Clevo D900K repetitive nightmare

I understand there are a few of you who still have this box.
Pour a cup of coffee, read my tale of woe, and know that there is a financially strapped stay-at-home-mom who will be eternally grateful for any help you give.

I saved up for three years to buy my dream laptop. My family is of modest means, so I did my research and waited until I could get exactly what I wanted from what appeared to be a very reputable vendor. $3700 would be well-spent for a laptop that would last me 7-8 years.

Well, my D900K started acting up last winter, two years into a previously unused three-year extended warranty. I sent it back to manufacturer who cleaned it and sent it back, telling me they could not replicate the problem I had. (White screen, no post). Sent it back a second time and they replaced the mobo due to "water damage". I requested a photo for insurance purposes, which they said they could not provide. Bottom line, I paid over $1K in repairs (new mobo, GPU, keyboard, touchpad) and didn't really believe that the water damage thing was quite true, but didn't have any way to challenge it. Sounded like an excuse not to honor the warranty. (And insurance wouldn't cover it, so I was out the money).

FFWD to now and having mobo issues again (it seems) and I do some research on my own. I find out that this particular model has problems with mobo's being fried and it doesn't matter who the OEM was. I am furious, but out of money and because I stupidly followed the directions of the OEM to have a local repair shop re-sink the gpu, (tech support at OEM said it sounded like a heat issue and local repair would be less expensive than shipping it back to them) I am also apparently out of warranty.

Here's what happens when I attempt to power on my computer:
The blue halo around the power button lights up, as well as the power and battery indicators at the bottom of the screen. Within seconds of post, three indicator lights on the top of the keyboard light up. I hear no fan, so I turn it on manually. Then, about the time it gets to GRUB, the indicator lights start flashing rapidly. About 15 seconds later, the whole thing just shuts down.

I've tried removing the battery, and also tried powering up on battery alone. The unit isn't exceptionally clean, but I was aware of heat being a potential problem and kept it pretty clean.

I'd like to know if there is any way to determine just how many people have had this issue, if I should go ahead and suck it up and pay the OEM again for repairs, if there's any other way to configure this doorstop so that the next mobo doesn't fry, and what way, if any, Clevo might be of help.

Have any ideas?
Thanks much for sharing. I'm just sick about this and how much money this has cost us so far. I feel so stupid.

 

Not to put too fine a point on it, but you're talking numbers that might just interest a competent consumer-protection attorney, particularly if there are statutory damages to be added to the mix, which will depend on your local law.

First, don't feel stupid; you were acting in good faith and extending to others the same courtesies you expect for yourself - to be treated honestly and fairly - at most you were a little naive, but certainly not stupid.

Second, in addition to seeing if any of the geniuses on NBR (not me, BTW) can come up with a good fix, I would suggest that you consider talking to a local lawyer - if you don't know one you trust already, find out where your local bar association is and ask for a recommendation (actually ask for several) for an attorney who has expertise in matters involving consumer products, breach of warranty, and who knows, possibly fraud, if the facts are all there (I'm not saying they are, just saying that they might be).

Typically, a referral to an attorney from a bar association's referral service will get you an initial consultation at a reduced fee, so you won't be out-of-pocket too much extra money to begin with, and the worst any attorney would tell you is that you don't have a case, in which case you're still right where you are now, and in a more likely case, you'll find an attorney who thinks you do have at least a half-way decent case, and you might be able to get some net damages back (net, that is, of the contingency fee that such an attorney is most likely to charge - 30% of gross damages is usually the highest those rates go, but push for lower).

Anyway, that's my two cents' worth; in terms of your actual system, if you don't get any responses on your thread, try contacting a member named Gophn (he of the Clevo Guide fame), I believe that he has, or had, a D900K, so he should be a wealth of technical info for you.

 

Welcome to the NBR forums.

Thanks for posting.

Sorry to hear about your story, who exactly was your vendor?

you can PM me the serial number and I can track down the origin of the barebones.... from one of the few international Clevo importer OEMs that everyone else has to buy from.

Your problem sounds odd, but familiar.

I remember something like that happening to a D900T that a friend owns.

I had him re-seat and re-secure all components:
- remove the battery first
- remove the non-essential components first to see if the system will POST and remain powered on
........ Hard drives, Optical Drives, Wifi card, TV Tuner card, all externally connected things (USB/firewire/PCMCIA)
........ then turn it on and see if it still powers down
- if it still turns off, then you might need to re-seat the remaining important components:
........ CPU, RAM, and most importantly (for these models) the Videocard module (make sure its removed and carefully re-secured onto the motherboard)

hope this helps,
-Gophn

 

You are not alone there are many who have owned that model and have had the same thing happen. I got 4 solid years out of mine so I got my moneys worth. I would buy another one in a minute but with the newer model due out later this year I am waiting.

 

Ooo... let me guess... is the OEM Rock? This sounds very familiar...

 

updated my first post.

tell us how it goes.

I get some other D900K owners to chime in as well.

 

You all are great, thanks so much for responding.

henrybutt: I don't want to let loose the name of the OEM just yet, but it's not Rock. After the thoughtless, careless email I received from the "customer service" manager, I might just let that out soon.

Soloman: You have no idea how good it is to know I'm not alone....thanks.

Shyster1: I don't know. I've thought about the consumer advocate thing for two reasons: Since I have everything on the line, I am a bit emotional about the whole thing and I know that doesn't make for good negotiations--I'm too easily discouraged. Secondly, if this is as common a problem as it seems to be I have to wonder why my OEM didn't "go to bat" for me in the first place and go after Clevo. Seems a consumer advocate might be able to get answers better than I could.
I don't know about a lawyer yet.

Gophn,
Thanks so much for all your great suggestions. I will PM the serial to you. I'm starting to wonder about the local computer repair shop's job...it should have been fairly straightforward: Clean and paste? He didn't replace the fan because it was working. After reading through other posts about the graphics in these beasts, it seems they are a bit delicate in how they're handled...connections, dust, finger acid/oil. Would I be right to assume that the slightest thing askew would render it unstable? Could this be something as simple as literally a "loose screw" ?

Thank you again, folks. Your suggestions are more helpful than you'll ever know.

Off to find those cheaters so I can see that serial number...

 

oh, another dissatisfied d900k owner. join the club.
Mine has gone through hell to and i am on my 4th motherboard.

The white screen which you had is not really a problem isolated to the d900k. The white screen is from a disconnected lcd. The screen will come up white when the ribbon cable which connects the lcd to the motherboard becomes loose. This can be very easily fixed, by reconnecting the ribbon cable on the back of the LCD. In case you do not know what a ribbon cable is, it is the gray/brown cable which is about 1.5" wide which runs up behing the lcd. It is a flat cable. When reconnected properly use some electrical tape to make sure that the cable stays in place.

As far as the fans not turning on, that has been a problem with the last motherboard I had. A simple bios reset fixes this problem.

This whole boot problem, well this cycle is all too familiar to me. You may wonder why this is happening, and the answer has a few parts.
1) the system is not powering on because the system likes to fry its own memory cards. I say this because after the last two motherboard swaps, one one of my memory cards kept frying. So what you do is this.
Remove all of the memory from your system.
Try powering it on without the memory, the same cycle will still happen.
Now put one memory card in the bottom slot, and try powering it up. If the problem still occurs, try the second memory card in the bottom slot.
Only try one stick at a time, so you can follow a trial and error setup.
If one memory card fails to make the system post than you need to rma that memory card to the memory manufacturer. (it should have lifetime warranty, so its free other than the $2 or whatever shipping is)

2) the second solution is the bios needs to be reset. To do this, take the battery, ac adaptor, memory and the bios battery from the system.
Than leave the system to discharge for a few hours.
Plug the system back in and try booting, the bios should reset.
If the problem still occurs, than the problem is probably internal to the bios.

3) whenever upgrading your bios, please never use a floppy. My floppy drive skipped when installing a bios upgrade, which bricked my system for a few months.
The only fix is to physically desolder the bios chip, and resolder a new one in, which would have to be bought configured from biosman.
or
you can buy a new motherboard.
Buying from clevo direct is bad, it is a complete rip off.
Buy your motherboard from Z-tronics.
Please order over the phone, ask to talk with Jerry.
And ask that the board is tested before shipment.

I dealt with Z-tronics a few weeks ago.
My first board came doa, so they gladly replaced it. Before they replaced it, I called jerry and had them test the board before shipping it.
They tested the board, and called me over the phone that it was working. They shipped me the new board and it worked right out of the box.

They charge about $170 for the motherboard, which is about $350 less than any of the competition.
http://www.ztronics.com/motherboards/alienware-laptop/alienware-aurora-m7700-amd-motherboard-d900k/flypage.tpl.html

You can contact Jerry at this number if you need a board: (714) 862-2658
or
(714) 979-9877


About the heat.
The system does get hot, but it takes a while for it to heat up. Repasting the graphics card and processor does nothing, so do not waste your time doing that again.
Just press FN+F2 to keep the fans running

I think the only people who frequent nbr who own this laptop, is Gophn, Table21 and myself.

K-TRON

 

Consumer advocate is also a good place to start - what you need is someone who can stand in for you and do the hard bits, the stuff that you're not prepared to do because you're to emotionally close to the whole issue. That is precisely what a good attorney, and a good consumer advocate, will do for you.

I certainly think you at least have good reason to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, against all parties involved, and I also think that you may have enough of a case that it would be worth your time to talk to a consumer advocate and, perhaps, an attorney. The consumer advocate might be the better first stop, because that person will know a lot better than I do whether or not you've got enough of a case to make it worth taking the trouble to find an attorney to speak with.

If you don't mind my asking, what state do you live in, Ohio, or another state?

 

Who did you buy the laptop from?

Alot of Clevo retailers use third party repair centers, which are pretty much small computer places around the world. So your laptop could have been sent to any one of these places. You will never get an image back, because these places do not warrant it. They are only repair centers used for extended warranty services.
I know RJTECH has this, and it is the worst warranty service ever

K-TRON

 

K-TRON: Thanks for all that information. I hesitate to do anything to it myself yet, because I don't want to ruin any chance I might have of getting recompense from the OEM...which is also why I'm not mentioning their name. Yet. I also believe I know the repair facility that was involved. That said, if it comes down to it, I am a self-taught do-it-yourselfer in many arenas. Mostly because funds are limited, but also because I'm geek enough to want to learn, and, as my husband says, I am " The Little Red Hen"..and I will do it if there is no other option.

Shyster1: Thanks for the encouragement and info. I went to Clark Howard's site today to see if I could get help from them, but they were maxed out on requests for the week.
I don't mind telling you I live in Ohio. Embarrassed sometimes, (like when the Buckeyes run it up the middle on 3rd down and 15), but it's home.

 

Nothin' wrong with Ohio - my brother and his wife live near Columbus; they've got a great little business there that, God willing, is still doing well.

 

Just looking at your Sig, A new mobo should cost ~$250, The graphics ~$300, Keyboard ~20 and the touchpad ~$30 from looking at the Clevo website...

 

^^ I liked K-Tron's suggestion.... about re-securing the LCD cable... its the most simplest task to do really.

1) remove the keyboard (press the four retractable latches above the ESC, F6, PrtSc, and * keys)

2) carefully disconnect the keyboard cable

3) there is a metal panel that as simply removed by removing the screws

4) then you should have access to the bottom of the keyboard area of the motherboard (wifi card, tv tuner card, and the LCD cables)

5) the LCD cable is to the top left of area (under the ESC key).
- disconnect it and re-connect

hope that does something.

 

Please note that their are a few cables going up into the lcd,
when you get to the step, physically look at the connectors for the three cables which go into the lid. One is a 4 wire, for the usb webcam, one is like 9 or11 wires for the indicator lights, and the other is a large cable for the lcd itself. Check the physical connectors where the wires go into the connector.
I know on the 11 pin wide one, one of the wires was loose, so I used my fingernail to seat it back in.

You should also check the ribbon cable on the back of the LCD. Once both ends are secure, that eliminates those problems.

K-TRON

 

Thanks so much.
I will be checking those things following your suggestions.

henrybutt: I wish it had only been that much.

 

nicionnoith
Just a heads up.
Do not ever install Bios version 1.00.10b on your laptop, it completely bricks it. This has happened to me twice, and is the reason mine is dead now.
Stick with bios version 1.00.09, it works stable half the time, which is better than the never working version 1.00.10b, which never works

K-TRON

 

that'd be why the .09 is the latest on their site then...they must've taken down the .10b

 

the 1.00.10b .... is a final beta BIOS that only Sager has.

it was created as for Sager's request when the D900K was being phased out.

It worked for me and other Pro-Star/Sager notebook owners, but it definitely should have the disclaimer on what might happen if the hardware is not fully compatible or has conflicts.