Help fix my Alienware M17x R1!

First I would like to say hello and thank you for reading my thread. I will use the search engine to look for threads in regards to this but in case if someone can help troubleshoot this problem I would greatly appreciate it. As title says, Please fix my Alienware M17x! I've had it only for a few days its already broken...

Ok, so I brought a M17x R1 used from someone online and I was told that the laptop is out of warranty so getting it fixed by Dell its out of the question.

The Problem:

At first it was the GTX 280m Video card(s). When I try using them I get a black screen with white diagnal lines going up. I'm not a computer genius but I can tell the video card is dead since I've tried reinstalling windows 7, windows vista (that originally came with the system as the seller claimed) and updating all drives and everytime I get the same problem. On the Integrated Card it works fine. so I assumed it might be a dust issue and so I decided to take the thing apart and clean it thoroughly from the inside of the laptop and I ended up damage it even more! In the process of trying to get to videocard (which I had no idea on how to get to it since I couldnt find the disassembly guide or videos) I ended up pulling a cable from the LCD (Dell part T557R) the wrong way from the motherboard and basically had to get a new one. Furious as I was since I am lacking on funds at the moment, I ended up buying the new cable on Ebay. I recieved the cable on friday and replaced the bad one and tested to see if it worked in which case it did. However, there was another 3 problems I noticed... 1st; I could not get the keyboard lights to work, 2nd; the keyboard was getting a delay whenever I typed stuff + some keys were not responding, 3rd; the mousepad did not work. I assumed that I had connected the cables in the wrong way or maybe they fell out. So I opened again and checked my wired and once again check to see if all is fine but now it went even worse! Everytime I open this thing it gets worse.. Ive put together maybe 5-6 PC's with no problem before but this is my first laptop and everytime I dig inside it gets more screwed up.

Current Problems:

1. Keyboard not working
2. Mouse pad not working
3. Lights not working
4. Nvidia Geforce 280M Card(s) not working (How can I tell which is broken and which is not?)
5. It doesnt seem to be charging when the charger is connected. (I know the charger works. as it carried a charge after I replaced the LCD wire)


PLEASE HELP! ! !

 

You should do a video search for M17X R1 tear down. There's a few of them and they'll probably help allot.

Here's one to get you started.

Edit: that's an R2, maybe this one would be more suitable.

 

I have seen this vido already after I damaged the LCD cable... for some reason I couldnt find it before when I first opened it up.

Update: So I opened it up again and with the keyboard pad & mouse tray + command center not in its position I connected with a battery to see if those pieces was working and all was well. so I assume that I must of mounted them on wrong and that is why it wasn't working. So now everything fixed but the dedicated video card(s). I so a thread about baking and I am tempted to try. Though I have a few questions.

Being that Im on nvidia 280m SLI, is there anyway to tell which vido card is bad? How do you know which card needs to be replaced?

I'm pretty sure this is a yes but to be 100% sure side but if I was to remove the 280M cards will the laptop still function with the integrated?

 

Never tried it without the discretes, but I'm guessing it should work on just the integrated.

Before trying to bake the 280Ms, try a few other things first. Flash the M17x A07 bios (if you haven't done so already), try the latest Nvidia drivers. Run on 1 GPU and switch the cards out to see if one is working properly (not sure if there's an issue with a different BIOS on the 2nd card or not). Maybe even try nvFlash and reflash the GPU BIOSes. Use the oven bake as the last resort.

 

I have the latest A07 Bios on it and no luck.

I have tried the latest nvidia drivers (from nvidia website), the drivers on Dell's website as well as the original drivers that came with the installation os Cd. All give me the same problem. on Windows 7 in device manager the graphic cards are not detected but in safe mode they are. In both modes (normal and safe mode) when hitting FN + F7 to change graphics I get this garbled up black image as if the card is bad. The Original owner said it was working fine up until he had went and re-installed the OS on it and thats when this problem had started.

It's a little late for me now so I will try running on 1 GPU and other alternatives tomorrow. I will post results.

Thanks for advice.

 

forgot about this post. well to post the results. lol..

Anyways to continue with my problems.

I tried connecting one GPU to see if it will run (first the slave, and then the parent) and for some reason it did not want to turn on. being that I got fustrated and didnt want to mess with it anymore I left it alone but I will try to mess wit it again tonight. It didnt occur to me till the following day the reason why it didnt turn on was because I had drained the battery. just before I had took out a card.
Yea I felt very stupid... lol

Anyways As Im pretty sure Im just going to get a new card(s) or used one if anyone here has for sale. I have a few Questions.

The Nvidia 280m Cards seem to be harder and more expensive to find than the ATI 38/48 70's which of the 3 cards would be best to place in?

Also If I decide to go ATI, what would I need to get besides the cards to go xfire? (is xfire and SLI cable different?)

 

First things first make sure you made the connections properly, after assembling youth system attempt a full power drain( remove system battery, power cord, remove the coincell battery near the system fan on the back of the laptop and hold the power button for ~20 seconds) replug your power cord, don't plug your system battery, turn on your system and access BIOS.
There go to advanced settings > graphic options and disable hybrid SLi and integrated GPU> save and exit. When in windows see if your 280m get detected.

To be able to run the 4870 in CF you'll need a CF ribbon/cable for the M17x, better buy them together as they are close to impossible to find appart.
The 3870 are not compatible as they run in MXM 2.1 slots, your machine has MXM 3.0

Sorry for the inconsistent reply but I'm in a hurry and also didn't wanted to leave you like this.

Let us know.cheers

 

Ok, so I did as you said and here are the results...

(I tried running on one GPU (primary X648) and went into the Bios to try and Disable both Hybrid and Integrated graphics, the hybrid seems to be grayed out as if I can't change the options on it. It is also set to Disabled. The Integrated is Also grayed out as if I cant change the options to it. The Integrated Graphics is set to Enabled. (If it matters I am running a A07 BIOS) as I load windows normally I go to Device manager to see if the card is detected and it is not there. I also try hitting FN + F7 and no luck. I restart to get into Safe mode to see if I see it in there since when the problem first started I only saw that it was detected on that. and it is now not showing there either.

I get the exact while running a single GPU on the secondary as well (X203) With the exact same Procedures done.

When Both Cards are Connected in the Bios there is the Option to Enable or Disable the Hybrid Graphics But its still not being detected in Windows. Normal or Safe mode...

 

Well I just Brought a primary card from Ebay so I hope that will take care of my problem though I am curious now as to why the Secondary is not showing up....

 

What do you see in Device Manager?
Did you start your system only with the power cord and no battery(to make sure the system won't start on the integrated)?

 

Device Manager only shows the Nvidia 9400 on normal windows bootup and in safe mode.Yes I had turned it on with the power supply as its only source of power and no batteries connected.

 

Ok. so I just got my new card I brought from Ebay and installed it but I am still getting the same problem I originally had with the video cards.a Black Screen with lines going up as if its connected with a faulty wire or something. This is really starting to burn my nerves, and to top it off now I'm starting to wonder if my original card still works.

HELP!

 

I suggest you take the card that you just bought and install the primary heatsink and pads on it(from the primary card ) put it in the primary slot and start your system only with it(no SLi).
See if you still get the lines.

 

The new Primary card I brought came with a heatsink and pads on it already. Do you mean to take the heatsink and pads from the old and replace it with the ones on the new card?

I tried running the new Primary with secondary and I got the black screen with white diagnal lines going upwards. This was on a Fresh Install Windows 7 and the nvidia Drivers on its website. I believe it was with the old drivers (not sure on version ) and not the new ones (Verde 275.33) that was released today. Though this time windows picked up both 280's in device manager when booting up normally and in safe mode.

I then went into safe mode uninstalled drivers, restarted and installed the drivers from dell website the 257.38 A03 and again... Black Screen White Lines.

Back again in safe mode uninstalled + Reinstalled with Dell's 197.84 P06 Drivers and this time I got a Screen as if it was out of sync (believe that what its called.) In anycase to describe it I can see the picture but the screen was moving upwards really fast. So better than black screen I guess.. but still no go...

I had done the exact same procedures on just the Primary Card and still got the exact same results.

Could it be a Driver related issue?

Now I did not mess around with the sytem BIOS since it was updated to A07 from the time I got the laptop. This Video Card problem started when the harddrive got reformmated. I am completly lost as to what to do now. on top of that I cant even confirm if this new video card is working or should I try to return it on Ebay.

I think I will try to contact AW tonight after I get out of work. Though I dont believe they will help me, I might as well try.

 

So everything was working properly when you got the laptop, but when you did a format/install of Win7, everything went wonky?

If so, that sounds software (i.e. driver) related rather than hardware.