m17x r4 boot loop

hi

I accidentally knocked my laptop on the ground while djing, and while it continued to work for the rest of my set and into the next day, it is now stuck in a loop. the Alienware logo appears w/ the loading bar, then it goes to a blank screen with a flashing "_" and then goes back to the Alienware logo, repeat ad nauseum. thinking it might be the hard drive? idk. I bought it 2-3 years ago and at the time was too broke to renew the warranty. any chance I could do that now and get it repaired? I need it for work etc. and I'm too broke to get something new/send it out for an expensive repair. any help is appreciated.


p.s. sorry for the wall of text and other typographical no-nos - posting from my phone...

 

Hi, I can offer some suggestions that might fix it. Hopefully the video card got dislodged and just needs re-seating. You can remove the video card and heatsink as a single component by removing the fan and the two card retaining screws. You then lift it around 15degrees to the socket and pull it out. As long as you do not remove the four screws holding the heatsink to the card you do not have to get involved with repasting.

If the machine is NOT a 120hz 3D model you can start the machine without the card in and this may then run OK?

You can also try to get into the on-board hardware diags. I believe it's on F12 when the alienhead bios logo is on-screen. Run the extended diags (can take up to 15 mins) and see if that tells you anything?

Good luck.

 

thanks for the response, I tried that but half of the screws are stripped, thanks India... is there a dell service center I can take it to near Detroit, MI?