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18064
December 23rd, 2014 10:00
Aurora R4 and Command Center V3.6.5.0 Issues
So i recently decided to upgrade to an SSD and GTX 980 in my R4. Went with a fresh windows install for this, and part of installing updated drivers included me downloading the latest release of command center, v3.6.5.0 from dell's website. I did not realise that this release also included a firmware update for the mio board.
The first install of command center the firmware update did not take properly, and i had to flash it a second time with the update.
The issue I am having is since doing this update, on a per boot basis, command center may or may not display the information from the mio board, meaning i might not see any temps from the sensors and fan speed displays will be way off(that or my fans aren't running which I havent actually taken the time to pop open the case to watch).
When it is not displaying information i do the steps to clear power off of the mio board and boot back up, but it keeps happening every few boots. I have tried flashing back to the firmware version that was originally on the board but it does not help. Another symptom since the update is the taskbar icon for thermal controls no longer shows information if I just mouse over it.
There any steps I can take to try to fix this without having to replace the mio board?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.1K Posts
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December 23rd, 2014 11:00
What Windows version?
Did you clean install similar to these ways?
http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19376654
and
http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/536193?c=us&s=dhs&cs=19&l=en
Yes, we were due for a MIO-Board firmware upgrade and seems hard to get all the way to v3.6 without one. However, you are one of the first to pay attention and notice it happening.
You are doing Power Dissipation every chance you get, right?
You are not trying to upgrade Command Center from within itself, are you? Only do clean CC installs with Anti-Virus temp disabled and plenty of reboots.
Be careful with MIO-Board back-flashes ... it's not really supported and I always suggest going only forward.
Since you were inside machine, have you tried re-seating all primary MIO-Board connections?
Kleever
7 Posts
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December 23rd, 2014 12:00
Yea i know flashing backwards firmware wise isn't always a good choice, but still a needed troubleshooting step sometimes.
But to answer your question about how I did the install, it is win7 ultimate clean, and the one step I did not take was disconnecting the mio board prior to installing windows as per your links. The steps I take on installing windows line up with that document for the most part otherwise.
Also yes, power dissipation constantly. its needed to get the mio board to interface properly with win7. Command Center was not an upgrade, but a clean install prior to AV being loaded(thats always last step prior to making a snapshot).
I did not re-seat the connections but did ensure everything was still connected properly.
I have no issues doing another install of windows with the mio board disconnected to see if that makes a difference with this. Can do that tonight and report back.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.1K Posts
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December 23rd, 2014 20:00
Your problem is that CC 3.x is for Win8 only. Last version of CC for Win7-64 is v2.8.9.0.
If you managed to clean install Windows without"
- Having to install Win7 twice to get MIO/CC working
- Bricking MIO-Board
... you are ok to not disconnect MIO first.
Kleever
7 Posts
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December 23rd, 2014 21:00
Had already done the reinstall with the board disconnected, which while i have not reboot enough to see if it helped with the issue of the board losing its communication with the software, I can see that the task bar icon still does not show any information on mouse over.
To 3.x being win8 only, download page for it should be updated...lists win7 x64 as a supported os. Prior to this when I first started having issues though I had tried going back to 2.8 which had flashed the firmware back to 2.0.x. That did not resolve the issue either. at least not with the task bar icon again.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.1K Posts
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December 23rd, 2014 22:00
You can run Dell Diags on MIO-Board (outside of Windows). Sometimes this resets it somehow. If it is detected and its various connected devices respond to testing ... the MIO-Board is usually "good".
1. Yes, that is exactly what needs to happen. You might have to clean install Win7-64, and toward the end do that.
2. Not sure I follow your repeated reference to this. Maybe a screen shot would help. The AlienFX "alien-head" lives in the TaskTray. Mouse-over doesn't really do anything. Right-Clicking does bring up a secondary options menu though.
Kleever
7 Posts
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December 30th, 2014 17:00
So I've done a clean install of win7. I also went as far as swapping out a new mio board.
What I'm talking about for the task bar icon is the one for thermal controls. Prior to my reinstall of windows if I moused over it I would get a quick view of the thermal information. That does not happen anymore.
I am not certain if maybe this is a driver issue at this point or not. The drivers for the mio board just get loaded as a usb input device.
Hoping the new board atleast resolves the issue with having to clear the power out of the pc every few boots in order to see thermal information.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.1K Posts
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December 30th, 2014 20:00
Mousing over just says "Thermal Controller". Left clicking reveals the "Choose Quick View Monitors". I don't think it's meant to be a Summary, but it is.
When you Right-Click AlienFX icon (AlienHead) do you have "Allow 3rd Party Access" enabled?
Kleever
7 Posts
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December 31st, 2014 15:00
Ok got it all worked out. The replacement MIO Board has resolved the issue I was having after the firmware update where I would have to do a power dissipation every few boots in order to see the thermal information within command center.
The task bar Icon item I was referring to, oddly I apparently never tried left clicking on the icon...... here is a screenshot of how it looks now, which was what I had displaying prior to reimaging:
I swear I had clicked on the icon before to see if I got any options but....who knows. Anyways, left clicking the thermal controls task bar icon gives you this menu:
allowing you to enable or disable information to be displayed.
So problem resolved. Will not be updating my command center to any newer versions since I don't want to risk firmware causing issues again.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
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17.1K Posts
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December 31st, 2014 15:00
Good work.
Yes, I would leave it alone for a while. The MIO-Board and software/drivers are definitely temperamental, and that has prompted me to post the various warnings (and suggested procedures) over the years.
Sounds like yours failed, got corrupted, and partially bricked. Anyway, back to using computer like normal. [:)]