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Alienware Command Center 2.5.51.0; A07 Blue Screen During Win7 Restart [:@]
After upgrading to Alienware Command Center 2.5.51.0/A07 began to have problems with Win7 initiailizing during restarts. After installing 2.5.51.0; A07, I had to shutdown, unplug power, wait 30 seconds, replug twice to get Alienware 2.5.51.0 to work correctly and my Fx firmware did update to 1.02.04
During the BIOs start (which continues to take 3 minutes no matter what version CC or BIOs being used), if I see the Alienware TactX keyboard and TactX mouse lights flash for about one second, then I know that when BIOs is complete Win7 - 64bit will boot correctly. When I do not see the keyboard lights flash for about one second, Win7 will not start and goes to Blue Screen (appears for about 1 second; can't read any data) and immediately drops back to BIOs restart. The Blue Screen seems to occur during the Win7 startup time when I have seen the keyboard and mouse lights come on.
I have to go back to a restore point to recover. However, 75% of the restarts for any reason end in Blue Screen during Win7 startup. Don't understand why it is not consistent.
The associated Win7 Blue Screen consistently happens when I do not see the keyboard/mouse lights flash during BIOs start.
If I use Win7 recovery/restore feature and go back to Alienware CC version 2.5.45.0, I don't have the problem.
Anyone having windows restart issues after upgrade to 2.5.51.0;A07?
d2randall
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May 2nd, 2010 14:00
Well, I think I fixed my own problem with 5 hours of troubleshooting time.
Shutdown - unplug power - unplug Alienware TactX Keyboard USB connectors from computer - plug in power - plug back in Alienware TactX Keyboard USB connectors - power on start. Smooth restart with no issues.
I then restarted again with no problems. 3 more times no problem.
OK, this is what I think happened and why. Since the Alienware Command Center software directly affects computer Alienware desktop, keyboard and mouse lighting system, as well as the monitoring of desktop fan/temperature data; it appears that after a Command Center update you must unplug all affected Alienware attachments to reset the interface and then conduct a power-on restart.
I have seen several posts on this forum about shutdown the computer and unpluggin power cords to get Alienware Command Center to function correctly. It looks like you need to add the TactX keyboard and mouse to that list.
By the way, all fan/temp functions with 2.5.51.0;A07 appear to be working correclty.
DSS-25
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May 19th, 2010 09:00
You're a god. You saved me 5 hours, at least. I updated CC and did a power cycle, and the machine wouldn't even start to boot. Fans just came on full blast.
Unplugged the keyboard and mouse and it came right up. CC should come with a warning.
DELL-Chris M
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May 19th, 2010 10:00
Have you tested the 2.5.52.0 A08?
DSS-25
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May 19th, 2010 10:00
When I upgraded CC to 2.5.52 (from 2.05.something) I was still on BIOS A03. That's when it wouldn't boot without unplugging the keyboard and mouse.
After recovering from that, I upgraded the BIOS to A08. Warm booted fine after the BIOS upgrade. At that point it was late and I didn't have the guts to see if it would come up after a cold boot.
DSS-25
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January 25th, 2011 21:00
So this has happened twice more. I have endeavored not to turn the machine off, but the Wife accidentally shut it down from Windows one morning and when she hit the power button, only the fan came on full blast. Everything else dark. I had her unplug the AC until I got home from work hours later. I plugged in the AC, and it came right up just fine.
Last night I accidentally shut it down from Windows, and again when I hit the power switch, only the fan came on full blast. I unplugged everything: USB, network, monitor; no joy. Hit the reset and CMOS reset buttons, still no joy. It finally booted up on about the 50th power cycle. I don't think anything I did had any impact. I think it was just "ready" to come back on.
The intersection of these two incidents leads me to believe that the problem is thermal. Without any knowledge of the thermal protection, I can only guess that when it shuts down, and the coolant flow stops, the CPU "heat sinks" and trips a thermal switch which forces it into shut-down. The CPU won't run until it cools down and the thermal switch resets. In the mean time, the user tries all manner of things, and it appears that the last thing they tried worked.
Alienware Area-51, BIOS A08, CC 2.5.52