M17X R2 - Will not turn on

Hello everyone,

First off I am sorry that my first post is a cry for help but I REALLY need someone right now - I don't know whether to throw this machine against the wall or start weeping uncontrollably.

Today everything was *perfect* with my R2, I was working on a work project and when I finished, I saved and put the computer on suspend mode (Fn+F1) for no more than 2 hours while I left to the gym. I come back press the power button and nothing happens.

I know this system in and out, here is what it does when booting, in order:
GPU fan goes to highspeed for a second
Lights come on (touchpad and fx - not the alienhead button, that one doesn't come on 'til I'm in Windows - this has been so since ever)
Checks optical drive
Speakers (external 5.1 system) pop ever so slightly
Initial Alienware bootscreen shows
I'm in business

Now when I press the power button, just the GPU fan part happens, but it never stops - it stays on highspeed "forever". I press all the keys, the power button, nothing, not even bleeps. The only way to shut it off from here is to pull the battery out.

I noticed that if I plug into the AC, the lights come on (touchpad and fx), but that's it - fan stays spooled up and nothing else happens. I've left it like this for a while and nothing.

I read around a lot of forums and the only thing I found was unplugging the coin battery, I did it but it didn't fix it. Now can someone verify the instructions to do this? (I'm just hoping that I didn't do it right and maybe the main battery or PSU had to stay in while I unplugged/plugged the coin battery)

Now I'm pretty tech savvy and the part that has me boiling inside is that literally NOTHING happened to this machine in the 2 hours that I was gone. I live alone and I have the machine plugged in to a surge protector (which I turned off before leaving - after the computer was asleep), Everything else plugged into this surge protector is fine. Needless to say I've babied this investment and for this to happen out of nowhere feels like a punch in the groin.

UPDATE:
I ran a BIOS POST check by taking out all the components of the system and replacing them one by one per the error codes (flashing function lights) the computer gave. It passed the initial check, asked for RAM. Gave it RAM, passed the RAM check, asked for GPU. Gave it GPU (GTX285M) and... the problem I mentioned in the OP happened (fan stuck at high speed - system unresponsive).
Is this enough to call the GPU dead?
Is there any way I can force the computer to use the integrated graphics? (the screen shows nothing and without the GPU the BIOS check pauses at GPU)
Is the GPU my only problem?
Also, sorry to ask so many questions, if my GPU is dead, I'm thinking of just upgrading instead of replacing, is there a suitable plug-and-play (would rather not do any mods) GPU upgrade to use in the M17XR2 (non-SLI)?

Thank you very much anyone who replies!

 

There's no integrated graphics in the R2. Only, R1, R3, and R4. Which type of error code is it giving, LED or Beep? And which one?

 

I'm not that familiar with the R2 system but from what you wrote, the coin battery is actually a CMOS battery. I'm pretty sure when you remove that CMOS battery, you will have to press the power button for 30s or something. If the 1st time fails, try 2nd time. It may take more than 1 try.

 

Thank you for responding!
With the videocard hooked up I get no error codes or bleeps, when I turn on the computer all that happens is that the GPU fan stays at high speed and nothing else, no obvious BIOS checks (optical drive), nothing.
With the videocard out I get 3 beeps (one long two short) followed by the scroll & caps lock LEDs flashing (NUM stays on) which, according to Dell Support corresponds to "The video card is preventing the system from completing POST."

Yeah, I finally figured it out and did like 5 times and it didn't help

 

The beeping and LED flashes while the card is out is normal. It's the system telling you that the GPU is not detected or responding. You have not said what GPU you have...you should post your specs. By to by, do you happen to have a spare GPU to install into your R2 to test if it's the previous GPU is causing the problem? If not, there's not a whole lot you can do to check the functionality of a GPU in these notebook. It may just be a dead video card after all.

 

On the 2nd post, the OP said he has the 285M. If the R2 does not come with integrated card then it's pretty useless to reset BIOS then. Agreed with radji that the OP should try another card, or call Dell if the R2 is still within warranty.

 

Ahh, got it. I must've read straight thru that line without processing the information. :rolleyes2:

Yeah, I think getting a warranty replacement is the best bet by far.

duderseb, if your R2 is out of warranty (like mine), you can try and get an Nvidia 680m from Dell. I've been advised (by modders here in the forum...NOT by Dell or Alienware) the Dell version of the 680m is totally compatible with our R2s. No VBIOS flashing, changing of settings or modified driver files required, and all functions like HDMI/DP audio and auto fan control are supposed to work as they should. The downside is the 680m is very expensive and its constantly out of stock. I've got a PM in to the Alienware reps here in the forums to see if they have the card back in stock. I will let you know if/when I hear back from them.

 

Thank you for the replies.

I'm out of warranty so it appears that my only option is to just buy a new GPU. Here is my problem, I am out of the country and I have this small window during christmas and new year's (when I go back home) to get that card. So if that 680m is constantly out of stock it may not be a good idea for me. Aside from getting another 285m, is there anything else I can upgrade with? If nothing else, then where should I purchase a new GTX285m from? (that is "guaranteed" to make the system work again)

Man I'm getting pretty desperate with that time window to restore this system - otherwise I'm royally screwed for work, I found this card, can someone confirm that it will be a "plug and play" replacement, so to speak:
Dell Alienware NVIDIA 285M GTX 1GB Primary VGA Card M17x P N X648M | eBay My GPU's part number is 35RJH, but I've found different ones, namely, VFCM7, V4THJ, X648M - can I use any of these? Or I *have* to get my specific P/N ?

THANK YOU!

 

It's probably better if you can go to the AW fanpage in FB and message them privately. They should be able to help you with this. Another option is to go to NBR Marketplace, just scroll down to the bottom of this forum. You should be able to find a 680M there, or may be 675M.

 

You can also send us an e-mail to [email protected] and we'll be able to serve you better.

 

Go with Alienware for getting a replacement Nvidia 285m card. I was quoted $360 for a reman replacement. $100 more but there's no guesswork on whether it will be plug and play or not, and you get the Dell promise that the card will work more than 30 days for you.

 

Hello everyone I'm back.
I finally got a replacement gtx285m, guaranteed to work and with a 60 day warranty; however, here's what's happening now:
The computer boots up fine but as soon as it's about to go into Windows (after the loading screen) it BSODs and automatically restarts giving me an option to restart Windows normally or go into a Repair/Recovery menu. I go to the second, the computer runs a lengthy scan and returns with "Startup repair has tried several times but still cannot determine the cause of the problem"
I have tried recovering the system to an earlier restore point and no luck.
The data in the drives appears to be fine, I can see everything when I browse through the cmd prompt.

I suspect this might have to do with me pulling the coin battery while the computer was on standby mode but I'm not entirely sure.

If anyone can help me I will be very grateful!

 

BSODs almost always point to software or driver errors. When you installed the new GTX285, did you redo all it's drivers as well? If not, you should uninstall it's drivers (in safe mode) and clean install the 285m's drivers again using the initial ones from the Dell website.

 

Thanks for the reply, I've been tinkering all morning with this and I can't boot into safe mode either. It hangs at classpnp.sys before it BSODs and restarts. Any ideas?

 

After looking up the classpnp.sys error, here is what I've come up with. Most users are reporting that if they change their OS drive from AHCI to IDE mode, the problem goes away. Try that to start with and see if it works. [SOLVED] Windows 7 hang on boot (Classpnp.sys)

 

Allright, I went to the BIOS and I have 3 options
- AHCI
- ATA
- RAID

I don't see IDE or Compatibility (per your link) - RAID seems functionality to change the operation of my 2 HDDs,

I tried switching from AHCI to ATA and restarting. Initial alienhead BIOS logo stayed on for far longer than usual... Same problem.

I am now trying to rerun system checks to see if there's any difference there.

I also read that replacing the classpnp.sys driver with a new one might help, unfortunately my other system is a Mac so I can't get a hold of a new classpnp.sys file, any ideas where I can procure one?

 

Do you have the black Alienware Windows disc? You can try extracting the sys file from the install CD.

 

Hey radji, thanks again. I tried copying over a new/fresh classpnp.sys from my recovery disc and nothing :'(
I also tried just renaming the classpnp.sys to classpnp.old and same thing except it BSOD'd at the previous driver (disk.sys)

I just ran all the hardware tests in the Alienware Resources Disk (took like 12 hours) and everything passed.

I also tried booting the machine with and without my external monitor hoooked up - no luck (worked for some guy)

Seems that I am slowly being herded towards a reformal/fresh OS install. If it comes to this, I have a quick question - I have two Hard Drives on Raid1. Can I remove one of these (to keep all my files as I currently have no way of backing up ~400GB of data) and perform the reformat on the single drive?

 

Yes, do a clean Windows reinstall and that will probably take care of the problem. If you need help with that, have a look at the opening posts of each of these threads:

HOW TO: Windows Installation Guide for HDD, SSD, RAID0 - Questions and Troubleshooting Thread

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ook-feel-after-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

 

You can definitely remove one of your drives and reformat a single drive. You may want to change the drive settings from RAID to AHCI on the BIOS though. As for getting at your files again from the other RAID drive, that's very possible. With RAID 1 (and your sure it was RAID 1, yes?) as long as one disc is good, the files are safe since them's all's are intact on one of the RAID drives. One thing I've done in the past...way, way, long ago, is use Linux to mount the single RAID 1 drive and retrieve files off of it. Linux will recognize the partitions, Windows will not. The big catch is you will need to copy your files and data from the RAID drive to the freshly reformatted drive of you need to get at them. Here is a tutorial which does a good job stepping you thru the process. I would advise you to install Ubuntu on a thumbdrive and run it from there so you don't have to install Linux on your hard drive.

HOWTO: Recover files from a RAID 1 (mirrored) driv... - Western Digital Community

 

Thanks for the links Mr. Fox!

Radki,
Yes, positive it is Raid1
What you mention about changing to AHCI/ATA is done after I take out the second drive but before I reformat? Or before everything?

Thanks!

 

The steps would be, turn off your R2. Take out one of the drives, preferably the one in Bay 1 (use an anti-static bracelet and anti-static bag to keep it in). Turn back on your notebook. Go into the BIOS. Change the drive setting to AHCI. Then insert the Windows installer disc, reformat the hard drive and install Windows again.

 

I really want to thank everyone for their patience and helpfulness - especially radji!

Alas, I come with more poop to throw

By chance I found out exactly what was happening that was not letting me boot into Windows. The BIOS HDD settings were supposed to be setup as Raid config and then Raid1, since I had pulled the CMOS it reverted to its default of AHCI and that was causing problems on boot.

I set the hard drive config to Raid1 and it booted properly (in terms of the DOS screens that flash post BIOS logo) except now I get Windows Boot Manager which reports the following problem:
File: \Boot\BCD
Status: 0xc000000e
Info: An error occurred while attempting to read the boot configuration data.

It is asking for the Windows Repair Disc. I made one when I first got the system but, darn my luck, when I boot into it I receive an immediate error dialog:
Error 0x4001100200001012

I hit OK and the computer restarts. Seems the disk was not created right.

The Windows Disk provided by Alienware does not have a repair option - seems to be only for installation purposes.

Also, I can't boot into the Advanced Boot Options (F8).

Does anyone know where I can get me a Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Repair Disk .iso or similar that I can burn and boot into? I've looked online but the only place I found charges $20.

(Yes, I'm really trying not to reformat)

 

UPDATE:
I found this website:
Boot From a CD
Particularly:
Windows 7 Recovery Disk | Boot from CD

Can someone confirm if it's safe/legit? Or if there is a way I can check the downloaded .iso to be so? (Aside from a good ol' virus scan)

 

Hmm when you popped in your AW W7 disk, did you see anything like Repair your computer? It's on the lower left corner of the W7 installation window.

As much as you dont' want to reformat the HDD, you can't really assure something like this won't happen again, I think you should just reformat the hard drive and partition it. Make a separate partition for Windows and the rest for your Steam, movies, pictures etc... That will help a lot in case something like this happen again. And from my own experience, something wrong that will required reformatting hard drives happens a lot. Better be safe than sorry. I know some people have 2 hard drives in their laptop so putting W7 on a separate hard drive is not a problem for them, but as for yourself, just partition your hard drive.

If you have important data that you don't want to format, a SATA to USB cable will help you back up your data before reformatting.

 

Oh, that's no bueno. That error signals a problem with the OS partition's boot code or the volume's master boot record. Not something y'all want to go wrong. If you can't find your recovery CD or the recovery CD doesn't want to work, you should be able to use the Alienware Windows 7 Installation DVD that came with your system...provided the Alienware DVD contains the same version of Windows 7 that y'all have installed on your R2. If the system still doesn't want to use the Alienware DVD to fix the startup, try the steps listed here: \Boot\BCD Problem!! - Microsoft Community

Before you go into the steps listed there, reboot and go into the BIOS. In the boot tab, move the optical drive up the list above the hard drives so the system will boot from the installation disc. Then insert the disc and exit the BIOS saving the new changes. If the BIOS boot to the Windows installer you may need to hit F6 or something to tell the installer you're using a RAID volume. Then select your keyboard and language and hit next. But don't select clean install windows. You want to select repair windows. Now follow the steps listed in attached troubleshooting post. See if that gets y'all anywhere.