no thermal control in command center, and fan speed question

I have an alienware M17x that is almost 3 years old.  It recently started running the fans at full speed sometimes and they stay on like that till I shut down.  I wanted to check if there was a problem so I opened up alienware control center.  I could almost swear that when I first got this laptop it had a section to check fan speeds and temperatures.  So I did some research and found that yes it is supposed to have a section called thermal control.  Guessing that it got flummoxed, I uninstalled it and downloaded the latest version from dell.  It too has no thermal control.  Whats going on here?   alienware control center is version 2.5.54.0, A07    Machine is M17X-R2 (M17X10)   intel I7, Q820 @ 1.73Ghz   8GB ram   Samsung SSD PM800   ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870   win7-64 home premium   I downloaded another program that can show the temps and it showed cpu temps min 50C max 60C at the time when the fans were so loud for so long.  Is that hot enough to demand the fans run full speed?  Im really just wondering if they are getting stuck on or something.  The case did not feel warm at all.

Hello

You should test the system.

Reboot and hit f12. Then scroll down and run the PSA test. This will test the board along with everything else in the system to make sure it's working as it should be. The test can take a long time to complete.

Run Built-In Diagnostics for Your System:
http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kcs/document?docid=266787&DoNotRedirect=y 

Well the good news is that the PSA tests all passed.  But Im still left in a mystery of why the control center does not have the thermal control module.

I'm not really sure why ether. All I can say is try reinstalling it again. Try installing the .net framework 4 again too. Only time I ever had my fans run like that was when I had failed MIO boards but mine would fail the PSA test. If the thermal controls are missing then it does sound like a software glitch. Everything else is there and working, right?

If you go into the ACC folder in your programs do you see the thermal control icon and of so what happens if you double click it?

 

 

The control center has AlienFX, AlienFusion, AlienTouch, and Aliensense.  I never use them but they do seem to be working.  

There is no thermal control folder or program in /program files/alienware/command center.  Using the explorer file search for 'thermal' comes up with nothing either.

The control center has AlienFX, AlienFusion, AlienTouch, and Aliensense.  I never use them but they do seem to be working.     There is no thermal control folder or program in /program files/alienware/command center.  Using the explorer file search for 'thermal' comes up with nothing either.

 That is weird. All you can do then is try installing it again if you're sure it's missing. Use the new version like you did before. If after a couple attempts if it doesn't install then I would try using the next ACC version down.

Be Warned! While it's a very low chance there is still the possibility that installing down a firmware version could brick the MIO board. I highly doubt it will happen but it could. I have done this a few times myself, as recently as a few weeks ago and I have never bricked my MIO doing it. So if it was me I would try the next version down. I think that one is still the same firmware version but I just wanted to get that warning out there. DO AT OWN RISK.

If that one doesn't work then I would work my way down versions until I found one that did roll back the firmware to the last firmware version.

If you are uncomfortable doing this then I would suggest calling Alienware technical support. If they decide to also try the next firmware version down and it does brick the MIO board then they will replace it free of charge.  

First, thank you for your efforts and knowledge.

However I still have had no luck getting thermal control installed.  I have installed the .net framework 4, and have tried all 3 available versions of command center, but none of them installed the thermal control.  

I wonder if this version of m17x doesnt allow thermal control?  It is pretty old.  I got it in May of 2010.  Do you think that function might not be installed, hardware wise?  Im not familiar with the MIO board you mentioned.  I tried taking a look for it in device manager but couldnt locate it.  Where in there would it be and would it be named MIO or something else?

First, thank you for your efforts and knowledge.   However I still have had no luck getting thermal control installed.  I have installed the .net framework 4, and have tried all 3 available versions of command center, but none of them installed the thermal control.     I wonder if this version of m17x doesnt allow thermal control?  It is pretty old.  I got it in May of 2010.  Do you think that function might not be installed, hardware wise?  Im not familiar with the MIO board you mentioned.  I tried taking a look for it in device manager but couldnt locate it.  Where in there would it be and would it be named MIO or something else?

 When you open the ACC software it should have four tabs at the bottom. These tabs can very depending on the model Alienware you have but I don't think that any have more then 4 tabs.

AlienFX, AlienAdrenaline, AlienFusion and thermal Controller on some or AlienFX, AlienFusion, AlienTouch and Macro keys on others. Some Alienware laptops have AlienAdrenaline, AlienFX, AlienFusion and AlienTouch. Did you ever have the thermal controls?? I've been going by the assumption that you know it had it since you have had it for 3 years and that you stated after doing research that it in fact did or should have thermal controls.

I'm going to say at this point that it never had thermal controls and it doesn't suppose to. I am pretty sure that what tabs you have, AlienFX, AlienFusion, AlienTouch, and Aliensense will be the only tabs it is supposed to have and that nothing is missing.

Of course even if this is true, and I am starting to believe it is, it still does nothing for your fan issue. That is ether software or hardware. The PSA test passed so that should rule out being a hardware problem. You did the software reinstall a few times now. Did the fan issue go away?


The MIO or master control board is built into the motherboard and doesn't show up like you think in the device manager. The MIO board is there and everything in the ACC software is installed on it. The PSA test also confirmed it was working. You just need the thermal controls to install.