Need help solving numerous problems

Hi

Specs: Gtx 280m sli, Q9000, 4gb ddr3 ram.

Since I got this laptop I have had 9 noticable problems, and I was able to fix some of them but I still have some left I need help with

1. The red LED CAPS is flashing when I turn the laptop on for about 2 minutes before windows boots. I have done all the basic stuff but it just won't go away and I ran the memory test and no errors. It happened after the 5th time I opened it up to change thermal paste on the GPU's, but I never touched the RAM chips.

2: Driver issues: I have tried innstalling all 3 drivers for my graphics cards and in the latest drivers 3dmarks vantage freezes in the middle of the test. So I tried the previous release. This time when I write in my password to go into windows all I see is my mouse cursor and a black screen. I tried the first drivers for it and I sometimes get a blue flickering screen when i start the machine http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/95/img0018hd.jpg In all releases I get random freezes and sometimes audio/video freezes. When i turned on my laptop this evening it just stood at the alienhead logo screen and it wouldn't start too, had to restart it 3 times (I am using quickboot in BIOS to avoid the flashing CAPS) So something is really messing this up.

Updates: I installed the newest drivers again because those were the ones that worked best. And I restarted, got a black screen only. Turned it off again. I got all the way to the log in screen, it got stuck at "welcome" I restarted again and now it is stuck at the alienhead logo screen again (happened 2 times), just got a blue flickering screen not long ago too, and another one. At this point I don't even want to turn this thing on again, I'll just leave it in the dust, since I opened it already I guess I have no warrenty too.. yay...

3: I also wondered if a score of 10000 at 3dmarks vantage is normal for GTX 280m sli with stock drivers. Just to make sure my graphics cards are ok.

Hopefully some or all of these problems will be solved somehow by some awesome tech people here, so yeah, I challange you to solve this!

 

Have you tried unplugging the CMOS and doing a power drain for atleast 60 seconds?

 

1) have you tried a clean install of windows? it seems like you have a driver conflicts, if the cards were bad then more than likely you would have some other issues that you didn't list. try the power drain FIRST before anything else. then do a clean install of windows on your system. your score in vantage isn't great but its close enough to say that its in the range depending on what processes were running when you ran the benchmark

 

Will do this when I get home from work. Do I unplug the Ac adapter and the battery, remove the CMOS and hold the power botton for 60 seconds?

 

Yup thats correct chiefs. Unplug the AC adapter. In fact unplug the AC adapter from the wall as well, give that a rest for a bit too.

Take out the battery and then unscrew the back bottom panel off 2 screws, then take out the CMOS coin size looking battery. Leave it out for a few mins and also hold down the alienhead for 1 min.

Cheers.

 

I took out the battery and CMOS and held the alienhead power botton down for 2 mins. I still get flashing CAPS when I turn it on. And about installing windows 7 again. I bought it from ebay and it was no cd with windows on it :/ But the CAPS thing can't be windows' fault because it happens before windows boots. Would you consider sending it in to be fixed if you were in my shoes?

 

Hey chiefs, Yeh the caps is a hardware issue.

I would give dell a ring chiefs. However we pretty much know what they will say and do. Since they will go off their troubleshooting charts they will most likely send you new ram. Give them a ring anyway and tell them all your problems but be careful about telling them you took apart the system and tinkered with the paste and pads. Best to leave that out. Just tell them of your current issues now and the steps you have tried so far to rectify it. Like the above battery thing and removing the ram giving it a clean and so forth.

Cheers.

 

This is just a shot in the dark, but If I were you I would go back in and inspect your video cards. Some of this thermal paste is conductive and should not be gotten on surrounding electronics. Since this started happening after changing the paste, I would take a close look for that possible problem.

 

I had a look and there has never gotten anything on the green parts, I only took on the core and the memory. It did happen like a little after I changed paste for the 5th time, wasn't right after. I was installing anti virus program or something and had to restart.

 

hey maybe this could help you identify why the LED CAPS is flashing Alienware? M17x and M15x System LEDs | Dell

 

Hey chiefs just wanted to double check that after you ran the diagnostic test. The entire mem suit of tests so it would take like 1hr or 2. That there was no errors or beeps reported?

Also if you haven't tried yet try the ram sticks one by one in use and see if the CAPs is still flashing. If you have other ram give that a go as well.

Apart from that it seems like its time to ring dell.

Cheers.

 

Here is what I get: " Hi, I am sorry to hear of your fault on the laptop, from your description I notice that you have broken the warranty seal, and due to this we will have to void the warranty on the unit. If you require any further assistance then please do let me know I will try to help you to the best of my ability"

So what would you guys do now? I already told them what the problem is.. I do think it needs a full repair because there are so many problems with it, but I guess I have to pay alot for that.

 

What did you tell them? What is this Warranty Seal? there are no seals.

 

I contacted the company I bought it from NDC and they have a seal on the back. I told them about all my issues and about me opening it to check for errors. I hope if I contact dell I will get better service.

 

You definitely should Is your warranty through dell or this NDC place? Is this seal located on the rear where you access the HDD and RAM?

 

1 Year RTB WARRANTY WITH NDC
If the item develops a fault, simply return it to us and we will repair or replace the unit within the warranty period. Items can only be refunded if returned within 7 days and in the original condition.

That is what it says on their web site. So I guess it's through them, if we are realistic, is there any chance of me getting any service from them or dell?

Yes it is a seal when I open the first 2 screws on the back.

 

That is BS and Unacceptable as opening the RAM and HDD acess bay SHOULD not void a warranty as the HDD and RAM are USER REPLACEABLE. Stupid resellers Call dell and tell them what has happened(since your warranty is through the reseller your mileage may vary). Also, try the reseller again and tell them that DELL said opening that back acess panel DOES NOT/SHOULD NOT void the warranty. I would never buy from that seller again!

 

Typically, the flashing lights just means that you need to make sure that the GPUs and SLI cable are all properly seated.

 

Yeah :/ Will call them tomorrow and hopefully things get sorted out. I need the service id to contact dell it says and when i type in the 5 numbers at the top of the warranty seal it says it's a Dell presicion from 1993?? Oh well...

 

The service tag can be found in the BIOS.

 

Ok thanks, should I mention the low vantage scores I get? I get like 9-10k, and this I got before I opened the machine. I also opened it again and made sure the cards were in place and the SLI cable.

I found the service tag, and it is not valid when I type it in.

 

10k GPU is normal for stock SLI GTX 280m......this is the best stock score I could ever get out of my GTX 280m's

ORB - Compare

Overclocked they only go up to 12.5k or so on the GPU - they do not compare to the 4870s in this benchmark (and especially not the 5870s)

Not sure what to tell you about the invalid service tag. Looks like you could be screwed then for going through that reseller

 

Oh, thanks for help anyways! If I can't get anything fixed free then I guess dell will fix it for me if I pay them...

 

That is a poopy situation to be in. Shady resellers suck always and that is what they are a shady reseller. Also, for future reference you could have tried to get a system from the Dell outlet.

 

Dell outlet UK do not sell alienware

NDC are a refurb / reseller of Dell products. They state clearly on their website what is required if you get a fault. They are well within their rights to void warrenty if you do not adhear to their policies. That said i am not defending them, a good retailer/reseller would cut you some slack. I have heared bad things about NDC and as such steer well clear. I recently purchased a refurbed/returned Alienware from a UK reseller. http://www.uklaptops.co.uk/shop/Alienware_M17X_Laptops.html. The warrenty is the same, 1 year collect and return, however i have no warrenty seal and this is one of the many reasons i did not use NDC but chose UKlaptops. I find they are friendly and very helpful, give them a call and tell them about your issues, ask how much it would cost for them to fix your problem, Oh and ask to speak to Sam, he will give you good advice and not try to take your money for doing nothing. When i purchased my unit, during testing it was damaged, so i got a free upgrade from an R1 to an R2.......Dell will not touch the unit as the service tag has been scrapped/written off. I know this through personal experience...

 

It really breaks my heart that I spent half a year of savings and was sure that a reseller with 14000 laptops sold on ebay would be just fine as I have bought laptops on there before. Atleast I learned a valid leaen that no one can be trusted these days, other than you guys here of course But all I get from their custumer service is that they will gladly walk me through how to open a web browser, but that's about it. I am also not from the UK, but from Norway, so would cost me a lot to ship it through customs both ways. Thanks anyways What is even worse is that I do not even like the laptop because of the fan noise running at a whopping 4000 rpm right away. So in the future I will buy from dell only, and not these idiots. Wish I knew this before I bought I would gladly sell it for half the price I bought it for just to get rid of it lol, R2 or possibly R3 with like 2 billion ghz and and a cooling system making it run at minus temperatures, here I come!

 

I would still get in contact with uklaptops. They would give you advice over the phone...Maybe even help in resolving your issue

 

Also. Did you pay with paypal. I would go through them. Say the laptop came faulty and with no warrenty sticker ( remove it ) Force paypal to make the supplier fix it or refund you. Just a thought

 

If the seller can prove he is lying (which would be easy for them to do in that case) he is left with even less support then he had before.

 

How would it be easy for the seller to prove he is lying?????
Paypal usually sides with the consumer not the Retailer. Again just a thought, worth a try seeing as it cost him half a years savings. that and a call to the tech desk of the other resller.

 

The reseller is going out of their way to attach a warranty sticker. They would not forget something like that, and they have already had phone conversations with him where they established that he did in fact break said sticker himself.

 

I contacted the reseller again: "It clearly states on the label that the warranty will be void if the seal is broken. Once the seal has been broken we do not know what has happened with the laptop. Indeed it may have got damaged whilst attempting to "fix" it yourself. The seal is our only guarantee that the laptop has not been tampered with. If you had a problem with the laptop you should have contacted us immediately and we would have been able to resolve the issue for you. Under no circumstances should the seal have been broken. We can have a look at the laptop for you but as the warranty seal has been broken, it will be a chargeable on-warranty repair and the warranty will not be re-instated."

Since it had no Service Id dell said that all they could offer was me paying them for repairs. I cannot afford one at this moment, so will have to take that next month.

I was going to upgrade this laptop by time, but is it worth it spending another huge sum of money on parts, or should I save for the R2 and buy from dell? If I could buy 2 5870m's and fit in my R1 that would be awesome in the future, but again no warranty so I should maybe save for R2.

 

5870s do not work with the R1. So that is out of the question.

I would just save up, buy direct from Dell, and put this laptop behind you. Sketchy a$$ reseller.....

 

There is still no way the reseller can prove it came with a sticker.....NDC are not a big company and do not record their phone conversations. Like i said, tell pay pal, fain ignorance and let the reseller prove it. No this is not an honest thing to do, but IMHO THE reseller is not to helpful

 

The reseller is a sketchy company, but does that mean the OP should commit fraud to get what he really deserves. I think not valuable lesson to be learned here when purchasing an expensive system always buy through the manufacturer. Resellers pull shady tactics like putting a sticker on the HDD RAM access bay. Honestly its BS that they would put it there what if he wanted to add a second hard drive or if he wanted to upgrade his RAM. He would have to send it back to the reseller to do this which is total BS and they would charge him for it. Its a win win for them either you pay them for upgrades or you cancel your warranty they have only their interests at heart and could care less about the customer which is again BS. I would say just cut your losses and start over with a R2 from Dell.

 

I agree with most of your points. Except, not everyone has the means to just cut their losses and buy a new unit. I have heared and had horrandous service from Dell on occasion, also not all resellers are bad. I contacted my reseller today and asked about a second drive caddy for my machine and another 400GB HD so i can set raid up on my system. They charged me £30 delivered, bloody good deal you ask me. You do have to watch where you buy and research. Reason i joined this forum.....On the most part Dell are the top best choice, but like me if you are wanting a smashing unit at cut price, Sometimes you have to go outside Dell to get a top spec Dell at a real bargain price........There are plenty of places to get service. Dell may not entertain, but i honestly suggest the chap call the company i brought mine from, i know he will get good honest advice..They are a growing company and so far i have nothing but good things to say about them. If you are looking at outlet type units in the UK there are only 3 resellers i would trust....Uklaptops, sterling XS and ITC sales

 

Off topic, MKelliny, do yo play Civ 5 and if so have you been able to sort Xfire issues???, Also what difference do you notice with your solid state, i only ask as our systems are pretty much identical

 

I have not played civ 5 yet, but was looking at it at the store earlier today I might purchase it Loved Civ 4 (classic). I notice a huge difference with my SSD load times, Startup times, Shutdown times. Everything is just faster I used my buddies desktop the other day 7200RPM drive and it was painfully slow. Have you tried an OC of the 720 yet. I have a stable everyday OC of 1.8/3.2 ghz which brings me about anywhere from 20-30FPS increase in Bad Company 2.

 

Sweet...No i have not...do you have or know a guide to do the OC

Reps a comming your way i feel

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/495203-how-oc-m17x-r2s-920xm-940xm-using-setfsb.html there is the link. Happy OC

 

Hi again, Is it possible to run the laptop without the 2 280's, or to just use 1 of them to rule out of one is the problem? The problem now is the display driver saying it stopped working and has been restored, and sometimes it freezes completely after this happens. The other problem is blue flickering screen right after windows has started. Also saw a grey flickering screen once. And of course the flashing CAPS. Maybe a windows install again will fix the driver issue, and maybe I can isolate the problem and maybe take out 1 graphics card and only run on one if it works. Most likely case is that I messed up one of the cards while applying thermal paste, although that doesn't explain the freezes. I understand that there is the main card and a slave card. can I run one or the other alone?

 

You can run on the 9400m with no Gpu installed at all.

 

Yes, you can run 1 280, 2 280's,or no 280's. usually the left one is the master card and right is the slave.

 

I took out both cards and the screen won't turn on, I tried putting back the main one and still screen doesen't come on.

 

DId you change in the BIoS to run on the 9400?

 

No, but I can't get to the BIOS now either, I put both card back in and screen doesn't turn on so I am screwed :/

 

Try a power drain and disconnecting the CMOS for a a minute.


Man This makes no sense at all? Did you make sure you where grounded b4 you did any of that stuff or did you discharge by touching something metal?
Also did you put the master back in the master slot and the Slave in the slave slot?

I really feel for you Kidio.

 

I usually touch something metal when I open up computers, but I guess I didn't this time due to frusturation and stress ( I do use a metal screwdriver though). I got it to turn on once but it just stays black most of the times I try to turn it on, I am not even sure if the BIOS is coming up, or if there are connection errors with the screen. I noticed this happening even when I hadn't opened it up. I would turn it on, and all I saw was a black screen. And after I restarted it came on. But now it's just dead. If I include all the other problems then I'd say I just wasted 2000 bucks, totally my fault. I just don't get why I ignored all the problems I had when I got it. I was like, oh a black screen, oh a freeze, I better open it up! Thanks for all the help you guys, you have been very helpful, I learned a lot. And If I ever go to England I will punch each and every NDC employee in the face.

 

A vid of me turning it on, not sure why but I am out of options.
Video - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting Notice the camera fail.

It did not matter whether one or 2 or none of the 280's are inside, and those are the only ones I've been touching, and the RAM of course. If any of you guys were to guess what part in the laptop is responsible, please let me know. I have checked all cables and they are in place.

Edit: I removed one of the RAM chips and now it turned on! But it still flashes CAPS. I tried mixing it up with putting both chips back in and swapping places, works again now, still CAPS.

 

Do the fans on your GPU spin up????. Have you checked your Screen cable, is it clipped or unplugged. Have you tried an external monitor connected to your Laptop...Just a few suggestions