M17X R1 Caps Lock flashing

I did a search and read some of the old threads, but either no final resolution was posted or the person with error didn't post a follow up after dealing with Dell. Does anyone know exactly what this is? BatBoys diagnostics pic he posted a while back showed that it indicates a problem with the memory... anyone confirm that replacing the sticks fixed it?

The problem started after I went into the bios and disabled hybrid and the integrated graphics card. When it rebooted, all I get is the alien face and a flashing caps lock key (with the other two on steady). I can't enter the bios or the boot menu.

I have tried to hold down the power button with the battery pulled, but it did nothing. I tried running with only one stick of memory, but no luck.

This system was a replacement for a faulty m1730... not exactly looking forward to having to call Dell and deal with them again

 

Hi Raziel66,
You are correct in that it's a problem with the memory. I would recommend opening the bottom panel and reseating your memory. Also, you may want to boot to your resource cd and test the memory after doing so. In rare cases, the motherboard might be causing problem, but it's most likely related to your memory.

Edit: My apologies, I didn't read your message completely. If you swap memory from either slot and still can't get the notebook to boot, there is most likely a problem with the motherboard. It's highly unlikely that both memory chips are bad.

The following diagnostic indicates the following steps for resolution:
1. Reseat the memory module(s).
2. Replace the memory module(s).
3. Replace the system board.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

Thanks for the info! I might see if I can just order some memory or find some local and try that. Not looking forward to the Dell call

I'm just relieved to know it isn't a graphics card issue!

 

Hi Raziel66,
It might be worth calling due to the fact that memory is a CRU (customer replaceable unit). They should just be able to send you two memory sticks.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

I'm at work, but I went ahead and called to see what they'd say and to the get the ball rolling. The guy says he doesn't think it's the memory (even though their service manual says it is). He wants to remotely connect and check the drivers and system configuration... I guess he didn't catch the fact that the computer won't even boot. Or let me into the bios.

He said to pull the battery and hold the power button for a minute and that should fix my problem. Once I can get into the bios I should double check that Raid is still enabled.

I think someone mentioned pulling the mobo battery too in another thread. That might be worth a shot. Also, I just remembered that I still have the original drive the computer shipped with from Alienware. I might pull my drives and see if I can boot from that one. I'd hate to have to wipe the others and start over but oh well...

 

Removing the BIOS battery (for 30 sec) will most likely solve your problem. Remove the CPU fan first if you don't have pincers, it will minimize risks of damaging the wires

 

Had some trouble with the battery but I got it unplugged! No change though. Tried swapping the ram again... Only put one stick in the top slot. Got a new flashing bios code that indicates the graphics card and the screen stayed black. Replaced the ram and I got the flashing caps lock key and the frozen alien head screen.

Gonna try the original hdd and see if that makes a difference

 

Did you by chance cleaned the GPU fans lately?
It might worth a shot on re-seating the GPUs and the LCD connectors.

 

I haven't done anything with gpus, but i did have to open everything up to get a stuck DVD out of the drive. I could definitely open it back up and check the connectors. I just dread trying to get the touch strip panel back on. What a pain!

 

Yeah, the touch strip is Dell's fiasco IMHO, to remove it I start from the hinges covers instead of sticking screwdrivers in above the 'END' and 'ESC' keys. To place it back, I flip it over with the hinges covers facing the keyboard and then it's easy to plug the connector.
The rest is easy, just make sure you don't glue the CF cable (if you ever disconnect it) to the exposed part of the MCP/CPU heat sink pipe.

 

Alright, UPDATE! I opened the comuter back up and checked the cables and put my Raid HDD's back in. Once I was done, it had the same error and froze at the alien head. I had hit F2 for the BIOS, got kind of pissed when it didn't load, so I walked away to go get something. When I came back.... it was in the bios.

Weird. So I checked and saw that Raid was still enabled, Quickboot was OFF now, and for some reason, integrated was turned on but Hybrid was greyed out. I'm running diagnostics now before I uninstall Nvidia in order to see what's going on there.

Will make sure to post whatever else happens. Still going to upgrade the RAM in the near future though... any recommendations in that area? My configuration has 4gb's of the standard Samsung RAM.

 

Turn Quickboot back on and see what happens...

 

Yea, I've run into the same problem on another laptop. Turning Quickboot back on fixed the slow bios loads.