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Slow boot: Lingering in the BIOS (Alienware Aurora)
I have a new Alienware Aurora, i7, 6GB memory running W7 64 bit. The monitor is also a Dell (22 inch SP2208WFP Wide Flat Panel monitor with Webcam and Mic), but was part of a previous XPS system. All were deemed by Dell as W7 64 bit ready. (And there were no issues when it was part of my XPS, Win XP SP3 system.) BIOS: Alienware, Network:MBA v11.0.14 Slot 0400, Ver: A09, Motherboard: Alienware, 04VWF2, S/N: CN697020920181, Ver. A02
The monitor also serves as a USB hub, connected to the computer via a cable. One USB device is connected to this monitor hub, a printer which is usually off-line at boot time. Sometimes I insert a flash drive in this hub. Neither's presence affects the symptoms below.
Each time I boot, if I leave the USB computer to monitor cable connected, my computer hangs at the BIOS for well over a minute during boot. If I disconnect it, the BIOS appears for only 20 or 25 seconds (still too long, though).
1. Dell has uninstalled and installed the latest drivers. No effect.
2. We’ve replaced the computer-to-monitor USB cable. No effect.
3. I’ve unplugged & tested all USB devices; only the computer-to-monitor one affects the boot time.
Other Information: Monitor Webcam (SP2208WFP) #2 Device Kind Camera/scanner Device Name Monitor Webcam (SP2208WFP) #2 Vendor OmniVision Comment Monitor Webcam (SP2208WFP) #2 Location 0000.001a.0007.003.001.000.000.000.000
How do I eliminate this extra boot time at the BIOS when my monitor USB cable is connected?
Lucero X2
7 Posts
0
November 16th, 2010 08:00
got an area 51 atm less than 2 months old an had loads of issues with the venting and lighting system had 3 I/O boards fitted so far an even now its not working correctly so ATM am feeling rather dissapointed with my rig
am sick and tierd of dell machines had XPS720H2o which gave me no end of trouble an seems the alienware wants to do the same
WSC33
25 Posts
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November 17th, 2010 05:00
"I'm out of ideas. It seems that the BIOS incorrectly thinks the monitor's built-in USB devices are candidates to be bootable." How do you know that this is the issue? It's an interesting idea....
WSC33
25 Posts
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November 17th, 2010 06:00
Well, that's not good news. I'm sorry you're having so much trouble. I hope my system can avoid those issues...
Thanks for the update. Tell Dell we need a BIOS fix.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
8 Wizard
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17K Posts
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November 17th, 2010 13:00
I don't ... just an educated guess.
The problem happens at boot time (before the BIOS loads) so it pretty much has to be a BIOS adjustment that is needed.
I have seen this kind of problem before on different computers occasionally. It can sometimes be corrected by changing BIOS options like "Enable Legacy USB" and/or "Allow Bootable USB Devices". Since those options are not available in the Aurora BIOS, they can't be tried.
However, you won't really know what the problem is until you get it working. It is possible that it's a problem with the USB device itself (the monitor in your case). Since it's unlikely the electronics or firmware in the problem USB device will ever be fixed ... that's why the above BIOS options are usually available. They provide a way to disable all BIOS level (pre-OS) USB auto-detection and auto-mount abilities (and allow the computer to boot properly). Auto-matic things are nice, but only when they work properly.
WSC33
25 Posts
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December 7th, 2010 09:00
I see that the next BIOS version is now available (A10). It was a disaster the first time around. Anyone tested it?
jhbusa
3 Posts
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January 15th, 2011 17:00
A09 and A10 have the same problem. I've had an Aurora for almost a year. Spent significant time with Dell / Alienware trying to resolve the restart hand. My older XP Dell never had a problem with the monitor or drivers. The slow Bios boot off a cold start is bad enough but to hang on a warm start, nearly every time is very frustrating. I have to power down each time. It's a shame such a nice computer has such a flaw. Dell / Alienware needs to address this. My next computer will not be from Dell or Alienware.
Pat1
176 Posts
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January 22nd, 2011 20:00
Ok, I had a simular USB issue on my Area 51 desktop where at startup it would display a message in the notification area by the clock on the taskbar. The message read: USB Device Not Responding_One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it. I was also experiencing the exceptionaly long hang at the BIOS screen.
What fixed the hanging BIOS problem on my system was to change the boot order as recomended in this thread. The USB Device Not Recognized was a little more difficult, had to disconnect "ALL" USB devices from the system and reboot a couple of times. To do this I had to use a PS2 keyboard and mouse (actually used a USB mouse with a PS2 adapter). After the error message no longer appeared at startup I started reconnecting USB devices one at a time and all is well at the moment.
I'm a long time computer user but new to Alienware and I7 (3 weeks) so I figure I will have a bit of a learning curve and what a better way to learn than to have a bump or two along the way.
I hope that you are able to resolve the issues on your system sooner (go OU) than later.
zuribon
2 Posts
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October 13th, 2011 05:00
My aurora that i have brought in sept 2011 is so slow to boot ! Check this
http://youtu.be/EFjN56yzHGA
Mickavellian
30 Posts
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March 7th, 2013 23:00
Wait I have a 2 month old Aurora R4 and I had a ton of problems with the first one the first thing they did was to update BIOS to A07 - are these A09 & A10 for the R4 ? Now both machines show the same problem incredibly slow boot or hang boot and need to disconnect the A/C or no reboot on Soft re-start. I am SO dissapointed at Dell on every problem I have they send back a freebie but damn man I just want a machine that is as solid as my old XPS 4 . 6 years running not one single issue. Please advise if the A09/ A10 are for the R4.
Thanks fellow sufferers
zuribon
2 Posts
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March 14th, 2013 07:00
In my case, the problem was that the computer was trying to boot on my mouse data memory (logitech G9) before giving up and boot on my computer HDD. It has nothing to do with the bios.
But the after sales support was awful here in Europe ; same as you are experiencing. They didn't wanted to come see the problem and they weren't able to provide info for this simple problem. I thought that a video on Youtube might change their POV.
Try to downgrade your BIOS maybe.
When it works it is a nice machine.