0000000000000019
BCP2: 0000000000000000
BCP3: FFFFF880033D7180
BCP4: 0000000000000003
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\113011-11060-01.dmp
C:\Users\dfraser\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-29406-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
Windows 7 Privacy Statement - Microsoft Windows

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

 

I don't know why you are complaining about your M14x freezing, most people are having problems with the laptop overheating. You should be happy.

 

Try an unlocked BIOS and do steps 1 and 3 in this post:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m14x/612902-unlocked-bios-05-impressing-2.html#post7996018

I've been able to keep it on SATA III and not freezing by configuring that BIOS.

 

Op have you updated the m4's firmware to atleast 0002? As the 0001 firmware is the cause for these crashes. I had this same problem untill i updated it and now its perfect.

 

It's probably the SSD and Intel Rapid Storage Tech or the Free Fall Sensor freaking eachother out. I have an OCZ Vertex 3 and had the same issues for a while. Around the web and here on NBR most people have suggested not installing the Intel RST and the Free Fall Sensor once you put in an SSD. They're just not needed. Infact it's been the key to getting full speed out of your SSD. Don't install the Intel stuff. If you have a dual drive setup with an HDD then you'll need them.
I found a couple things on the OCZ forums about how the Intel RST uses a save state and power management protocol that causes some SSDs to freeze. The solution is to prevent the power states from changing. This REGISTRY edit fixed it for me :

I run an SSD and a HDD in my m14x and with that reg. installed it works fine. (if not a little warm)

You can copy the quoted text into notepad and save the file with a ".reg" extension and then just run it. Good luck.

 

Yes, the above helped me too.

 

I found that registry setting last night and tried it and it froze again today

On a side note, this never happens at home on the full power supply. I leave it online at night, so either its not happening or its freezing / unfreezing and I dont see it while I sleep.

I think thats a 155w power adaptor, at work I only have a 135w. I wonder if that is a factor.

I'll try the firmware for the m4

 

Im already on the 0009 firmware from what I can tell.

I'm becoming more convinced its a power supply issue. So I'll run it always on the proper power supply and see if it happens again.

 

remove intel RST. since you are not using RAID 0 on your machine, RST does nothing but just add to the problem.
also, disable windows disk defragment-> you dont need those on SSD's.

and in case you are wondering about reinstalling windows, dont use the drivers from alienware resource DVD. Instead, downlaod the latest driver from dell supprot page, nvidia and intel graphics driver from their respective website and put them on a pendrive and use it. avoid intel rst. I have seen many cases where ssd would work without it.

I dont think 135W power supply is causing freezes. if you use a low power rated adapter, i guess Bios only disables charging or charges it at a very slow rate. apart from from that power brick is not causing any issue.

 

99% confident its a power issue. It has never frozen on proper power supply or battery. Strange I know, but I've been running on full power for 2 days nothing. I took it downstairs and plugged it into another power adaptor, within a couple hours it froze. I'll keep you posted as this will clearly help others if this ends up being the problem.

 

You need to disable HDD sleep as well if you're going to disable LPM. Seen problems like this on the P67 and Z68 desktop platforms. If both modifications fail to solve the problem try using the stock HDD and see if the problems persist.

 

Ok, now 100% positive that this is a power supply issue.

Frustrating as I have many spare dell power supplies, but obviously not suitable for this laptop. It just never freezes when on either battery or the proper power supply. I'll have to source another one somewhere.