M17X-R1 Not booting, help/suggestions needed

Hi all,

My M17X-R1 is currently having serious issues. The laptop no longer boots. When I try to power it on with the battery inserted, nothing happens. When I remove the battery and reset by holding the power button for 30 seconds, I can get some response. When I consequently plug in the AC adapter, the Alienhead lights start flashing, both on the back lid as on the power button. When I turn on the device, it seems to start up for a second. The power light goes on and the keyboard lights also turn on. However, within a second or so, the entire laptop shuts down. The screen does not display anything at all.

Any suggestions as to what this issue might be and how to solve it? I really would like to able to use my m17x again.

Thanks for the responses!

 

Try this troubleshooting, it could be several things so we need to isolate the issue.

 

Thank you for your response

I have uploaded a video of what happens when I boot up the laptop on YouTube : Alienware M17x-R1 not booting, no post, suggestions welcome - YouTube

As you can see, all three leds turn on when I power on the laptop. However, as the laptop shuts down immediately I cannot really determine if it just shuts down from a malfunction or if it is sending a "led on" or blinking error code. Should an emitted code have the leds keep emitting the code?

 

They normally stay on.

 

Thanks. That means the laptop unexpectedly shut down on some sort of error when I turn it on. No codes given.

I also reset the BIOS by disconnecting the CMOS battery for some time. Didn't help.

 

Update : Switched out the RAM in order to check it. It was fine, so that's not the problem.

As a next step I've ordered a cheap CPU (P8600) in order to test see what happens if I replace mine. I think I've seen that the P8600 is the cheapest/lowest CPU that is accepted by the Alienware M17x-R1 BIOS.

 

Update : Some succes today!

I did a complete disassembly, replaced the CPU and disconnected some non-essential stuff like the ODD, WLAN, BT etc...

Right now, the laptop seems to boot normally and does not auto-shutdown. However, I get nothing in the screen and the LCD error code is showing. So, it seems that the LCD connection or the cable is faulty. Will check this, might connect a different screen to the motherboard.

EDIT: Should the laptop show video output from the VGA or HDMI connections if the LCD cable is faulty?

EDIT2: Seems the connector for the LCD cable (left one, the wider one) is loose, so I will need to replace it. Does anyone know the part number I need and whether I can replace this cable? The cable that needs to be replaced is the one I'm pointing at with my screwdriver in the picture: