Alienware M16 R2 does not boot many Linux distros after BIOS update

I bought an M16 R2 this September. I ran Fedora, Kali, Void, etc., without a problem until the BIOS update, version 1.10.0. I manually updated to 1.11.0, but to no avail. I suspect NVIDIA Optimus since the GRUB entry seems to try to boot, but the blinking cursor just freezes. I can't switch to different TTYs. I tried nomodeset and blacklist nouveau params for Fedora and Void. Interestingly, Ubuntu also gets stuck but boots just fine after some time. I ran the thorough hardware test, which returned no errors with my hardware. I confirmed ISO files I burned to my thumb drive work. Tried Ventoy, DD, different ports, etc. I reset my BIOS settings. Again, I suspect this is an Optimus issue.