m14x randomly shuts down

Hi,
I have an Alienware m14xR2, and have had it for a few months now. Until recently, everything was running very smoothly. Now, at very random times, it will shut down and I will have to reboot. I have tried running /chkdsk and done various tests on hard drives, the motherboard and the graphics cards. I hope you may have an idea of the problem might be? My specs are below and hope that you can help. I'm fairly sure its not overheating isues, as it only reaches about 60C while gaming on ultra on certain games. I updated my bios and I'm not sure if the issue is hardware or software related? I'm fairly sure it's random, although when I close the lid and open it a few moments later it shuts down quite often. It has only happened once while gaming which makes me believe that it isn't a heating issue. *sorry about any spelling/grammatical errors - I was in a rush*
i7-3610QM 2.3 - 3.3 Ghz
8 GB 1600mhz RAM
1600 x 900 resolution
Nvidia Geforce 650m 2 GB Vram
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
1 TB HDD
64GB Msata SSD (windows on this SSD)

Thanks in Advance,
Dilthedocker

EDIT:Hey guys, I just realised that I got my Samsung Galaxy s3 two days before this issue started occuring. I have been plugging it into the USB 3.0 port, so I could charge while the computer is off, but I don't think the cable is USB 3.0. Could charging through the usb 3.0 port be the issue? Thanks

 

I had an issue of my M14x R2 shutting down whlie gaming, updating to A12 BIOS fixed the issue for me.

 

I have already upgraded to the a12 bios, and my issue isn't with gaming. Hopefully this makes my problem a bit clearer. Thanks anyway

 

Does it really shutdown (correct procedure) or does it simply shut off to black screen from one moment to another?

Concerning your question above, it is sometimes possible that your USB port is short-circuiting, causing the notebook to insta-shut off..

 

It doesn't shut down, it simply goes to a black screen without warning. Do you think I should uninstall the usb 3.0 drivers or turn of sleep charging (not sure of name) in the bios?
Thanks

 

Are you sure your USB port causes the issue? Has it ever happened without something plugged in?
Does the issue only occur when running on battery on with AC plugged in too?

 

I'm not sure that the USB Port is the issue, however it seemed reasonable as the dates were very close. I always have my mouse plugged in (Razer DeathAdder), so I'm not quite sure. I pretty much always have my laptop sitting on my desk and it very rarely is moved. It did however occur a few times today when it was on the battery.

 

You could also try and check the connection between your battery and motherboard, just to make sure.

 

How would I go about doing this?
Thanks

 

Just follow this thread (m14x teardown guide) for the first steps
and then check the cables and connectors from your motherbord to your battery.

 

Or use the mouse on the other side of the machine.

 

I don't really want to go messing about inside my laptop, is there any other way?
EDIT: I might try this out later on today, and maybe put in another 8GB stick of RAM while I'm at it.

Do you know if this will help, or is it just more useful?

 

My r2 did the same thing for along time. I reinstalled, put in a new hard drive, nothing helped. Then I swapped out the corsair ram that I had in the laptop for some nice quality ram and the random shut downs stopped. Also, the shut downs are usually caused by steam for done reason

 

this actually does seem to make sense, as I do have steam running pretty much all of the time, but not always. Also, I'm going to be replacing one of the 4GB sticks with an 8GB stick today, and might fork out the extra cash in a few weeks to buy another 8GB stick. I'm fairly sure it's not hard drive failure so hopefully you're right with this one
Thanks

 

Hi,
I upgraded the RAM about 30 minutes ago, and I haven't had a shut down so far. In Alien Autopsy, the Shut downs are shown as "Unexpected shut downs". It is quite worrying though, as it started out once or twice a day and in the previous two days it happened 19 times. I really hope it has somehow been fixed, because I need my laptop for work.
Hopefully you guys can help

EDIT: I just tried to run a scan in Alien Autopsy and it happened (7th time today). It shut down after the first "SMART status test" and before the second "SMART status test". I will try running it again and see if it crashes at the same time. BTW the Battery was connected properly.
EDIT 2: Completed the scan without crashing. It didn't report any issues. I guess I'm just going to have to contact Dell and get something sorted out.

 

could this possibly be a Optimus switching issue?

have you tried running just on the 650m?

 

No, I haven't tried that. I heard it can damage the laptop, so I'm not sure if I can take that risk. If I decided to do it, how would I disable the intel card?
Thanks

 

not that im aware of. just change the settings in the nvidia control panel.

3D settings > Manage 3D settings > Global settings.

then in the drop down bar select the "High-performance Nvidia Processor". Then hit "Apply" at the bottom.


you might be able to do it in the bios too but im not positive.

 

I just called Dell and they will be sending a technician tomorrow to try and fix the issue. If he can't then I'm going to be without my laptop for quite a while. Has anyone had their Laptop at Dell to get repaired? How long will this usually take?

The person on the phone told me something I didn't know though. If you go to boot options, you can select diagnostics and it will run a scan, not in windows. It didn't return any bad results for me, but it could help you if you have hardware issues.

I already have that option enabled, so I don't believe it is Optimus.

 

so you dont use the intel Gfx for anything? not to sound redundant, im just trying to help. if this is the case your monitor might be going bad. this was one of the things that was originally wrong with mine. but it flickered. it seemed to somehow be linked to the FX colors. that might sound crazy but if i had the color white set for any of the zones it flickered like 200% more than if none of the zones were white.



i had a lil horror story when i first got my M14x. i had to send mine in. only for not everything that was wrong to get repaired. took a week round trip if i remember right. then they sent a tech out, he was a cool guy and knew what he was doing and fixed everything 100%.

that lil diagnostic bios tool is cool but didnt detect 50% of my problems and when it would get to the HDD part of the test it would just hang and do nothing (my HDD was actually broken).

 

Just had the dell service guy come in to fix my laptop. I arranged this morning from 11am-1pm as my available times and the technician was here at 11.01. He booted up windows to see how it was, and then he went into the bios. He said some things in the bios weren't opening, which means the mobo wasn't working properly. He then took my laptop apart and replaced the mobo, the fan and the heatsink. Hopefully this issue has been fixed, as It has yet to be long enough to tell. If the issue isn't fixed it'll probably have to be sent in and I'll be without my laptop for a long time

Intel is used while on aero theme, desktop related programs such as word and browsing internet. That setting enables the gt 650m to kick in when anything graphically challenging is opened. I'm fairly sure the only way to disable the intel gfx card is to do it in the bios, which can end up damaging the gt 650m because of the extreme workload, of not getting a break. I'm fairly sure my screen is in good condition and AlienFX seems to be running perfectly.

 

ok, well if you actually read what i typed i told you how to do it with out going into the Bios. not like it would really matter much in this case which way you did it but whatever....

hope the tech fixed it for you.