Strange problem with M17x R2

I have been using my M17x for 3 years now and all has been fine. My specs are in my signature.

Lately, I have been having a weird problem where the indicator lights (caps, scroll and num) do not light up when the keys are pressed. I checked with notepad and the laptop functions normally, just the status lights are gone. The touch controls in the top right also do not at all work when touched. I have tried :

-reseating the cable for the top panel
-replacing the RAM since mine is 16GB which is unsupported officially
-powering up on battery and on AC
-reinstalling the OSD software
-changing the colours in the Command centre

If that wasn't weird enough, the status lights work occasionally, but not properly. For example, the num lock light would stay on even after disabling it and the caps lock light won't come on. I have even tried reversing the ribbon cable, in case the connection wasn't that good.

The problem aside, the laptop runs fine and games great. Does anyone have any idea what I can try next or what might be the problem?

I am not too sure if changing the GPU drivers and/or re-installing the Command Centre will help.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

 

The status lights on the keyboard are controlled by the same small ribbon cable that controls the power button and the touch control buttons. It's VERY finicky. You may have to play around with it to get it to work. Otherwise, you can try getting a new ribbon cable. I did for my command center cover and everything worked the first time I used the new cable with out having to readjust the way it was plugged in. The cable was fairly cheap at $13 from Dell.

 

I would try buing a new panel...its not expensive...and if it doenst work, the next thing I would do will be a clean Win install

 

Do you have OSD and Command Center installed?

 

I'm assuming so cause he stated he does in his OP

I'm still sticking with the ribbon cable needing replacement. That's what fixed the LEDs and touch button problems on my R2.

 

Thanks for the replies people, I really appreciate it.

Like I said in my first post, I already tried readjusting the cable many times and even reversing the cable. I know that if the cable is not inserted properly, the power button wouldn't work or the lights wouldn't work (happened to me after repasting). However, my lights and power button work fine for the touch controls, just the status lights and the touch controls themselves do not work.

Does anyone have the Part No. for the ribbon cable? Since it fixed the problem for some people, it might fix it for me too.

 

FD86P - Indicator cover cable

That is what an Alienware rep reported the part number to be. My only advice to getting it to work right now is to make small adjustments to the control center plug side (not the motherboard side). That was always what I had to do. And when I say small adjustments, I mean small. Move it a tiny bit to the left or right and see if that helps at all. You can also try not pushing the cable into the slot all the way...as in leaving a hair-width gap between the end of the cable and the back of the slot. That sometimes helps by allowing the pins in the slot to press against contact points on the cable that aren't indented from wear usage.

 

Thanks for the part number,

I turned on the laptop for the 1st time today and it worked completely fine, lit up well and the touch controls responded. Restarted a few times and it was still fine. Then it started to get weird.

The laptop kept freezing when coming out from sleep and also froze sometimes when starting up. This has happened before, but after the freezes, the touch controls stopped responding and the status lights didn't come on again. When the problem occurs (status lights and touch controls thing), the mousepad becomes laggy, but an external mouse is fine.

I am going to try to see which of the following is the cause of the problems:

-windows 7-might have to reformat
-my USB 3.0 Express card adapter-causes surge problems upon waking up
-BIOS-running the modded one with 5% OC

Once, the status lights responded after I clicked shutdown. It came on and I could enable and disable caps lock as windows was turning off. As for my BIOS, I flashed the dell default one and the problem was still there. I have been running the modded one for many months and I do not think it is the cause of the problem.

 

Back after a long break and reformatted my 17x. Now the caps lights work perfectly and the touch controls don't work at all. Am I missing a driver or something? Like I already said, before the format when it was glitching, the touch controls and caps worked fine and then after a few minutes they don't.

I have already installed the command centre and OSD.

 

Alienware OSD is needed for the touch controls to work, no if's, and's, or but's. You also need Microsoft .NET 4 framework for OSD to run properly. Found that out the hard way. The only way to download it is thru Windows update, and it is usually listed in the optional updates.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have already installed the OSD multiple times, .NET framework 4 and 4.5 and Windows 7 SP1. I disabled windows update because all the update made the PC so slow it was like it wasn't running an OCZ anymore. No clue what might be the problem now.

 

Then it may be the command center cover or the ribbon cable again. ANYTHING is possible with those two things.

 

Okay, the problem has escalated to a whole new level and I think a motherboard and/or GPU replacement is in order.

After using it fine without the touch controls working, the laptop wouldn't come on at all the next day.

Edit: The laptop could come on after a few tries, but the keyboard and touchpad didn't work in windows. Plugged in a USB mouse and after a few seconds, the whole laptop froze. Then wouldn't come on anymore.

Tried reflashing the BIOS via USB since this has happened before. The previous times this happened, a relash fixed the laptop and it could start.

After reflashing, the laptop comes on but doesn't boot(stuck at a black screen). No beeps, no flashing lights, but the lights came on. Opened it, reseated everything, still no boot. Read online about someone who took out his 2nd GPU and his 17x could boot. Did that, and the laptop booted BUT the screen stayed off. Connected a monitor via VGA and the monitor worked.

I determine whether my laptop boots (loads the OS) when the fan sound pattern changes.

During all of this, my caps lights stopped working again. Sigh.

Edit 2: Took out both GPU's, and the laptop made 1 long beep then 2 short beeps. By the beep table, that would indicate motherboard problems. Do you all think this is the cause of all my complications?

Edit 3: my problem sounds a lot like this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/695442-m17x-r2-strange-issues-doesn-t-boot.html