WARNING: M15x owners do not install CC from resouce disk.

The three lights in the upper left corner were flashing?
I had that problem once, I did a BIOS restart and it worked great, thanks to the guy in the M15x's owner lounge.
That is one lame dell tech seriously

 

I just removed the keyboard and graphics card (thanks to Inappropriate Name 3's link to the service manual) and then replaced them again. Unfortunetely the blinking scroll and num icons still persist at start up. There must be some issue with something else. Anyway, it was actually quite satisfying to pull apart the components and learning how it's all screwed together. Not as daunting as I thought

 

It's actually just the scroll and num icons flashing. The caps is fixed. When the lappy is switch on there's no display at all so cannot enter BIOS.

 

Ownership 'Day 13' and my FX board was professionally replaced, pleasantly surprised.

Unfortunately I was one of many victims of the Supplied CC (drivers disk) which promptly fried my FX Board. UNfortunately more damage is evident; my Bluetooth board is also damaged. Today a Professional Rep replaced my FX Board and during a chat he reported the Bluetooth card also has a high failure rate (and should call support again).

Not to my surprise, I filled out a DELL pop-up survey and received an automatic response 'Thanks and the comments are not web site related thus will receive no response from DELL. Call Tech Support for any other issues.'

IN3, THANKS for helping me and YES include my experience in your stories.

-hubs-

 

Hello, can I confirm that once my m15x arrives, if I install the command center and all the drivers from the website my laptop should be fine and not fry the motherboard?

This is the first thing im planning to do. Thanks

 

If you are not reinstalling a fresh OS then just leave everything be. No point fixing something that isn't broken. If you do reinstall your OS then, yes, download all your drivers from Dell's website. Everything should go smoothly but as with anything, don't hold me to that.

Install in this order:

Chipset
OSD
Video Driver
Everything Else (what I like is WiFi, Audio, and the misc stuff)
Command Center

 

Okay thanks, will do that! Uhhh a bit off topic but how many RAM slots does the m15x have? Cheers.

 

There are two RAM slots.

 

Okay, I am just confused. I just bought an m15x and have read nothing but horror stories. Is everyone really having such mass issues?

Mainly, when will I ever be going from an updated CC to an older one? I really just want to avoid this issue because it sounds like I do not want to deal with their techs.

 

don't worry so much, this happen to people who reformat and use the resource disk to install drivers. to be safe only use drivers from dells website. keep in mind that for the most part only people with issues post in this forum, most owners will never have any issues. this is the same for all models in the forum.

 

Thanks man,

Yeah I started to realize that most of the places i'm seeing people with similar problems is because they're trying to figure out their issues in an area with other people having those same problems. It just sounds awful trying to get it replaced/fixed and running.

Still can't wait to get mine.

 

We are investigating this.

 

Thanks for looking into this Chris.

 

Hi guys, I encounter something quite strange with my M15x, it's with A05 bios, 2009, July 19th date for command center, everything is fine and with my itchy hands I upgrade to latest version which is the 2010 March version everything got stuck, the lights can't set at all and my device manager show a device saying unable to install. I panic a little regretting my stupidity as I upgrade the command center, however by taking out the battery, and down grading the command center to the 2009 July the whole thing worked. The unknown device successfully installed and quickly I start command center and everything is working fine. So I upgrade to A06 Bios and the newest command center, everything went smoothly and now it's working fine again. I guess somehow during alien fx upgrade the controller or sumsort the firmware got deleted or corrupt makin the device became unknown.
I am not sure if my feedback could help those guys with a non working cc but if it's broken there's no harm trying right ? Might be I'm just lucky able to revive my alien fx.

 

All,

How many of you actually had to replace the motherboard over this? Send me your service tags to my email; [email protected]

 

So this problem occurs using the recovery partition also? What about if you you use Bios A06? The reason I ask is because I was wanting to restore my M15X using the recovery partition and then create a USB key back up.

 

the problem isn't fully understood yet, so far no cases with A06 yet. and in most cases it was from a clean installs.

 

Hey, I just had the same problem! I Think!! I reinstalled CC, applied the update and still got the "The device you have selected is included in the current theme but AlienFX cannot detect this device on your system. Do you want to remove this device from the current theme?"

I just removed my battery, restarted OS and started CC again, then the error popup was gone, and I could apply a theme again (inserted battery afterwards). Now it's working fine

(BTW: All drivers i manualy downloaded from dell) I think it will solve the problem if you:
1. remove your battery
2. (Restart OS)
3. Go to the command center ( the error message should be gone)
4. Apply what theme you want
5. Insert battery.
6. It should work now

 

Are you on bios A05?
That could be the reason why you managed to fix it while most of us didn't!

 

I'm on A06
Upgraded for A05 btw. Downloaded the update using my service tag. I think the problem is within the software CC, not hardware.

 

sounds like a different issue, i encounter this before and did the power drain and fixed it. others were getting a different error message.

 

thanks for posting this, its good to know.

I never use discs that come with the system, I prefer to download stuff to get the most updated versions of everything, but its still good to know.

 

Hello,

I got a new Alienware M15X laptop with Windows & and A05 BIOS. I did a re-install using the dell datasafe recovery option and now my CC is not working. I have uninstalled the old one and did a fresh install of CC which i downloaded from the dell site and still it does not work.

I am a bit confused with the various ways some of you have got that working.
Can some one please tell me what possible options i have to get this fixed.

 

Rob; Welcome to the forum and AW family,
First (pre-read) remove battery, unplug laptop, press and hold power button for 20 seconds, reattach batt and power supply, power up and see if CC works.. ((If Not, continue))
I would, once again, try to install 'right over' the command center you have now, using this support.dell link> Drivers and Downloads ver 2.5.54.0 A07. There is a BIOS upgrade too (ver A06) but that hasnt caused CC to mis-perform. Many have up'ed to BIOS A06 successfully, Im still on A05 and new CC working well. post more questions when ready. -h-

 

my driver resources dvd is now adding to the alien theme desk setup... as a mug coaster. now to find an alien mug and it will be complete.

 

i would back up the youcam and dvd player software from the resource disk. those are still usable then you can use it as a mug coaster,lolz.

 

what about other BIOSs? Same case for A06 too?

 

i haven't seen any cases with A06 but to be safe i wouldn't try. plus everything on that disk is pretty much outdated anyways.

i would just back up the dvd software, youcam, and the diagnostic tool from the resource disk.

everything else get from dells driver download site.

 

Reminder, and I will edit post 1 with this, as inap mentioned - see the support site for all current drivers/CC:

Drivers & Downloads - Public Sector

*Be sure to change the OS pulldown to match the OS you are running (Vista or W7).

 

Dell should call these DVDs back and provide ones which are up to date

 

I doubt we would see a software recall. Maybe if it had something to do with the OS DVD. They should at least try communicating this to owners outside of NBR.

 

Alas, this happened to me.

Oh well, thats what I get for getting a kick- computer, haha.

Still love it very much, but at least the Dell technician will come to my house to fix the motherboard.

Wish I woulda seen this earlier, or if Dell at least sent out an email to all customers of the M15x who this could affect, but oh well.

Thanks for posting this here guys.

 

if i have the new version of CC, what are the reasons why i would want to revert back to the older version? or was it mainly because its what came with the resource disk and some were not aware of the this problem before hand?

 

Uhmm.. If you uninstalled the CCC or formatted your PC, then you'll have to install it again.

 

so does it impact the A06 version? im having the A06 and planning to do a reinstall

i once made a backup data on an external hdd when i first received my m15x. is it ok if i reinstall windows and just get the basics from my backup data?

 

Alright, so, like I said, I had the issue, and after 3 days without lighting (tougher to game than I thought haha), the technician came to my house and replaced the motherboard, completely free of charge and all.

It was actually quite a pleasant experience... we had common eastern european heritage, so it gave us quite a lot to talk about.

Took him about one hour, but everything works perfectly now.

 

the problem only occurs when you you downgrade from new cc to old cc. so yes A06 would still be affected just make sure that the cc you are using is the latest version.

 

hi
If i want to delete recovery partition and install win 7 ultimate , and install drivers and softwares from dell web sites , would i still get this problem? and what order do i need to install drivers and softwares once i have done fresh install...

 

yeah your fine as long as you download the drivers from dells site.

first should be chipsets
then osd
then everything else
with command center last.

your youcam software and dvd playing software is on the resource disk, and is fine to use.

 

thanks man......

 

can someone please upload the Command Center the latest file to rapidshare or some sort of service. The ftp address seems to be missing the "app" folder and when you try to download it errors out. I did a clean install and do not want to use the CC on my resource disk.

thanks

version: 2.5.54.0, A07

 

gave me a few minutes stewie, hehhehe

 

thanks man i appreciate it trying to explain to dell tech that the link is down will not be fun i figured someone on the board would be down to help out and it is something that is needed so noobs do not install an old version incase the can't find the right one lolz.

i know i am pushing it but if you have those OSD packs that link is down but that is not as important as CC

thanks

edit: take your time i am stuck at work and plan to flash the bios and hopefully take care of the rest of the drivers as well had a late night lol.

 

here you go:

Download R272621.exe from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way

Download R257877.exe from Sendspace.com - send big files the easy way

 

thanks man still here at work but i really appreciate it now i can finish up doing all the work on my computer and see how the new bios is on a clean install and maybe do some benches.

thanks

 

no problem good luck with the clean install.

 

looks like the link is back up from dell..either way i had to use the version you uploaded since at that time the file was down. I appreciate your work and enjoying the new bios. The touch pad is finally working like it should or atleast 80% of the way. I was able to get 2 finger scrolling using scrybe drivers.

thanks

 

yeah i should look into that scrybe driver now, since the touchpad is actual useable now, hehehehe

 

enjoy

ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softpaq/sp49501-50000/sp49601.exe

 

sweet thanks bro.