Alienware Bios Boot

[Giordano Thibault]

OkI know that there is -boot-ubuntu-14-04-and-windows-7-on-fakeraid-installation-error-question-m#new-answer?newreg=f2b8bde40c8947f8ac8e3cedec0d1964 and that that post has some answers for me, but I don't know if it exactly matches what I need help with. I am running on a RAID 0, not sure if it's a Fake RAID or not.

Just to start I am running an Alienware (Dell) M17xR3. It came with Windows 7. Have a RAID 0 array, I think it's a "Fake" RAID, but I know I also have a hardware RAID controller. Previously partitioned and had Ubuntu 13.04 installed, had no issue installing it, creating the partition and installing GRUB. I have since upgraded to Windows 8.1 Pro, lost GRUB during the installation, but from the HDD partition size of Windows, I knew my Linux partition was still there. Should have just reinstalled GRUB, but instead tried reformatting the Linux partition and doing a clean install of Ubuntu 14.04 x64 and also tried Mint 16 x64 Cinnamon. Exact same installer, and exact same error message, happened after the custom partition section, got just ??????. I don't know if Windows 8 created an EFI/UEFI install, but I'm pretty sure Windows 7 didn't have it.

Secure boot, dell tpm, alienware bios, intel optane and windows boot manager just start stepping on each others toes. Sometimes they accept the changes to dis, boot one time, but then, not allow them to boot ever again. All sorts of weird stuff.

I dont have the answer for you, other than, start with windows, dont RAID, and consider using two disks, no secure boot, UEFI, There is also an option to Raid, or not in bios.... almost to many variables to keep track of. I settled on using WSL2 with GWSL for my Alienware R7, it works great when you work out the kinks. But its to much work to have to recovery from disk based problems.

If you want to dual-boot, you probably need to create two software raid partitions on each disk (one using Windows software raid, one using Linux) and then create logical volumes as needed within those.

The above information isn't very helpful in figuring out the issue. So to be frank, I just skimmed it. And most of it isn't really relevant to the issue at hand to be honest. Ill tell you what I have learned doing this for years, and just cover the biggest things people miss. Its actually very complex to get it to work like you want, and even I struggle to keep it stably dual booting.

You essentially need to make something else grab control of the BIOS before the 'Windows Boot Manager' does. This can be quite difficult. The Windows Boot Manager is designed to make sure most peoples computers (average Joe) always boot into Windows, so it acts a bit like a worm. Well need another EFI boot partition, and to set that as higher priority in BIOS. That boot partition is probably though not necessarily separate from the /boot/ ('partition') in Linux.

You must do this because otherwise the partition will be marked 'dirty' and you cant open other partitions on the drive except the dirty one. You can dump the 'dirty' bit and ignore it, but Ill leave that out as well.

Which is typical Microsoft fashion 'Why make something simple when youcan make it much much more complicated. There is a GUI way to do itbut its also absurdly hard to find. Power Options-> AdvancedSettings-> Choose what the power buttons do -> and somewhere there. Ican actually never find it, it depends on how you get to it, e.g. fromthe start menu it doesn't show.

As for the mess of the partitions above, I cant comment because I have a real mess of partitions on my drive. But you need 3 for Windows (boot, recovery, and OS) and then at least 2 for linux (and possibly many more) You need a small boot partition for Linux/Boot Manager that will let you step into Linux.

Secure boot can be a big pain. Not all linux distros are properly setup to be considered "secure". Even when they are they wont always work. Try disabling this in BIOS and it might boot right away, but then Windows usually wont boot.

Sometimes I swear the BIOS'es treat Secure Boot as a Alias for "Windows". In Windows 10 you can sometimes boot into it with Secure Boot disabled in BIOS, but often not. So what ends up happening is that with Secure Boot disabled, the computer boots linux because its the only option, and with it enabled it boots windows. There are ways to set up the Linux distro to be "secure" - and also the "boot manager" but its complicated and outside the scope.

This is especially an issue in more recent versions of Win 10 and definitely Windows 11. Where it REQUIRES Secure Boot to be enabled, and the bit that makes it "Secure" is that ONLY windows can boot, nothing else that might have nefarious, or even desired effects. Like a boot manager.

You can also have another option by creating boot partition on a thumb drive, and set the boot priority to the USB over disk. Then have that partition book the Linux partition. So then its like a physical switch, if its in, it'll boot from the USB, which will point it to the initramfs on disk to load.

Or put it on an old machine and remote into it. Thats generally what I do these days, I have VMs running on a server, or RasPi and just SSH or VNC (or even RPC) into them. Those have their own set of instructions but are probably much lower friction.

Intel analysis has determined a confirmed contributing factor to the instability reports on Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen (K/KF/KS) desktop processors is elevated voltage input to the processor due to previous BIOS settings which allow the processor to operate at turbo frequencies and voltages even while the processor is at a high temperature.

However, in investigating this instability issue Intel did discover a bug in the Enhanced Thermal Velocity Boost (eTVB) algorithm which can impact operating conditions for Intel Core 13th and 14th Gen (K/KF/KS) desktop processors. We have developed a patch for the eTVB bug and are working with our OEM/ODM motherboard partners to roll out the patch as part of BIOS updates ahead of July 19th, 2024. While this eTVB bug is potentially contributing to instability, it is not the root cause of the instability issue.

And to be clear, users looking to overclock or utilize higher power delivery settings than recommended can still do so at their own risk as overclocking may void warranty or affect system health (you can learn more at www.intel.com/overclocking).

Motherboard manufacturers have issued a BIOS update that includes an Intel Default Settings (IDS) option. This will automatically apply the Intel settings for your particular CPU if you select it. In many cases there is encouragement to apply the IDS settings by default.

Hello, please could you clarify if ASUS are included in these manufacturers? There was a BIOS update yesterday but I assumed it was for the Intel firmware flaw that has exposed all the 'Lake' processors to Stack Overflow (something i'm repeatedly getting in my Safe boot even after the update). I hadn't seen this message but assumed it would be something like this.

Optimised defaults just loaded back to the usual AQSUS onesd and I had to go through and retune everything, but i don't remember seeing a setting for it.

Also i get the kernel loop if i use the settings provided. I haven't tested every level but it works if I use 200 short, 100 long, sync all cores to 57, and all e-cores to 43. Thanks for your help, i'm sure it must be a nightmare having to lean on some of these suppliers.

Edit 2: Well... the answer is a big fat no. They did make a slight change to the wording on the boosts though (see pic). In some ways it reminds me of a spoilt child, but I think they were just trying to one-up you on the confusing messages.

Guys, i'm sure you're doing your best to lean on them, and whilst poorly communicated, I'm pleased you put the K_BSOD loops in, because otherwise it would only have been a matter of time before one caught fire, killed someone, and your execs would have been hauled into the dock. But there are plenty of cost free, extra steps you can do to communicate this, without having to publicly state that you just didn't test it enough.

JayZeTwocents is already blaming ASUS for it, ask him to do a more detailed video than what he's done before.

OR, you could post on this very forum, the exact BIOS settings for each board. Its not your board, but it would show some effort to help those who don't know their way around bios, before kids start switching their VM or Microcode prior to getting randomwared. Also I think one of your processors is missing from this:

For those reading with an ASUS Z790 who haven't managed to get theirs working, I would recommed hiring a professional, but here are the steps I take to run mine. I'm supposed to have finished my NVIDEA LLM certification by now, but instead i've spent two weeks in BIOS, so whilst it can be tuned up a little more, I prefer to aire on the safe side.

Also there is a workaround to effectively get it back to 'near XTU levels', performance-wise, but I don't use it.

In BIOS, load defaults, make sure AI Optimization is turned off on the EZ screen:

Press F7

Choose XMP 1 , XMP 2, or don't OC it

ASUS Multicore Enhancement - DISABLE Enforce All Limits

SVID Behaviour - Intels Fail Safe

Performance core Ratio - Sync all cores

ALL-Core Ratio Limit - 57

The only game this has issues with that i've tested it on is Cyberpunk, it crashes when the boost times out i think. For AI use its run some pretty heavy models with no problem, although most of the time thats going through the 4090. For me personally, its running about 5-10% slower on 3D mark than when I switch to my board with another manufacturer, which sounds a lot but its still more than enough to play games.

yeah, Alienware and Intel i9 chips are a disaster. After this experience, I will no longer buy Dell or Intel. Customer support is non-existent. Especially when you spend thousands of dollars for the best of the best and end up with the worst of the worst.

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