Eurocom Sky X7C infinite bootloop

I was watching videos when I got BSOD with this code: KMODE_EXCEPTION_NOT_HANDLED

It was loading the BSOD and was stuck at 40% so I gave it some time, came back 3 hours later and was still at 40% so I decided to manually turn it off (hold power button).

After that, I tried turning it on but now it is stuck on an endless loop of turning off and on inmeadiately, I can just see the lights onboars turning on (the HDD flashes for a moment and doesn't turn on again), hearing the fan for less than a second and then powers off, keeps going on like that endlessly. I would prefer if I could fix it instead of shipping it to Canada as I live in Colombia and the shipping costs are pretty high, I also had it repaired (motherboard got burnt) and arrived to my house less than 3 weeks ago :/.

Edit: Screen is always black, no BIOS message, not windows, nothing. Just black.

Edit2: I tried removing the CMOS battery and cleaned the RAM pins, now the bootloop seems to take around 1-2 minutes instead of a shorter version of it.

 

Please help

 

Did you do a complete nvram reset, taking out both the cmos battery and the regular battery then holding power for 30s? I would try with a single stick of ram and in different dimm slots to see if it will boot.

 

I did try holding the power button without the CMOS battery. I even left the CMOS battery out for almost a full 24 hours.

Video:

 

So long as the main battery and power were out when you did that then you did an nvram reset.

 

Just tried that again and didn't fix it. Keep in mind that the motherboard was recently changed as the last one was burnt, don't know if that has anything to do.

 

Although, it worked just fine for 2 weeks more than ok.

 

Try booting from a USB and rule out any issues with the HDD. If it's a spinner does it make any noises?

If it's SSD/NVME they don't make noise but, reseat them and see if it does anything since you mentioned the MOBO was replaced....

 

I tried turning the pc on without SSD (where the OS is installed) and/or the HDD (just files) and the bootloop still stays, just black screen. Might try using a USB and see if it boots then

 

USB bypasses a lot of the on board items that could be causing issues. If it boots from USB then you have to rule out the drives if either of them went bad. BSOD and lack of recovery leads me to believe windows got corrupted or the drive failed.

As to the black screen have you tried removing both drives and attempting a boot to see if the BIOS splash screen comes up at all or if it remains black? BIOS alone should be able to display something on the screen even w/o drivers not being loaded from the OS. It's rare that the BIOS would have an issue but, it's possible that could be the issue. A bit more difficult to recover. If you have an external monitor or TV you could hook up to while booting could rule out a panel issue.

 

As seen on the video, the screen stays black, I tried connecting to an External monitor with no luck. BIOS is still not showing up even when using only the USB and I also already tried to turn the pc without the HDD and SDD, I even tried it with just the cpu, motherboard and RAM connected with no luck

 

OK, that rules out a lot. Sounds like it's ready for a trip to the depot to get some pieces replaced again. Sounds like it's just a lemon, maybe they'll replace the whole machine if it's under warranty still.

 

You can try this. I own a Eurocom 770DM (I don't remember what they called it), Anyway, whenever the power cord is inadvertently disconnected and it runs on battery until the computer turns off I am left with a laptop that will turn on with only a black screen. I can sometimes get the screen to come back to life by turning it on and off a couple times, but this will eventually lead to BSODs. Here is how I fix it.

1. Unplug laptop. Remove Battery and CMOS battery.
2. Hold FN + D + Power button for a minute. (I used to just hold the Power Button, but that no longer seems to work).
3. Insert CMOS battery and battery. Plug laptop in and turn on.
4. You will likely only have a black screen. Wait until the laptop shuts itself off.
5. When the laptop turns itself back on, turn it off manually via power button.
6. Turn laptop back on. If you're lucky, the screen will come on after a minute or so. If it does not, let the laptop sit powered on for about 3 minutes. Turn laptop off. Repeat this process up to 3 times. My laptop usually comes back after the 1st or 2nd cycle, definitely 3rd. If it doesn't come by 3rd, I start over. (Note -- the laptop should no longer be cycling itself at this point. If it is, then this process likely won't work)
7. If the laptop screen does come back, make sure it has the popup warning about NVRam being reset. For me, if that message does not appear, I can be sure of future BSODs.

 

Still cycling :c

 

Any idea on what it could be? Laptop has been out of warraaty for over a year already but the motherboard was replaced less than a month ago, shouldnt that part have a warranty? As its a new piece.

I hope that Eurocom pays for the shipping :/ its 150 dollars just one way

 

The MOBO should probably have a warranty but does that offset the $300 shipping roundtrip? Since it is under warranty presumably they should cover shipping for a defective replacement. Instead of shipping the laptop to CA maybe have them ship the MOBO to you instead to save on shipping.

As to what it could be.... it would seem to be either the MOBO or GPU since you're not getting any display output either to the panel or external monitor.

As to next steps... depends on how much you want to sink into it for shipping or new parts.

If the MOBO / GPU are MXM where you can remove / swap them I would reseat the GPU just as a last ditch point of failure before initiating the whole RMA process for the MOBO. I would think they inspected / tested everything else while working on the MOBO but, then again the tech's are probably getting paid per case not per hour.

Personally if I got this thing working again I'd take it to a pawn shop and get rid of it for something different due to reliability issues. You wouldn't get much $ for it but, at least you get something to put towards something more reliable.

 

Just tried to run it without the GPU (MXM) and still no luck. Horrible how this all started with a simple BSOD :/ thanks, by the way. I hope the company pays for the shipping, they should have done extensive tests on it (had to pay the 2 hours the worked on it, it was like 80 dollars an hour, pretty expensive). Anyway, not buying again from Eurocom.

 

Disappointing to say the least to hand over your laptop and end up 2 weeks later with a similar outcome. Troubleshooting though comes down to weighing how much cash you want to put into it before it's not worthwhile. You've ruled everything out though and it seems that the MOBO is the issue or at least the BIOS isn't giving any video output. See if they'll pay for the shipping and labor on it to replace the MOBO again if not, there's always the option of buying one secondhand and giving it a go on your own.

 

What do you think about flashing the BIOS with an SPI? Maybe the BIOS got corrupted (?) I don't know hehe just talking what's coming to my mind

 

It's worth a shot considering the other option of sending it for repair.

 

With no igp the system won't boot properly without the GPU.

 

Sorry, what do you mean?

 

No video output without Graphics cards. iGPu (the integrated intel graphics card) isn't connected or have any power/signal routing on the motherboard for Clevo LGA/MXM laptops.

 

Oh, ok. iGPU. Is there anyway to change that? Atleast the GPU fans are working and the spot it is on gets hot, maybe that tells something.

The thing is, the screen stays black, I don't even see any backlight.

 

Nothing can be done regarding the lack of iGPU support. With a dead MXM graphics card everything will be dark as the darkest night. You need to call support and sending it for repair.

Are you able to come into bios screen?

 

No BIOS the laptop just stays on a cycle. You can see what happens on a video I posted before on this post.

Edit: this is the video:

 

The iGPU has no power circuitry and no PCB traces so would be pretty hard to get it going. It's just not able to start booting at all. Something fundamental is wrong with it.

 

So the most likely damaged pieces are the motherboard and GPU?

 

That or CPU VRM.

 

1. Please test for BAD RAM (test individually if you have 2 modules / search for a good known module)
If no post
2 .Take out all RAM module, if no bip you most likely have a bad CPU or a bad mobo:
- Test cpu separately.
- If CPU fine, rewrite bios.
3. IF you removed the GPU and no bip
You most likely have a bad Mobo (bad cpu vrm/bad mosfet/corupted EC/other cause)