Help with M9700

Here is my problem.


1. With the computer off, battery in, A/C power in, I turn on the computer. The lights turn on, the hard drive symbol flashes and the DVD Drive starts to spin then nothing happens, blank screen the alienware logo lights up and the touch pad symbol is illumiated.

2. CTRL+ALT+DEL does not work, USB ports do not work, Keyboard does not work.

3. I hold down the power button but the computer will not turn off it will keep restarting. After 4-5 minutes with the computer in this "on" configuration I can turn the computer off then I can hit the power button and start the computer.

It finally had a hard crash I had took the computer apart and and back together again. I narrowed down the problem to the Chip which was partially unseated. But the problems remains.

Now the computer will lock up and I have an aqua color line that runs the vertical lenght of the screen on the left side. When I do a screen capture it does not show up.

My trouble shooting:

1. Reseated memory and tried each 1 gig stick seperatley (no effect)
2. Reseated 7900 GS cards, swapped cards and tried a single card (no effect)
3. CMOS battery reset (no effect)
4. LCD Cable reseat/Camera Reseat (no effect)
5. Removed WIFI card (no effect)
6. Reseated CPU - COMPUTER WORKS AGAIN BUT FREEZES

Here are some specs with HW Monitor at idle.
CPu 85C
Mobo 35C
ML-42 Processor 69C
GPU 1 65C
GPU 2 65C

Computer specs

M9700
ML-42 Processor
2 Gigs ram
160 Raid 0 HD
7900 GS 256Mb x 2 not currently in SLI. latest Alienware Beta Drivers. I have also tried older drivers and it does not help the line problem,

 

Anyone have an idea?

 

does anyone have any idea on the problem?

 

Sounds like damaged hardware. If reseating the CPU helped, but it is idling at over 80c, that is not good. You would need known good parts to swap out to even test. You could try a reformat and reinstall of your OS if it even works well enough to get that far, but if not your options are limited. Parts for that model will be difficult to find (I know, I have one) and Alienware won't sell you any if you are out of warranty, which I assume you are. Sorry, but I don't expect you to have a lot of luck here.

 

I would remove all drivers and reinstall them. Otherwise it sounds like you may have a mobo issue.

 

Thanks for the insight. When I took it apart and put it back together I did not clean/reapply new thermal paste. That is my thought on the high temp.

I am deployed to the Pacific on an Aircraft carrier so it will take time to get some new Artic Silver. As soon as that arrives I will apply and see where my termperature stands then I will reinstall windows and the drivers.

The CPU that is at 85 Degrees is the NVIDIA and not the main Turion CPU. I think is from swapping the Video cards around 3 or 4 times and once again not applying any new thermal paste. I am not using the computer right now except to put music on my Itunes.

On another note, I do not think it is worth it to find a new/used Mobo (300-400$) and repair. I think you would both agree on this. I assume I will be parting it out on Ebay if I narrow it down to the Mobo.

 

It's very likely artic silver will help, unless permanent damage was done (this CPU was designed to cope with ridiculous temps though).

Alienware never used AS5 because of some longevity reason, but this laptop needs doing every 10months to stop it overheating.


Order some canned air too, and remove the fans to clean them all out properly.

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread165929.html

Some people even undervolt the CPU, but that's if you're really desperate:

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread187460-2.html


Can't you go down to the engine/IT rooms for supplies? lol