Dell XPS17 L702X...Turns on, then dies. Tried everything. Help!

Out of nowhere, my 1 year and 4 months old laptop no longer works. It was working fine the previous night, and 6 hours later when I woke up, BSOD and then dead. And the best part is my warranty expired in March of this year.

When I went to use the laptop, I opened the lid to a blue screen of death . I read through the numbers and stuff real quick, but then shut it off and turned it back on (I didn't think much of it because I've gotten random blue screens on other computers before, and just restarted without a problem). When I turned it back on, the power button lit and the touch-buttons lit up in their usual cycle, the fan came on full blast, but the screen didn't turn on. No beeps either (but I don't remember if it usually beeped anyway) It just hung like that for about 15 seconds and then shut itself off.

I tried again and again, but it kept doing the same thing.

Here's what I've tried:

Tried starting it unplugged (on battery);
Battery out (plugged in);
Removed USB mouse dongle;
Reseated RAM
Tried with 1 RAM stick;
Tried with no RAM;
Tried with different stick of RAM that used to be in the laptop
Tried with 1 harddrive out;
Tried with both harddrives out;
Tried with no RAM and no HDDs;

I also disassembled the entire thing down to the motherboard and checked all connections. Reseated the CPU. Reseated the heatsink. Blew out any dust from the vents. Double checked everything. Took it apart a second time after none of the above worked, and still got nowhere with it.

No signs of any damage. The laptop was left on (as usual) with the lid closed. It was not moved from where I always use it. Probably hasn't even been moved from it's place in weeks. Nobody else used it overnight. No animals in the house to pee on it. It never runs hot, so I doubt heat played a role.

I'm totally stumped. And MAD. I tried calling Dell technical support, but since I am out of warranty all I get access to is their not-free technical support number.

If anybody has any ideas on how to fix it, please let me know.

Thanks!

 

Hey, i have an xps 17 too and this just happened to me tonight, i cant figure out whats wrong with it but i am running windows 8..

 

I stripped the entire computer down to the motherboard...plugged in the power button ribbon cable off the palmrest and the power jack...and it still does the same thing.

I'm guessing the motherboard is bad. But how does a motherboard just go bad, without any drops, spills, etc.? In order for the board to go bad, shouldn't there be an action that causes it?

Sorry to hear about your computer doing the same. If you are handy with computers, try taking it apart and to isolate the problem. Remove RAM, HDD's...try other compatible RAM. Hopefully you can fix yours.

 

Well im not very good haha.. But mines under warranty so i will call them to? Tomorrow and see if i can get it sorted, then ill let you know what happened

 

I guess nobody has any ideas?

UPDATE: I can get the power to stay on. But only after unplugging, holding power button for 30 seconds, taking cmos battery, hold power for another 30 seconds, put cmos battery back in, hold power button again, then plug in and it will run...but no video. Pressing the power button again shuts it off right away. After shutting off and turning back on, it goes back to shutting off after 15 seconds. If i do the power button sequence again, the power will stay on as mentioned above.

Should I just buy a new motherboard?

 

It's definitely sounding like a motherboard issue from the little experience I have (college student, been working in IT for the summer)...the thing is, since these motherboards have the GPU built-in, it could very well be a problem with the GPU, even though with the whole Optimus technology it should be using the integrated graphics on POST...Bottom line is, I'm betting it's either the GPU or the board, and either way the board will probably need to be replaced unfortunately... Do you happen to have another, older laptop lying around you could swap your components into to try? It would have to be a Sandy Bridge board if you want to test the CPU though...

This makes me quite nervous! I have an L502x I depend on when I go off to school, and just had to order a new battery for it as the one I have now is already giving issues and signs of dying. So far, so good with the system itself, though *crosses fingers*.

 

Thanks for the replay supertoast!

I don't have another sandy bridge motherboard to test with...but I went ahead and bought a motherboard (same type) on ebay which will hopefully be here in a few days...and hopefully work.

I'm wondering if it had anything to do with the 16gb of RAM I put in it about a month ago. That's the only thing I've done to the computer. Maybe since "they" say it only supports 4gb maximum for each slot, they meant it? But I've seen posts from people saying they did it...and no posts about any problems. Unless people can't post any problems because their laptops are now dead.

I hope your l502x holds up for you; it probably will.