The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Alienware m17x r3 580m - Fans spin, but no lights or boot

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Barkalow, Aug 2, 2014.

  1. Barkalow

    Barkalow Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    9
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    So I've been having some issues lately with my laptop overheating, I think, but it recently just shut off completely. Now when I try to boot, the fans will spin for a few seconds, but that's all the activity there is, no lights or hard drive spin up. I've tried taking out the battery, the cmos battery, reinsert in the gpu/cpu, nothing has worked. I'm really hoping my computer isn't dead. Any suggestions? Also, I'm very technical oriented, so feel free to use appropriate terminology.

    Edit: it also sends a signal to my external monitor as well, but then it just goes back to sleep.
     
    Barkalow, Aug 2, 2014
    #1
  2. MickyD1234

    MickyD1234 Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    3,159
    Messages:
    6,473
    Likes Received:
    1,165
    Trophy Points:
    331
    Have you tried with the dGPU removed?

    If you have a 60hz panel then you can take out the dGPU assembly complete with heatsink to see if the machine will start. A 120hz model is a completely different animal and I'll explain better if you have the 3D model - it will not start since the Intel is bypassed.

    Whenever I see R3/580m the 580m is always the first choice as culprit for a problem :(.
     
    MickyD1234, Aug 3, 2014
    #2
  3. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

    Reputations:
    9,436
    Messages:
    58,194
    Likes Received:
    17,902
    Trophy Points:
    931
    Yeah it's a delicate beast, the problem with pushing it so hard.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Aug 3, 2014
    #3
  4. Branzy1987

    Branzy1987 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    7
    Messages:
    384
    Likes Received:
    50
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Your laptop is in the "no post" mode...after you remove the bios battery you ahood restart it and reinstall 1 ram before it will boot...
     
    Branzy1987, Aug 3, 2014
    #4
  5. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

    Reputations:
    3,658
    Messages:
    6,874
    Likes Received:
    969
    Trophy Points:
    281
    Try to get a compatible card from someone to test it on your R3.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Aug 8, 2014
    #5