Alienware M17x, Windows 7 issues

Right now I've been having a load of issues with my Alienware M17x that I've owned for about a year. I'd paid around $4,000.00 for it and so far Dell's customer service definitely hasn't lived up to it's pricing.

First issue,
My AlienFX lights don't work at all. I have tried every possible solution under the sun to fix them, from reinstalling the Command Center to installing registry fixes. None of these have worked.

Since this issue was probably sparked from me doing a clean install of Windows 7 I spoke to Dell. After getting transferred around and having agents hang up on me for absolutely no reason at all I eventually spoke to a guy who tried reinstalling Command Center (I didn't protest since I wanted him to see that it wouldn't work). Eventually he said that it was likely the controller embedded in the motherboard blew. He said my warranty still covered it and they could dispatch a guy to my address. Unfortunately I had to tell him I live in Brazil now, which led to the topic of a warranty transfer. Apparently I needed to wait 20 days for my warranty to transfer to Brazil. I waited 20 and called them again because I hadn't gotten the email I was told I would get. They told me I needed to do it again, which means I get to wait about another 20 days. I'm on about day 11-12 right now. After it gets transferred they said they could send someone over in Brazil.

I highly doubt the controller blew though, but it is possible.

Second issue,
My HDMI and VGA ports don't work at all. I can't hook my Alienware to an external monitor. I like to extend the monitor since I am an avid multi-tasker. It originally worked fine, but I have no idea why it isn't working now. At this point I haven't felt like calling Dell either because the last time I had called it took hours.

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If anybody could help me with either issues without me having to call Dell again I would be extremely appreciative. At this point I would pay cash for my laptop to work like it once did, but as I said, I am in Brazil.

 

The only quick way of diagnostic I can see right now is try system restore to DELL factory default (restore it to when you first got it) and see if the problems are still there.

 

I had tried this before as well. It probably won't help much to repeat the process again, not to bash the idea.

 

There is another way. Your Alienware came with a Resource CD - I think its the red one. On it is a diagnostic tool. Basically boot your M17x with that CD and the tool should start automatically. It will test each hardware component and say if there is any hardware fault. It will output a specific error code for specific components. You can thus check if there is a hardware fault or not. Sounds to me though that you've had one of two possibilities:

1) Damage to the mobo (multiple components failing normally point to that)

2) You dropped it and connections are loose (diagnostic cd will test that too).




From experience (my M17X IDT soundchip failed - only found out through the diagnostic CD) and having opened my M17x on numerous occasions I can tell you this much:

A) The alienware lights in your speakers are on an entirely separate circuit board than your lights in your lid and the lights on the keyboard. These are connected to the mobo via three separate cables. Ergo, if none of them work it must be the motherboard by logical conclusion. It would be extremely unlikely for all three cables to fail simultaneously.

B) Pester Dell and threaten with making an official complaint. You have paid for the warranty and they must honor it. Especially if its next business day like I have ;-)

C) VGA output and component are again on a separate circuit board that is connected to the mobo via a cable (not connected to the graphics card). Again, with now four cables failing it all points to a failing mobo.

D) It shouldn't be a software error. The light pattern in the alienware are stored not on the HDD, but somewhere else on the mobo. I know this because I did the following: I set my alienware to a certain light pattern using the alienware software. Then I swapped out the primary HDD and secondary HDD against a complete new set of HDDs and reinstalled windows but without installing ANY alienware software. The original light pattern on my laptop still persisted and stayed that way!!!






Hope this helps.

 

Anarchist,

Did you use your original (like 1 yr-old) Resource disk to install the Command Center when you did your wipe-and-rebuild? I read on an old part of the Alienware (inactive) forum that those could have been corrupt and could potentially damage components that support the lighting. You should now be running the version that one gets from the download site, not from the "Resource disk" (not such a resource after all, as it is dated.)

Not that this will really help you now if you have some chip problems already, but your experience in this respect is not typical. I do realize that Aliens are a little quirky (especially with respect to power and BIOS interactions) but they aren't quite as bad as your has turned out.

 

Never dropped it in my life, it's been sitting on this desk for 4-5 months, hasn't moved except for when I clean it.

As for the diagnostic tool, I will run that before I go to bed.

I didn't use the resource disk, in fact, I even had Dell install the drivers to make sure. They installed off their site, no luck with lights. The VGA/HDMI did work back then though.
I have noticed that a lot of people have issues, but never seen anybody with as many as me.

 

Hate double posting, but had to update.

Update: Called Dell a few times and had employees that were just too lazy put me on hold (I would get disconnected 3 seconds later). After finally finding the right guy, they said I still needed a warranty transfer to get someone to come to Brazil and fix it. They claimed the other transfer didn't go through so I need to wait another month! They also asked for my CPF (basically a number associated with taxes), which I don't have since I'm only 16.

Is there a way I can somehow flash the part embedded in the motherboard without them? The lights don't work, so I doubt I can do much more damage.