Clevo X8100 startup problem

Hi, I have a problem with an "old" Clevo X8100.
As soon as I press the power button, the blue lights on the keyboard light up for 1 second and then go off immediately.
It does so for several times, then when I can get it started, it happens to shut down while loading Windows or even inside the operating system.
I bought a more powerful 330w power supply two days ago thinking it was a current problem as I upgraded the components but I did not solve them.

I have install vbios nos of svl7 but the problem persist.

My upgrades are:
Ram 8 to 16 Gb
Gpu 280m to Gtx 680m

The upgrades have been done more than 2 years ago and all worked perfectly but it's about 2/3 months with this problem.
What can it be?

Can you help me please?

Thank you for your asap respons

Regards.
Simone.




Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Are the fans spinning out of control?

 

The fans work correctly..


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Now i have tried update bios, but i have always the same problem.
Any idea?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

In fact, however, the first time I turn it on the PC does not start, the caps lock numpad leds and blockscorr continuously flash and the fan speed rises to maximum. I have to switch it off with the button and turn it on again.
What do you think?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

That behavior is indicative of hardware failure, it's just hard to pinpoint which component. Could be CPU, GPU, or main board.

 

Might want to try to clear your cmos. Old machine, might have a dead battery. I hear they are good for 10 years though. But since its dying right at the push of the button, it's probably a CPU problem since I belive the CPU posts first. Could be a bad ram module too?

 

Does it do this first thing in the day and then act normal or if you power it off and then within a few minutes turn it on does it do the same thing?

 

Sadly older cards are dying left and right, the 680M is one of them. You might habe to put it into the oven so you can use it for a couple of weeks and buy a new card.

 

Your statement may sound familiar because, if I remove the power supply from the plug it asks me to reset the bios and the date and time in the operating system (when I can start it) is reset. do you think these shutdowns could be caused by a depleted battery?
I tried to remove the ram and test it one by one but the problem persists.
How can I understand if RAM and CPU really work via software?



Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Once I can turn it on then I keep it so for fear of not being able to work all day! honestly I have never tried to do what you wrote! Why this question?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

I don’t understand What do you mean, are you telling me that the GPU is dead and I have to throw it away?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Well half dead would be the better description but yes. You can put it into the oven at 100c for 10minutes, then it will work for a couple of weeks to die again. It's best if you put it into the oven at 100c then use it while waiting for a new card.

Spoiler

Make sure the chip is pointing upwards, NOT downwards.

 

I dismantled the gpu, restored the thermal paste because it hardened. I heated the gpu with a professional high temperature hairdryer. I reassembled everything, now the PC seems to stay on but I hear a beep and the LEDs block the scor and num pad! after a while it goes out!


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Ps: now the beep sounds even at boot time !!

Pps: the beep stops if I press fn+1 but the pc shut down in the booting operation.


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Yeah the card is pretty dead. You need to heat it for a longer period of time.

 

wait wait I forgot to connect a fan and it overheated ‍♂️‍♂️‍♂️‍♂️! now I'm testing!


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

guess u did the heating in another way then :'D
Remmeber tho, get a new card, it won't last long. It's only a temporary solution.

 

Because different behaviour at cold boot says it's something physical relating to an electrical connection somewhere most likely.

 

Hi guys, I have updates on the problem! I removed the 680m gpu and installed an old 285m (obviously working) the problem is the same, even with the 285 the pc turns on only after several times I try to turn it on and when it starts, if it comes up to Windows, suddenly turns off just as it did with 680. what can it be? At this point if the problem is not the gpu what can it be? CPU or motherboard?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

sounds like dead board.

 

How can I be sure the motherboard is the problem? What tests can I do? and in case how could I find the problem and fix it? I saw the prices on eurocom, 700 €, they are crazy!! used I can not find anything..


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

The test you did kinda proves it to be honest. Seems like there is some issues with the EC not detecting crucial sensors. Actually you might be lucky and the slot might simply be dirty or the GTX 285 is like an Alienware card. If the GTX 285 was the stock Clevo card, then your only hope is somethnig like dirt. Otherwise you might have fried something.

Also about the board, you can actually email clevo center direcly and ask them for a board.

also considering the age of your notebook, i'd say it's still impressive that you ran it for such a long time without issues. Most notebooks tend to die out way faster.

 

The 285 is the the original old video card (Clevo) that I mounted on this PC! Then I bought a 680m! Dirt where can it be? In the gpu connectors? Because the pc is clean enough, it has no dust or anything! In your opinion, if it's not dirt, what could I have fried in the motherboard? some condenser?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Could be all kinds of things really. I'm talking about the MXM port yes. Maybe look for some kind of dirt or anything, if you can't find anything then I suppose it's time to take the board out and inspect it some more.

 

To "eye" has nothing relevant. I have no competence in measuring with a voltage tester. A new one where I can find it that is not on the Eurocom website, also used?




Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Cycling and then shutting down kinda sounds like when the Nec Tokin caps on the core2duos where dying.

In the photos of that mobo there is a square black thing on the backside of the cpu socket, kinda looks like a Nec Tokin style tantalum cap, if you tear it down, please take some photos, because if thats the case is a relatively cheap fix to remove it and solder 4 new good tantalums in there.

EDIT:

Either that, or chipset, these models are affected by crap solder in anything BGA due to the transition to lead free, a reflow might help pin-point the problem, or just putting your fingers on the chipset, pressing it a bit and trying to boot the laptop, if it boots normally theres your problem.

 

Let it cool fully to make sure it's not some thermal expansion issue too.

 

this is the Nec chip you tell me. how can I tell if it's broken?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

I think the problem is the nec chip because I heated it with a heat gun and the pc turned on the first shot!
however, it was off shortly thereafter! Is there a guide on how to replace it and above all where can I buy it?







Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Can find it on ebay, for instance; NEC/TOKIN oD108, $3.75.

Soldering isn't hard since it only has three large pads. Use a broad tip to heat it evenly and remove it with tweezers. Clean the pads and the solder points on the new chip, add a little extra solder to the pads, place chip and reheat while pushing it gently downwards. Remember the temperature setting required to remove it and use that same temp for the new chip, that way you'll know for certain that the solder has re-flowed.

 

The usual method to ease removal is to remove the plastic casing, it comes of easy, stab it in the middle and then pry gently and it comes off.

I preffer to replace those with 4 330 or 420uF tantalums and ditch those, because they always degrade and those on ebay are very old stock that might even be already damaged.

Watch this:



To reduce risk of damage, chipquik low temp solder is very good for this, its a massive ground and power plane, so without preheat is a bit hard to solder caps back on.

 

Thank you for your reply.

Can you link me where to buy the 4x 330 or 1x 420uf?

And why if the original is single, I have to put 4?


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Because the original has around 1500-2000uF capacity, but 4x 330uF will work perfectly.

I dont know eletronics shops in Italy, so ebay links:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4x-SMD-T...597050?hash=item362b5aadfa:g:JKwAAOSwAKxWXfB4

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/5-X-CAPA...012199?hash=item3f7d3bd2a7:g:7JoAAOSw-3FZJIpf

 

OK now I got it.
Which one do you recommend to me?
No problem for the store, I also order from England!


Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Either will fit in there, I would go for the bigger capacity, just because its an extra assurance that it will be stable, but I have replaced dozens of Nec Tokins with 330uF caps with no problem whatsoever, usually given the stock of old parts I would swap the cpu's for better models, the most common ones that I had was the 8300, so, new caps, a slightly better CPU and the laptops where rock solid again.

 

I removed the nec / tokin capacitor, I tried to clean the card for good but more than that I could not! I can not remove that "gray" color in the middle! I tried to solder the new capacitors recommended by you, but the pc does not start, only the lights come on and nothing happens.




Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

That looks shorted and toasted to me, remember motherboards also have multiple layers so any damage down into the PCB is also bad.

 

You need a more powerfull soldering iron, or pre-heat the zone with an hot air gun.

One ceramic cap looks like its only soldered on one end(circled in red).

And on the red blue and green circles, looks like shorts between power and ground planes, try to remove those pieces of solder.

Also, looks like you didn't add any flux, flux works wonders when soldering/reworking, bathing everything in flux will surely help you to get a better result and the solder will wick everything better and go to the right places by surface tension alone.

 

You can clean up the using rubbing alcohol to check the PCB is not too badly charred.

 

I cleaned everything with the desoldering braid, I checked with the tester that there was no short between one track and another, I soldered the capacitors, tested again, it is not short. I fix everything, I turn on the PC, but it does not start anyway. blue lights on and after a while caps lock, block number and bloc scroll flash. Nothing more.








Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

Then the CPU or a passive is likely gone.

 

Now again measuring the small confeners around the capacitors, they are all shorted again! What can I do?



Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

I tried to heat the capacitors and the pc starts! if you do not heat them do not start !! what the hell is going on?



Inviato dal mio iPhone utilizzando Tapatalk

 

A bad solder joint possibly making a connection when it thermally expands.

 

This is really fascinating - I have owned my Sager X8100 since 2010 and it is also suffering from random shutdowns. All temperatures seem fine and it shuts down completely randomly. Sometimes it's when the laptop is idling, other times under load - there's no pattern to it.

I too have also replaced the NEC Tokin cap with 3x 330uf tantalum caps and it seemed to work ok for a few weeks, however the problem has come back again.

Fitting 4x 330uf caps over the pads proved to be very difficult, but I'm thinking I should go back and try fitting the 4th one? Would it make all the difference?

Have you had any luck with your problems?

 

Update: So I took out the 3x caps I installed and replaced them with 4 of the lowest ESR tanatlum caps I could find with a 125C operating temperature.

Part number: T530X337M010ATE006

It was extremely tight to get all four to fit, but I ended up getting three on one side, and the fourth on the other at a very steep angle. I wish I took a photo at the time! It was relatively difficult making sure the legs were properly soldered due to the huge groundplanes, as they were taking away most of the irons heat.

It's been a few weeks now and touch wood the laptop has been fine! No random shutdowns or anything Very pleased

 

Soldering onto groundplanes is never fun, nice job getting it going again.

 

I recently got a clevo X8100 with startup problems / hard shutdowns shortly after boot that could have the same cause. Here's what I did so far:

1. When I got it, it showed a "Cannot find MBR" error. BIOS is working fine and stable & detects all hardware correctly. It sometimes takes several power button presses to start.
   
2. Booting a Windows 7 x64 Install Disc worked fine until the laptop did a hard shutdown during the section where "Windows is loading files", right before the Install Wizard should appear.
3. I then tried running Ultimate Boot CD and did a MemTest86+ which the ram passes with no errors. FreeDos based UBCD tools (to monitor temperatures) froze (no hard shutdown!) at "InitDisk" (could be a problem related to running UBCD from a USB stick), so I removed the HDD just to exclude it as a potential source for the shutdowns.
4. With the HDD removed I tried booting Knoppix Live Linux. It resulted in a hard shutdown during "Detecting hardware (graphics, input)..." when loading the OS (during the commandline part, before the GUI loads). So I was thinking it could be a GPU heat issue.
   
5. I removed the two HD 5870 cards and replaced the thermal paste. The fans were clean and even the old paste was still in okay shape, nothing that could have caused heat shutdowns. All fans are connected and working. After putting everything together Knoppix booted succesfully, but once I could use the GUI for a seconds the laptop did a hard shutdown again.

Since the symptoms of my X8100 sound a lot like what is described in this thread I think it could also be the NEC-Tokin issue.

I would love to double check the HD 5870 before doing any soldering, but I get no video when I try to boot up with just one card. I tried: only master installed; only slave installed; and both installed but SLI/Crossfire cable removed. All setups lead to a dark screen with the system probably booting up (LEDs lighting up as they should, CPU fan starts after a few seconds and the DVD drive starts to spin after a few seconds).

I would be really glad if some of the more knowledgeable folks here could help me with this:

A) Is there something I need to change when I want to go from SLI/Crossfire to using a single card only? The Bios didn't have any options concerning the MXM graphics, it's restricted to setting date/time, bios password and boot priority. Are SLI/Crossfire cards flashed with a special vBios that needs to be changed to operate as a standalone card? Or is there a hardware switch/jumper or sth. similiar I have to change?

B) What do I need for the NEC-Tokin --> 4x 330 uF replacement besides the capacitors. I have a pretty cheap soldering iron (15W blue plastic, no-name) - would it be good to get a better one to succeed with this fix? What flux/solder/solder-removel-things would you recommend to get to make this as safe and easy as possible.

I'm thankful for any help!

Config: Clevo X8100 USB 3.0, 2x HD 5870, i7-740m, 2x2GB RAM, 750GB HDD (removed)

 

The system wont boot with only slave card installed so forget that tester. It should work fine just with the primary card with no settings changed. The likelihood that both cards are dead is low so it may be related to the above.