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.

    M17x R2 fails to post every day.

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by brlowe, Aug 17, 2012.

  1. brlowe

    brlowe Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    4
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I have a M17x R2 with a 720qm and gtx 285 sli in it. Every day I go to use it the first time I hit the power button the fan comes on the keyboard lights up and then nothing. After a few seconds the fan stops. So I hold the power button down ad then the keyboard and power switch lights go out but the fan comes back on. I have tried everything and nothing will make it boot except to pull the battery and power cord for a few seconds then hook it up and it will boot and function fine, until the next day when it does it all over again.
    Before I call dell does anyone have any ideas?
    Remember when it fails I do not even get to a bios screen so nothing can be done.
     
    brlowe, Aug 17, 2012
    #1
  2. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

    Reputations:
    1,141
    Messages:
    1,459
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Do you hear any beeps?

    It may be also caused by excessive static, which may also explain why a power drain will make it work.
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Aug 17, 2012
    #2
  3. brlowe

    brlowe Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    4
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I get one beep I think. I had it running this morning then shut it down for about 4 hours, did not move it or touch it and it failed again when I tried to power it up.
    I have 4 other computers there and do not have static problems with them, plus the fact that it happens every day.
     
    brlowe, Aug 17, 2012
    #3
  4. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

    Reputations:
    2,377
    Messages:
    5,040
    Likes Received:
    277
    Trophy Points:
    251
    Could it be a dead CMOS battery? Just a thought :)
     
    bigtonyman, Aug 17, 2012
    #4
  5. brlowe

    brlowe Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    4
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I can check the battery this weekend, not sure why pulling the battery and power cord would make it boot if the CMOS battery is dead but it is the first different idea I have heard so I will check it out.
     
    brlowe, Aug 17, 2012
    #5
  6. Alienware-Luis_Pardo

    Alienware-Luis_Pardo Guest

    Reputations:
    1,141
    Messages:
    1,459
    Likes Received:
    8
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Here's the Alienware beep code table. 1 beep could be related to System Board, BIOS corruption or ROM error. Did this start after a BIOS flash?

    Maybe try reseating the CMOS battery first though.
     
    Alienware-Luis_Pardo, Aug 20, 2012
    #6
  7. brlowe

    brlowe Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    4
    Messages:
    87
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I played with it some mre this morning.
    Pull battery and put it back in.
    Boots to windows fine. Do a windows shutdown.
    Try to boot again, press power button get fan then keyboard lights and nothing else. Fan will stop in a short time. Press power button again and fan comes on again. Still no boot or post. Press and hold power buttong to shut down does not work.
    Pull battery and put it back in and now it will boot fine.
    Shut down again and it fails again.
    Windows reboot works fine.
     
    brlowe, Aug 20, 2012
    #7
  8. Alienware-Pablo_R

    Alienware-Pablo_R Company Representative

    Reputations:
    205
    Messages:
    171
    Likes Received:
    9
    Trophy Points:
    31
    When the system doesn't post, can you see the Scroll, CAPS or NUM Leds blinking? If they do, check this article for more info. Try clearing the CMOS too and see if that makes a difference. Here's the service manual for a useful guide.
     
    Alienware-Pablo_R, Aug 21, 2012
    #8