M17xR2 Gave up...

So... I have finally done almost all there was to be done, short of modding the 330W PSU, even got the RGBLED screen, but today, with seemingly trivial issue, such as replacing the hinges for the screen (the ones it came with were wobbly and closed lid detection didn't work for some reason), after the process itsimply won't start. No power. Nothing. No short, the blue light is constantly on. I thought it may have been the power ribbon giving up, but I've borrowed one from M15x (same line layout, only shorter), still nothing. Took everything out, power drained, took out one GPU, both GPUs, CPU, pulled out drives, keyboard, to force any kind of a reaction, plugged the previous screen in, nothing. Any suggestions? Hit me.

 

Dying motherboard

 

I was afraid that would be among first replies. I'm still hoping to bring it back to life though. For now it's left with no battery and CMOS battery plugged out overnight.

EDIT: Tomorrow I will try changing to a spare 740QM I have lying around, in one of the threads I've found a clue that this might help.

 

Projects such as these are a painful and more common than not not rewarding lol.

But its awesome when it works, I suggest you just put it down for a while and come back to it, as we tend to overlook the simplest of procedures in the excitement of process itself.

There were many a time when I thought I killed my Ranger, only to realize something trivial overlooked, or even new issues like too much pressure, not enough pressure, or an incorrect length of screw.

Take a break and come back to it in a week or so.

 

I know, what you say is absolutely true I probably should, I've been too attached to it for a while, especially at the brink of unlocking full potential of this baby Three PSU's stripped and I've either fried the ID chips or just have bad luck and the base 330W PSU is simply not giving out any power on the ID line, which would explain why I can't get the ID chip to run. many vBIOS failures, and so on, I must say, this hobby is terribly addictive

 

I can confirm this comment to be accurate.

 

Yep, I've been trying to convince myself I dont need an F5 but that itch needs to be scratched.

To make desktops more exciting it gets way out of my budget lol

 

You guys are telling me. I’ve decked out every Alienware in my possession dating back to the M17x R1.

 

It's alive again! I have no idea what have I overlooked. The fact of the matter is that the alien control panel with the power button isn't receiving power. I was able to switch it on with the override (the small square hole with a push switch), which is odd, since I've tried that yesterday and it didn't budge, but neither original nor the M15XR2 cable is getting supplied with DC. Will investigate further. Thanks so far for support in my moment of grief

EDIT: so task for tomorrow is to get AWM 20798 tape, on the web it's about a buck a meter, so dirt cheap, and I will have plenty spare

 

Sometimes EC gets stuck on a bad value and a power drain or period of inactivity will reset it

 

Yeah, but no response to control panel and general inactivity on that area puzzles me. Granted, the ribbon is pretty worn away, and I presume not happy with being taken in and out repeatedly over the course of last couple of weeks, and the amoeba-brain that designed a cable that can only be attached to control panel while stretched like crazy and upside down definitely must be tweaking his nipples right now and giggling to himself, but I believe it will all be settled soon.

 

I had that surprise already after ruining a cable on a prototype unit but was an easy fix, the cables in these machines is of a lot lower quality than what Dell used to make years prior. I loathe cheap flat flex for this very reason.

 

Finding a replacement was impossible. No-one has those flex cables, in the end I had to scrap an old cd cd drive, take out the 50+pin ribbon with the same density, cut it and then on one side scratch the connectors out to make a plug. Also had to glue in a piece of plastic to make it stay firmly in the socket.

Funny thing is, after putting it in I only had on/off and control buttons functionality, then after a few hours I could see the alien head HDD blink, then the next day the icons lit up, and then yesterday the frame around the alien head returned. The ALIENware tech must have regenerated itself the only thing I can't yet get to work is closed lid sensor, but that didn't work with this new screen anyway I think, so I'll have to compare the components and see if it's possible to swap. Or does anyone have an idea?

 

They are readily available on ebay. I remember my cable tearing and having same issues as op a few years ago.

Here is the link:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/323530087244

Best of luck!