R1 GPU Upgrade

Yes there is no more beepin and the backlight is on but I see a black screen. LCD is working I guess but I can't see anything.

 

Interesting. I don't think the GPU is dead because you'd get a 6 beep error code from that if that was the case.

It seems there is some setting issue preventing the dGPU's output signal from reaching the screen. I believe you set the laptop to pure UEFI mode already, so that's not the problem.

The last thing I can think of is plugging in the LVDS screen again temporarily to get an image to come up on that screen, then logging into windows and using the FN + F5 keyboard combination to make sure the laptop gets set to dedicated only mode. Let's see if an image comes up on the eDP screen after that.

 

On my M17x R4, I had the same problem with the screen being pure black with no blacklight when I put in the 120hz EDP port Display. The fix was to set the boot environment to UEFI on the old LVDS 60hz display and when i switched back to the 120hz, I got image. So triple check your environment is UEFI. That's my 2 cents though since I can't really speak for the R1 since I haven't owned one

 

This was my screen when I was using the 60 Hz LCD. Do you think there is a problem?

 

Nope there shouldn't be a problem. Are you using your 1070 to boot on the new display?

 

Okay I'll try it tomorrow but I think nothing will change because I tried that FN + F5 thing, there were no action on my laptop. Or maybe I didn't see it I don't know. By the way my old graphics card was broken you know but there were no beeps, I was just getting code 43, but it isn't the case I guess.

 

Yes, I replaced every item that I got. New 120hz LCD, and eDP cable, GTX 1070 and 5-pipe heatsink.

 

Have you tried booting on your old card?

 

Nope. But it's broken, I'm not sure if it will help me but I can try it of course.

 

Do you have the alienware OSD drivers installed? That keyboard combination doesn't do anything without those drivers. The laptop should've displayed a message asking you to confirm the action when you press that keyboard combination, and then restart itself after you click yes.

 

Just in case if you don't want to do the ram reset you can use emergency bios Recovery it's pretty easy.

 

Nope I didn't install them, I'll do that. By the way I think there is a big part that I forgot. After I did a fresh Windows setup I forgot to install the modded driver for 1070. Maybe it has something to do with that. If so, I should never install a fresh Windows for the rest of my life.

Edit: I replaced the old LVDS panel, it's not working. And this time it beeps 8 times and there is no backlight. I am sure that I connected the cable correctly. After that I connected the eDP panel again, and it is still the same, no beeps, backlight is on but there is nothing on screen. I'm curious why my old LCD didn't work.

 

Try LVDS without gpu it should work fine maybe you didn't connect the cable properly

 

Nope, I tried it it doesn't work again, still hearing the 8 beep. I removed dvdrom, battery, gpu and its fan and heatsink. I tried to turn on my laptop without them. I don't know if it's about it.

 

So, What have you done so far? Like everything you've tried.

 

This means the laptop did in fact auto-switch to dGPU only mode. The GTX 1070 isn't capable of outputting an LVDS signal, which is why that screen didn't turn on. The eDP screen is getting some sort of signal, otherwise the backlight wouldn't power on. Interesting. That BIOS reset procedure I mentioned earlier fixed that black screen issue for me. I'm not sure why that didn't do anything for you.

Compiling a list of what's already been tried will definitely help us further diagnose the issue.

Also, the driver only has to be installed to get the card to function fully in Windows. It should still provide basic functions when not booted into an operating system.

 

Okay I'll start from the beginning. I was using my LVDS panel properly before connecting the eDP one, but the GPU driver was not installed, and therefore it isn't recognized as GTX 1070, it was seen like 3D Video Controller in device manager. BIOS was UEFI and the legacy option was disabled, also Win 8 fastboot was disabled. I insterted the Windows setup DVD in the DVD-ROM before connecting the eDP panel, I was planning to install the Windows again. I turned the laptop off and started to teardown. I started from the battery, RAMs but only 2 of them (I've got four 8 GB), HDD, DVD ROM, I didn't remove the CPU and GPU also their heatsinks and fans. When I get the inside I removed the card reader cable and there is one more cable about the motherboard, I also removed it I guess because I was able to seperate the top panel. But I'm not sure that if I connect that motherboard cable after I was done with the LCD switch. I might have forgot connecting it at first. Anyways, when I was removing LVDS panel, I had to force the cables little bit because they were like glued. Hope I didn't break it or something. After that I connected the new eDP panel correctly, I'm sure of it. I insterted all of the components again and press the power button, then as you know there was backlight and no beeps but black screen. I was pressing the F2 button repeatedly by the way to go to BIOS settings.

I tried to connect my TV as an external monitor but there were no visuals. After that I tried the BIOS reset as Clamibot said. I removed all of the RAMs and got 2 beeps, when it restarted itself I inserted only one RAM immediately, I tried it couple of times. There were no change. I also did the BIOS resetting when it was connected to TV. No change. By the way the DVD-ROM and HDD were connected at this time. I don't if it has something to do with that but I don't want to miss the details. After this part I removed them when dealing with my LCD issue.

When I tried my old LVDS panel again, I got 8 beeps and there were no backlight. I'm sure that I connected it properly. After that I tried pressing the D button on the keyboard when powering on to get visuals from the screen. I also did the same thing with the eDP panel. Nothing happened again no visuals, black screen and 8 beeps with that powering with the D button. Normally eDP one has got backlight and no beeps but when I tried powering with the D button, it beeped 8 times. But it's not a permanent thing, after I restart the laptop it starts with backlight and no beeps again.

I removed all of the RAMs and tried BIOS reset with LVDS panel. 8 beeps again. I tried to use TV monitor with HDMI, no visuals and 8 beeps. I tried the BIOS reset with HDMI connection, there were no change.

I removed the GPU and its fan and heatsink when starting with LVDS, there were no change, black screen and 8 beeps. I inserted my old broken GPU and nothing happened again, same problems.

I connected the eDP panel again and it was like the same, there was backlight and no beeps but a black screen.

That's all.

 

Seems to me like you somehow damaged some cable when disassembling the computer. I come to this conclusion because your old setup doesn't work. So I would say your motherboard cable maybe got damage?

 

please try the emergency bios recovery with old setup without any external gpu just take both gpu out and then follow the guide and procedure how to make bootable usb for the bios recovery from here ► http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/alienware-17-r5-r1-ranger-emergency-recovery-bios.811870/


then put these files in the usb after extracting them without any folder ► https://mega.nz/file/A151QZBT#ndV3rKull2Yvyoeceg29I3XpPgMgi89UxP68VvOgnAE

 

Okay I'll try it. I'll use my old LVDS panel while doing this right?

 

exactly.

 

Theres one ribbon cable under gpu fan that has to be removed for removing palmrest.

does this mean you havent removed it?

 

Yeah there are 3 ribbon cables under the GPU fan (2 motherboard cables, 1 card reader cable), and only 2 of them are connecting the palmrest, one is that motherboard cable (the wide one) and the other one is card reader cable. I'm sure that I removed the card reader but I don't remember if I do the same for motherboard cable. Even if I forgot to seperate that motherboard cable, palmrest came off somehow because as I said I was able to remove the palmrest easily. After that maybe I forgot to wire the motherboard cable because as you know it came off without my notice. But soon I realized that it's not wired, I wired it for the next tries.




CPU and GPU also their fans and heatsinks were not removed, neither phsically nor from the cables. They were connected.

 

I tried this BIOS recovery with my old LVDS screen, and without the GPU, HDD (but I didn't remove the SSD, I never removed it so far likewise the wireless card by the way). CPU, SSD, fans and only one RAM were insterted. No restarts no beeps, just the fans running so fast, and the power button's light flickering all the time. No visuals on the screen again. I think something is broken I don't know which one. Hope it is not the motherboard, actually hope none of them are broken. Why the hell it got so hard to deal with I was trying to be careful while replacing and connecting the parts, if I didn't try to be carefull I think I'd burn the laptop. Should I try this recovery with the new eDP panel?

Edit: I managed to get visuals from the TV because I unplugged the LVDS cable from the motherboard, and connected the HDMI. At start there is a DELL sign, after that it says something I can't read what is written, quarter of them is not seen. It waits a little I think it tries to find the device and then there is a sentence I think it says "No boot device found. Press any key to reboot the machine". I pressed it but it starts again with the same DELL sign and these sentences. I haven't replaced the components, I will try it again after replacement.

 

That's weird. Did you reset your bios? Because if you did then it most likely reset it to Legacy enviroment. Which is ehy it says no boot media found

 

I would tear it all down, remove the GPU and the CPU from their socket/connectors, clean the GPU contacts with some IPA, re-seat the CPU and the GPU, and then try to boot again with only one RAM stick.

 

I can try what you say but right now I'm on to something. I placed all of the components again and connected the laptop to TV with HDMI. After the DELL sign it said windows may not have installed correctly, and I tried to install it again. When I got the end of the setup the TV disconnected, couldn't see anything again. Then I shut down the laptop again, when I started it again DELL sign was there but after that there were no visuals on TV. Seems like my laptop gets running but somehow it disconnects from the TV monitor. By the way I didn't connect any of the LCD panels. And it got me concerned that I wasn't able to see Alienware sign instead of DELL. Do you have any ideas on it?

Edit: When I look at mt TV thoroughly, I saw that HDMI signal is coming on and off and it says "intel, 9xxxx PC General"

 

Man you have a weird case. Maybe put in GPU and try to boot? Can you even boot up to windows without the GPU?

 

I'm gonna try it now. I'm so unlucky with these kind of devices and components.

 

Seems to me like your motherboard or bios went out. Your original setup doesn't work. But what throws me personally off is that you get signal through HDMI. Try your original setup again (old display, old graphics card) and see if that makes any difference now that you have reinstalled windows. Keep in mind also that these cables are very fragile and a little pull in the wrong direction might be just enough to break them. So i wouldn't rule a faulty cable out of the equation.

 

When I connect the old LVDS panel it beeps 8 times. That's why I disconnected its cable and used the TV. I haven't been able to reinstall the windows unfortunately. I tried to install the Windows with the new GPU first, I was able to see the last steps of installation of Windows, then it disconnected. After that I tried it again using my old GPU, this time laptop shut itself while installing the Windows. I think all of my components or the cables have some problems, I can't think about them anymore, my brain and my hopes are crashed right now. I think I won't be able to make all of them work.

Edit: I removed the GPU, and there were no disconnecting display signals and I was able to reinstall the Windows properly.

 

If you shut off your laptop, will it boot up to windows?

 

I wasn't able to test it because intel display driver was installed automatically when I connect the Wifi, and immediately it disconnected from the TV.

 

Reinstall again, but disable wifi so that doesn't happen

 

So just to clarify, you were able to get an image on the TV with the 1070 installed without either the LVDS or eDP screen connected? The HDMI output is a fallback if no internal screens are connected, so that makes sense.

 

Yes I got image with the 1070 without LCDs connected but after a while I lost the signal on TV and couldn't install the Windows. Same goes with my old GPU. Then I removed the GPU and I was able to install the Windows properly, but when I connected the wifi and it automatically downloaded the intel graphics card, and TV disconnected right after that. Now I tried the eDP panel again, this time there was no backlight, but no beeps. Do you think that I screwed up the motherboard? I tried the BIOS recovery, just the fans were running so fast, nothing happenned.

 

After windows installs the drivers, try pressing win+D if I'm not mistaken and then press enter.

 

that's exactly what happens in bios recovery i did it multiple times when i got 8 beeps worked fine for me you just have to wait until the laptop reboots itself

 

I have to disconnect the wifi, maybe I can download the drivers from my other laptop. I'll try it.

Oh, I haven't waited that long. I'll wait then.

By the way I hit the F2 button when I see the DELL sign when turning on my laptop, and I can managed to get BIOS settings.

 

Just do the recovery with touching anything once it's reboots go to bios and then switch it back to UEFI

 

I checked it, it's already switched to UEFI. Actually it already has been.

 

That probably means the laptop switched to optimus mode. If you can get into windows again, try installing the alienware OSD (on screen display) drivers for the R1 and use the Fn+F5 keyboard combination to switch to dGPU only mode. The OSD drivers are required for that keyboard combination to do anything. A message should pop up asking you to confirm the action when you press those keys.

After that, reconnect the eDP screen and see if it displays anything.

By any chance, can you upload a picture of what you see when your laptop starts up? There should be an Alienware splash screen, but you mentioned some kind of dell screen.

 

no it shouldn't be as for me it was legacy so i had to switch it back uefi and disable the fastboot and secure boot

 

Of course, here you go. When I press the F2 button, I can see BIOS settings. All the settings seem okay.


By the way I managed to install the Windows properly, and insterted the 1070, and checked the BIOS if it's recognized. It's good to go. When I don't connect to the wifi it doesn't make any problems.

I'll do what you said Clamibot, but do you think I should install the modded driver for 1070? I fear that maybe it doesn't show up when I connect the eDP.

 

No need to install the driver until you get an image to come up on the eDP screen. The graphics drivers won't be loaded until Windows starts loading anyway, so even having them installed won't affect anything at boot time. The black screen issue is unrelated to that. However if you had a black screen while booted into windows, now that could be a driver issue.

Also, that's so weird you have a dell splash screen. It should say alienware on it, although the Klipsch speaker part is present on the alienware splash screen as well.

Just out of curiosity, what BIOS version are you using? I'm running the stock A14 BIOS that came with my Ranger.

 

I did what you said, pressed FN + F5 buttons, it said do you want to switch to graphics bla bla, restart is needed for that, then I pressed Yes. It restarted but I didn't get visuals on TV. Now I'm gonna connect the eDP panel. I don't feel like it's gonna work.

Edit: eDP panel didn't work.

 

It didn't work as in the screen won't turn on or the backlight comes on and the screen is black again?

If it's the latter, I'm wondering if any BIOS newer than A14 has problems with Pascal cards on the Ranger. I think I saw you were using BIOS version A17. Can anyone else chime in on this?

 

This time there is no backlight, but at the same time no beeps at all, black screen with no beeps. I tried the eDP panel before switching the dGPU, it goes the same. Do I have chance to corrupt all of the LCDs that have? Now I don't have the TV output anymore. I think it is the end of it.

 

It's possible, but I think it's more likely that something else is being stupid. Try that BIOS reset one more time and see if that at least makes the eDP panel's backlight turn on. Remember to insert the RAM module before the laptop turns back on and not after .

 

Yeap I did that too. No backlight no beeps and a black screen. I'm planning to take the LCDs, cables and the GPU to a computer repairman to test them if they are okay. Actually there is no one to understand the laptops properly in here, it's a small town. What the hell am I supposed to do with these expensive new parts? Sellers won't accept returns anymore. I guess I can sell them in here. And now I think I'm gonna cry.

Edit: I've got the DELL screen on TV again.