Alienware 15(Early 2015) does not shutdown fully sometimes,

Question

This problem occurs once every 3-6 shutdowns but its hard to reproduce wilfully as the root cause has not been identified. This problem started occurring after I upgraded to Win10 and/or upgraded to A05 BIOS. I have since downgraded to A02 BIOS and have clean installed Win10 from a USB stick but the problem remains.

When I click shutdown, the normal shutdown process happens, the screen goes off and screen backlight goes off but the AlienFX lights remain. The fans and HDD keep spinning. I have to hold down the power button to force the system to turn off. Now, once or twice while clicking "Shutdown", I had this screen pop up(attached). As soon as I pressed the Esc key, the Alienware logo came up and the system booted normally. I am mentioning this as the two issues may be related. In fact after upgrading to A05 BIOS, the system did not shutdown after the flash. The fans kept running at maximum speed. I waited for 10 min. and then forced a shutdown.

However the second issue has happened 3 times in the last 20 days and is not as frequent as the incomplete shutdown issue. I have found that the incomplete shutdown happens with greater probability if the system enters the sleep state at least once during use and is subsequently shutdown. I have clean installed Windows 10 from a USB stick and have updated all the drivers but the problem remains. I did a powercfg /energy report. Its saying that the USB device sleep state is intermittent. I contacted Dell support but did not get a satisfactory answer as they essentially told me to wait it out until Windows updates solve the problem. Meanwhile, I am worried that I may be damaging my system by forcing shutdown.

Can someone from Dell please help?

Alienware - Rodrigo · Answer

Hi,

We recommend you stick with the A05 Bios version. Try doing a power drain (unplug the AC adapter, disconnect the battery, unplug all external devices, press and hold the power button for 30 seconds). Also, go into the Bios and load the optimized defaults with the F9 key.

thisidismine · Answer

I tried but the problem still occurs. Could this be due to a faulty/damaged motherboard or do you think it's a driver issue?

Alienware - Rodrigo · Answer

Hi,

To rule out the possibility of this being a software issue, you could try restoring your system to factory settings using Alien Respawn. Click here to view a Dell article for more information about using Alien Respawn.

thisidismine · Answer

I have already clean installed Windows 10. Did you mean go back to Windows 8.1?

Alienware - Rodrigo · Answer

Hi, Try running an ePSA/Diagnostics test on the system. Let us know if any errors come up.

thisidismine · Answer

Hi. No errors came up on ePSA. However, Now I have clean installed Win 8 and the issue is still there. It seems that there might be something wrong with the motherboard. Have other Alienware 15 users reported similar issues?

Creedclan · Answer

Hi there,

I have an Alienware 15 and have experienced the exact same issue. Additionally in my case I cannot see my D drive (1 TB hdd). I had the laptop set to sleep when shutting the lid. Now the laptop will not shut down normally. The fan runs and it will stay like that until the battery drains or until it is shutdown by pressing the power button. Have upgraded the firmware to A05 also.

Did you manage to fix the issue? Is anyone else experiencing the same?

thisidismine · Answer

Hi,

No I haven't. I have clean installed Windows 8.1 and tried with with various versions of Dell supported drivers but the issue remains. Dell support was claiming earlier that its a Windows 10 issue. When I told them that I have this issue even after downgrading to Win 8.1 with a clean install they did not reply.

Have you tried deleting any accelerated volumes you have on Intel Rapid Storage Technology?

That could help with your HDD issue. Also, try running ePSA diagnostics. Press F12 repeatedly on startup and select diagnostics. See if your HDD appears on the list of devices on the left.

Also, is your issue as unpredictable as mine? My laptop shuts down normally and sometimes it doesn't. That's why it's so frustrating. I have tried isolating the cause but I am still not able to. Btw, have you ever had the screen attached with my original post appear on shutdown. That screen also appears whenever I use ePSA diagnostics(right after I exit diagnostics). Please confirm if yours does too. If so, both of us have the same manufacturing defect and Dell should replace our systems if its a Mobo fault.

yojoshma777 · Answer

Hi there,

I have an Alienware 15 and have been experiencing the exact same issue for nearly five months now. When I put my laptop into sleep mode, and turn it back on, my D drive (1 Tb hdd) goes missing. Then, when I shutdown the system, the screen goes black, the alien fx lights remain on and the fan keeps on running. The only way I can actually turn it off, is to hold press and hold down the power button.

I was experiencing the same issue before I upgraded to windows 10.

I have to let the computer cool down for at least half an hour before switching back on to see my D drive reappear.

I bought this computer in early January and am really confused as to why this problem keeps on occurring.

Is there any way to fix this issue? Need help please

wgolden30 · Answer

Sometimes my 2015 Alienware 15' does not completely power down when I click shut down in Windows.  It has Windows 10 and I have looked up general support articles and have tried a number of solutions.  Anyone have a fix?

wgolden30 · Answer

i am about ready just to can this laptop. not dealing with this ***, waste of my money and time.  reporting alienware.

Creedclan · Answer

No definite fix. I was having major trouble - it wouldn't shut down using the menu options and the HDD was not appearing. I got the HDD replaced. It then shut down normally for a month or so. Occasionally now I do still have to manually shut down (using the Power button) but not as frequently as I once had to.

Some people have tried to turn off 'fast startup' under the Power Options -> System Settings in the Control Panel?

windserpent · Answer

I am having the same problem where my laptop is failing to shut down when selecting "Shut down". Windows will complete its shutdown process, but the power remains on on the laptop. I have let it sit over night as an experiment once to see if it would power down and it did not. I have upgraded the BIOS to version A06, but the issue remains.

Dell, I would really like to see a fix for this issue. I have also run the same steps as outlined above, with no errors reported.

Edit: I found after some research that the Intel Management Engine software is actually causing the issue. I uninstalled the software from my computer and the shutdown issue disappeared. I am currently leaving that software uninstalled for the time being. It appears to be an issue with IME versions 10 and above. And, yes, I was running the most recent version of Intel Management Engine for my laptop available on the Dell website (Version 10.0.30.1072, A00).

windserpent · Answer

I have also had the D: drive (Toshiba 1 TB platter drive) disappearing issue on my laptop as well. I have had to reseat the hard drive cable twice so far when this has occurred. I have also noticed that the boot time is significantly increased when this happens. The BIOS recognizes the hard drive, but Windows does not. It reports this in the Event Viewer:

Log Name: System
Source: iaStorA
Date: 5/6/2016 11:27:13 PM
Event ID: 129
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Alien-Wind
Description:
Reset to device, \Device\RaidPort0, was issued.
Event Xml:
schemas.microsoft.com/.../event">

129
3
0
0x80000000000000

11533
System
Alien-Wind

\Device\RaidPort0
0F001800010000000000000081000480010000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000810004800000000000000000

Followed by:

Log Name: System
Source: disk
Date: 5/6/2016 11:27:55 PM
Event ID: 157
Task Category: None
Level: Warning
Keywords: Classic
User: N/A
Computer: Alien-Wind
Description:
Disk 0 has been surprise removed.
Event Xml:
schemas.microsoft.com/.../event">

157
3
0
0x80000000000000

11534
System
Alien-Wind

\Device\Harddisk0\DR0
0
0000000002003000000000009D000480000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

nednarb321 · Answer

I know this is an old thread, but I'm having the same problem with my Alienware 13.  99% of the time I shut it down, it doesn't shut down at all.  The screen goes black and it looks like it's shut down, but after hours of waiting the AlienFX lights stay on and the fans can be heard running.  Every morning my laptop battery is dead.  I uninstalled Intel Management Engine, but it did not help.

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Alienware 15(Early 2015) does not shutdown fully sometimes,

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