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14 Posts
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324409
June 9th, 2012 19:00
Alienware X51 Freezing
I've looked around these forums and have found various solutions for what seems like a common problem, but I'm still having trouble. Every now and then my computer freezes to the point where I can't move the mouse, launch the task manager, or do anything, frankly, except hard shutdown the computer out of frustration. Solutions I've tried:
1) Opened the case and made sure there weren't any wires in front of the GPU fan. There weren't.
2) Installed the latest NVIDIA drivers from Dell. Didn't fix the issue.
3) Called Dell Customer Support. Guy ran a benchmark and said the issue was beyond their scope, I'd have to contact "gaming support," which I'd have to pay for, and hung up.
4) Occasionally I will get a blue screen shutdown mentioning something about my boot disk needed to be reseated, but this is rare and I can't seem to get that to repeat itself on a whim. More likely, the computer just locks up at the desktop or mid-game and I'm forced to hit the power button.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
mav711
245 Posts
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June 9th, 2012 20:00
have you checked the windows system logs for any hardware related errors? right click the my computer icon.. and select Manage. Now pick Event Viewer and look for either Critical or Error entries. Do any of them mention hardware or hard drive related failures? If so then you can call support back and show them you have HW issue proof. then they must schedule a tech to come out and service your system.
It's just a theory but if you are intermittently losing connection to your HDD that could lead to a lockup... hope this helps.
atdonovan
14 Posts
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June 9th, 2012 22:00
mav711
Thank you for your advice. I'm not seeing anything in harware. A few system ones in error and a lot of application ones. Critical errors are all the times I had to do a hard shutdown because of the freeze, but no hardware specific issues listed. I called tech support again (and i'm not usually one to complain, but these guys have been very rude all day) and they insist it is a "gaming issue" and that I need to get some fee-based tech support. I know I've seen this problem addressed on these forums, so I'm not sure I trust that it's a "gaming issue" because it happens on the desktop sometimes.
Thank you again, however, for pointing out this management diagnostic.
mav711
245 Posts
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June 10th, 2012 00:00
Next time you get the hard disk boot drive error write it down if possible. Then send that wording to them to show that your system is showing hardware related errorsor post it here. You can also PM Chris who is the dell liaison on the forums here. He may ask for your service tag. How long have had your X51 and what CPU and GPU do you have. Also what bios version A02 or A03?
solrac135
2 Intern
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182 Posts
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June 10th, 2012 05:00
@atdonovan
Hello
Installing the Nvidia driver from Dell website is no a good idea unless they have fix it>>>> the only driver who has stop the BSD on the x51 is the one here below
www.nvidia.com/.../win7-winvista-64bit-301.24-beta-driver.html
Good Luck & Best Regards
solrac135
2 Intern
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182 Posts
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June 10th, 2012 11:00
@atdonovan
Use this it will tell you, who is the cupid for your BSD!
WhoCrashed (It tell you who is responsible of your BSD it reads your Dump files) www.resplendence.com/.../whocrashedSetup.exe
atdonovan
14 Posts
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June 10th, 2012 11:00
I've had it for about four months. I'm running A03. I'll try to write it down next time if I can replicate the error. Thank you for the advice.
atdonovan
14 Posts
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June 10th, 2012 18:00
Thanks all, after a lot of trial and error, I've determined that it was an overheating issue. My power supply wasn't getting enough ventilation. Haven't had a crash since I moved it. Anyway, thanks for all your help!
mav711
245 Posts
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June 10th, 2012 21:00
that's excellent news and a good tip for people to make sure their external PSU is well ventilated.
Deacon6668
7 Posts
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June 11th, 2012 19:00
I`ve installed A03 and the beta drivers suggested above and have found that I no longer get BSOD errors which is great! My system does continue to freeze at least once a day however, forcing me to restart the system.
Has anyone encountered this as well and if so what did you do to correct it?
Thanks.
solrac135
2 Intern
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182 Posts
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June 11th, 2012 21:00
@Deacon6668
If your system is under 21 days, ask for a replenishment and you will be able to keep that one while they send you a new one
solrac135
2 Intern
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182 Posts
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June 11th, 2012 21:00
@Deacon6668
We have one report from user, saying that ones hi put his PSU in a ventilated area his freezing issue stopped!
Try to move your power brick to an other place and report back
thanks
solrac135
2 Intern
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182 Posts
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June 11th, 2012 21:00
Posted by atdonovan on Mon, Jun 11 2012 8:24 AM
Thanks all, after a lot of trial and error, I've determined that it was an overheating issue. My power supply wasn't getting enough ventilation. Haven't had a crash since I moved it. Anyway, thanks for all your help!
Deacon6668
7 Posts
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June 11th, 2012 21:00
Thanks for the suggestion Solrac135. I have moved the brick to a place with more ventilation and will see if this helps at all.
With the user who had the issue, did the brick feel overly warm? I felt the brick before moving it and it seemed quite cool to me which I found surprising. Did the user have their brick in location that had no ventilation?
Deacon6668
7 Posts
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June 11th, 2012 22:00
Unfortunately I've had it for a few weeks now, and it really only freezes once a day. I know some people have reported specific issues with Firefox and freezing and as a result disabled "Hardware Acceleration" in the settings for Firefox. Alas it still seems to freeze up on me for seemingly no reason. We'll see if the ventilation change helps at all.
mav711
245 Posts
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June 12th, 2012 03:00
So there's nothing specific you can do that will trigger a freeze?