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M18x R2 no POST after changing bios settings


DoenerBoy123

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Hello guys 

 

I've got a pretty weird problem with my M18x R2. I already searched the web but couldn't find an answer. A few days ago I changed some settings in the bios, if I remember correctly DMVT Pre-Allocated.

After saving this setting the notebook refuses to even POST. I get no beep errors or anything. If I press the power button the system turns on, the LEDs turn on and then the system shuts itself off. I already reset the CMOS, the IME, tested different hardware configurations and so on. If I remove all the memory sticks I actually get the memory error code. At this point I'm pretty sure that the bios got corrupted for some reason when I saved these settings. Did anyone had a similar problem and got a solution for this? I repaired lots of notebooks but never had an error like this...

 

EDIT:

 

The Bios installed is the a15 unlocked which worked fine until recently. Overall there were no problems at all indicating different kind of problems. 

I also tried the backflash method with the A03 Bios but the system refuses to read the USB stick. I've used the same stick as last time I reflashed the Bios.

Alienware Area 51 ALX R5 3600 32GB 3200MHz RTX 2080 Ti FE

Alienware M18x R2 I7 3840QM 4.2GHz 16GB 1600MHz GTX 1070(Zotac MXM, 10 MOSFETs)

Alienware M17x R4 I7 3630QM 16GB 1600MHz GTX 980M 8GB(six MOSFETs)

MacBook Pro Retina I7 3820QM 16GB 1600MHz GT650M (for school)

And lot's of other stuff in my hobby corner (old Clevo's 'n' stuff like that)😄

 

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Sounds very similar to this post

 

 

How did you clear the CMOS? Did you bridge the CMOS battery connector pins?

 

It sounds like you've tried the blind flash but maybe you didn't quite do it right

Alienware Aurora R15 - i9-13900KF - RTX 4090 - 32GB DDR5 

Alienware M18x R2 - i7-3920XM - GTX 970M - 16GB 1866Mhz DDR3L - Samsung 970 Evo with MXM to NVMe Adapter - Custom Delft Blue  

Alienware X51 - i7-3770 - NO GPU - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3  Alienware M17x R3 - i7-2760QM - GTX 580M - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3

Alienware Area 51 ALX - i7-975 Extreme - GTX 980 - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3   Alienware Aurora R2 - i7-3770K - GTX 670FTW - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3 

Alienware Aurora R4 ALX - i7-3930K - GTX 1060 - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3        Alienware Aurora R4 ALX - i7-3930K - GTX 670FTW - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3

 

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Yes, it’s actually almost the same issue. The only difference is that I had no problems before at all. I changed these setting to get some performance increase as I’m running this thing in SG mode(GTX1070).

I’ve done the CMOS reset in 3 different ways:

 

1. I unplugged the battery and waited some time.

2. I unplugged the battery and shorted the battery pins on the board.

3. I left the battery in place and shorted the clrcmos and reset ME pins on the board. These pins are hidden under the msata cable. These can also be found in the schematic which is easily available in the internet.

 

At this moment I rather think it’s the Intel Management Engine firmware which is corrupted. I believe that as this piece of software is absolutely necessary as this initializes CPU. That’s also why it’s not possible to completely disable this junk. For me this would also explain why the reflash method does not work like in the past. 
The bad thing about that is that this firmware sits on its own rom on the board, so just taking the bios file and using an external programmer seems impossible without having a dump from that exact rom

Alienware Area 51 ALX R5 3600 32GB 3200MHz RTX 2080 Ti FE

Alienware M18x R2 I7 3840QM 4.2GHz 16GB 1600MHz GTX 1070(Zotac MXM, 10 MOSFETs)

Alienware M17x R4 I7 3630QM 16GB 1600MHz GTX 980M 8GB(six MOSFETs)

MacBook Pro Retina I7 3820QM 16GB 1600MHz GT650M (for school)

And lot's of other stuff in my hobby corner (old Clevo's 'n' stuff like that)😄

 

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I dont know in m18x but in AW18 to reset the BIOS the only way to hard reset its to remove all RAM sticks Power on the lap and when u get the third beep (if am not wrong) u must to put at least One mem Stick before the fourth beep and It Will reboot, was something like this. I dont think that u have an corrupted BIOS or something like that, Just It doesnt work with Ur new settings Better dont mess up ti much with BIOS. Happened to me once hard reset method took me at default options 

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I dont know anything about DMVT Pre-Allocated. But this post on reddit says not to do it

 

https://www.reddit.com/r/gpdwin/comments/5hxgpe/dont_change_dvmt_preallocated_video_memory_in/

 

Clevo P870DM3-G i9-9900k-32.0GB 2667mhz-GTX 1080 SLI

Alienware M18x R2 i7-3920xm-32GB DDR3-1600 RTX 3000 

Alienware M17x R4 i7-3940XM 32GB DDR3-1600 P4000

Alienware M17x R4 i7-3940XM 20GB DDR3-1600 GTX 680M 120hz 3D

Precision m6700 i7-3840QM - 16.0GB DDR3 - GTX 970M 
Precision m4700 i7-3610QM-8.00GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz-K2000M

GOBOXX SLM  G2721-i7-10875H RTX 3000-32GB ddr4(Gave to my Wife)

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got a little update, it’s working again!

it was actually the bios which was the culprit. I removed the SPI Rom chip and flashed a dump from another machine(thanks to the guy from Reddit who send me the dump). After that the backflash was working again(and necessary) and I downgraded back to A03. After lot’s of beeps I finally got a picture and it’s working fine now 😄

 

Alienware Area 51 ALX R5 3600 32GB 3200MHz RTX 2080 Ti FE

Alienware M18x R2 I7 3840QM 4.2GHz 16GB 1600MHz GTX 1070(Zotac MXM, 10 MOSFETs)

Alienware M17x R4 I7 3630QM 16GB 1600MHz GTX 980M 8GB(six MOSFETs)

MacBook Pro Retina I7 3820QM 16GB 1600MHz GT650M (for school)

And lot's of other stuff in my hobby corner (old Clevo's 'n' stuff like that)😄

 

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Excellent news! Well done

Alienware Aurora R15 - i9-13900KF - RTX 4090 - 32GB DDR5 

Alienware M18x R2 - i7-3920XM - GTX 970M - 16GB 1866Mhz DDR3L - Samsung 970 Evo with MXM to NVMe Adapter - Custom Delft Blue  

Alienware X51 - i7-3770 - NO GPU - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3  Alienware M17x R3 - i7-2760QM - GTX 580M - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3

Alienware Area 51 ALX - i7-975 Extreme - GTX 980 - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3   Alienware Aurora R2 - i7-3770K - GTX 670FTW - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3 

Alienware Aurora R4 ALX - i7-3930K - GTX 1060 - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3        Alienware Aurora R4 ALX - i7-3930K - GTX 670FTW - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3

 

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On 10/5/2022 at 11:33 AM, Expresstyle said:

I dont know in m18x but in AW18 to reset the BIOS the only way to hard reset its to remove all RAM sticks Power on the lap and when u get the third beep (if am not wrong) u must to put at least One mem Stick before the fourth beep and It Will reboot, was something like this. I dont think that u have an corrupted BIOS or something like that, Just It doesnt work with Ur new settings Better dont mess up ti much with BIOS. Happened to me once hard reset method took me at default options 

Yea, here is the link https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General-Read-Only/Alienware-18-no-POST-How-to-reset-UEFI-BIOS-when-no-POST/td-p/5521711

The solution was posted 10-16-2013 by a BJFox, is it one in the same as our Bro here alias @MRFox ?!!!

Clevo P870DM3-G i9-9900k-32.0GB 2667mhz-GTX 1080 SLI

Alienware M18x R2 i7-3920xm-32GB DDR3-1600 RTX 3000 

Alienware M17x R4 i7-3940XM 32GB DDR3-1600 P4000

Alienware M17x R4 i7-3940XM 20GB DDR3-1600 GTX 680M 120hz 3D

Precision m6700 i7-3840QM - 16.0GB DDR3 - GTX 970M 
Precision m4700 i7-3610QM-8.00GB DDR3 @ 1600MHz-K2000M

GOBOXX SLM  G2721-i7-10875H RTX 3000-32GB ddr4(Gave to my Wife)

 

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Yes, the very same

  • Haha 1

Alienware Aurora R15 - i9-13900KF - RTX 4090 - 32GB DDR5 

Alienware M18x R2 - i7-3920XM - GTX 970M - 16GB 1866Mhz DDR3L - Samsung 970 Evo with MXM to NVMe Adapter - Custom Delft Blue  

Alienware X51 - i7-3770 - NO GPU - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3  Alienware M17x R3 - i7-2760QM - GTX 580M - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3

Alienware Area 51 ALX - i7-975 Extreme - GTX 980 - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3   Alienware Aurora R2 - i7-3770K - GTX 670FTW - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3 

Alienware Aurora R4 ALX - i7-3930K - GTX 1060 - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3        Alienware Aurora R4 ALX - i7-3930K - GTX 670FTW - 16GB 1600Mhz DDR3

 

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  • 2 months later...

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