Alienware M17X R1 with F415N mobo with BLANK SCREEN. No Post.

Hey guys,

So I'm been using this Alienware M17X R1 for a while now. Unfortunately, I seem to have encountered an error that's troubling. When I switch on the machine, it doesn't display anything on the screen. No post. No Alienware logo, nothing. The lights on the keyboard and power/media contol panel come on. The GPU fan spins initially, then stops and then after 2 secs or so, the CPU fan spins constantly.

It does not show any flashing lights regarding caps, num or scroll. This tells me that everything is ok with the hardware, according to the Dell site?

Anyways, I've tried reseting CMOS + power drain and reboot a bunch of times. Tried reseating the various components too. Pretty much took this apart and reassembled like 20 times. I've also done a ton of research on various websites and forums with no joy. Practically, all answers just go in circles. I just want the thing to work.

My specs are as follows:

Processor: Q9000 core 2 quad

GPU: single Nvidia 460M GTX 1.5gb Ram on primary slot (left)

Ram: 1333mhz DDR 3: 6 GB (one 2GB and one 4GB)

HDD: 60 GB SSD Kingston

Please can you guys give direct/to the point answers. Thanks.

All help/info appreciated.

 

Have you tried completely removing your dedicated cards and booting with only the 9400M?
Plug an external monitor (preferably VGA) and see if you get any output (thinking broken screen). Take a flashlight, point it to the panel if the inverter is broken you should see something (desktop icons etc.).

Do you hear windows booting?

Start with minimal hardware. At first with no dedicated video card, no ram and no HDD. See if it beeps or get any LED error codes.

Let us know.

 

I'm assuming that the GTX 460M is an aftermarket component? The situation sounds like a bad video card, or one that is not properly installed.

 

Hi! Thanks for getting back to me so quick. Ok, so I've tried booting without the 460m GTX, I've also tried a 260m gtx and a 240m gtx card which gives me the same problem. If I take the ram out, the LED errors come up (Blinking num scroll or caps I think as well as two beeps)

As for the inverter and flash light, my screen: The Samsung LCD 17.0" LTN170CT08-D01 MATTE WUXGA, doesn't connect to the inverter. I had actually purchased one, but I think its only needed with the WXGA screens. Screen itself is basically using the Dell HP693 LCD Video Cable to connect directly to the mobo. As for the lights on the screen: that is run to the mobo by a separate cable and lights up fine from what I can see.

Ok, also with regards to the external monitor bit.. do you think that the Alienwares simply start displaying on the external automatically when plugged in? Unfortunately, I had put in a new hard drive so there's no OS to test using Windows+P for display options. But alas, I'm guessing since my device doesn't pass post, it won't allow me to install windows using the external monitor? (Would that be possible though?)

I've tried plugging the M17x into my external using HDMI instead of VGA.. but will give the VGA a try and get back to you.

Regarding the Flash light: I did as you said. No backlight whatsoever. Nothing on screen. Its just off, while the computer runs/starts up. Weird, considering the screen is new- bought off ebay a little while ago. No damage.

The 460m GTX is indeed an aftermarket card. But I've tried the stock 260m GTX and the 240M gtx that came with my working M15X R2

No joy when using any of these combos.

 

Ok here's a quick update on what I did with this problem.

Upon my various attempts to fix it were testing the following components:

1. GPU. Have tested and confirmed the following GPUs are working in my m17x r2: 460m gtx, 260m gtx and 240m gt. However, in the R1, the screen is still blank upon startup.

2. Screen. I have a Samsung LED LCD screen that does not require an inverter like the ccfl screens. This particular screen has a resolution of 1920x1200. The screen functions 100% in my M17x r2. In the R1, nothing appears when trying to boot.

3. Ram: I have tried various types and combinations of ram. The sticks I have, are 1GB, 2GB and 4GB sticks.. ranging from about 800mhz, to about 1600mhz. In the R2, I find the 1333mhz and 800mhz sticks work. 1600mhz leaves the screen blank, yet works in my m15x r2. In the R1, I have tried the different sticks as I have done in the R2 during working spec. Nothing appears on the screen. When I pull out the Ram, there are beeping sounds and flashing indicators on the media boards.

4. CPU: I think this could be the problem causer. In my R2, I found that I was unable to use the engineering sample of a 820qm I purchased. The computer would boot and post.. but then get stuck as the windows sign loaded. Swapped it out with a 720qm, and it boots and works 100%. Same case in the m15x r2. This leads me to believe that engineering samples are a bit troublesome in Alienware.. but I also don't have much experience with all of them, so don't quote me. The processor I have for the R1, is a q9000 quad core 2ghz. I suspect this to be the problem since it doesn't work in my Asus g71... the first time I tested it. Unfortunately, since my memory is bad, I can't recall testing another CPU in the R1 besides this quad core I mention. As far as I can tell, it isn't an engineering sample. But then again, its something I haven't looked at in months.

HDD: This part is tricky. What I have found stable, may vary to a great extent. I initially tried booting the R1, and R2 with a regular Kingston V series SSD only to find that this was causing crashes in the R2. The R1 had nothing appear on the screen. I swapped out a seagate momentus xt in the R2 and it booted fine. Was a bit slow. Still nothing on the screen of the R1. Just mentioning it so as to make aware and eliminate any possible issues.

BIOS: Ok, so this is undoubtedly one of the most sensitive things.. yet annoying things on the Alienware. The first annoying factor is the charging issues. I find that what works on the R1, doesn't work on the R2. R2s seem to be notoriously problematic with chargers.. often throttling components like the GPU and CPU to conserve energy. The R1, with the same charger seems fine.. and even charges the battery.. which again, is the same interchangeable component in both machines. Ok, down to the BIOS. I have updated the BIOS like 8 times on the R1 using the blind flash method and a USB drive. Acquiring a windows XP machine in this age is nearly impossible, unless you have those ancient relics lying around or have the time and extra disc space to dual boot. Anyways, I've tried a couple of Bios's for the R1.. ranging from A03 to the latest. None seem to fix the issue, yet all seem to flash successfully as intended on forums like bios mod and dell support.

The circuit: After numerous teardowns, I have found that the following things need to be connected as a minimum array for booting to occur. The power or battery, the screen, the keyboard, the ram and the processor. If any one of those isn't present, then the computer will not boot or post... and beeping and flashing symbols will most likely be present.

With all of this said, I still am keen to know how this all ends. For me, I've just been using my R2... salvaged the components of my R1.. and had the rest stored for sales on ebay. lol. I'm of the opinion, that if fixing is not possible, a mobo replacement is the best and easiest option.

The components I can verify working are:

Samsung LED 1920x1200 WUXGA screen with cables. No inverter necessary. The correct VGA cable does need to be purchased though.

Any set of 4GB 1333 mhz or 800mhz ram.

OCZ ssds or Seagate Momentus (just what I've tested)

A 240m gtx, 260m gtx, or 460m gtx (again, what I've personally tested) in single array.

A 240w Fextronics or Delta charger (again, what I've tested)

* The processor I recommend would be a regular mid range core 2 duo for starters. Pref one that has the correct pin type.. equivalent to the q9000 or core2extreme Qx9300 which you will find on the intel site.

Anything else I've left out, I do apologize.

Hope this is helpful. Good luck.