M17X R2 - Won't work / Screen won't turn on.

Hello all.

I have an M17x r2 which is in perfect condition but randomly shat itself.

The screen won't turn on.. Can't even get to the bios screen. No fans run, the Alienware Head logo doesn't glow but the keyboard, HDD work fine.

The specs are as follows;
-I7 820 QM
-8GB of DDR2 Ram
-Dual ATI HD Radeon 5870m's in Xfire
-750gb HDD @ 7200 rpm.
-1200p RGB Display.

I took it to an IT store and they said it was one of the GPU's.. But if one of the GPU's don't work it should be able to boot so I wasn't convinced (they told me it would cost $800 to repair my laptop which is ridiculous).

I am at the point were I wan't to tear down the machine and try and fix it myself. It would be nice if I could get some suggestions.

Thanks!.. Nothing has been tried so far.

 

It shuts itself off at random? Even with a full battery?

 

No, I must have poorly explained it.. Sorry.

The unit itself cannot boot what so ever. I press the power button, Fans go for about 1 second and the Keyboard and "ALIENWARE" text illuminates and that is it. Everything else is off.

I suspect it might have something to do with a Ribbon Cable not being attached but I'm not laptop savvy. Please help me out guys and gals!.

I tried to CMOS drain it (Detached the CMOS Battery with the normal battery removed).I held down the Alien Head power button for a minute while the CMOS Battery was detached then re-attached it. I may have done it wrong, I don't know .. But it didn't help

Ohh , one more thing.. When I try and boot the unit, I cannot turn it off without removing the battery , The power button doesn't work.

D:

 

Sound like the motherboard is D-E-A-D. That or the BIOS became so corrupted that the system cannot power on properly. Both scenarios lead to the motherboard being replaced. Despite the warranty being expired, I'd call Alienware and explain the situation. See how much they would charge to have a tech come & fix it. I agree that 3rd party IT places are RIDICULOUSLY expensive. My cousin is a IT tech-for-hire, so I know how much they overcharge.

 

maybe the cable from the *powerbutton-panel* came a bit loose or needs to be replaced.(whole panel incl cable will cost about 20€-30€ I'd open it up if I were you: Remove AC adapter, open the backsidepanel, remove battery and there's 2 pretty long black screws you have to remove, then turn the laptop, open the lcd as far as you can and click the panel upwards between the keyboard and the panel, and after its loose gently turn it towards you(index fingers going up ) or you may damage the connected cable when to rough. It's really not hard and a job done fast.

detatch the ribbon cable, and check if its looking normal. reconnect the cable, put the AC powerd cord in and press the alienhead-powerbutton to see if it's working. No need to close it first, so you may double check.

Since you got power for one sec, I pretty much doubt this'll be the problem, but always worth a check I think.

And ALWAYS disconnect the powercord cable when you are messing with the ribbon cable. Besides that I wouldn't do anything further and just contact DELL. If you still have warranty, don't even open it!

Good luck for now!

 

Bugger.. Thanks for the fast responses. Do you think I could extend my warranty or appeal to and then get it fixed for free because this is 100% not my fault.

I'll probably give that one a try Blauwhelmpje

 

Definitely try Blauwhelmpje's suggestion. It can't hurt to try, considering the alternative is a motherboard replacement. Unplug & reseat the ribbon cable, then try booting up again.

 

I'm trying but the Power Button panel wont come off easy.. Watching a tear down vid .. Its hard getting it it off the hinge without almost snapping it and that I most certainly don't wan't to do.

Ok.. I did it and it didn't fix it.. the DVD Player also works fine though.. How much do you believe it would cost to get it replaced?.

Any more suggestions? .. This is really sad D:.

 

You mean the optical drive comes on for a second when the system is powered on? The fans are supposed to run on high and optical drive are supposed to come on, each just for 2 seconds, when you power on the notebook. Then the screen should show the Alienhead logo. That's what normally happens. You state your screen is not turning on. That is a problem. What alarms me is that your system is not beeping to show any malfunctions. If there was a problem with the BIOS, there would be one beep, if the LCD screen was not plugged in or malfunctioning, the 6 beeps. You aren't getting any beeps, correct? That is what leads me to believe your motherboard is dead or dying. As far as cost, you would have to take that up with Alienware support.

 

Are you positive there are no audible beep codes or blinking error messages on either the keyboard or the top bezel? Like Num Lock and Caps Lock blinking during boot. Normally a hardware failure would produce some sort of error. A video card error would normally show in a sequence of blinking Caps and Num Lock LEDs. Look for these.

Have you tried connecting to an external monitor? This should be the first test done when troubleshooting no display, unless you are positive the computer is not powering up.

It could be the motherboard, but could also be something more simple like a bad RAM stick (more common). Try pulling each RAM chip out and replacing one at a time booting each time to see if the problem remains. If you notice a change in behavior, swap the RAM chips in different slots to identify bad RAM or slots.

It could also be a bad video card. You'd have to pull the primary card (left side) and replace it with the secondary card to see if one of them is the problem. This takes time and if you've never repasted a GPU before you may want to have it done for you.

Worst case scenario, it is the motherboard. Not because it's the most expensive part to replace ($250-$300 on Ebay)
m17x r2 motherboard | eBay
but because you have to dissemble the whole machine to replace it. I imagine having this done professionally would cost you quite a bit. But I would test the LCD, RAM, AC adapter and video cards before I even thought of the mobo. It is not usually the point of failure.

 

I agree. Test everything (swap RAM modules and use each of the slots, and swap the graphics cards around). If it was a bad RAM DIMM or GPU, then it should still give beep fault code. Or at least, thats what this says: Alienware Beep Codes Table

 

you can try swapping the memories, a motherboard power drain and reseatting the CMOS battery, if after doing that the issue is still the same send us an e-mail to [email protected] and include my name on it along with your service tag and phone number and we will review your case and get back to you with a resolution as soon as possible. After the outcome let the community know down here what was the resolution.

 

There you go rexxxy, help from above. If you figure out what the problem is, let us know.

@radji...+1 for beep codes table. I was looking for it and the LED error codes but couldn't find either. I know they are somewhere on Dell's site as I've used them before.

@rexxxy....also look for the LED error codes table for the M17Xr2 if you don't hear anything. I've had multiple video cards die (faulty 6970s and 6990s) and they displayed similar symptoms to what you describe. Check the system documentation/user manuals on support.dell.com.

 

Ok, Thanks alot guys. When I get home I will try out the swapping of the RAM Modules but I don't quite understand how to Reseat the CMOS battery and drain the motherboard, a guide would prove helpfull .

I don't hear any beeps. Could the audio somehow be disconnected? or do the beeps come from the board itself?.

@Alienware L Porras you will probably be getting any email from me at around 5pm tonight if these thing's don't resolve the issue.

Thanks for all of your help guys.. Anything else that is usefull would help though

EDIT : The machine is out of warranty.


I tried reseating the RAM, Nothing happened... I unplugged the CMOS and held the AlienHead logo .. I don't know if I actually have to pull the battery off (It's glued down or something) but the CMOS thing I did do didn't work , If I have to remove the actually battery not just unplug it please tell me.

 

I just got quoted for $792 for a replacement motherboard by Dell (Through Support). To be honest I believe that is absurd.

 

If that price includes installation then it sounds about right. Resetting the CMOS battery is an advised troubleshooting step but usually just fix anything. I still feel that you should test the video cards before you go looking to replace the motherboard. The majority of the problems with these laptops are video card related. If Dell is able to confirm it is the motherboard, then that's fine. I'd hate to see you pay for a motherboard and have the problem remain.

 

Yeah, for that price you should test the RAM modules and GPUs before plunking down cash. Better to be safe than super pissed.

 

Yeh. . I'll tear it down and reseat the GPU's. The RAM modules weren't the issue and I can't find aguide on the CMOS reseat. Thanks guys

 

Ghost, here is the Alienware LED code table. Is there a sticky in the forum I should post the beep code and LED code tables to for everyone's reference?

 

This is essentially what I just did...CPU was randomly shutting off on me, I was out of warranty.

I called them and negotiated a price for a 2 year extended warranty...Wasn't cheap, about $600....But worth it, as I sent it into Depot for repair.

I tried troubleshooting the system myself after I had gotten the warranty, and ended up f'ing it up even more...So if you aren't really well versed in fixing cpu's, I would just get the warranty.

 

Don't forget to take your hard drive out before you send it to depot though.

 

Meh .. I'm not going to go through Dell. I just got offered 2x6970's Intel 940xm QS and a New mobo for $800 and I am very happy about that deal.

I'll tell you guys what happens, I receive the Items in 5 days and they actually work! .

Thanks for all the help and support.

 

Wow. That's a good price. Actually it's too good. I hope you either know the person or at least trust their reputation. They could sell those 4 items for well over $1000 easy.

If it's seems legit then congrats. Between all of those items, I'm sure your problem will be resolved. If you are installing all of this yourself, I suggest watching this teardown video:
Part 1
M17x Teardown Video1 of 2 **READ SAFETY PRECAUTIONS PRIOR TO REPLACING PARTS** (Official Video) - YouTube
Part 2
M17x Teardown Part 2 of 2 **READ SAFETY PRECAUTIONS PRIOR TO REPLACING PARTS** (Official Video) - YouTube

Be sure to read up on this thread to familiarize yourself with the 6970 upgrade process. There are a lot of things you should know when putting these cards in your M17X R2, especially when installing an Extreme processor as well.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-6990-your-m17x-r2-single-gpu-crossfirex.html

 

I hope they actually work too...that deal seems a little too good to be true.

 

Your problem sounds like the problem I had with my R2. No cable or card
reset fix it. I have a friend that had old left and right video cards for the R2.
I swap out the #0 or left video card(left card is the one it boots up on) and
it worked. If the problem is the same as mine than swaping out the #0
video card should fix it. Good luck

 

Well I am picking it up from his residential address and he is installing them also so if they don't work I get my money back.

If the pieces work but don't resolve my issue I will probably cry haha.

thanks.

 

Hi guys, sorry if the bump is a little late but instead of opening a new thread i came to resolve an issue of my own. I ordred 2 silver m17x peices (the chassios) and moved all the components for the old one i have to the silver. IT looks nice buuuuut when i click the power button it starts up (screen wont turn on) and it makes 3 really loud beeps and all the leds turn on, the nothing happens. could this be that i didnt connect the CPU properly or what?

ohh forgot to mension the caps and num lock leds keep flashing

 

Blinking Caps and Num indicates a problem with your memory sticks. Reseat them or try only one stick and see what you get.

 

When I just got my new R2, I had the similar problem. But the motherboard is fine. The Radeon video 5870m cards are fine. There is just one tiny problem-- there is a little bug in the video card BIOS when they left the factory. Flashing to the new radeon card BIOS should solve the problem.

First, you need to reset the laptop so it could reboot. You just unplug the laptop, take off the battery and wait for one minute then put back the battery and plug. Now you should be able to power on your M17X by push the power-on button.

Second, go to Dell web site and download the new Radeon 5870m BIOS into a 2GB flash drive. (Must be 2GB flash drive, can't be bigger. Blame Dell for this.)

Third, reboot the laptop. Boot to the flash drive, not the hard drive (meaning you may need to change M17X BIOS setting). And flash the video card BIOS.

 

katalin i am sorry its the scroll and the caps that are blinkin and i forgot to mention the beeps.


so first of all its 1 long beep and 2 short beeps and then the caps and scroll light up and start blinking after a while after it does the beep noises what should i try? i did reseat and i tried everything

 

Scroll and caps blinking indicated "The video card is preventing the system from completing POST." The three beeps is "System Board Chipset Failure". Check out the tables:

Beep Codes Table

LED Codes Table

That indicated hardware failures.

 

so the hardware just failed? just like that? ohhhh maybe because the bottom chassis i am using is from the R1? while the mother board and ect, are R2 compontents? or maybe because while i was disassembling i didnt wear a static wrist band?

 

Different chassis shouldn't affect the performance...as long as all the circuitry is R2. Not wearing the anti-static wristband...very possible that could have zapped something. It could also be something is installed wrong (a cable that isn't connected, etc.). I would double check the hardware before I go spending money on new parts.

 

The bottom chassis and lid are the same for the M17x and M17x R2.

I would check the LCD plug, that usually gives a false impression of being connected to the motherboard while it is not.

Also, always drain the power from your system before tearing it down and wear an anti static wristband etc.

 

alright and i drain the power by removing the battery and clicking on the button for a while. Anywyas Katalin i sent it to the Dell Franshisee in Egypt to repair it (cause thats where i bought it from) booooyy i sure hope they know what they are doing. abit of a general question BTW, do u think that the alienwares internals are of high quality? because all of those paper ribons and ducktape make me feel... I dont know ripped off. I just wanted to ask if all high end laptops are built the same. Cause i ordered an m18x and i hope i didnt do a mistake : d

 

Ribbon cables are supposed to be there...but duct tape??

 

there is was a couple of peices of duck tape, but it isnt nessecary for anything (its just to keep the system more "örginized"). So the Ribbon cables are not only in Alienware machines then?

 

I've seen ribbon cables in many, many machines. But recently, there have been less and less. I guess the OEM's have figured out they don't last as long as traditional cables.

 

The presence of the paper duct tape is normal. Its purpose is to prevent damage to the plug when disassembling. I also secured my ribbon plugs with electrical tape and replaced all of them with longer ribbons (especially the one under the power button).