Aurora R11, BIOS update, non-Qualified XMP memory error

Question

Hello everyone, I bought my Alienware Aurora R11 from a Best Buy store. It was an impulse buy caused by the pandemic of 2020-2021 as I am now working from home fulltime and I needed a better computer. It is also an early retirement gift for myself - two more years to go!  I had them upgrade my memory to 32GB as part of my initial purchase. I was told the R11's memory can only be configured as either 8, 16, 32, 64 or 128GB so I choose the middle amount. They put in 2x16GB 3200MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX modules, leaving room for future expansion as only two of the four slots are in use. The only other thing I purchased was a WD Blue 1TB SSD (which I installed myself).  The current system specs are: BIOS version 1.0.0Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700F CPU @ 2.90GHzNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER32GB Memory (2x16GB modules)1TB SSD / 1TB HDD / 256GB SSDAlienware Mouse AW510KAlienware Keyboard AW610M The computer, mouse, and keyboard are the the lunar light version, in case that matters. When I try to update the computer it wants me to install BIOS update 1.0.3. Upon starting the installation I get a non-qualified memory detected error (see image below) and the BIOS will not update. I was hoping someone could tell me what this means? Notes:1) The memory passes all diagnostic testing.2) I do not know why the BIOS updater error message specifically wants Kingston memory - especially since my computer did not come with it?3) I do not have any other DDR4 memory to try and swap it out with as the other computers in my house are older and use DDR3.4) I could not find BIOS versions 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 anywhere on the Dell web site to try and update the BIOS sequentially which was the first thing I thought to try. Is there a link to them?  The computer runs perfectly so I'm not really eager to try something that might cause it to die. Thank you in advance for any ideas or suggestions you may have.

Malstout · Accepted Answer

I wanted to thank you all for your help and provide an update.

Everyone I've spoken to about this was confused that the Alienware R11 required OEM RAM to proceed with a BIOS update. There is no logical reason for it that they know of other than some programmer was directed to implement it this way, which is probably what happened?

What I've been doing to eventually get to BIOS version 1.04 is first running the patch, letting it fail, then restoring the computer to what it supposedly shipped with by downgrading to 16GB of Alienware memory. The BIOS patch then works. The memory I'm using for the patch may or may not be the exact two modules it shipped with, it is what I was given to try when I asked for help. They could have been pulled from a floor model for all I know. The store has been extremely helpful in getting this taken care of.

When I repeated this process to update from 1.0.4 to 1.0.5 the BIOS patch worked just fine with the 3200MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX modules installed. So hopefully this means it no longer checks for original OEM memory before patching. I'll have to see what happens on the next BIOS update. If it starts to happen again maybe the patch code could be modified. We shall see.

DELL-Chris M · Answer

Did you ever resolve this?

This Aurora R11 shipped from Dell with two Kingston 8GB (W21KG). You can see in the FAQ Aurora R11 that we never tested/validated Corsair memory. Did you try the later BIOS versions 1.0.4 and 1.0.5 to see if they also error out?

tempestornado23 · Answer

Crucial Ballistic will work with your R11, I have the same machine and that's what I bought and it worked out of the box with no Bios errors.   Go to Cruicial.com and select the R11 and it will show you the specific ram sticks.  Search on here as well and I posted the specific model number of memory that I used if that is helpful.  Others have also used this type of memory and as long as it's in the right combination of sticks it should work without Bios errors.  I did not even have to change the XMP settings in the Bios either as the default settings worked at 3200 mhz no problem.  Ping back on here if you have trouble and hopefully Best Buy will refund your ram purchase as it's not compatible with the R11 and they should not have sold it to you without that guarantee.

Vanadiel · Answer

Going by what Chris wrote below, it looks like the original configuration was 2 x 8 GB.

You said they upgraded you to 32 GB by putting in 2 x 16 GB aftermarket memory modules.

What did they do with the original memory modules?

I would return the machine and ask them to put in the proper memory modules.

The correct part numbers for the memory modules are listed here: memory modules

These machines are picky when it comes to aftermarket memory modules.

r72019 · Answer

What is interesting is that it is requiring OEM RAM to proceed with a BIOS update.  I've never seen that before.  I wonder if it had something to do with the BIOS update no longer supporting the RAM profile selected, and in such case if switching to SPD (XMP disabled) would resolve the error.  This is a pretty old post though so we may not find out from the OP.

speedstep · Answer

You need at least 1 of the following OEM modules. Yet another reason to NOT discard or sell your original ram. 6TCK6 32GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 3400MHz, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.25V, Non-ECC, Kingston X6TCK6-HYA/X6TCK6-MIE 983D4 32GB DDR4, 2666MHz, 4GX72, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.2V, Non-ECCHynix HMAA4GU6AJR8N-VKMicron MTA16ATF4G64AZ-2G6B1, MTA18ASF4G72AZ-2G6E1Samsung M378A4G43MB1-CTD 0N6VG 16GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 3400MHz, Unbuffered, 2Gx64, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.25V, Non-ECC, Kingston X0N6VG-HYD2 N205T 16GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 3200MHz, 2GX64, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.25V, Non-ECC, Kingston XN205T-MIE/XN205T-MIE2 RMWRN 16GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 2933MHz, 2Gx64, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.35V, Non-ECC, Kingston XRMWRN-HYA/XRMWRN-MIE/XRMWRN-MIE2 RGM6C 16GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 2666MHz, 2Gx64, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.25V, Non-ECC, Kingston XRGM6C-MIB/XRGM6C-MIE/XRGM6C-MIE2 TP9W1 16GB DDR4, 2666MHz, 1Gx72, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.2V, Non-ECCAdata AO2P26KCST2-BZJSHCHynix HMA82GU6CJR8N-VK, HMA82GU6DJR8N-VK, HMA82GU6JJR8N-VKKingston KTP9W1-HYJ, KTP9W1-MID, KTP9W1-MIEMicron MTA16ATF2G64AZ-2G6E1, MTA16ATF2G64AZ-2G6H1, MTA16ATF2G64AZ-2G6J1Samsung M378A2K43CB1-CTD, M378A2K43DB1-CTD W21KG 8GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 3200MHz, 1Gx64, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Single Rank, 1.25V, Non-ECC, Kingston XW21KG-MIE, XW21KG-MIE2, XW21KG-HYD2 J69DF 8GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 2933MHz, 1Gx64, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Single Rank, 1.35V, Non-ECC, Kingston XJ69DF-HYA/XJ69DF-MIE/XJ69DF-MIE2 5H5PW 8GB HyperX Fury XMP DDR4, 2666MHz, 1Gx64, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Dual Rank, 1.25V, Non-ECC, Kingston X5H5PW-MIB/X5H5PW-MIE/X5H5PW-MIE2 Y7N41 8GB DDR4, 2666MHz, 1Gx64, Unbuffered, 288 pin, Single Rank, 1.2V, Non-ECCAdata AO2P26KC8T1-BXGSHCHynix HMA81GU6CJR8N-VK, HMA81GU6DJR8N-VK, HMA81GU6JJR8N-VKKingston KY7N41-HYJ, KY7N41-MID, KY7N41-MIEMicron MTA8ATF1G64AZ-2G6E1, MTA8ATF1G64AZ-2G6H1, MTA8ATF1G64AZ-2G6J1Samsung M378A1K43CB2-CTD, M378A1K43DB2-CT

Rabbitdude · Answer

HyperX Fury is a dead brand, HyperX was sold to HP and Kingstons new line is just Fury

r72019 · Answer

They go by Kingston HyperX Fury as of now. The news of an acquisition was just released a week ago. There's been no transition yet. Will probably take months. Google search still shows 0 results for the future Kingston fury lineup.

From Kingston (still showing Hyperx):

https://www.kingston.com/unitedstates/us/gaming/hyperx-fury-ddr4

r72019 · Answer

But that does possibly mean the next Aurora iteration in probably October (since Alder Lake 12th Gen Intel drops 10/25) will probably switch out the RAM lineup to something new.  Of course, we don't know what sort of contract arrangements Dell has with Kingston, and to what extent the acquisition impacted existing contractual obligations. Presumably HP would want to cut ties to Dell OEM contracts.  But then again maybe not, Dell sources LG as the OEM for some of their Alienware monitor panels for example.  So maybe nothing will change as far as Alienware is concerned...guess we will just have to wait and see.

Rabbitdude · Answer

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.pcgamer.com/amp/kingston-furiously-renames-its-memory-brand-having-sold-hyperx/

All HyperX branding is being removed, what's out there is already out there but anything further produced will not have HyperX branding. Kingstons posted a video and pictures of RAM with the new design and branding

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