Inaccessible Boot Drive - Alienware

[KevinDale]

Hi all,

I cannot seem to find any help online for this Alienware startup issue.

Since a recent update, I have not been able start my Alienware PC. First there is a message saying ‘Sorry, we encountered a problem. We will restart.’

After the restart, I am given the option of pressing F1, F2, F12, etc, to tackle this – but all options ultimately lead to a screen showing the Alienware symbol with three options either side - ‘Main, Advanced, and OC’ to the left; ‘Security, Boot and Exit’ to the left.

Is the computer faulty or is there some way to adjust the settings in one of the six option boxes to restore normal service? Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Kevin

 

[Rob_B]

If you remove the storage does anything change?
F2 should be the BIOS key so if you go straight to that do you not get i to the BIOS?

 

[KevinDale]

Hi Rob,

Thanks for your reply.

Could you perhaps explain what you mean by storage? What I have is a large computer and separate monitor. Are you saying I should disconnect something which is attached to the main unit?

Whichever F key I press takes me to a black screen with the Alienware logo at the centre and three boxes on each side of it - the first 3 marked 'Main' 'Advanced' and 'OC'. The 3 on the right marked 'Security' 'Boot' and 'Exit'. Is this page the BIOS?

Sorry to be so ignorant of this. Usually I can find a Youtube vid or some other explanation that walks you through the process of resetting. But I can find nothing at all online.

Perhaps if you could explain the terms 'storage' and BIOS I could advance this?

Thanks again for your input.

Kevin

 

[Tetras]

Since a recent update, I have not been able start my Alienware PC. First there is a message saying ‘Sorry, we encountered a problem. We will restart.’

Microsoft have done several bad updates that have broken installs recently, it is possible that's your problem, though I'm not sure what advice they give to fix it.

 

[Rob_B]

Storage is your harddrive or SSD.
I'm not familiar with Alienware so couldn't say what that screen is, I would assume its the BIOS, can you upload a screenshot? If you select an option you should get more info, for example it'll tell you about your CPU, RAM, storage, if you can find a storage option it'll tell you if it can see a drive or not which is somewhere to start.
As mentioned some recent MS updates have really messed up Windows installs so it could be that, but you can't be sure just yet.
What model machine do you have? Do you know the specs? If you're not technically confident I'm assuming you might not be ok opening it up?

 

[KevinDale]

Thanks Rob and Tetras.

The computer is Alienware Area-51 R5.

When I start up, a message reads... Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart. We'll restart for you.

Then a window which reads... Flash update failed to initialize. System will reset.

I click 'OK'. The computer shuts down and restarts.

On restart, the black screen says... 'CPU or Memory changed! Please enter setup to configure your system. Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run setup, F9 enter PSA.'

F9 takes me to 'Pre-boot System Assessment' which runs memory tests for about 7 hours and finds no problem. F2 takes me to what is perhaps the BIOS screen with 6 menu options...

Main. Advanced. OC. Security. Boot. Exit. I have looked at each but cannot recognise an option that tallies with online advice

It's very unusual not to find a step by step solution online, but all the advice/vids I find seem to treat it as a Windows problem. It's as if I'm the only person who owns this model!

 

[Rob_B]

What were you doing before it started to do this? Was it a windows update you did?

Try a CMOS reset - https://www.dell.com/support/manual...3d3ab9-33fc-484d-9f4a-f05d5d088935&lang=en-us
This will reset your BIOS so if it works it may have changed things like RAM speed etc but you can always fix those after.

 

[Tetras]

Then a window which reads... Flash update failed to initialize. System will reset.

I click 'OK'. The computer shuts down and restarts.

Flash update? What kind of update you were referring to exactly? A flash update usually refers to firmware (rarely updated and present on hardware, not software like Windows) and most commonly refers to the motherboard BIOS.

Windows updates do have the capacity to flash the BIOS, but this is rarely done and almost never on consumer PCs. However, yours is a major OEM, so I suppose that's possible.

On restart, the black screen says... 'CPU or Memory changed! Please enter setup to configure your system. Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run setup, F9 enter PSA.'

That is suggestive that a BIOS update has been done or attempted, or maybe that your PC's CMOS battery is flat.

Did you sign in with Windows Hello? (A pin)

When I start up, a message reads... Your device ran into a problem and needs to restart. We'll restart for you.

This does sound suspiciously like one of the Windows boot loops that Microsoft have helpfully delivered over the last few updates.

 

[KevinDale]

Flash update? What kind of update you were referring to exactly? A flash update usually refers to firmware (rarely updated and present on hardware, not software like Windows) and most commonly refers to the motherboard BIOS.

Windows updates do have the capacity to flash the BIOS, but this is rarely done and almost never on consumer PCs. However, yours is a major OEM, so I suppose that's possible.


That is suggestive that a BIOS update has been done or attempted, or maybe that your PC's CMOS battery is flat.

Did you sign in with Windows Hello? (A pin)


This does sound suspiciously like one of the Windows boot loops that Microsoft have helpfully delivered over the last few updates.

Thanks for that, Tetras.

As for the Flash update, I can only think of Adobe Flash. Possibly this is one of the things Windows tried to update? And caused a problem? You seem to be referring to something else.

I'm intrigued by your mention of a possible flat CMOS battery (which I had to look up, of course). Could that cause this issue? The computer is six years old - would that be long enough to flatten the battery? All I can say on that is the time and date are still correct on what seems to be the BIOS menu.

I usually sign in with Microsoft password, but obviously don't get to that point due to this particular problem.

Looks like I'll have to take this up with Microsoft tomorrow.

Really appreciate you taking the time on this. Have a nice evening.

Kevin

 

[KevinDale]

What were you doing before it started to do this? Was it a windows update you did?

Try a CMOS reset - https://www.dell.com/support/manual...3d3ab9-33fc-484d-9f4a-f05d5d088935&lang=en-us
This will reset your BIOS so if it works it may have changed things like RAM speed etc but you can always fix those after.

Sorry, Rob, I missed this one.

Yes, that's correct - I clicked 'update and shutdown', then when I came to boot up again, this issue started.

Thanks very much the tip and link for CMOS reset, an issue Tetras raised too. I'll give that a go now and see if it helps.

Thanks a bunch for your time.

Kevin

 

[Tetras]

As for the Flash update, I can only think of Adobe Flash. Possibly this is one of the things Windows tried to update? And caused a problem? You seem to be referring to something else.

Hmm, unlikely. I would only expect to see that once you're actually in Windows and it shouldn't cause any harm to the operating system.

A BIOS flash screen I'd expect to be black, with white text and few (if any) graphics. It would appear prior to any Windows messages, which (errors) are on a blue screen with white text.

I'm intrigued by your mention of a possible flat CMOS battery (which I had to look up, of course). Could that cause this issue? The computer is six years old - would that be long enough to flatten the battery? All I can say on that is the time and date are still correct on what seems to be the BIOS menu.

It could be responsible for the PC forgetting the CPU/memory, but if the time and date are correct then that's much less likely.

The reason I mentioned the flash update together with the "new CPU/memory" is because that's typical of what happens when a BIOS is reset due to a flash update.

6 years is long enough to flatten the battery, yes. It usually happens somewhere between 3 and 8, but depends on the battery, how often the PC is unplugged, how long the battery was in storage, the case/ambient temperatures, etc.

I usually sign in with Microsoft password, but obviously don't get to that point due to this particular problem.

Ah, alright. The reason I asked is because a BIOS reset can also reset the TPM and that can prevent logging in if the TPM/secure boot were enabled in the BIOS. Since your PC is 6 years old, perhaps not.

Looks like I'll have to take this up with Microsoft tomorrow.

If you google: "KB5077181 boot loop", I think that's one example, but there were other updates that caused the same kind of issues. It doesn't affect everybody every time.

 

[jigger]

Look in Main-Advanced and then find boot options. With any luck all of your drives will show up there, then set your main drive as priority (highlight drive and use page up/down to change priority) save and exit and see if that resolves the problem.

 

[KevinDale]

Hmm, unlikely. I would only expect to see that once you're actually in Windows and it shouldn't cause any harm to the operating system.

A BIOS flash screen I'd expect to be black, with white text and few (if any) graphics. It would appear prior to any Windows messages, which (errors) are on a blue screen with white text.


It could be responsible for the PC forgetting the CPU/memory, but if the time and date are correct then that's much less likely.

The reason I mentioned the flash update together with the "new CPU/memory" is because that's typical of what happens when a BIOS is reset due to a flash update.

6 years is long enough to flatten the battery, yes. It usually happens somewhere between 3 and 8, but depends on the battery, how often the PC is unplugged, how long the battery was in storage, the case/ambient temperatures, etc.


Ah, alright. The reason I asked is because a BIOS reset can also reset the TPM and that can prevent logging in if the TPM/secure boot were enabled in the BIOS. Since your PC is 6 years old, perhaps not.


If you google: "KB5077181 boot loop", I think that's one example, but there were other updates that caused the same kind of issues. It doesn't affect everybody every time.

Thanks, Tetras.

You're correct that the BIOS initial message is just text on a black screen, reading... 'CPU or Memory changed! Please enter setup to configure your system. Strike the F1 key to continue, F2 to run setup, F9 enter PSA.'

In light of your comments and Rob's, I should certainly check the CMOS battery issue.

 

[KevinDale]

Look in Main-Advanced and then find boot options. With any luck all of your drives will show up there, then set your main drive as priority (highlight drive and use page up/down to change priority) save and exit and see if that resolves the problem.

Thanks a lot, Jigger.

I'll return to the 'Main- Advanced' option and see if I can find the drives you refer to.

 

[Mcnumpty2323]

Yes alienware do apply bios flashes
From windows update
Some are even mandatory not optional
Unless your bios has a disable automatic bios updates option
You can turn it off if you want then

With a desktop pc you could just flash it back
To previous version
But not sure how to do it with alianware

 

[KevinDale]

Cheers, McNumpty. I'll certainly consider disabling automatic BIOS updates if they're going to condemn me to endless boot loops!

 

[Tart]

Just following up on the CMOS battery possibility. If the computer is still plugged into the power outlet the clock / time settings can stay current. If the battery is flat, instead of having to open up the case, take out the battery and either test it with a multimeter or just replace it, you can unplug the computer from the power cable / wall outlet. If the battery is flat the clock settings should go back to the default date / time pretty much immediately but you could also leave it unplugged overnight and check the next day.

Depending on where the CMOS battery is (this is likely a CR2032 model battery which you can look up to see what it looks like) on the motherboard sometimes it can be a faff to find where it is if it's covered by a peripheral / graphics card etc.

Also this might seem obvious and I'm aware that the PC is 6 years old but sometimes calling the manufacturer for advice can give you some pointers? Or maybe try /r/Alienware on reddit?

 

[KevinDale]

Thanks Tart, I'll follow that tip and see if disconnection takes clock settings back to default.

Already posted on reddit r/Alienware, but yes, contacting manufacturer a good thought, though I suspect they would refer me to Microsoft.

I appreciate your input.

 

[KevinDale]

In case anybody else has the same problem, the solution for me was a clean install of Windows:

Windows 11 Clean Installation

Step-by-step guide for a clean installation of Windows 11 to switch to an Insider channel or retail build with a lower build number.

www.microsoft.com

I found the live chats on the Microsoft site very helpful, so they would be able to guide you through any problems with the process.