m15x-r1 black screen issue

Hello, I have been reading through the forums (LOTS of great info btw) but haven't been able to find a resolution to my problem. A friend of mine gave me his m15x-r1 (with no HD) that was only showing a black screen when turned on. I can't tell if the problem is a burnt out video card (9800-GT2) or a bad screen. When powered on the keyboard/buttons all light up and seem to work (open DVD with fn+f8, num lock, etc), but nothing is on the screen.

I thought that the 9800 might of went bad but I assumed it would still be able to boot using the integrated graphics chip. I even took out the CMOS battery to clear the BIOS just in case the integrated chip was set to disabled. Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks

Also..
Does anyone have the service manual for this, or a guide to removing/replacing the screen?

 

I think although I'm not sure, that if you hold one of the mouse buttons (right click) while power up it'll force it boot up under a specific condition I just can't remember what that condition was (Being one of 2, either Internal or External GPU) In either case try that upon boot-up. The screen is easy to replace just remove the rubber and the screws behind it and slowly work your way through, a pop out here and there is normal. Alienware's website has the service manual for the system.

 

I have tried holding down the left mouse button then turning on the power, and the same for the right, but nothing comes up on screen. Also tried finding the service manual for m15x on both the old site and the dell site, and was only able to find the service manaul for the new M15x

 

Google my friend, http://aliendl.alienware.com/Mobile/m15x/DOC/m15x_Users_Manual.pdf

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/340111-m15x-boot-problems-video-card.html

Here Mystik says "if you suspect your video card (descrete graphics), to be an issue, try starting up the system using the right click method (hold down the right mouse button on the touch pad till the system starts)... this will ALWAYS start the system with on-board graphics."


IF this does not work then perhaps you need a new motherboard, they run for about $250. Beyond that I can't really tell you much. Good Luck Though, I deserve some rep for this I'd imagine

 

Been there, done that, did the tour, bought the t-shirt, went home

If your GPU is defective, it won't always work with the right mouse method.
I have an M15x of which the GPU died, and it will not boot with any method as long as the card is still in the machine.

Do this if you want to be sure, it is very simple:
remove the video card from the machine, power it on and it will use the integrated card. If it still doesn't boot, then your video card wasn't the problem.
If beforehand you think the video card is fine and the lcd might be the problem, then just hook up an external display and see if you get output on that.

 

I appreciate the help guys, I will try your suggestion tonight jiggymf. BTW darkloki I do know how to use google, and I still haven't found the service manual. You pointed me to the Users manual...

 

Sorry I didn't mean anything harsh, for service I HIGHLY suggest youtube actually, that way you can interactive instructions that will be much more beneficial then reading something. I'm merely just trying to help, sorry if you took any offense.

 

Thank you jiggymf!! That did force it to use the integrated graphics card, which means its the 9800.

I have now read about "Baking" the video card to see if it will fix the video card (my understanding is melt the solder back together, if this was indeed what caused the card to fail in the first place)

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...r-your-dead-graphics-card-your-alienware.html

But I have a few questions about it.
1. Should I Remove all of the stickers?
2. There is a copper film on the chip, then thermal compound. I was going to remove the thermal compound but what about the copper film?? It seems glued on there (If need be, I can upload a pic).


No worries darkloki, but I actually did take offense at first, but after reading through the forums I can tell you are a good guy, and I really appreciate the help. It must get really frustrating when people don't search through the forums and just ask away .

 

I always highly advise to only bake a video card, if you want to quickly use the notebook one more time to get some data off it or something like that. This is not the case for you, since you can still use it fine with the integrated cards (just no accelerated graphics).
It is a temporary fix (and not always gauranteed to work), it will not fix your card permanently. If you do it wrong, it will be broken permanently (but it already is broken so that's not a big problem). But in 1-2 months or even sooner it will fail again (untill it's just dead).

You should start looking for a new card, it's your only and best option if you want to decently use your laptop in the future.
And look out, you will have to buy it from someone trustworthy, before you buy someone else's broken card which he baked just to sell and it will fail on you in 3 weeks again.

If it's the Area-51 m15x you have, then be prepared for quite some high prices for a new 9800m GT card.
There are a couple of other options (though i'm not entirely sure the 9800m GT heatsink will fit every other card), but most involve fast cards which will overheat without some serious modifications, or more reliable cards but lesser performance in return.

 

Okay so to buy a new card visit Ztronics, http://www.ztronics.com/laptop-parts-by-model-number/m15x.html

And buy the card for about 300. At first or orginally I would have suggested Ebay until I found about Ztronics. However, if you buy from Ebay you risk buying a card that might have been baked or used, which is a risk that I wouldn't want to take considering the prices are going to be comparable as Ztronics sell their cards for 300 and I don't believe Ebay is going to be a whole lot cheaper, exxcept for the 3870 card, if you choose to go with that. But as for the 8800 or the 9800, buy it from Ztronics

 

The film will come off, either try using Isopropyl or bake it, and as the temps rise it'll loosen up and then you can remove.

 

The film will come off, either try using Isopropyl or bake it, and as the temps rise it'll loosen up and then you can remove.

http://service.ztronics.com/video-card-repair.html

 

Thanks so much for your guys help. But now the money issue comes into play... $129 for a fixed Video Card plus $200 for a new ssd HD and I am not sure if it is worth fixing. I would like your opinion on this matter, and possibly how much you think I could get for my Unit.

Recap of what It has:
No HDD
Bad Video Card
x9000 CPU
2GB Ram

 

I'd be willing to sell you the Samsung SSD that orginally came with that sytem. 128 gb.

 

Can you give me the model #, and price. Either PM me, or post here.

 

here

 

Back to the question on rebooting your laptop by holding down the right mouse button to change to the onboard card worked for me! But it was only because I kept clicking it instead of just holding it down, so try this next time people.
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