Alienware starting up in Stealth Mode/ low power mode (Also laptop health check)

Hi all! :hi2: I've been having this issue with my Alienware m17x-R2 and wasn't sure where to turn after googling the issue proved to be futile; thus was hoping that the Alienware gurus on this forum will be able to provide some advice on what I could be looking at.

What's essentially happening is that on starting up my laptop after it had been powered off at the mains; it'll start up in low power mode. Hitting the stealth mode key doesn't switch it back to normal mode.

The effect is that everything runs slowly, as would be expected.

To fix this, I have to restart my laptop which puts it back to "normal". Though I've found it to be more sluggish than usual.

While this sort of works, I'm afraid there might be a bigger issue at hand - be it a power supply failure issue, GPU/CPU failure etc.

On a hot summer day, I've found the GPU can go up to 100 degrees Celsius, which is way past the safety zone (I think?). So I'll likely have to re-paste it and such once I find a guide for it.

Any advice on what I should be looking at please? Any programs that I could use to do a health check on my laptop?

The specs are:
i7-740QM
6GB 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
240W Primary AC Adapter
CrossFireX 1GB GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
256GB Samsung Evo SSD (Win 7 64 bit installed here)
500GB HD

Thanks so much!

Edit: Specs would help

 

Do you find that simply restarting the laptop once it is in stealth mode is enough to reboot into normal operational speed, or is it more of a trial-and-error thing where it can take several tries to make the Radeon engage? I don't know what to say if it's the former, but if it's the latter, it may be the connection between your motherboard and the power supply that causes it to boot into stealth mode. When this happened to me, replacing the power supply itself did no good and the motherboard ended up being replaced. Starting with the R3 models, AW did away with stealth mode, and I think we're all happier because of that decision.

 

For now, it seems to be a once off thing. The moment I restart my computer immediately after it starts up, it works fine.

It could be a loose connection, and all it takes is a start up for the parts to warm up and get the connection going again - just a stab in the dark!

It also seems to be CPU related, since all functions are slow and not just graphically intensive functions.

Thanks!

 

Kinda weird. Sounds like a warm start is the trigger to get it working? Have you simply cleaned out the heatsinks? It is way too hot and they can block solid after only a few months in my experience - dam* cat, 'Don't sit there!'

 

Currently researching on thermal compounds, pads and even what kind of alcohol (%) pads are best to use.

I've never done any laptop cleaning to that extent apart from just blowing out the vents, so I don't want to brick my lappy!

Once that research is done and I've got the stuff on hand, I'll open out the ol'Alienware and clean out the heatsinks to see if that helps

Is there anyway I can check to see the voltage going to each individual component to ensure it's not a power supply issue?

 

I'd go for a little more investigation before ripping it all down. You should be able to remove the GPU and heatsink as a complete assembly (after lifting the fan out). If you see a wad of fluff then you might have already found the problem without getting into pads and paste .

Load up HWInfo, you will see a ton of stats, temps, load, voltages, etc. Try to select only the monitors you are interested in if you are logging as you don't want a bunch of data confusing the issue .

Personally I'd just use msiafterburner as it has an on-screen-component and can quickly identify a heat issue. You set up the monitors you want to see in the settings and then fire up a game. Look at GPU temp, CPU1 temp, Clock, voltage, FPS. Fire up a game and the OSD should appear . If the temp issue is only on the CPU then you might be able to leave that together?

Repasting the CPU is the easiest, no pads to deal with and I use medical cleaning swabs (IPA), they are very convenient and easy to get.

Paste quality is IMO not that important, they all meet specifications required by the OEM's and it's usually a couple of degrees difference. Important for someone that wants to seriously overclock their machine where every C counts but often the better stuff has a shorter life (so I'm told?).

I like this old article for common sense approach Thermal Compound Roundup - October 2011 | Hardware Secrets haha, some of the stuff they try is too funny, but revealing!

Good luck.

 

Just opened the ol' faithful and cleaned it out. There were giant dust bunnies on the gpu/ cpu heatsink (fins) which were clearly causing unnecessarily high temperatures. Think I screwed in one of the cpu heatsink screws a tad tightly though; heard a crunch and now I can't remove it Also noticed that removing the cpu heatsink basically exposed the chip as well, so I probably should've bought some paste to re-paste it while I was in there.

That aside, my lappy's running really quiet now, with temperatures 62 degrees (c) and below. Hopefully I breathed a new lease of life into this machine to last another year!

Thanks for your help Micky and zombiegoat!

P.S: That thermal roundup surprise contender was hilarious. If mayo never went bad, that would've been an option for the repaste!

 

That's great, I thought it might be just clogged up . You really should get some paste for that CPU though. As you saw, it's easy enough to get to but with that mashed screw you could be in a bad place. .

Is your screwdriver a good fit, no wiggle when engaged?

Have you checked the CPU temps? I'm assuming the temp you quote is GPU...

 

CPU temps seem well within the 65 degrees range, which I'm guessing is quite normal? The fans aren't engaging as much as well, so the system seems to be running quite cool on it's own unless something is busted haha!

 

That sounds good to me. Usually I see around 70c-80c CPU when gaming hard, that's when you need to check the temp. The fans starting up more often is my 'indicator' it's time for a clean out .

You may get away with it but run something like prime95 ( Prime95 (64bit) - 25.11 Download - EXTREME Overclocking) to hit the CPU. Gaming might hit it as well, you want under-load numbers

 

I might avoid stressing the CPU for now haha Don't want to blow it up since this laptop's pretty old!

Had more time to do some testing, and while it runs cooler/ doesn't sound like it's taking off when gaming; it's still starting up in low power mode on the first run after it has been switched off at the mains.

Restarting it immediately after it enters windows works as usual, but it just seems so strange that this should be happening! If it were a power supply issue, I would think it'll just run on low power mode all the time...

I'll try turning it on at the mains for a couple of minutes before powering it on to see if that "helps".

 

Yeah, understood!

I have seen a machine that would only start 'normally' after a warm boot. Warm in this instance not relating to heat but a powered restart as opposed to 'cold' restart where it is fully powered down.

Could simply be a poor connection? Try reseating the RAM as well, simple enough and worth checking?

Strange problem .....