BIOS
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BIOS update for Alienware M15x laptops turning them into bug-eyed bricks?
We've received a slew of tips this morning that Dell's latest BIOS update for the Alienware M15x laptop is causing some pretty ugly issues. According to reports this is a different sort of update, run from an application rather than installed separately, and after the first reboot the machine gets to the POST screen then... nothing. Multiple users are complaining of this issue and one claims that Dell is shipping him a new motherboard to fix it. We're still waiting to hear back from Dell to confirm this either way (hello weekend!), and until then we'd advise sticking with your existing version. In the mean time you can feel free to ponder just what the heck is going on at Dell's QA department. 1/11/2010 Update: We got a response from John Blain at Dell, who has indicated that the team there is "fully aware" of the issue and is making this a "top priority." 1/14/2010 Update: John dropped us another note yesterday to let us know that Dell has confirmed the issue, pulling the offending firmware update and apologizing for any inconvenience. It's unclear right now what the resolution will be for those early flashers, but we're guessing free round-trip ticket to Texas is probably in the cards -- for their laptops, anyway. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Gigabyte fixes iPhone sync issue with BIOS update
The Intel P55 Express chipset snafu that caused iPhones to lose their syncing minds has now been remedied -- at least by one motherboard maker. Gigabyte has issued a BIOS update making things all hunky-dory between the phone and the mobo, putting your troubles to an end. The P55 is Intel's latest midrange chipset and orchestrates things for newer Core i5 / i7 machines. The other two P55 purveyors, ASUS and MSI, were also caught by the bug, and there are anecdotal reports of success with an ASUS BIOS update, but not official fixes as of yet. Given the competitive nature of this market, though, we'd be surprised if those two companies didn't quickly follow suit. All's well that ends well, right?
Lenovo goes crazy, lets you switch Fn and Ctrl keys in BIOS
Some people, including certain Engadget editors, just can't live without a Ctrl key in the bottom left of their keyboard and a Delete key in the top right. Call it Windows shortcut addiction, but the miniscule adjustment of having to step one key inwards to do our thing totally messes with our mojo. Well, after slapping on some massive Delete and Esc buttons on its T400s, Lenovo is now taking care of the Ctrl freaks by offering up a BIOS option to switch that all-important key with the Fn button. Regrettably, current Lenovo owners won't be getting it as an update, but the Switch Mode will be available "in all future ThinkPad models," giving us yet more reason to be excited about that rumored X200e machine.
New official Jaina and Sylvanas character bios
Blizzard continues to leak out the official information about Icecrown (the raid, as you know, coming in patch 3.3), this time updating their Under Development site with official bios for Jaina Proudmoore and Sylvanas Windrunner, two ladies (one living, one not-so-much) that will likely have a large role in the fight against Arthas Menethil, better known as The Lich King.Sylvanas, you'll remember, featured in the Lament of the Highborne video early on in BC, where the story of her death and resurrection at Arthas' hands made it clear she's got unfinished business with the onetime-paladin turned Lord of the Scourge. And Jaina... well, Jaina's had a front row seat to Arthas' undoing -- they were childhood friends who looked like they were headed towards being more than friends, until Arthas found a big bad sword that turned him into a big baddie. It's going to be awesome seeing all of these storylines start meeting up together in The Frozen Halls and the raid beyond -- we can't wait.
Video: Phoenix Instant Boot BIOS starts loading Windows in under a second
Phoenix is showing off a few interesting things at IDF, but the real standout is their new Instant Boot BIOS, a highly optimized UEFI implementation that can start loading an OS in just under a second. Combined with Windows 7's optimized startup procedure, that means you're looking at incredibly short boot times -- we saw a retrofitted Dell Adamo hit the Windows desktop in 20 seconds, while a Lenovo T400s with a fast SSD got there in under 10. It's pretty slick stuff, and it should be out soon -- check a video after the break.
Intel issues X25-M G2 SSD firmware fix for BIOS password conundrum
Eagerly waiting to change that drive password within the system BIOS on your fancy new X25-M G2 solid state drive? Good news, storage junkies -- today you can. After Intel saw its next-gen SSD launch party hit a snag with an off-the-wall quirk that could cause data corruption for those who altered or disabled a drive password within the system BIOS, the company has finally come forward with a firmware update that solves the dilemma, along with world hunger, "the economy" and an undisclosed amount of other universal pains. Hit the read link for instructions on how to update your drive, but don't blame us if every precious memory you've ever collected goes down in flames during the process. Just kidding.[Via HotHardware]
BIOS password snag subdues Intel's 34nm X25-M G2 launch party
Man, Intel can't win for losin'. After it was forced to issue a firmware update to remedy an off-the-wall slowdown issue that affected a few of its original X25-M SSDs, the outfit is already having to push out a patch to solve a minor quirk with its newfangled 34nm X25-M G2 drives. According to Puget System's William George, his company -- along with NewEgg and a number of other respected vendors -- was forced to yank the new drive from its website shortly after it became available. Turns out, there is a defect in the initial shipment that could cause data corruption if "a password is set on the drive in the system BIOS, and then changed or disabled later." We're told that a firmware fix should be out within a fortnight, and while most companies are allowing folks to hold off and wait for factory-patched drives, those who don't foresee themselves placing such a password on their SSD can go ahead and enjoy the spoils of 34nm flash goodness while waiting for Intel's engineers to do their thang. Oh, and if you're thinking about buying in now, you should probably know that Intel has halted shipments until the fix is complete. Ready to deal with a shortage, are you?[Image courtesy of HotHardware, thanks Joseph]
AMD's triple-core Phenom II X3 goes quad-core via BIOS hack
Here's a little known secret for you to chew on: that triple-core AMD Phenom II X3 you purchased actually has four cores. The last one's just locked down for pricing purposes. A Korean site has disclosed information that enables owners of select motherboards to unlock that fourth core, and apparently, all you need is a Biostar mobo and / or a BIOS that has an option labeled Advanced Clock Calibration. When said selection is flipped to "Auto," the fourth core is loosed from its shackles and able to ever-so-slightly up your frame rates and overall level of excitement. Of course, you're taking a big risk by running a chip in a fashion it was never intended, but what fun is life without a little edge-side living?[Via Slashgear]
ASRock's Instant Boot: 0 to Vista in 4 seconds
ASRock has a ploy to sell more of its motherboards: Instant Boot. The BIOS update for select MoBos promises to boot XP or Vista systems 10 times faster than standard PCs -- in other words, about 3 to 4 seconds from a full shutdown. ASRock achieves this minor of miracles through manipulation of the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface that Microsoft manipulates for its sleep and hibernate modes. At the risk of oversimplification, ASRock appears to add the processing baggage to the backend of the shutdown process, essentially rebooting the OS and then dropping it into a suspended state ready to instantly pop on the next time you hit the power button. Pretty smart actually. Here's the catch: the system you're using must be limited to a single user account without any password protection -- a definite no-no for corporate environments. See what happens when Hugo and George steal Dad's camcorder after the break.[Thanks, Daniel]
MSI Wind v1.09 BIOS update makes overclocking easy
We've long since known that MSI was a fan of overclocking. After all, just about every last one of its gaming notebooks come with one-button OC'ing courtesy of the Turbo Drive Engine technology. Now, it seems that the company is giving the spoils once reserved for the Crysis crowd to those with netbooks, or more specifically, the Wind. The freshly released (and absolutely official) v1.09 BIOS update enables simple overclocking by mashing Fn+F10, giving users the ability to push things 8%, 15% or 24% beyond their normally specified limits. Electric Feel over at ElectricVagabond has found that the update provides up to a 30% boost in performance, which he claims is quite noticeable in processor-intensive apps like Photoshop. You know you're dying to give your Wind a little lift, so hit the via below for the step-by-step of getting this installed.
Updated Intel SCH specifications reveal support for 2GB of RAM
Ready to inhale some serious Intel technobabble? Here goes. As it stands, MIDs and UMPCs that utilize Windows operating systems are pretty much restricted to using Vista due to their incongruence with the "low-cost" requirement for still using XP. On top of that, Intel's chipset used in these critters (you know, with those Silverthorne Atom CPUs) only supports 1GB of RAM. We don't need to explain how underwhelming performance can be when mixing Vista with just 1GB of RAM. Now, however, a new PDF from Intel details updated System Controller Hub (SCH) specifications that include support for up to 2GB of RAM. What isn't clear is whether current systems can be updated via a BIOS update, but we'll be keeping an ear to the ground in hopes of hearing "yes."[Thanks, Itto]
Some Alienware M15x users still reporting problems after BIOS update
Well, it looks like that recently released BIOS update may not have been the cure-all solution that many Alienware M15x users were hoping for, with at least some of 'em now reporting that the update did nothing to fix the so-called "downclocking" problems that many were experiencing. Adding further confusion to the situation is that many users, as evidenced by the discussion on the Notebook Review forums, initially seemed to think that the update had fixed the downclocking problem, only to discover that it had reappeared a week or so later. For its part, Alienware is apparently aware of the ongoing problems and one rep from the company has even chimed with offers of help in on the forums, although there's no indication as to when the problem might be fixed once and for all.
Phoenix Technologies launches HyperSpace "instant on" embedded OS
It appears that DeviceVM won't be able to sit around and gloat over its "instant on" SplashTop Linux OS that's being integrated into ASUS motherboards, as they've got some competition on the horizon. A company called Phoenix Technologies is introducing a new mini-OS called HyperSpace (what's with all these compound names?) that features a four second boot time. Using a form of virtualization which sets aside memory and disk space for the small boot, the ROM-based environment lets you access Firefox, launch a DVD movie, or fire up other apps while your system loads Vista or XP in the background. Apparently, the BIOS-embedded platform will also allow manufacturers and developers to embed their own, customized applications, thus extending the range of uses for the system. Soon, you won't have to wait even a tenth of a minute to check your Facebook inbox.[Via Good Morning Silicon Valley]
Boot Camp can run Vista, too
Some might say that using Boot Camp to run Windows XP on a Mac is so last week. Some enterprising hackers at the OSx86 Project seem to agree, as they have successfully gotten a preview version of Vista - Microsoft's upcoming Windows upgrade originally slated for 2003 - to run on an Intel iMac. Apparently there's some odd install hiccups to tinker with, as Engadget notes, so it sounds like this might not exactly be for the for the faint of heart Boot Camp Mac user.Nevertheless, if you are the lucky owner of an Intel Mac and have either a desire or a need to play with Windows Vista, check out this OSx86 Project thread.
Welcome, one and all, to PS3 Fanboy!
Whether you're here because you saw the related post on Joystiq Central or because a link was flashed elsewhere online, we wish to warmly welcome you to PS3 Fanboy, the site that loves Sony's next console with all its heart (even if it ends up with that batarang prototype as a controller).For a few more details on the wild 'n' crazy guys responsible for bringing this site to you, check out our unofficial welcome post with its shameless bios and boastful claims.We couldn't be happier to join the Joystiq family of fanboy blogs (especially our dearest brother Gizmondo Fanboy), and we certainly hope you enjoy your stay here. Just six weeks till the E3 overload... are you all ready yet?
