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.

    Blank Screen after CMOS battery removal, please help

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by jfidelh, Jan 19, 2012.

  1. jfidelh

    jfidelh Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Hi everyone, I have had a problem with my command center for months now ever since I reformatted my HDD and reinstalled windows. A few hours ago I came across a post about how to fix it.



    The same error message mentioned in the post would pop up on my computer so I followed the steps.

    I followed the steps and unplugged the coincell battery from the motherboard located behind the back cover. I then powered on my m17x laptop and now I have a blank screen with an underscore symbol blinking on the top left.

    Can someone please help me get my laptop working again.

    When I turn on my computer I get the f2 BIOS setup & f12 boot menu. It then goes to the blank screen.
     
    jfidelh, Jan 19, 2012
    #1
  2. aznpos531

    aznpos531 Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    457
    Messages:
    636
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    31
    Are there any beeps?
    In any case, when you reset the BIOS but pulling the CMOS battery everything in the BIOS reverts to default settings.
    I'm not sure if this is the cause but the default setting for the SATA Operation is RAID. If your OS was setup to run on either SATA or AHCI then Windows will not boot on the RAID setting.
    Try this. When the Alien head comes up, hit F2 to access the BIOS. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the advanced menu. Go down to "SATA Operation" and use the -/+ buttons to set it to AHCI. Save and reboot. If the same thing happens, repeat the process but set it to ATA/SATA (don't rmb which is listed there).
     
    aznpos531, Jan 19, 2012
    #2
  3. jfidelh

    jfidelh Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I tried that. I changed it to all 3 different settings under Sata Operation and it is still doing the same thing. Any other things I can change?
     
    jfidelh, Jan 19, 2012
    #3
  4. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    5,395
    Messages:
    4,571
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Which M17x do you own, and what are the basic specs, particularly video card. How many HDD's and which is the boot drive? What is your boot order?
     
    The Revelator, Jan 19, 2012
    #4
  5. jfidelh

    jfidelh Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    M17xr1
    BIOS Version: A02
    CPU Type: Intel (R) Core (TM)2 Duo
    2.93 GHz

    64bit
    4gb ram

    SATA ODD: DSK02 Optiarc DVDRW/BDROM
    SATA HDD 1: DSK00 WDC WD3200BJKT-75F4
    SATA HDD 2: DSK03 WDC WD3200BJKT-75F4

    Boot List

    *Hard Drive
    Optiarc
    USB
    Removable Devices
    Network
     
    jfidelh, Jan 19, 2012
    #5
  6. jfidelh

    jfidelh Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    4
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Revelator, I just changed up some things in the bios and it started working again. Ill go back into it and post what I changed. Thanks for everyones help. Now i just need help gettin my lights to work again.
     
    jfidelh, Jan 19, 2012
    #6
  7. The Revelator

    The Revelator Notebook Prophet

    Reputations:
    5,395
    Messages:
    4,571
    Likes Received:
    2
    Trophy Points:
    105
    Goof job and great news, jfidelh. Tell us what happened.
     
    The Revelator, Jan 20, 2012
    #7