new alienware 14 and dell desktop charge mode SERIOUS ISSUE

OK so anyone familiar with the dell desktop battery charge mode understands how useful this option is

they also know that this feature is controllable via the systray icon for the power.

This software is part of the new OEM build on the new alienware units, however it is not in the systray, nor is it part of the battery icon that is in the systray.

If you keep your laptop plugged in all the time (which is probably all of us being gamers) you will eventually get a pop-up asking to enable this feature. It seems like a great idea. The software offers to discharge your battery to between 50 and 75 % automatically, then run off AC power without charging the battery to 100%, thereby causing best optimal long-life scenario for your battery.

ENTER THE PROBLEM:

When it goes into this mode, it will disconnect your AC, causing your machine to run off the battery, complete with all other conditions that having no AC power cord would cause. I dont know about you but some of my games used to hard lock my last years model alienware if I did not have the AC power cable in. This will continue until your battery is discharged down to around 75% at which point it will allow you to run off of AC power again, however it will not charge your battery beyond this 75% mark.

AS THERE ARE NO AVAILABLE CONTROLS FOR THIS FEATURE, AND IT IS LOCKED IN ONCE SELECTED THERE IS NO FIX FOR THIS CONDITIONAL OPERATION OCCURING AT WILL


The only way to fix this is to let your battery discharge below 50%, turn off your laptop, then turn it back on. It will charge up to 100% again, and then some day later it will decide to do this again.


I have contacted alienware support regarding this once when it first started, and they had no information on this dell battery utility they are apparently shipping broken with the new build, and promised to look into it to present a working solution later.


a month later and this problem resurfaced again. I was expecting to get another pop up this time so I could disable this feature BUT IT APPARENTLY DOESN'T GIVE YOU A POP UP ANYMORE AFTER YOU TELL THIS THING TO DO ITS THING THE FIRST TIME!!!

I was unsure what the problem was this second time, and called support, got a ticket for a power supply and mobo replacement, before I noticed that once my battery discharged to 75% that the power started working normally again. I promptly called Alienware back and told them what I found, and cancelled my mobo / PS replacement.



BE ADVISED, DO NOT ALLOW THE DESKTOP CHARGING MODE TO BE ACTIVATED

I can't say for sure but I am willing to bet this is true of ALL new Alienware 14, 17 and 18's

I hope this helps someone before they end up needing to re-install factory default to escape this software (doing a Microsoft restore to date prior to switch did NOT help!!!!)

Good luck folks!

 

I agree, I'm not too happy with this "New" feature either.

I guess we'll have to find what registry entries exist for this so we can hunt them down and erradicate them!
at least until Alienware/Dell come up with a viable solution.

 

I can disable and enable this on battery icon on my 14 running Windohs 8.

 

Well I guess I am just screwed on windows 7 then

 

mmm i have to look after it, guys, i never saw this pop up on my AW14, nor i've noticed the option....

May it be something related to latest Bios update? (i'm on A04)

 

I'm on 8.1 and I can turn the feature on and off. Problem is that even when I'm on desktop charge mode my battery still charges all the way to 100%. So the feature is not working at all. I'm on Alienware 14 with 06 BIOS. I hope they fix this. Also, I'm now at 13% battery wear.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

well its working 100% perfectly on windows 7, except for the fact I CANT MAKE IT STOP

Please contact alienware and report your issues with this, this may never get addressed if I am the only person pointing this out to their engineering. I already have a ticket open with them about their sound software / sub woofer issue as wel

 

I dont think so, as this is a software piece. My biggest mistake was agreeing to allow it to work.

Soon my mech replacement will be here and I will know better when it happens again, but that is still no solution.

 

Can someone please verify if it works in windows 8.1? Mine doesn't seem to work. Thanks!

Also, what causes the installation of this feature? Is it the Alienware on screen display?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I believe that some systems have it and other dont, I dont have this option, but I have see it in another dell laptops since a while, I have a AW 14 but I never see this option (I believe in the control panel in energy come this feature) I have bought my AW in the 1-2 month before the release.... and maybe is why I dont have that option.... (I have the original image from the factory installed, and in the drivers & software in dell support I dont find this utility...)

 

never ask me nothing, and I always use my AW14 plugged in, and I will dont let it work for what i have read here-

 

can we just disconnect the internal connection for our battery if we're not going to use it, or does it need the battery for extra power when playing games?

 

when i'm at home i always leave the battery disconnected on my M17x, but i also always keep it connected to an UPS.

You can leave it without the battery connected, but in case you have a black out, your laptop will shut down. I sugest to use an UPS if you want to disconnect the battery.

 

Ok guys, thanks for sharing all your info - I definitely won't enable Desktop Mode based on your experience. However, when the dialog came up, I used process explorer to get the handle and executable of the program that is behind desktop mode. On my system it is:

C:\Program Files (x86)\Alienware On-Screen Display\desktop.exe

You can run it manually and it gives you the option to disable / enable it / charge bettery to 100% during desktop mode whenever you want (it is essentially the same dialog that is presented to you once the system "auto-detects" you having been plugged in for over 2 weeks). I haven't tried enabling it and disabling it this way, so maybe someone can verify if this works, but it seems to be a promising solution to the OP's problem.

Let me know how it goes, and thanks for sharing all your experience!

Flo

 

P.S.: I can confirm that this problem also applies to my Alienware 17 (bought December 2013). No obvious options are available for disabling DesktopMode after it is enabled. So I hope my potential workaround in the previous thread applies to Alienware 14 and 18 as well.

 

Those who are having issues with this feature (can't switch it off and on) send me a PM with your service tag to try to escalate it.

 

UPDATE:

I had to have my unit mech replaced, with a new unit. This new unit must have a different software piece on it then the original Alienware 14 software build, because now, right off the bat, the battery systray icon has a choice for this, but regardless, when the prompt came up asking me to enable it I chose not to because of my prior experience with the utility.

My original unit was ordered in late october, my mech replacement was built and shipped mid december, as a point of reference.

Have a great day folks!

 

Is it a windows 8 machine?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Sorry, I guess I should have mentioned, it had Windows 7 Home Premium on both

 

Please Dell fix this theoretically great feature. On my new brand new AW14 with Bios06 the 'Desktop Charging Mode' feature is enabled but the battery is still charging all the way to 100%. To preserve my battery life I have disconnected the internal connection. I mostly use my AW14 plugged in.







Alienware 14 | i5-4200 | GeForce GT750m 2gb | 1920 x 1080 | 16 GB Ram | Windows 7

 

My M14 is on A06 version BIOS, does this above problem make my alienware to this issue

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...wer-machine-second-power-everything-fine.html

 

For some reason I can't actually PM you. My service tag is 11K6YY1.

 

My Alienware 17 has issues with this as well. In fact, it's the only problem I have with the laptop.

Basically, the feature kicks in every couple of weeks automatically like it should, but when it does it'll just drain the battery to 0% instead of 50%. The only way to get it to stop is to unplug the laptop and plug it back in, or force it to charge to 100% by clicking the button in the application for this feature.

Very annoying, and it needs to be fixed. I've tried updating the software, and re-installing things but nothing has fixed it.

 

i believe it's a feature from Alienware OSD software , you can uninstall it.
it works for me

 

Yes, I realize it is a feature of the OSD software bundle. I've uninstalled it and installed it.

The point is that it didn't even work when I got the system straight from Dell. Nor does it work after attempting to re-install the software.

I'd like this feature to work so I don't have to manually unplug my laptop and let the battery drain a bit to keep it fresh.

 

any updates on this?

 

it appears to be resolved with a newer install base, i had to get a total mech replacement in december, and the one I received in december 2013 has a functional working power management icon including the desktop charge mode piece, which was not appearing in the previously received unit that was ordered in october of 2013.


If you are having issue with this, I would assume since they fixed it in the shipping unit, that there is some way to update your software to a functional version of this battery management piece.


Also I dont konw why people are saying in this thread that it has something to do with the alienware OSD, unless it is bundled as part of that installer, because it has nothing to do with an OSD.

 

OK well your problem is not what I had at all, so in fact my problem has nothing to do with Alienware OSD app.


as far as where to get an update for an OEM application, i suggest contacting alienware.

 

This feature never works for my machine. Since day 1 I've received it.
It's on Win 7, A09
No matter how I enable/disable it, the battery always being charged to 100% when plugged in
sigh now my battery has 7x % health.. but it's reasonable since I've been using it for almost a year

 

Hi guys, I believe I can help you on this because I experienced the same thing and I managed to disable it back. Just go to folder 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Alienware On-Screen Display' and you will see an icon named 'desktop'. Double click it and you got the option back! Hope this info will help. Cheers!