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Problems with Fan, AlienFX, etc after awakening from sleep!
Ok I recall reading about someone having a similar issue as I am and I seriously hope there's a fix for it by now.
After my computer automatically falls asleep, I awaken it, and the fans roar permanently until I reboot it and the AlienFX lighting shuts off until reboot as well. AND SOMETIMES I HAVE TO FORCE POWER DOWN BECAUSE IT DOES NOT AWAKEN, which is quite lame! I made my own power saving configuration but my computer still goes to sleep even though I specified not to.
I almost feel that the Command center is completely broken, it's like a sticker full of buttons on a toy that look cool but do nothing. The venting system also doesn't seem to work, I'll be playing Crysis on max settings for 3 hours and the vents will remain closed even though I specified to open up after 20% speed.
Is there a fix for this stuff? It's very irritating, I was so excited to have enough money for an "ALIENWARE", and after the painful process of receiving it and a $350 phone bill, I've been doing nothing except ironing out issues and reading complaints.
Someone give me some good news please!!
DMiannay
244 Posts
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December 10th, 2009 05:00
Hey buddy... I'm afraid there's no good news... yet. You probably read my response to a thread yesterday regarding this very same issue.
As I stated then, according to the several techs I spoke with at Alienware Support (in Costa Rica - good guys) there’s clearly a compatibility problem with AlienFX and Windows 7 (x64 in my case). You'll note that you likely have an "Unknown USB Device" in Device Manager which relates to the Input/Output (I/O) board in the PC that coordinates all the sensors and lights. The drivers for this board are buggy and frequently get borked, and in my case it is weekly and always happens when awakening from sleep mode.
The fix is to uninstall Command Center, reboot, reinstall the downloaded version of Command Center (from Dell Support), then shut down the PC and remove the power chord completely for 30 seconds (also helps to press the power button a couple times while the power chord is removed to quicken the dissipation of stored electrical charges on the motherboard). Plug the chord back in and start the PC and you should see the splat removed from Device Manager and fan speeds now under control. Note: Sometimes I have to reboot again at this stage since it is still a bit hosed, but it always works correctly after the second reboot.
This is clearly a pain and the tech guys explained Dell is completely aware of this and the engineers are working to "mend" Command Center and the drivers.
Hang in there...
stafford640
8 Posts
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December 10th, 2009 13:00
I had the same problem with my 51 ALX and Doug's advice fixed it....for now. There's obviously a bug in the Command Centre w/Win7-64 and I am just about to go back to the beast to wake it out of sleep. I'm fully expecting to have to reinstall unless I'm lucky and the fans stay quiet! Thanks again for the info from Costa Rica, Doug!
DMiannay
244 Posts
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December 10th, 2009 14:00
Glad to have helped, stafford640.
I'm not actually in Costa Rica :) ... the Alienware Tech Support team is headquartered there and any calls to Alienware Tech Support go to them. They're good guys and have been quite helpful to me.
And also, my Area-51 comes out of sleep several times daily and continues to work fine. However, at least once a week it wakes up and the "Unknown USB device" issue rears its ugly head again. Hope the Dell engineers have a fix real soon.
stafford640
8 Posts
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December 11th, 2009 13:00
LOL.....I should have written "Costa Rican-info".
I haven't done a hard reboot since but it's purring like a baby.
A $7,600, 80 pound, 21,000 3dMarks score baby~
DMiannay
244 Posts
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December 12th, 2009 18:00
Awesome... glad to hear it. My beast is rocking along as well! As soon as the AlienFX issues get squared away it will be next to perfect!
fookaroo
22 Posts
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December 14th, 2009 06:00
Turn off sleep mode, problem solved :)