My M17x keeps crashing

So my new Alienware M17x, the All-Powerful, is about to make me cry. Again. I have not had to hard-crash a computer this many times with any other computer I've had in my life. Here I thought I was going to buy the best laptop out there and never have a problem with crashing or slow computers again. But here I am, I've had my computer half a month and it's crashed too many times to count.

At first I thought it was a driver issue with my graphics cards. So I installed every different type of driver for my dual 260s that I could find. Still crashed on each and every one.

Then I decided to try Windows 7 to see if a new operating system might magically fix anything. It didn't.

Then I thought maybe it was the game I was playing (Left 4 Dead). So I tried Bioshock and CoD 4. More crashing.

Then one day I decided to watch a movie. About 10 minutes in, it crashed.

And by crash I mean, I'll randomly be playing (or watching a movie) and anywhere from 3 minutes to 3 hours into gaming the screen will freeze, the sound will loop, and everything becomes unresponsive. And then I have to push the Alien head (while I cry) until the computer turns off. Then I cry some more.

Can anyone help me diagnose this problem? I don't want to ever have to hard crash my Precious again!

 

Call dell as that could be anything from RAM to the motherboard or graphics cards. I would not even waste a moment seeing as you tried everything already and still had the same issue. they will come to your home and fix it so dont worry to much about it . I know it sucks but just get on horn and get it out of the way.

 

Will I have to pay for them to do that?

 

sounds like bad RAM it happens Run

MEMtest


EDIT lol no its called a warrenty

 

Heck no you wont have to pay a cent , thats what a warranty is for.

 

I tried to run MEMtest but it says it's only for 32bit processors.

 

?

try my pre boot assesent tool

 

preboot-one of your "F" keys when you are first booting. usually F8 or F10 to get option for boot device. You may have to go into bios to have cd boot before hard drive. If you do that when you reboot you'll get "press any key to boot from cd"

Download ubuntu 9.04. 32 or 64 bit. it doesn't matter(your not installing it). Burn to cd. Restart computer and boot from cd. go to the memtest+ 2.11 portion and use that to test the ram.

PS:memtest+ 2.11 is a smaller download all by itself and it can boot from cd also, but the stand alone just wouldn't boot for me.

 

MEMtest complete. No errors. Now I guess I have to get Dell in here? Or does anyone have any other ideas?

 

reboot and as soon as t starts right when the fans kick on HOLD FN + X

 

I just did that test, too. I ran the full test and everything passed.

 

sounds like a software issue

is it overheating ?

 

No, I monitor the temperatures constantly and they never go very high. I didn't overclock, either.

 

Billdozed have you contacted Dell/Alienware yet ?

 

ya, make this Dell's problem not yours, you spent enough on this and don't need the emotional stress as well

 

I agree, it's time you call Dell and they fix this for you. If the PC has a problem they will change it for you. Don't worry, they are pretty cool with this sort of thing.

 

This has been a nightmare.

Called alienware support, a foreign guy used remote desktop and farted around for a while until he finally said "oh you have windows 7, we can not support that yet."

so i called back and went straight to the m17x all powerful support. a foreign girl started to direct me straight to remote desktop and i told her "we have already been through this, just tell me what you are looking for."

she went through a list of everything we have gone over in these forums such as drivers and memory tests until she said i needed to run a diagnostics from the alienware cd. she had me boot from the cd i described the options i was given and she didnt recognize them.. she put me on hold for a long time until i decided to hang up.

think i will have any luck with dell support instead of alienware? this is getting ridiculous.

the first guy also said he could not send a technician over to look at it because they only do that for installations.

 

Billdozed. I have the same EXACT problem as you. Playing left 4 dead too. and team fortress. I spent hrs on the phone with AW tech. Nothing. In the end I asked for a new computer and I'm getting it soon.

 

What did you end up telling them and is there anything i can do to speed up this process. I figured it would come down to having to get a new computer but geez, what kind of stuff did they try for hours?

and did they remote desktop you, and did you have vista or windows 7 installed?

 

Never got around to windows 7. I'm kinda a noob to the whole laptop world, but its not like ic an't figure out what to do by reading the forum. I called AW and they remote accessed my computer probably at least 6 times. I hate how slow they are. It took them 15 minutes for them to figure out who I was without the service number. I gave them my address name phone number, order date etc. They finally found me after I called my brother to ask him what my service # was and gave it to them. Either way, thats just complaining about the service.

They installed a driver for the video card off of dells website. Installed, rebooted, tested a game, CRASH! Then we did a benchmark to see if everything was alright. Everything read perfectly fine. Tested a game and crashed again. After I decided to reformat on my own. Still didn't work. Have you tried to use one graphics card and disable the stock one? There is no overheating in mine.

 

yes i have tried everything anyone can think of

im going to throw away a few hours of life on the phone with them now

here it goes:

 

frankly the differences between Windows 7 and Vista are nice, but not ground breaking. Just put vista back on your machine and enjoy it.....

 

Billdozed, keep in touch please. I would like to see if you can fix your problem. Highly doubt it. If you search around this forum you'll see a bunch of people have posted very similar problems such as us. It seems like to me the problem is the graphics card.

 

they are having me test the ram now

i did a memtest but they want me to run the comp with just 1 of the 2g sticks and see if it locks up

then try the other

if they both lock up then they said they need to replace the motherboard which means probably a new laptop


thats such a hassel

 

Hmm. wow i was just about to post that you should try that. I would except i'm at work...

 

you always want to test ram sticks individually.....

 

Actually, for some reason, I have mcafee installed on my computer with the 30 day trial. Do all other people have this installed and working? Maybe this is the problem? I haven't actually tried to fiddle with this program. I'm thinking maybe it can block internet access to certain programs such as games. I shouldn't have installed mcafee.... POS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

i thought memtest would check them out individually

 

nope, it just goes through all the available mem addresses irrelevant of which stick the address is on

besides, testing individually eliminates variables, like if one stick is bad and other isn't

 

well i tried one stick, no problems, played for a while with nothing, decided to try the other, same problem after about 10 min

still though, i have played for 2-3 hours with no problems before so maybe i just wasnt playing for long enough with the first stick

with just the stick that is allegedly bad, would memtest come up with something?

running now

if it comes up with nothing, ill put the "good" one back in and play all night...i love playing video games and calling it troubleshooting

 

run a full pass of memtest for each stick (separately). Hopefully one of the sticks is bad and therefore you just need to replace the ram and not the whole machine. You can use one stick and still have a laptop while dell sends you new units.

 

ran memtest on the bad stick, didnt come up with any errors. been using the good one with no problems so im going to assume that was the problem.

called AW, sending me a new stick overnight. hope this is the end of it!

 

awesome, I hope so too!

 

so i took a break, had dinner, played an old game (doom 3) for fun

everything good so far then WAM lock up again

oh it gets better, now on bootup i get the bsod...fantastic

on phone with support again now, this is just terrific

 

so after hours they wanted to send a new motherboard and send a technician to install it...i said how about a new computer

now im going to call customer support tomorrow to see if I can get a replacement

 

for sure go the new computer route....putting in a new motherboard is just begging for something to go wrong

 

okay so i tried to get the new computer, but the rep insisted that they had NO product replacement policy. i argued that i know that to not be the case, i have had problems with this computer since day one, i spent a lot of money on this computer, i have run every test known to man and they have all passed, and i believe that this is Dell's problem, not mine. he simply said that they have no return policy (even though the other rep said to contact customer care for a complete replacement but they just sent me back to tech support) and that all they can do is replace the motherboard.

i asked how he was so sure that the motherboard would fix the problem when the other reps had been so sure that the problem was my power cable/my operating system/my ram. he told me that the motherboard was the problem.

i asked him what would happen if the system was still locking up after the motherboard was replaced. he said they would then replace the computer (lol wut). i told him i don't have this sort of time as i need this computer for college in just a few weeks and it could be up to a week just to get the new motherboard. he didn't care.

so now here i am having reinstalled my operating system just to boot up from my BSOD with still no idea of the problem and nothing remotely resembling a diagnosis. this is not the "all-powerful" that i spent over $3500 on.

 

Billdozed,

Apparently there is a 21 or 25 day period of the time you recieve the computer (one guy told me that it was from the date you ordered) till you can return it. Tell the customer care that you either want a full refund due to a defective computer and want to return it with no cost or for dell to send a brand new computer. If they give you a hard time, go tell them to ask or check their records of how many times you've called in for AW tech support and ask them to go talk to them. They should have your service number on file and how many times you've called and for what you've called about. Play some hardball and let me know what comes out of it. I'm about to call them jsut to make sure that if i get a 2nd computer thats damaged, i can still return it.

 

i tried to talk to customer care and the indian girl told me that all she could do is transfer me to tech support, no matter what i told her

 

Ask to talk to their supervisor. Tell them you spent a lot of money and are extremely dissatisfied with this product and you want to either return it or get a new one. ask for the supervisor. I just got off the phone with them. 21 days of the invoice date is the amount of time to return it for a "credit." If you get a new computer, taht invoice date is the day you start.

 

If you threaten to return, they will kiss your . I promise. I'm in sales and that's just the way this shiza works.

 

they would absolutely prefer to fix the problem than have to give the return and lose the sale/customer

 

i feel like i was talking to a supervisor the last time. he wouldn't budge an inch, no matter what i said.

 

Sounds like you're going to have to return the whole thing under whatever 'customer satisfaction' policy Dell gives or the USA as a whole gives.
Sucks that they have sent replacement machines for other things to people on this forum but won't do yours.

 

If thats the case, then return it. Then order a brand new one. I dont understand because i didn't even speak to a supervisor. I spoke to a guy and told him how dissapointed I was and he took like 3 min to talk to his super and told me that he was sending a new one.

 

the dell tech is coming in a couple minutes to replace the motherboard. i'll let you guys know how it goes and if i still have crashes/have to return it

 

good luck!

 

A warning to all - when the QualX Serv tech (Dell contracts out their onsite warranty work to QualX) arrives, watch the tech like a hawk. Note anything amiss. You have to cooperate with the tech and let them do their work, but keep a watchful eye. If anything goes wrong, you can deal with Dell later.

Trust me on this one.

 

Hope everything works out. Its unfortunate that a lot of posts on these forums are from people grieving about a struggling M17x. But thankfully there are people on here who care to give you their advice, so that's fantastic.

It's also unfortunate that we get more horror stories than good ones.

Anyway, all the best Bill! Let's hope we can turn this story into a good one.

 

that is the nature of these things, when it is working everyone is happy and you never hear from them, people come here when things break lol