Laptop issue

M

Mr.Belmont

Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
232
Hey guys, Im having a big problem. Im usually pretty good when it comes to computers but Im completely baffled as to what's wrong with my laptop. I turn it on the back light comes on for the screen and keyboard but it will not boot. I did some research the past few days and usually the motherboard will make beeps if theres a hardware problem. It does not do this unless I hold down a key. Anyone know what could be wrong? Also about a week ago I left my Ac adapter at a friends and used my girlfriends which was alot smaller ( 90 watt compared to a 240 watt) Could that have caused something to go wrong? I read that usually parts will malfunction from over voltage or wattage but not under.

Model : Alienware m17x r3
Intel I7 2760
8gbs of ram
dual 500 gb SS hybrid hard drives
2gb Nvidia gtx 580m gpu
 
20 year IT veteran; 2 years solely doing laptops; still the local laptop "specialist."

1) Are you back on your regular power supply? If not, pull the battery out and try to run the computer on the 90 watt without the battery. Sometimes the units will not charge or will not boot with a dead battery if the power supply isn't up to snuff.

2) Video cables in laptops do come undone or go bad over time (I'm currently troubleshooting an HP with a loose wire / short), so you can check that as well.

3) If the backlight on the system is working try the video toggle. Usually a CTRL-F4 kind of key combination. Sometimes CTRL-F8. Just depends on the manufacturer. If that doesn't do it, hook up an external monitor. If you don't get video at first on the external monitor, try the video toggle again. If you STILL don't have video either internally or externally, then the video card is blown. The good news on the Alienware is that most have discrete video cards that can be changed out without replacing the motherboard. You're still looking at an expensive fix, but cheaper than if the MOBO is blown.

I recently worked on a 3 year old HP 17 inch laptop that wouldn't show video at boot. I hooked up an external monitor. Nothing. During a reboot of the system I was called away and when I came back the Windows logon screen was up on the external monitor. It seemed there was no true hardware switching of the outputs on the model in question; the Windows driver controlled output. Odd, but it will give the customer some more use until they save up enough money to buy another laptop. They just can't boot to BIOS and change any settings if needed.

Hope this helps!
 
Thanks for the reply. Yes Im still using the 90 watt. I tryed using an external moniter and got 8 beeps (LCD failure). Also, I opened it up and reset all the ram just to be sure and still no change. I think your right about the gpu... Just looked up a replacement and itll cost me around 500 bones!
 
The smaller power supply is not a problem... for the computer. The supply itself may overheat or shutdown, but the computer will be ok. 90W is a lot for a laptop. I suspect that the original 240W adapter is oversized for the application.

The voltage on the adapter is CRITICAL. The replacement MUST be the same as the original. You can often get away with as much as a volt LESS, but never try more. And make sure that the polarity is correct if the computer uses one of those round coaxial connector.
 
Mr.Belmont said:
Thanks for the reply. Yes Im still using the 90 watt. I tryed using an external moniter and got 8 beeps (LCD failure). Also, I opened it up and reset all the ram just to be sure and still no change. I think your right about the gpu... Just looked up a replacement and itll cost me around 500 bones!
Click to expand...

Good troubleshooting! :)

From what I've seen on the 17 inch R3 and R4's, the 8 beeps is indicative of the GPU, not the monitor like Dell will tell you.

You can find the part for less than half that on Amazon and even cheaper on the big nasty auction site. Often I have purchased a whole broken laptop cheaper than the individual part(s) I needed.

---

Gollnick said:
The smaller power supply is not a problem... for the computer. The supply itself may overheat or shutdown, but the computer will be ok. 90W is a lot for a laptop. I suspect that the original 240W adapter is oversized for the application.

The voltage on the adapter is CRITICAL. The replacement MUST be the same as the original. You can often get away with as much as a volt LESS, but never try more. And make sure that the polarity is correct if the computer uses one of those round coaxial connector.
Click to expand...

Gollnick is correct: You can use a charger if output voltage is within +/- 5% of the original charger's rated output. So a 19.5 V will let you get away with 18.5 to 20.5 Volts. Polarity is important as is the fit of the adapter plug. You don't want it arcing internally or sliding out easily, nor do you want to have to cram it in place thereby stressing the internal connector.

Dell power supplies are almost universal in voltage at 19.5 volts. The amperage / wattage varies with use. (Amps x Voltage = Watts)

The 240 Watt supply (and therefore higher amperage) is for the increased "performance type" parts in the higher end XPS and Alienware gaming laptops. 120Hz 3D ready high definition screen, discrete graphics (sometimes dual, although not on the R3), 10-15K RPM hard drives (sometimes dual), multi-core processors (sometimes dual and / or desktop processor), and even dual batteries (but I don't recall them on this model). Wattage / amperage is critical on these systems. You can have all the voltage you want but if you don't have enough pressure behind it pushing it in fast enough, you get problems. Use an adapter with too low a wattage rating (like a 65 watt), and the battery won't charge while the system is running. I run into this with customers all the time in their vehicles. They purchase a little 45 watt power supply for their cigarette lighter / accessory outlet and their laptops just don't charge (or even boot) while on the road.

Try the original power supply in the unit again. If you only have the smaller adapter, pull peripherals like the hard drive, battery, and DVD ROM drive and see if it will at least boot into BIOS for you. If not, then we are probably back to the bad GPU.
 
Last edited:
Gollnick said:
The smaller power supply is not a problem... for the computer. The supply itself may overheat or shutdown, but the computer will be ok. 90W is a lot for a laptop. I suspect that the original 240W adapter is oversized for the application.

The voltage on the adapter is CRITICAL. The replacement MUST be the same as the original. You can often get away with as much as a volt LESS, but never try more. And make sure that the polarity is correct if the computer uses one of those round coaxial connector.
Click to expand...

The laptop has a very big graphics card and thats why the 240watt was required. The charger was actually .5 of a volt less.. Maybe that made something go?
 
the4th said:
Good troubleshooting! :)

From what I've seen on the 17 inch R3 and R4's, the 8 beeps is indicative of the GPU, not the monitor like Dell will tell you.

You can find the part for less than half that on Amazon and even cheaper on the big nasty auction site. Often I have purchased a whole broken laptop cheaper than the individual part(s) I needed.

---



Gollnick is correct: You can use a charger if output voltage is within +/- 5% of the original charger's rated output. So a 19.5 V will let you get away with 18.5 to 20.5 Volts. Polarity is important as is the fit of the adapter plug. You don't want it arcing internally or sliding out easily, nor do you want to have to cram it in place thereby stressing the internal connector.

Dell power supplies are almost universal in voltage at 19.5 volts. The amperage / wattage varies with use. (Amps x Voltage = Watts)

The 240 Watt supply (and therefore higher amperage) is for the increased "performance type" parts in the higher end XPS and Alienware gaming laptops. 120Hz 3D ready high definition screen, discrete graphics (sometimes dual, although not on the R3), 10-15K RPM hard drives (sometimes dual), multi-core processors (sometimes dual and / or desktop processor), and even dual batteries (but I don't recall them on this model). Wattage / amperage is critical on these systems. You can have all the voltage you want but if you don't have enough pressure behind it pushing it in fast enough, you get problems. Use an adapter with too low a wattage rating (like a 65 watt), and the battery won't charge while the system is running. I run into this with customers all the time in their vehicles. They purchase a little 45 watt power supply for their cigarette lighter / accessory outlet and their laptops just don't charge (or even boot) while on the road.

Try the original power supply in the unit again. If you only have the smaller adapter, pull peripherals like the hard drive, battery, and DVD ROM drive and see if it will at least boot into BIOS for you. If not, then we are probably back to the bad GPU.
Click to expand...

Well I think I narrowed it down. I pulled every ram stick and tried them individually to see if one went bad and got the same thing every time. I took out the gpu to force it to use integrated and the problem is still present. I also took out the hard drives and used my old one from another laptop to see if that would work and still nothing . That leaves the Mobo and the Cpu so one of them is bad Im guessing.. Also my model is the 120hz 3D screen... After a bit more research I found out the R3 is prone to Cpu and mobo Failure .. I might jsut sell it as a parts computer and go with a desktop
 
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