P170HM Going from 6990M to 680M Trouble

If this is already been addressed, please point me to the thread.

I bought a P170HM from Malibal at the end of 2011. The AMD 6990M finally started crapping out in February. I "baked" it and got it going again until October. The last time, I had to bake it twice to get it going again. I decided to go for it and upgrade the GPU and CPU. I picked up a 2960XM and a GTX 680M on ebay and installed them this week. CPU's working like a champ, but when I attempt to boot up with the 680M installed, I get:

1. The American Megatrends Logo
2. 1 short beep followed by 2 more short beeps about a minute apart from each other
3. A blinking cursor in the top left corner.

I've checked with the seller and advised that he'd only used the 680M in Sager laptops. So I don't think that he's got some Alienware or MSI vbios on it. I assume the problem has to do with migrating from AMD to Nvidia. If that's the case, what can I do to get the card to work? I'm fully backed up and prepared to reformat or do a fresh installation of Windows or reflash the bios. I am currently on the most current/final bios for P170HM.

 

My understanding is that the P170HM only likes this vbios

http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/131179/clevo-gtx680m-4096-120507.html

Any other version seems to cause the freeze issue you describe.

See if it will boot with just one memory stick as well.

 

You 100% need to update your BIOS/EC. I had to do the same.
*Edit: Just read you are already using the latest one.

Well I too migrated from my CF 6970M's to a single GTX 680M, and had to update to the latest BIOS, otherwise the card was not recognized properly.

I did a fresh OS install, though it should not matter for BIOS beeps, as it gets loaded afterwards...

I'd just recommend re-inserting the GPU again, making sure the fan wire is attached properly, and flashing the VBIOS of svl7 (oc revised 01) which you can download over at techinferno.

 

OP already said hes on the most current BIOS/EC...

 

Yeah I edited my post. Still, I guess the problem lies in the connection of the card/its fan, or its vbios. Otherwise he would not hear POST beeps upon installing the new card. Anyway, a fresh OS installation after a switch of graphic cards is always a good advice

 

He's not making it past the BIOS screen which means that an OS reinstall does zero at this point. My bet is on the vbios. The HM series was really finicky from what I've read here.

 

Follow Up:

Having nowhere else to turn for help, I shipped my laptop back to my reseller to see if they could reflash the 680m on a machine with optimus back down to the base vBIOS. Unfortunately, I just found out that they can't get the card to work because apparently my motherboard revision is itself incompatible with the 6xx series GPUs. Supposedly, I'm on Rev3 when I need to be up to Rev5 or higher to use the 680m. (Even though I purchased my P170HM in December 2011, I've got an early version motherboard near the end of the P170HM lifecycle!?) Today is the first time I've heard of this incompatibility in the time I've been researching my upgrade options, but my reseller advised that the revision number is visible on the mobo.

I was hoping to get a couple more years out of my P170HM after going from the I7-2670qm to the I7-2960xm and bumping up to the 680m. I was generally satisfied with my 6990m until it started failing, so I figured some overclockable components would suffice. Now I'm in the hole for the GPU with nothing to show for it.

If anyone has ever heard of certain motherboards on P170HM being incompatible with 6xx series nvidias and you have a workaround or a suggestion about getting it fixed, let me know. Otherwise, I'm selling. Hopefully, I'll get more back than the cost of the 680. In anyone wants to buy a Clevo GTX 680m 4GB, let me know that too.

 

oooooh bummer! ive heard of the p170hm having two different revisions, one for amd, the other for nvidia gpus! so in your case the only alternative option remaining would be to source out an 7970M, which has basically identical performance to a 680m just make sure its a clevo card, is revision v1.2 (1.0 and 1.1 will NOT work!) and also has a non-enduro vbios flashed onto it...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

Wow I am late on this one but that is very weird assuming two things. 1. its a dell 680m (should be 2GB vram) or 2. clevo 4GB 680m with different vbios on it.
My hunch as per ethrem post is the vbios is not valid for this card to work with the ec of the p170hm which is the same as my setup.

You probably needed to get the seller to have flashed the correct vbios before shipping it to you so it was simply a plugnplay.
Now, your best bet is to get someone who has an alienware m17xr2 (me..hehehe) to flash the card with that specific vbios and then send it back to you.

Worth a go however, if you are selling then not much more to say.
Pm if you decide to go with my suggestion..

 

I had the same Problem! The beeping code does not necessarily indicate that the Card won't work, only that you can't acess the BIOS. You have to wait until this beeping procedure occurred three times in a row. After that the booting procedure will start normally!

But you probably won't get your 680m to work in a normal mode (neither did I), if your MoBo-Rev doesn't fit (didn't know it at this point)....

You have to be aware trying to get a 7970m to work in a P170HM. I tried it several times without success until I found out this:

Spoiler: Spoiler

Finally found out what caused all the Trouble:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/666401-online-petition-bios-updates-clevo-hm-model-series.html

NP8170 (P170HM) w/ NVIDIA or AMD GPU + LG LCD panel, AMD 7970M may or may not be supported, special EDID Firmware may need to be flashed to the LCD panel. Sager can provide this firmware update as long as the user pays for both way shipping & labor.
Click to expand...
It is the LG LCD Panel, it lacked the EDID Firmware....
But now the 7970m is sold and I have to give it a try with the 680m. Hopefully it will be plug'n'play with no super exotically issues at all!

It's astonishing that one still finds out some new Facts about a years old (end of life) Topic/Product!

If there are really different MoBo-Versions then even with the right vBios the 680m won't work normally at best!

 

Maybe look into Prema's BIOS if it's available for your laptop? That might help?

 

Nope! Unfortunately Prema didn't invent a BIOS-Version for the HM-Series!

 

he never really gave up on the project though afaik... just recently i was conversing with another user via pm about him pimpin up his old HM machine just for funsies and apparently he was in touch with prema concerning HM premamod and, well, lets call its "other potentially interesting upgrades" for HM users time will tell i guess!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I just came to this thread when searching an upgrade for my laptop.
I too have a P170HM with a 6990M and I was looking to upgrade it...

Is there any way to identify the revision? Or the location where it is written on the mobo...
If my laptop is compatible, I might be able to buy the card from you...

 

Once I get my system back from Malibal on Wednesday or Thursday (depending on how UPS jerks me around), I'll be able to take a look for myself. I should be able to tell you then.

 

Okay, got my machine back this afternoon. I had already done some Google-fu and found out that the motherboard revision should be listed on sticker between the top and bottom RAM slots on the underside of the unit. I confirmed this when I pulled out the topmost RAM stick and took the picture below. In most of the images I can find online, the revision appears to be V3.5 whereas the number in my unit is V3.3. It made me kind of wonder how challenging it would be swap out my motherboard.

Spoiler

I'd appreciate if someone with some more knowledge could confirm both that I'm looking at the right thing and that my unit will probably be able to use a HD7970M (V1.2, non-Enduro vbios).

If you (calexandre) or anyone else is interested in my GTX 680M, let me know.

 

there was a thread specifically from sager with more info concerning these two mobo revisions in the p170hm... lets see if i can find it again

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To the guys with the revision, I think you can see it in the program called Speccy. At least it says "Chipset Revision: 22" for my x7200's X58 board. Maybe it is not the revision number you need though :X

 

It is my understanding that a chipset revision is a whole other thing than a motherboard revision. I'm a internetworking guy and not a computer engineering guy, but I believe the chipset is derived from the components integrating the CPU with the motherboard. The motherboard revisions refer to different builds for the same model, using the same chipset, but the changes are too minor to require a chipset revision. This is another reason why it's so damn frustrating. it's like I purchased a system that was never going to do what I was lead to expect that it would.

 

Chipset revision is simply the revision of the chipset itself, motherboard revision would be the PCB. They can go together or one or the other can be updated.

 

Any chance your offer is still open to flash the card for me? I'm feeling like I got burnt in the whole custom laptop solution. Even if I can't use the card, I'd like to make sure it's flashed properly before I sell to someone.