L701X and 8 Beeps.

Hello everyone!

I have an old L701X that my family used to use until it "broke." I recently dug it out of my closet and tried troubleshooting it. Upon power on, it would give me 8 beeps. This would happen when the laptop had the internal display plugged in, internal display NOT plugged in, and when it had an external monitor plugged into it. What was weird, was that the display would allow me to run the color test where you hold D before powering it on and it runs that display test, and it passed. I will say, the internal display cable was a bit mashed, but everything seemed to be fine. The reason I bring up the display cable being mashed is because when testing a while ago, I accidentally ripped it because it was already in a weakened state, meaning I cannot use the internal display whatsoever. I still get 8 beeps, but I find this odd because wouldn't the laptop output to an external display if the internal one didn't work?

My main question is could this issue be a sign that the GPU has failed? I also wonder if the MOBO is just done. I don't know I'm just thinking out loud right now. All help would be appreciated though, Thanks!

 

The 8 beeps is LCD failure. 6 beeps is GPU failure.

Can you run advanced diagnostics on startup? They might help. Service manual is below. Make sure you use the exact testing keystrokes for your laptop; some of the newer XPS models reportedly bricked when people just used random keystrokes for testing.

You might look with a loop (or zoom lens on phone) at the video connector on the motherboard to make sure some pins are not broken or shorted.

Also, can you replace the monitor cable? There is a part for $10 at parts people below.

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-th/000132041/understanding-beep-codes-on-a-dell-notebook-pc
https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/xps-17/docs
https://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=category&id=143&subid=332&refine=lcd+cable

 

I'll planned on getting a replacement cable, but I would like to test to make sure the MOBO works before dumping money. I'll try the advanced diagnostics though.

 

Also, you might carefully inspect the motherboard for any damage (burn marks, corrosion, damaged soldier joints, green goo, missing or dislodged pieces, etc.) Use your phone's zoom lens to see better. Louis Rossman has some videos that show how to do this.

This visual inspection can be helpful for some, but not all, failures.

 

Sorry that its been awhile.
I checked the motherboard and noticed that one of the pins on the display connector was missing. I am assuming that the computer gives me 8 beeps because something is wrong with the MOBO, or that the MOBO knows that there is something wrong with that display connector. I am currently trying to make an offer to a seller on E-bay who has a fully working L701x in bad physical condition to use for parts.