Power flickered... now white screen and 8 beeps

I have an AW m18X R1 from around 2012 I think. It's been a fantastic computer.

Yesterday something bad happened. There was a storm outside. There was some thunder and the power flickered in the house. My m18x powered off. When I tried to turn it back on, it just showed a white screen and beeped 8 times. I was using onboard graphics at the time.

What are the possible causes of this? I would prefer to save the computer if I can.

Thanks!

 

See if removing the GPUs allows it to boot normally. You've either got a dead GPU (probably the master if one died), a corrupted EDID (display panel firmware) or a bad motherboard.

Do you really have 6990 CrossFire? If it is the original GPU setup, you've been extremely fortunate up to this point.

 

I do have the original 6990's. However, one or both are not working. The display when I'm using them doesn't work well. I've been using the on board graphics for a year and a half or so.

 

It may have somehow flipped back to the discrete graphics. If the GPUs are still installed, the first thing I would do is pull them out and see if it boots. Clear the CMOS (disconnecting the coin cell battery) before booting up the system after removing the GPUs. You don't need the keyboard or anything else connected other than the screen and AC adapter when you power up.

If the problem is the same after removing the GPUs, then likely the LCD has a corrupted EDID. It could be a bad motherboard, but I would suspect that the least.

 

I will try that. How do I disconnect the coin cell battery?

 

Just unplug the two-wire connection from the motherboard. It's right near the RAM and WiFi.

 

I'll give that a shot. I probably won't be able to do it until tomorrow. I'll let you know what happens. Thanks for the help!

 

An M18X landed in my hands, from listing it stated that it starts with the white screen. From what I've tried, with a definitely working M6100 it didn't POST with eight beeps. Later I found out that ithe M18X has the primary gpu on the right, and I've quickly tested it today with no gpu, just board + power button + screen + keyboard and it didn't beep, but the white screen remained. Tomorrow I will attempt to put it together and try the Fan+F8 trick to see if anything shows up, but would it be possible to get the EDID ROM with a clue where to find the chip? I have high hopes for it, and will try to reanimate it that way. Also, if possible, where exactly to find the BIOS chip on the mobo, I presume there might be some issue there. Thanks in advance!

 

No video card past the old 9800M GTX or Radeon 4870M use a master/slave config vBIOS, so it doesn’t matter what card you use in which slot. M18x primary GPU slot is left slot, not right (assuming you are looking at the machine as if you are typing in it).

it is possible to repair corrupt EDID by using Linux, make a search for it there used to be a very nice guide for it. But be sure to rule out other problems first.

@Mr. Fox I see you lurking back in Alienware boards, are you considering picking up another M18x?

 

Hi, bro. No, not at all. Desktops are too awesome and laptops suck too much in comparison for me to entertain the idea any longer. I've more or less lost all interest in laptops in a general sense, and I specifically do not want anything made by Alienware. Their good stuff is now far too old, too slow, and too difficult to service (limited parts availability) for me to care about them, and the chapter of life that included Dell products as an item of particular interest is closed forever now. The brand is totally dead to me now.

But, yes. I am definitely lurking. All of the forums (at least my subscribed threads) seem kind of slow... some almost dead right now... so, just poking around to see what is going on in threads that I am not subscribed to. Once in a while, I find that I know an answer to a problem that I can help with based on my past experience as an Alienware fanboy. Enjoying being able to help others that are looking for assistance is something that hasn't changed, and I do not suspect that it ever will.

 

Thanks, man, will do. So far it appears to be responding, I was able to toggle Internal/External screen (it goes fully black), but HDMI-In doesn't respond. Full white. All I get is white screen, with proper brightness control. Tried the same with M6100 in right slot, nothing.

 

That is why MrFoxRox!

 

@MrMogwai. I just noticed what you are searching for. See this post... it may have something useful for you.

***EVGA Precision X and Windows 7/8/8.1 and especially 10 bricking systems***

Sorry I did not reply sooner. I only read the part of the post from @Raidriar where he tagged me.

 

In my case still no luck. Going to check the screen on the second M18X I got, see if it's any good, and I have accidentally won a bid for 11 mobos from different broken Alienwares, two M18X boards included.

If the screen is fine then I believe it's safe to assume that it's some motherboard component failure, so then maybe some soldering experiments will commence. Got two beasts right now, one fully operational, the other, well, not so much, and with parts to spare I'll have something to keep my hands busy during those weird, weird times

 

Ok, so I did some inspection of the motherboard by eye and it seems there is some corrosion on the pins of the LVDS port and a chip appears to be fried. While I was able to manually clean the traces (there was a short between them, when it was cleared the 'whiter' stripes on the white background disappeared), there is still some chips fried. The screen is fine, I've swapped it into the second M18X. When spare parts arrive I will attempt to resolder relevant chips and put them on the m18x R2 (it turns out that the broken one is m18x R2 and the working one is m18x R1). But that's at least a week away. High hopes though. Need to dust off my hot air soldering station and buy proper flux.