Alienware M17XR3 Won't Boot! (or POST)

Today I was trying to revert my Alienware's bios back to the A04 bios to remove the downclocking functionality on the gpu. After I reverted the bios, I changed some of the settings in the bios, mainly the gpu throttle temp (which I thought it wouldn't have) and made a few other tweaks which i don't remember. After it restarted, the display lit up but only gives me a black screen. I can hear the fans begin to start, but the stop and restart every second, after a few seconds I can hear a clicking noise after the fans start each time. I removed the computer and system batteries and held the power button for 30 seconds before rebooting but it didn't help, I've also tried to blind flash the bios but to no avail (though I'm not sure the flashdrive I'm using will work for a blind flash, or if I'm doing it right). Does anyone know what's wrong or have anything I can try?


Recap of Symptoms

- Black Screen
- Fans start and stop
- Clicking noise

Sidenote: If I hold end while booting the laptop fans work normally but I still get a black screen.

 

Do you have a real M17x with a Core 2 Duo CPU? If you are using the correct model name, I apologize for having to ask. Too many folks are not using the correct model names anymore. It is confusing and it can make a huge difference when getting accurate advice is critical. It would be bad to tell you to do something for one model that could brick it if you actually have another model.

Please verify what system you have using the correct model name, as what works for a real M17x may not work at all for an M17xR2 (1st Gen Core i CPU), M17xR3 (2nd Gen Core i "Sandy Bridge" CPU), M17xR4 (3rdGen Core i "Ivy Bridge" CPU) or an Alienware 17 (4th Gen Core i "Haswell" CPU)?

 

It's an Alienware M17x r3 with Sandy Bridge

 

Thank you for clarifying the model. The instructions would have been different for any other model and giving wrong advice for something this sensitive could end very badly.

Here is the post explaining how to do this for the M17xR3: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ios-recovery-case-you-brick-your-m17x-r3.html

Be sure the file is renamed to PAR00X64.fd or it will not work. Try taking out the GPU so the system functions on Intel integrated graphics. This may allow you to recover if you have no luck with the discrete GPU installed.

I don't have an M17xR3 and never have, so I am hoping folks that do will have some ideas they can share with you. While you are waiting, ready through the additional posts in the above thread and you might pick up some pointers.

 

Thanks for sharing the tutorial. That should fix it. If it does not work let us know!

 

I followed the tutorial with no luck. The first time I tried with the GPU in, and the second time with the GPU, hardrive, and primary memory out. I've tried with two flash drives as well. For whatever reason it seems like the computer won't read the flashdrive. It lights up when it's plugged in and the computer is off, but as soon as the computer is turned on it goes dark.

 

Well I got it running, not quite sure how though... I was playing with it and removed the gpu but kept everything else in and drained the system battery, then I booted it holding FN, for whatever reason it booted to the BIOS and I was able to restore to default settings. Thanks for all your help guys!

 

AWESOME! Glad that worked for you.

Sometimes the motherboard or BIOS can have something wrong where the USB flash drives are not being read. When this happens I do not know what is causing it to not work... haven't been able to figure out that part.

This can sometimes be the fault of the USB flash drive, but in the event the system refuses to read from the USB ports there is no ability to do a crisis recovery. This is the situation on the new Alienware 17 and 18. The process is the same as the older model except the motherboard refuses to read any USB flash drives when you start in crisis recovery mode. I have tried about 10 different USB flash drives that I have used for crisis recovery on the M18xR1, M18xR2 and M17xR2 with success.