Radeon RX 6900 XT incompatibility with new m15 R4 released a month ago

[wildonrio]

Hello! First of all, thank you so much for creating this. In anticipation of using your software, I bought a $4500 m15 R4 with specs maxed out and the best AMD card available. I was very sad to learn that it does not yet work with a 6900 XT, but I am hopeful you are willing to work with me until it does. I have 21 days left to take back this computer.

The main issue seems to be that the new m15's do NOT allow you to install the Graphics Amplifier software. "This installation package is not compatible with this computer" is the error message I get when trying to install the latest version (3.0.13.0). After calling Dell support, I found out that the latest laptops have the drivers for the AGA built in so they no longer allow you to install the software manually. This means that there is no way to have anything installed under C:\Program Files\Alienware\Graphics Amplifier\GraphicsAmplifier.exe. Instead, the driver files appear to be located under C:\Program Files\Alienware\Alienware Command Center. The relevant files appear to be:

AWCC.GraphicsAmplifier.AgentPlugin.dll GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.dll GraphicsAmplifierServiceController.exe

I tested with a 980 Ti and sure enough the AGA works just fine with that card, but does not recognize the 6900 XT. When I run OpenCaldera.exe, this is the error message I get:

Unhandled Exception: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'AlienLabs.GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.GraphicsAmplifierBIOSProvider' from assembly 'GraphicsAmplifier.Domain, Version=1.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bebb3c8816410241'. at OpenCaldera.Program.ReadAGABIOSProperties() at OpenCaldera.Program.Main(String[] args)

Given that your software appears to require the AGA software to be installed, and that that is impossible with the new laptops, my suspicion is that your software will not work with even the RTX 3000 cards.

Please let me know what I can do to help. I am happy to have a phone call if needed. Thanks again.

[Shidell]

You're correct—older Alienware models need to install the Graphics Amplifier (standalone) software, whilst newer models have support integrated into the Alienware Control Center, which you already have.

Did you test with 0.1.0.0 or 0.1.1.0? 0.1.1.0 should have support for the AWCC software as well as the stand-alone Graphics Amplifier install, and so I'd expect 0.1.1.0 to work on your system.

If the 980Ti is working properly, what happens when you have the 6900 XT inserted instead? Does it appear in the Device Manager? If so, does it have an error (and what is it?)

[wildonrio]

I tested 0.1.1.0. The 980 Ti appears in Device Manager but the 6900 XT does not.

On Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 11:44 PM Shidell notifications@github.com wrote:

You're correct—older Alienware models need to install the Graphics Amplifier (standalone) software, whilst newer models have support integrated into the Alienware Control Center, which you already have.

Did you test with 0.1.0.0 or 0.1.1.0? 0.1.1.0 should have support for the AWCC software as well as the stand-alone Graphics Amplifier install, and so I'd expect 0.1.1.0 to work on your system.

If the 980Ti is working properly, what happens when you have the 6900 XT inserted instead? Does it appear in the Device Manager? If so, does it have an error (and what is it?)

— You are receiving this because you authored the thread. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://github.com/Shidell/OpenCaldera/issues/6#issuecomment-785657942, or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AFARKQSZEYB3XPWQA6QOOB3TAXWTZANCNFSM4YF2FRCA .

[Shidell]

Do you have another system you can test the 6900 on to ensure it's working properly? Is there any firmware updates available for your M15 R4?

[wildonrio]

Yes I have another system I can test it in tomorrow. I also have all firmware updates on my R4. I will get back to you soon.

[wildonrio]

I’ve confirmed the card works on another system.

[Shidell]

It's strange that your 6900 XT doesn't show up in the Device Manager whatsoever—that's new behavior, as far as I'm aware. All GPUs, including models that aren't working (RTX 3000 series), at minimum show up in the Device Manager.

When you insert the 6900 XT into the AGA and connect it to your laptop, when you power it on, can you confirm that the card lights up and the fans spin briefly upon POST?

Further, are you sure you're connecting at least two 2x8 plugs for power?

Off the top of my head, I can think of the Red Devil (6900 XT), which has three 2x8 plugs, and it seems reasonable that it might fail to POST/boot with that card and the stock PSU, as the stock PSU only provides (at maximum) two 2x8 plugs.

Which card model do you have?

Can you use the PSU of the other machine you tested in and power the AGA with that temporarily to test with your 6900 XT?

For reference, I have a 6900 XT (XFX Merc 319) with two 2x8 plugs; the stock PSU could power it, but would whine—and increasing the power limit at all resulted in a crash. I've since upgraded to a Corsair CX650M.

[wildonrio]

The card lights up and the fans spin the whole time when I turn on the AGA. I am using both 2x8 plugs of power. It's a Gigabyte AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT 16GB and it's brand new.

I've ordered a Corsair CX650M that will be here Sunday. Then I'll install that and see if it fixes the problem. I might try your suggestion using my other computer's cables tomorrow if I have time and am anxious to know. If we can't get the 6900 XT to work, I also have an EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 ULTRA that I can use instead but it is just thicker and more power hungry than I prefer. Do you think the Corsair CX650M could also handle my 3090, if the 6900 XT won't work? It's 320 Watts.

[wildonrio]

I replaced my PSU with a CX650M, but the 6900 XT still does not show up in Device Manager. My 3090 does show up in Device Manager, but with Error Code 31. Both cards throw the same error when running OpenCaldera that I mentioned in the OP:

Unhandled Exception: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'AlienLabs.GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.GraphicsAmplifierBIOSProvider' from assembly 'GraphicsAmplifier.Domain, Version=1.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bebb3c8816410241'. at OpenCaldera.Program.ReadAGABIOSProperties() at OpenCaldera.Program.Main(String[] args)

[Shidell]

Have you updated to the latest firmware for the M15 R4?: https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/alienware-m15-r4-laptop/drivers

System firmware 1.1.0, and GeForce Firmware X00?

In addition to adding support for SAM, this might change how things are detected and how resources are initialized on the M4.

What's the version of your Program Files\Alienware\Alienware Command Center\GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.dll? Might is 1.6.0.0, dated 5/27/2020.

I'm curious if you might have a newer version of the AWCC software which might be incompatible with OpenCaldera.

[wildonrio]

All firmware up to date.

My GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.dll is also version 1.6.0.0; however it is dated 12/14/2020 not 5/27/2020.

My AWCC is version is 5.2.106.0.

[Shidell]

Can you package your GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.dll (zip) and host it somewhere? I can download it and see if I can discover anything different.

Does your model's firmware offer you any settings to selectively disable the iGPU or dGPU?

[wildonrio]

Here you go.

Can't I just disable my iGPU within Device Manager?

[Shidell]

Potentially—but, also, potentially not. Some models have a physical MUX switch, others have software options. Do you have a software option in your firmware settings?

[Shidell]

@wildonrio I inspected the GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.dll you provided, and don't see any appreciable difference between it and my own. If you're sure you tested with 0.1.1.0, then I don't have an explanation for the error you're encountering (but if you did use 0.1.0.0, it would make sense.)

Granted, this project is probing what's accessible to me outside the framework of Alienware/Dell, so incompatibilities are not unexpected, especially in a brand-new system.

If your Radeon 6900 XT will not show up in the Device Manager at all, I'm at a loss as far as advice goes—Alienware has committed to supporting the 3070 (officially), which I expect to mean the 3090 will be supported, too (unofficially, as the stock PSU can't provide enough power), but that's just speculation.

If you are dependent on this build supporting the 6900 XT and/or 3090, I would advise you to return the Alienware and consider alternative options. We (Alienware customers) have no idea when 3070 support is coming, if it'll include support for other RTX 3000 GPUs (I think it will, but still) and I don't have an explanation for why your 6900 XT isn't recognized.

If you have friends or family with another RX 6000 GPU that you can borrow to try, that would be a good test—but short of that (or discovering that a MUX switch is present in the firmware on your model that somehow enables your 6900 XT to show up in the Device Manager), I'm afraid I don't have any additional suggestions.

[ThoKris]

Same Problem with the M17 R4 and the AGA with RX 6900 XT. I got the following message:

Unhandled Exception: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'AlienLabs.GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.GraphicsAmplifierBIOSProvider' from assembly 'GraphicsAmplifier.Domain, Version=1.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bebb3c8816410241'. at OpenCaldera.Program.ReadAGABIOSProperties() at OpenCaldera.Program.Main(String[] args)

[ThoKris]

Same Problem with the M17 R4 and the AGA with RX 6900 XT. I got the message:

Unhandled Exception: System.TypeLoadException: Could not load type 'AlienLabs.GraphicsAmplifier.Domain.GraphicsAmplifierBIOSProvider' from assembly 'GraphicsAmplifier.Domain, Version=1.6.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=bebb3c8816410241'. at OpenCaldera.Program.ReadAGABIOSProperties() at OpenCaldera.Program.Main(String[] args)

[Shidell]

@ThoKris Is your 6900 XT recognized in the Device Manager? If so, does it work, or does it have an exclamation point?

[ThoKris]

I have the Code 31 with one PCI Express upstream and the 6900 XT isn't recognised

[Shidell]

Unfortunately, that sounds like the same error wildonrio is seeing. I don't have an explanation for that, aside from (assuming) Dell's made changes in the firmware of the R4 that isn't supporting certain GPUs for some reason.

[ThoKris]

Thank you. So i have to wait for better times ;-)

[Shidell]

Yeah, I'm sorry to report as much. If you have a friend or family member with other model GPUs, if you can test those and report whether or not they work, that would be helpful.

[Shidell]

@ThoKris @wildonrio Nvidia released new mobile drivers for the 3000 series today (https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/172063/en-us), can either of you try installing these and then see if it changes how your GPUs are recognized in the Device Manager afterward?

[wildonrio]

I confirm that while my 3090 previously did not work (error in Device Manager), it now works fine after this update. There was also an update to Command Center; not sure if that’s related. I’m happy. Have not tested 6900 XT yet.

Tyler

On Mar 30, 2021, at 2:24 PM, Shidell @.***> wrote:

 @ThoKris @wildonrio Nvidia released new mobile drivers for the 3000 series today (https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/172063/en-us), can either of you try installing these and then see if it changes how your GPUs are recognized in the Device Manager afterward?

— You are receiving this because you were mentioned. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.

[Shidell]

@wildonrio That's awesome! Congrats!

Do you by chance still have the 6900 XT, in that you could test it as well?

@ThoKris

[ThoKris]

I uninstall the old nvidia driver with ddu, installed the new one.

i restarted the m17 r4, plugged in the aga with rx 6900xt when windows is ready (see desktop). after some seconds i got the same error code 31 and no rx 6900 xt has found .

[Shidell]

Hm, interesting. @ThoKris Do you have all of the latest Alienware firmware updates installed, including the VBIOS update to enable Resizable BAR?

[Shidell]

@wildonrio Can you confirm that SAM works on your integrated (dGPU)? What about your 3090?

[ThoKris]

@Shidell yes, latest BIOS, VBIOS and driver except the "newest-old" Dell nvidia driver. I am using the driver directly from geforce experience / the nvidia homepage. I am using the latest BIOS 1.3.1 from Alienware, could this be the problem?

[Shidell]

@ThoKris Yeah; you need to be using the absolute latest driver (from Nvidia), the latest drivers offered by Dell won't cut it.

It sounds like your BIOS is up-to-date (1.3.1), and your VBIOS is up-to-date (X00), too, so the last piece of the puzzle is to install the latest drivers from Nvidia: https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/172063/en-us

The 465.89 drivers are what are hypothetically enabling support for others, and I would imagine they should for you, too. Can you install these and then re-test?

Also, note that you need to turn on Resizable BAR in your firmware, it's a togglable option, and once enabled, the control panels for a respective GPU (Nvidia or AMD) will indicate if it's enabled properly or not.

Hopefully this enables the 6900 XT to be recognized and install properly; if so, the next step is to determine if BAR is enabled and if so, if it also works via the 6900 XT.

[ThoKris]

I have the latest driver and ResBar is activ. No possibility to see and find the RX 6900 XT. The Code 31 is already there.

I see no further option for me. The Radeon card is on (red light) when i plugged in the cable, i have the latest drivers, rezbar is activ, have the latest firmeware.......so i will try a razer core x the next weeks. hope the tb3 option is working better, since there is a new option with the AGA for me.

Edit 07th April: I tried some new things. I disabled iGPU, dGPU, different starting scenarios by unplugging and plugging cables. Nothing is working at the moment. So i am using the razer core x with the RX 6900 XT now. It is working, from the very beginning.

[Shidell]

@wildonrio Can you confirm that SAM works on your integrated (dGPU)? What about your 3090? Have you tried your 6900 XT as well yet?

[ThoKris]

I am in contact with Dell Premium Support. At the moment we got no solution for me. I saw, the PCI Upstream driver is from 2006. Is this the normal driver date?

[Shidell]

@ThoKris I don't think I can answer that question.

[ThoKris]

My odyssee is at its end, without a working AGA. I think, it is not possible to combine m17r4 2021 with AGA and RX 6900 XT.

[Shidell]

@ThoKris I'm sorry it's come to that. I wish I could help you further; I wish I had an R4 here locally I could test.

I'm debating buying an Open-Box M17 R4 from Best Buy to see if my experience mimics your own. Would that interest you, or are you indifferent or would rather I do not?

EDIT: Also, what became of your efforts with Dell Support? What'd they say/do? Did they tell you it won't work, or were they baffled?

EDIT 2: I ordered an M15 R4, which was available open-box already (so I feel like examining it isn't as detrimental, as it's already been opened and returned.) I'll report back when I receive it (Saturday expected) and see what I find.

[Shidell]

@ThoKris The M15 R4 arrived, but it's defective—it shouldn't have been resold open-box. It will only stay on for 30 seconds at a time; I had to return it.

I've ordered another one (expected on Tuesday), I'll keep you posted.

[ThoKris]

@ThoKris I'm sorry it's come to that. I wish I could help you further; I wish I had an R4 here locally I could test.

I'm debating buying an Open-Box M17 R4 from Best Buy to see if my experience mimics your own. Would that interest you, or are you indifferent or would rather I do not?

EDIT: Also, what became of your efforts with Dell Support? What'd they say/do? Did they tell you it won't work, or were they baffled?

EDIT 2: I ordered an M15 R4, which was available open-box already (so I feel like examining it isn't as detrimental, as it's already been opened and returned.) I'll report back when I receive it (Saturday expected) and see what I find.

I am interested! Amazing! The AGA and g-card is ready for testing.

to Edit: Dell Support said, it is not official supported but should work. They tried every "dirty" trick that i know from reddit e.g. Different start sequences with unpluggin and pluggin the cables, uninstall drivers with DDU. Edit / cleaning the registry after uninstalling the drivers. They really tried everything i think.

to Edit 2: thumbsup but hard to hear of a broken m15 r4. Hope for a "better" one on tuesday :-)

[Shidell]

@ThoKris I've got a functional M15 R4 now, and regret to say that I'm experiencing the same trouble you are—my 6900 XT shows up as an "Upstream switch port", despite having the same HWID as the 6900 XT does normally (as a display adapter.)

I was unable to find a resolution for this, sadly.

I did take my 6900 XT out and installed an RX 7790 in the AGA, and can report that it did detect and work properly, though, which gives me some hope that the issue may be resolvable by AMD (and/or Dell), just as Nvidia resolved the issue for RTX 3000 series GPUs via a driver update.

I submitted a bug ticket via AMD's drivers regarding the issue (and would hope you do the same), but honestly can't say if/when AMD or Dell can/would fix it.

Unfortunately, I would advise you to make whatever adjustments/accommodations are necessary based on your hardware and GPUs under the assumption that the R4 might never work. :( Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but I don't want you to hold onto a thread of hope that Dell or AMD might fix whatever this incompatibility is, because I can't guarantee that.

[ThoKris]

You are awesome. Thank you! So the eGPU via TB3 solution is okay for me. The 1% is sometimes bad, but I can go with it. Were can I open a ticket for AMD to report the problem?

Do you want to sell me your RTX 3090 :-D.

[Shidell]

@ThoKris I'm glad it's working out that way for you. :) I have a 6900 XT, but no 3090. :)

[Shidell]

@ThoKris Do you still have your 6900 XT? I think I've found a solution, I'd like you to try it as well, if you can.

[ThoKris]

@Shidell Awesome. Yes, i still work with it. I am looking forward to trying out your solution :-) The eGPU by TB3 is okay, but not my prefferd solution.

[Shidell]

@ThoKris I hear ya; I hope this will fix it for you in your AGA!

Here's what you need to do:

1. Power down (obviously), re-connect your AGA and insert your 6900 XT
2. Power on, and check that you're receiving the error (above) once again
3. Open RegEdit and make the following changes, selecting 200, following this guide: Here
4. Restart

After restart, open the Device Manager, you may have new devices (PCIe bus device / root complex), and I expect your 6900 XT to be attached and working. If you have a PCIe device missing, run Windows Updates, or download and install the latest Chipset INF drivers from Intel, then reboot again.

I expect that after reboot, your 6900 XT will be detected and working properly. You may need to re-install the AMD drivers, depending. I've only just got this working for myself, so you're the second person to try this fix.

Also, please check to see if you receive an "AMD XConnect" popup during boot, and if it shows up in the task bar as an icon (separate from the AMD Radeon software icon.) It shows up for me now.

Hope this works for you too!

[ThoKris]

i don't know how to thank you enough! It is working sooooooo smooth and fast!

[ThoKris]

@Shidell do you want a coffee or beer from me? Send me your PayPal address.

I had a issue after to high overclocking. The graphics card stopped working. I had to reinstall the driver. Now everything is working fine. So I think it is stable and futureproof solution. I am using a seasonic titanium psu. So the whole system is silent

[Shidell]

@ThoKris Awesome! I'm glad it's working for you too!

Thanks so much for the offer—but that's not necessary. I could use your help instead, though, if you wouldn't mind? There's some tests I was meaning to conduct, which require a R4 (as you have) and a TB3 enclosure (which you also have.) Would you be willing to conduct some additional tests to help me gather more information?

1. Your R4 supports Resizable BAR; as far as I know, it requires a BIOS (firmware) update for both the laptop and also for the built-in 3070 dGPU, and then updating to Nvidia's latest drivers. Once all are done, it should show up as "Enabled" in Nvidia's driver control panel, and you should also be able to open the Device Manager, select your 3070, and right click -> Properties -> Resources, look for a "Large Memory Range" under "Resource Type". If you have that enabled on your 3070, the question is, when you connect the 6900 XT, do you also see "Large Memory Range" for the 6900 XT? If possible, I'd like to know the result through both the AGA and the TB3 enclosure. In effect, the question is, does Resizable BAR extend through the AGA and/or through the TB3 connection if supported by the motherboard.
2. Do you have any performance benchmarks (like the 3DMark results you posted above) of the 6900 XT in the TB3 enclosure? I'd like to compare the two, to see what (if any) performance differences there are. If you do not, if you wouldn't mind connecting the TB3 enclosure again and testing that way, it'd also be very helpful.

By answering these questions, I'd like to be able to tell people whether they can/cannot expect rBAR to work through the AGA or TB3 enclosure, and also give an updated perspective on how TB3 compares to AGA, in terms of gaming performance.

[ThoKris]

Thank you eternally for letting me feel the real boost of a aaa-graphics card.

1. I see large memory on 3070 dGPU

but not in the RX 6900 XT resources.

Same result with AGA and Razer Core X TB3.

2. Yes, here with TB3 You see, TimeSpy is really bad. But it depends on the installed driver version. With a driver from 2 weeks ago, i got about 12k in TimeSpy graphics.

TimeSpy Extreme is okay and stable. No recognizable changes with different driver versions.

BUT i had stuttering problems in games ( Battlefron 2, Devinity OS2 and Baldurs Gate 3) while low framerates (30-40FPS 4k). The lower the Framerate is, the stronger is the stuttering issue. I have experienced similar problems as described in the following video with TB3 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2_dhGQelk0s . I found some solutions here https://egpu.io/forums/thunderbolt-enclosures/egpu-stuttering-and-fps-issue/ . So while playing i switched to "only external display". This reduced the laggy moments a bit. In Battlefront 2 i had a avg. Framerate of 80 with 4k, Ultra, dGPU 3070; with RX 6900 XT and TB3 a avg. Frameware of 110 and with AGA a avg. Framerate of 120 -> no stuttering - ever.

[Shidell]

@ThoKris Thanks for providing so much info to help me out. Would you do me one more favor, and try using GPU-Z (2.39.0) to see if it indicates Resizable BAR is enabled for you via TB3 or AGA? Right now, it is indicating that rBAR is, in fact, enabled—despite Alienware having no settings to change or modify in the firmware related to it—which is kinda amazing if true. I was hoping you could try to confirm as well.

I'm really happy that your performance is so great with the AGA, and that the stuttering has been dramatically reduced (or eliminated!)

I made another discovery tonight that I want you to be aware of: When you have a system with graphics from both Nvidia and AMD, you might encounter some issues with games crashing to a black screen—I discovered it was because I had Nvidia's drivers (suite) installed. When I uninstalled it via the Control Panel and restarted, the AMD drivers threw an error regarding "OpenCL.dll" being missing. Turns out, the two of them are/were competing over that file. (I don't know the details yet, I'm working on it), but by then performing a fresh reinstall of AMD's drivers and rebooting, it corrects the problem.

I know that this issue occurs, for certain, in Heroes of the Storm, Firewatch, and Escape from Tarkov. It's been a problem that's plagued me for years. I can confirm that this is the culprit—although I'm still investigating—so if you experience any weirdness with a game crashing to a black screen and the system becoming unresponsive, make sure you make a reminder regarding this being the reason.

[ThoKris]

@Shidell RezBar is enabled in dGPU and disabled in eGPU. TB3 and AGA is the same. TB3 and AGA has the same Bus Interface? GPU-Z is showing me the "PCIe x16 4.0 @ x4 3.0" with both connection-options

[rjensen26]

I am running AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and I am having the same issue. I know this has nothing todo with the software. I currently have an Alienware area51m r2. So I am not able to install he Alienware graphics amplifier software since it was disabled.

I tried the regedit and that did not appear to actually not to work. I am going to try a few more things and report back.