5870m R2 Crossfire Disabled

Hey, I recently had an issue where my precious lappy wouldn't turn on at all, but somehow I've gotten it up. Crossfire now, however, is showing Disabled in GPU-Z and the CCC is giving me "Primary adapter" and "Disabled adapter", and no way to turn on Crossfire. The Device manager, however, shows both cards, and shows no issues for either. So it comes to my question: Is my slave card fried? Don't worry about upsetting me, I'm about euphoric since I got this to boot.

 

Hi! Had the same issue as you, in my R1.

What you do, is the following;
1. Uninstall ALL your ATI drivers.
2. Install DriveSweeper 3.2.1 (or any similar version)
3. Boot to safe-mode.
4. Use DriveSweeper to remove any excess driver files that is still there for ATI / AMD.
5. Reinstall ATI drivers, start off with the one that you can find on DELLs website. (Do not attempt to use any other driver, use the one off Dell's webpage (use your service-tag to find the right ones) to activate the CrossfireX abillity of your cards.)
6. Download the newest ATI driver for your card off of' ATI's website, and install it over the old driver.


That will fix your problem,
cheers.
- Scott.

 

Thank you very much, and I would follow your advice, but now my screen won't turn on. The keyboard lights up and everything, it makes it through POST, no error codes are displayed, just the screen won't turn on. Anyone have any ideas what this might be?

 

Try to reboot it a couple of times. I'm not running R2, (R1) and the 5870s aren't "really" supported in my system, but sometimes i'm having a hard time booting aswell.

Have you disassembled the system lately? It could be a cable or so that you have missed..
- Scott.

 

To answer, yes, but I've gone over ever connection multiple times. I had a thought though: since I can get into the bios (hear the bios beep), I think it may just be the hinge detect for when your screen is closed. Does anyone know how this works/how it may come to break/how one might fix it?

 

Did you try to disable hybrid graphics and the integreres graphics? (disable both in bios) and then reboot.

 

Well, I can't see the bios, so... Can't really do that yet.

 

The R2 doesn't have integrated graphics. To see if your slave card is toast, you could put the master heatsink on it and see if the system boots with it in the master slot.

 

I already tried without the slave card in at all, that didn't work, but the 2 times I actually made it in, both cards were in.

 

If you're making it in sometimes, and not others, I suspect another problem entirely. Are your cards flashed to the A01 VBIOS from the Dell website? Since the problem happens outside of Windows, when the driver could not have loaded yet, it has to be either hardware or VBIOS related.

 

Sorry, was on the phone, didn't read that you just got through BIOS, and couldn't see it.


The BIOS beep shouldn't indicate anything else than that it has passed BIOS without any failure. I don't know if that would apply to your GPUs if the'yre not even detected.

A second though is that the screen WILL turn on if you are able to awake the computer, regardless of what the lid-sensor thinks. (Since that sensor does not start to work before Windows is booted. )

Did you try to pull out both your cards and see what happens? It should give you another form of beep to indicate video failure if the motherboard is not able to boot without an GPU.


As a second thought - i don't know where that sensor is supposed to be allocated, but my best bet would be that you would have to disassemble the screen and check there, somehow. But i'm highly unsure about this, i have never taken apart the screen, and never actually had a problem with that.

My first bet would be to take out the GPUs and see what the motherboard "sais"

- Scott.

 

One of my clanmates suggested leaving the CMOS out longer, like 3-4 hours, so if that doesn't work, I'll pull out both cards and see what happens. I'll update by ~5-6.

And yes, Turbod, I flashed my vBIOS to the new ones just about when they became available.

I really hope this just somehow magically fixes itself -.-

 

So far, looking like a no go. Could someone take pictures of/link me to pictures of the layout of the bios? I have an idea: connect my television via HDMI and see if that works. The catch? I have RAID 0, so since I reset my bios, it's reverted to AHCI, and although I can Get into bios, I cannot see it. And I can't connect it via hdmi then, because this is before anything is loaded. I just need to set it to RAID 0 before I can test anymore.

 

Even if the drives are empty you should still be able to get into the bios (so doesn't matter if they are set to RAID/AHCI...at worst that would only prevent the OS from booting). So if you aren't able to see the bios after a reset, then I'd say it's either the motherboard itself or one/both of the video cards. Plugging in to HDMI will help to eliminate the problem being the display, but I suspect it's probably not a display problem.

Good luck to you

 

I did try without the slave card, but of what significance was my getting into windows that one time with both cards in? Could the motherboard/primary card be borked but still get in once? And how would this come about? All I did was open 'er up and clean out the GPU vents. I don't understand how everything just got so badly borked, I guess that shows me for trying to maintain my hardware in good condition.

 

Did you try to put your secondary card, in the primary slot, and leave your primary card out of it?
I know it's stupid, but its worth a shot..

Unfortunately, i don't have the R2, so i can't supply you with the R2 BIOS. Did you check the laptop-manual? Might have som pics of it there?


If you´re still under warranty, you could assemble everything back in place properly and sent it in for them to look at. If you don't get caught for been having lurking around in the PC yourself, then they would probably fix the issue, for free..

Edit:
Also, what about the BIOS beeps, did it change when booting with no cards?


- Scott.

 

Okay, just tried with no GPUs: No battery + plugged in yields no life, no lights, no sounds. With just the battery, not plugged in, I got a long beep, two short beeps, then the locks (I forget which ones are which) in order Left to Right were flashing, flashing, on. The images on Dell's site for error reports aren't loading for me, so I have no idea what this code is for. Please respond soon!

 

You're probably getting the scroll and caps lock flashing, number lock on solid? That is because you have no GPU installed. Neither card works in the master slot? That is odd.

 

Just a question, when you were swapping cards around and trying to get it to boot, was the power unplugged and the battery removed prior to taking out or putting the cards back in? I know that some folks have had their MB's fried because the power or battery were in place.

Otherwise, I have no idea what could have happened. Very odd indeed.

 

About the switch: I haven't tried switching the cards, but don't the slave/master have different vBIOS, thereby making that not an option? About the teardowns: every time I opened 'er up, as it were, I unplugged it, took out the battery, and performed a power drain by holding the power button for 20 seconds. I just don't understand how something so simple, with such good intentions, done as carefully as I did resulted in this catastrophic system failure. Well, since I have Mon and Tues off for election day, I suppose I'll sit and stare at a blank screen for 48 hours. Not like I have a life or anything.

 

BUMP please, I'd like to know about the vBIOS situation before I perform the ol' switcheroo.

 

Teh vbios are the same for both cards. If one card is bad, there will be no boot. Regardless of what slot it is in. To boot you need either one good card in the primary with nothing in the secondary, or two good cards in.

 

Thanks, I'm going to switch them later this evening, as I must away for a while, and will update with results. Thanks to everyone who's been helping me so far!

 

Okay, I'm having some real trouble taking off the heatsinks. Should it be this difficult the first time, or am I an idiot?

 

I had to use some force when taking off my heatsinks, but be carefull not do damage them! "Lift it up a bit" from every side first!

- Scott.

 

Okay, I figured them out eventually. Anyways, upon attempted start with cards switched, original slave as master and vice versa, Lights came on, fans spun for POST and all, but no screen activity. Then, upon attempted shutdown, nothing happened. No matter how long I held the power button, nothing happened. So, I took out the cord and the battery. Then, I took out the slave (former master), leaving just the former slave in the master slot. It's now back to how it was before, lights on, screen not, turns off after just a touch of the power button. Anyone have any ideas?

 

I have the same problem with Catalyst showing the Primary Adapter & Disabled Adapter. But my issue is a tad bit different.

If you solve your issue could you help me?
I have different cards though.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/623041-m17x-r1-4870x2-9-12-driver-modding-help.html

 

That's no longer my primary issue, if you had cared to read the thread. Good luck though.

 

I have a question related to CF.
When I disable CF in CCC the fan still works. It doesn't turn off. Is it normal?

 

Please don't jack my thread. Find a thread actually about crossfire and its workings, or if you really want to know, create a new thread.

 

BUMP - sorry about bumping before it went to second page, but I have to go out for a bit and won't be back for a few hours.

 

for me it turns out that it was a combo of a vbios issues and the car's slot being dirty. Have not had issues since.

 

So you couldn't turn on either? How did you clean the slots?

 

I would try to use a vacuum-cleaner there, if i where you, V3..


EDIT: DO NOT USE THIS! VACUUM CLEANERS DO CREATE STATIC ELECTRICITY!!

- Scott.

 

well since its just dust, I blew them out. but 99% of the issues were on the slave slot.

It seems I misread your issue. mine booted but BSOD'd
sorry if I mislead you.

edit:
WARNING, most vacuum cleaners produce an enormous amount of static while working.

 

Oh , that's something ive been unaware of..

DO NOT USE THE VACUUM CLEANER!!!!

- Scott

 

Well, I wiped both slots out with a tissue then plucked out any hairs I could see near them with tweezers, and put the former-master-now-slave card back in, and the next two times I tried turning it on, it did the same thing, but shut itself off after a minute or two. Now its the third time I've turned it on, been around 5 minutes with no change. I just don't understand....

EDIT: Okay, just went for try number 4, found out it's not turning off. Time to disconnect ALL the power! Couldn't help myself. Anyways, do these changing boots have significance?

UPDATE: Try 4 was the same as 3, requiring disconnect. Both of these times, all 3 fans were spinning a good amount, though all blew rather cool air except for the secondary card's fan. That one was quite warm. Significant? That's your guys' job. XD

 

so its not posting at all, not even the alien head?

 

Nope, screen is completely blank, not "on blank", but "off blank". All LEDs are on except the alienhead on the back. System beeps in protest as usual when starting on just battery.

EDIT: Well, it POSTs fine, fans spin up as per usual, no beeps of displeasure nor error codes

 

V3 - Did you try to disassemble the LCD/ screen-panel, just to be shure that nothing in there is "loose", or something?

..Just a thought, as you now said that it doesent seem as your screen is even getting power..

- Scott.

 

try external monitor?

did you try one card? how about swapping slave into the master slot? (you need heat sink goo for this)

(please excuse if it has been discuses earlier in this thread)

 

inzelux - I'll try that tomorrow, as it is getting quite late here.
kakureru - I have already tried swapping, running on single card (both original slave and masters as master) and an external monitor, but the external monitor does not work because during my "fixing" I reset the BIOS by taking out the CMOS for a bit, which sets my HDD mode to AHCI, but I run RAID 0, so the OS isnt found, and I can't change the BIOS back because I can't see the screen, and unless I'm wrong the HDMI driver is not loaded until after windows.

 

before the drivers, it is pretty much a DVI port so it ~should~ work
you should also turn it on and close screen so its forced to use an external display.
just hope that this issues isn't a deeper motherboard problem

im a bit curious so I may take preventative measures on my laptop.

EDIT:
I just checked if I could get HDMI in bios...

sequence I used ignoring screen:
turn on, keep pressing f2, fans should go fast then slow down, beep and right after should be in bios. Now press Fn+F6 to see if you can get it to output to a monitor or TV
it would help if that's the only thing putting out video to the test display.
Hope this helps achieve a sign of life for you.


mine to ensure im not missing somthing: M17xR2 720QM 4GB 5870CF 500GB RGB

 

Okay, now I can't even get into BIOS (can't hear BIOS beeps after 5 minutes of repeatedly pressing F2 from startup). This is the first time in the entire ordeal this has happened. HDMI displays just solid gray. To recap, both cards are in at the moment, but switched, and it won't turn off if one were to press the power button, all sources of power need to be removed. Now I am slightly more worried than before. Must be the mobo, right?

 

i would start passing blame to the motherboard.
the likeliness that BOTH video cards are 100% dead is pretty slim.

 

How would one go about confirming that, acquiring a new one, and having it installed? And about how much would it set me back? Thank you for all of your help so far.

 

I would find some one I could trust to run tests for me. like find some one with another MXM3b video card to start or maybe have some one test your cards.

edit- I have been seeing motherboards between 100-600$ ymmv. I have not seen that many which lead me to assume that the m17xr2 may be an OK computer. and price is greatly dictated by availability.