So just come off the phone with Dell support Uk and I can see this is all going to be a waste of time. They will accept a return to review the laptop at a £40 cost but that is only a diagnostics check to find the fault - if the fault is a bad motherboard (caused by the 1.4.4 bios damaging the motherboard in some way) then I would then also have to pay for the repair... I understand the laptop is out of warranty but that is a joke really. I also asked the question on why they no longer have the 1.4.4 bios on the dell website for download anymore and the operator could not explain why, only that newer Bios updates superseed the older bios. But every older bios is on the dell website apart from 1.4.4 so why not the one that caused the error - unless its known to have issues... Guessing this laptop is not going to get the fix for the shutdown issues. I am going to download every bios on the dell website and run them one by one hoping that one update may restore whatever broke in the 1.4.4 update. time to start the USB downgrade fun...

Hi,

I still have the problem.   I've had a brief Tweet conversation with Umar K at Alienware (@aw_umar) although nothing has happened since (that was right at the beginning of this year 2019.)

What I have found out is that, rushed out with the 'Urgent' BIOS 1.4.4 was a corrupted patch for the Intel security vulnerabilities.   The corrupted patch messed up the Intel ME firmware making it unusable.  Dell/Alienware via the community EIMY contact were apparently onto it although had difficulty locating example systems that had the problem - I did offer mine - but then issued updated firmware 1.6.1 apparently to fix the problem with rather odd instructions to install it twice.  Of course this never worked because the system would never shut down.   I tried using a USB drive as advised by the EIMY contact and that worked for the 1.6.1 BIOS but did not address the Intel ME corruption.  Note that, once they'd originally realized the mess, they quickly replaced BIOS 1.4.4 with... a different version of 1.4.4... actually the same BIOS but without the corrupted Intel ME firmware but that didn't help anyone where they'd already applied the Urgent BIOS update.

There is a thread that's easy to find where others have figured out how to flash the Intel ME firmware but the instructions were too complicated and, I felt, too much of a risk.  

I have relayed this to Dell/Alienware and they're yet to come up with a solution.  The Dell/Alienware support were next to useless on this and my latest contact with them showed that they are denying that there's a problem (that Dell/Alienware caused) and, like you, say that I can pay to have my system checked but would have to pay for repairs including a new motherboard if that's the solution.

Let's hope that they come up with a solution soon.  I've looked elsewhere for laptops etc. for my family and work which is a shame because I've bought high end Dells and Alienware since 2006 but I cannot advise anyone based on this experience.

Did this get fixed? Physical bios chip update fix the problem??? I have both a 17 r3 and 15 r3 with both shut down issue/ usb ports no longer work after broken Intel me bios update

Hi @gfd2017  seemingly this problem is shared by three systems, and discussed in:- 

Article Number: 000143114
Alienware 17 R3, 15 R2 and 13 R2 
BIOS Update Fails or Stops During Update Process. 
BIOS update will disable the USB ports during the BIOS update to avoid errors.

Do either of your systems show any signs of life?  POST starts to check hardware and gives diagnostic beeps, hold down F2 will enter BIOS window, hold down F12 will enter Boot Menu, Recovery window appears after more than three attempts to boot, etc. 

Please give forum users a clue, that your system shows some signs of life. Thank you. 

Hi @BasherWalls  thank you for sharing update. 

This problem was widely published on the internet, and is still available. Came across Notebook Review BIOS update (1.4.4) messed up my laptop which might be the article to which you refer? 

Hi @BasherWalls  @DGzip 

Evidently there is a Dell Alienware BIOS version (Solved). This problem was acknowledged in Dell 17 R3, new BIOS update issue, won't boot with recommendation to downgrade to a previous BIOS version. 

@crimsom 

Dell pretty much washed their hands that this was ever a problem, also they flat out refused to help anyone who was out of warranty for their bad bios patch update.

in short, they totally destroyed the Intel ME part and so downloaded update can fix it.

Edit - found my how to. I have had to add a space after http as Dell don’t like to allow helpful links.

notebookreview website

threads

intel-me-completely-offline

its on page 11 of thread.

I did fix it and posted a full how to on a notebook forum, I have since sold that laptop as I lost faith in Dell and Alienware.

You do need programming tools to totally write directly to the Bios chip and flash the newer bios and Intel ME.

You really cannot alter the Intel ME without the programmer.

Dell totally messed up the update and then quickly deleted it and denied it ever existed.

oh and Evidently if you try to downgrade as you suggested, you would see that the faults would still be there but on the lower firmware as Dell messed up the Intel me which obviously affected the shutdown system.

I hope this answers your statements with some actual facts.

Hi @BasherWalls thank you for sharing update. 

My interest is just user to user discussion, trying to help other users that apparently still have this problem, and are trying to find the Dell Solution.