M17X R4, turning on and off, on and off, on and off... after change from Legacy to UEFI

[Maks0098]

48 minutes ago, IVHOTEP said:

Hi there!

 

!"but I changed from Legacy to UEFI"

 

just switched? As I remember I had to do a disk format partition to GPT to reinstall windows so it can work in UEFI mode, could that be it?

 

when the laptop turns on and off cyclically after switching the legacy mode to uefi (or maybe even without this switching. maybe the reboot is cyclical, then this problem can also be in a damaged BIOS image) - it is definitely necessary to reflash the BIOS chip. I had this. I completely disassembled the laptop and unscrewed the motherboard and reflashed it using a programmer, taking out the processor, RAM and the like. connecting the charger to the laptop. only by taking all this out and connecting the charger - I was able to reflash the BIOS chip.

 

and yes, you are right that you need to change the system image and format the partition from mbr to gpt to be able to boot into the system. but the bios should boot without this. and you should be able to enter the bios without problems.

[IVHOTEP]

Of course, it just wasn’t clear to me if he had done that.

 

bios flashing is a place I never want to go

[emcze]

2 hours ago, IVHOTEP said:

As I remember I had to do a disk format partition to GPT to reinstall windows so it can work in UEFI mode, could that be it?

 

It is normal in this situation but my problem was with no post to the BIOS.  Now I know that reason was 120hz LCD and SG mode. 

[Gordan]

I'm in a similar situation as the start of this thread, but with a few additional complications.

M17xR4, A15 BIOS, original 675M GPU started failing

Got a 970M which just flat out refused to work (error 43 bin device manager), on Linux DRM complained it couldn't initialize it, as far as I can tell it was due to the BIOS firmware or device IDs.

Flashed the unlocked A15+ bios, I found information indicating that this has some adjustments that makes newer GPUs work. Tebooted fine.

 

In my infinite wisdom, I decided to look what all the extra BIOS settings do, so I adjusted the iGPU memory allocations and set the native LVDS panel res from default 1024x768 to 1920x1080, rebooted, aaaaaaand.... now it's bricked.

 

Pressed the power button, it comes on for a few seconds, then switches off again.

 

Things I tried:

- Removed the MXM GPU, still out

- Removed main battery, still out

- CMOS battery removed, disconnected mains power, left for 20 minutes, mains power reconnect, same refusal to boot, powers straight back off

 

Nothing on the main screen, nothing on the VGA output, not tried HDMI out, I vaguely remember that only worked through the old Nvidia GPU (not 100% sure) and MXM card is still removed.

 

So clearly the problem is that I botched the BIOS settings, but how do I reset them, other than by removing the coin batter and all power sources and waiting? Are defaults on A15+ BIOS the problem?

 

I also tried renaming isflash.bin from stock A15 BIOS to M17R4.hdr and putting it on an otherwise empty, freshly FAT32 formatted USB stick in the eSATA  port, and booted by plugging in power while holding the END button, that powers it up, but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Is there a different file I need to use for A15 (or A15+ unlocked) BIOS? As far as I can tell, the USB stick is never fully read. The LED access indicator on my USB stick flashes once for a fraction of a second, and then nothing happens. And the legth of the blinking doesn't seem long enough to read the 8+MB file off the USB stick.

[Jerryzago]

14 hours ago, Gordan said:

I'm in a similar situation as the start of this thread, but with a few additional complications.

M17xR4, A15 BIOS, original 675M GPU started failing

Got a 970M which just flat out refused to work (error 43 bin device manager), on Linux DRM complained it couldn't initialize it, as far as I can tell it was due to the BIOS firmware or device IDs.

Flashed the unlocked A15+ bios, I found information indicating that this has some adjustments that makes newer GPUs work. Tebooted fine.

 

In my infinite wisdom, I decided to look what all the extra BIOS settings do, so I adjusted the iGPU memory allocations and set the native LVDS panel res from default 1024x768 to 1920x1080, rebooted, aaaaaaand.... now it's bricked.

 

Pressed the power button, it comes on for a few seconds, then switches off again.

 

Things I tried:

- Removed the MXM GPU, still out

- Removed main battery, still out

- CMOS battery removed, disconnected mains power, left for 20 minutes, mains power reconnect, same refusal to boot, powers straight back off

 

Nothing on the main screen, nothing on the VGA output, not tried HDMI out, I vaguely remember that only worked through the old Nvidia GPU (not 100% sure) and MXM card is still removed.

 

So clearly the problem is that I botched the BIOS settings, but how do I reset them, other than by removing the coin batter and all power sources and waiting? Are defaults on A15+ BIOS the problem?

 

I also tried renaming isflash.bin from stock A15 BIOS to M17R4.hdr and putting it on an otherwise empty, freshly FAT32 formatted USB stick in the eSATA  port, and booted by plugging in power while holding the END button, that powers it up, but doesn't seem to get anywhere. Is there a different file I need to use for A15 (or A15+ unlocked) BIOS? As far as I can tell, the USB stick is never fully read. The LED access indicator on my USB stick flashes once for a fraction of a second, and then nothing happens. And the legth of the blinking doesn't seem long enough to read the 8+MB file off the USB stick.

Messing around with the iGPU settings, brakes these laptops.

 

At least for the M18x R2 which is that same generation like as the M17x R4, needs the very first BIOS release. M18x R2 needs the A03 official file. 

 

Try using the earliest you can find from the official Dell site. After you manage to boot, upgrade to the unlocked one again.

[Gordan]

Thanks I was trying with A05, but I'll try A02. What concerns me is that several USB sticks I have a power LED on them, that is on when nothing is happening and blink off when read. When I plug them into the eSATA port, they briefly blink once, and then never come on again. It makes me wonder if there is some kind of a negotiation problem at USB level. It's definitely the eSATA/USB port I'm supposed to use, not a plain USB one?

 

Does the size of USB stick matter? FAT16 (i.e. less than 4GB) or FAT32 (for the ones larger than 4GB)? Should be the bootable or just formatted with nothing on it, including System Volume Information folder that gets placed by default on FAT32?

 

I even tried removing the CPU, and that gave me 7 beeps, but didn't clear the botched iGPU settings.

Oh and - the ESC+power option doesn't give me any beeps, it's supposed to go beeping like mad for a while, it doesn't happen for me. I only got beeps when I removed the CPU. Running without the coin battery doesn't cause beeps.

[Jerryzago]

Use the older one. eSATA port only and USB stick in FAT32. No other files needed, just the BIOS file in the root folder. You will get there, procedure must be accurate to the point to succeed 

[Gordan]

Hmm, pretty sure I'm doing it as instructed:
- eSATA/USB port
- FAT32, brand new USB stick
- BIOS from A02 release (oldest I can find), M17R4A02.fd file, renamed to M17R4.hdr
- Hold END while plugging in power
 

Laptop powers up but nothing else happens. Power button slowly colour cycles between yellow and blue, no beeps.
Tried the same with the BIOS payload from A05 BIOS release as mentioned elsewhere in the thread, no difference.

I have a EEPROM programmer on order will try reflashing it that way when the tooling arrives in a week or so, but it is very weird that the BIOS recovery procedure just doesn't seem to be working for me.

Even tried a powered USB hub in case all of my USB sticks take too long to wake up on startup, but it doesn't seem to make any difference.

 

[Jerryzago]

This is what I got from techinferno

 

I make this thread for people who have bricked their bios on their r4(not the vbios), since the release of the A05 I have seen multiple people bricking their bios. The solution to this problem is really easy.

 

Go to Drivers en downloads | Dell [Nederland] and download the .exe file. Use winrar to extract this file, you will have a file named like this QBR00EC.fd, rename it to M17R4.hdr.

 

Now format an USB stick to fat/fat 32, and ONLY put this file on it. We are almost done!!!

 

Unplug the battery from your laptop and be sure the power adapter is not plugged in, and put the USB in the eSate(NOT USB SLOT). Now hold the end button and plug in the adapter, your alienware should come back to live now!!!! It will beep some times and restart few times.

 

Note: Leave CMOS battery in, or it wont work 😄

 

Thanks to SVL7/Brian, clearing things up for me, just go back into bios flashing 😛

 

 

Hope this helps. If not, the programmer is your best bet.

[Gordan]

That is indeed, exactly what I did. But this bit:

Quote

It will beep some times and restart few times.

never happens for me.