M17x R3 580m won't boot

Really hoping somebody can help...

My M17x R3 GTX 580m 120hz 3D won't boot. It powers on, keyboard and alien head lights up, but no video on the screen. The power keeps cycling over and over (system powers on, keyboard lights up for a second, shuts down, repeats) every few seconds with no video until I do a hard shutdown.

I've tried power drains with pulling the CMOS (worked once then never again), reseating the GFX card... all to no avail. I'm using Linux Mint Debian Edition and I had just updated the Nvidia driver from 304 to 319(I think) a couple of days before this happened. Not sure if it's just coincidence or has something to do with it.

I'm wondering if maybe the BIOS somehow got set to use the IGFX, which won't work on this system. I've been using the unlocked A12 BIOS for the last 6 months with no issue. I'm going to try a blind BIOS flash, but I'm doubtful I'll be that lucky.

I have a lot of experience repairing computers and I'm led to believe this is either mainboard or GPU failure, but I can't figure out for sure. One thing that is odd is that I don't get any diagnostic beeps at power on, just keeps turning off and on with no video. I can't afford to replace parts at random, or any parts at the moment, and of course I'm not covered under warranty anymore. Any help would be greatly appreciated

 

Despite there being no beeps a GPU failure could still ve there.

You could try to boot the system without a GPU installed that way if / if it doesn't boot you can isolate that part from the problem. - You may find it will boot from the intel onboard graphics.

I know you said you've tried resetting cmos, but trying it again wouldn't hurt.

This advice may seem like a bit out of the ordinary but perhaps you could reseat all the cables from scratch and ensure everything is seated properly and comfortably . A loose connection may also be causing detection issues and forcing reboots. I've had an issue with what I believe to be an incorrectly seated monitor cable forcing reboots occasionally.

Let me know how it goes; I would leave a blind flash as a last resort. So many problems can occur with flashing, the last thing you'd want to do is push yourself into a worse situation.

 

I am guessing there is a compatibility issue with the 120Hz display. Something may have well flipped the BIOS setting to SG mode in error. If that is the case, try clearing the CMOS again. Pull the CMOS battery (with power and system battery disconnected) and bridge the pins on the wire connector at the motherboard. Leave the system without any power to the motherboard or CMOS battery for at least 24 hours and it may clear the NVRAM if the BIOS uses that.

If this does not work, you may need to disconnect the 120Hz display from the motherboard and temporarily connect a normal 60Hz display in order to access the BIOS setup pages and disable SG mode. Pulling the 580M will not accomplish anything because the Intel HD Graphics is the component that is not compatible with the 120Hz display. It would only exacerbate the problem if the IGFX is the only display output source available.

I would also yank the hard drives out so Linux doesn't have the opportunity to screw everything up for you a second time. Format them while they are out. Linux is barely ready to handle ordinary gaming and I think the 3D display is probably outside of the norm enough that it doesn't have proper support. I could be wrong, but it seems like an unwarranted risk.

If you haven't already, you can also attempt a blind recovery flash as a last ditch effort. That still works on the M17xR3, but may not on the new systems because the USB 3.0 ports are often inaccessible in a pre-POST environment. You will need to use the eSATA/USB 2.0 combo port on your R3. If you interrupt the process, your motherboard will likely end up bricked. This seldom fails and when it does it is typically attributable to user error.

I don't recall if Alienware ever updated the M17xR3 BIOS to include Secure Boot. Hopefully they have not, but if they did, you cannot use Secure Boot with 3D display. It is my understanding it is not compatible and it will prevent your system from booting; and, it may cause a black screen/no POST condition if you enable Secure Boot.

I am putting this in the M17x sub-forum since it a model-specific issue.

 

Thanks for the suggestions, guys. I'm going to do the 24 hour power drain (partially, because I just don't feel like messing with this today), then disconnect the SSDs, non-critical peripherals, extra RAM etc., double check the cable connections and clean and repaste the GPU.

When I reseated the GPU, the heatsink popped right off without applying any pressure and the paste job looked really sloppy- paste smeared around the chip, possibly shorting something out. Thanks, Dell! I recommend anyone reading this to immediately repaste your CPU and GPU to avoid the several thousand dollar paperweight syndrome, which seems so prevelant with these machines. I understand now why there's so many repaste guides for these computers online.

I'll test if any behavior's changed after this, if not, I'll try a blind flash to a stock BIOS. I've read that a lot of people had to disconnect their GFX card for the flash to work. Does anyone know if this is the case for the 120hz model? I know the Intel onboard GFX not being able to drive this display kind of changes the game from the regular models with the 60hz displays. Also, has anyone else had issues with the unlocked A12 BIOS bricking their system? I don't know if this is my case, but any info is valuable to me in trying to solve this situation.

Is there anyone else out there who's had this problem- powering on and off indefinitely, without video and no booting, and not beeping out any error codes? I haven't been able to find a case exactly like this anywhere online. So far, diagnostics tells me it's likely the mainboard or GPU, but these components are too expensive to replace without being sure. Also, I'm probably going to end up having to replace one of these so, any direction where to get a decent price from a reputable seller would also be appreciated. I've tried just hurling fistfuls of cash directly at my computer, but so far no luck.

Once again, thanks for everyone's help. I'm incredibly grateful.

 

I've seen it before on different machines, the bets thing you could do is get somebody who can test the video card for you... If it works then the mobo will need to be replaced.

 

After trying everything I can think of to diagnose this, I'm still pretty much where I started. I tried a blind flash and the process seemed to complete, but no change in behavior- keeps power cycling with no video. I tried blind flashing several more times, with the GFX card both in and out of the machine. Oddly, the flash process wouldn't complete again, which leads me to believe it's a mainboard failure.

I'm still at a coin toss between the mainboard and GPU, but I'm leaning towards the mainboard due to the erratic behavior. I don't know anyone with a compatible machine to test the GFX card; going to call around and see if I can find a service center that can test. If anyone has this model with the 120hz screen and would be willing to pull their GFX card to see what happens when they power up, I'd be grateful. I would expect it would at least power up and throw an error code.

I called Dell to price a mainboard, because I'd be willing to buy from them with a warranty rather than getting it cheaper off of Ebay or second hand. They want $470 and will only warranty it for 90 days. They wouldn't even let me pay for an extended warranty, which tells me they don't expect their parts to last. I am incredibly disappointed. I thought by spending top dollar I would get something at least a bit more reliable than the rest of the junk out there, but I guess Alienware is no better.

The CSR I spoke to actually suggested I should just buy from Ebay or another retailer.

At this point I'm debating whether I want to fix this, and regularly have to dump hundreds of dollars into it every few months, or just put it on Ebay.

Thanks again for everyone's help.