Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

[Olixman]

Hi,

I recently received an Alienware 17 R3. It beeps seven times.
Attached are the schematics and the board view.
I`m stuck at the CPU not getting any voltage. Not getting any PWM at the mosfets.
PU500 outputs a 2.3V (constant, not PWM) on the PWM1_VCORE (and 2 and 3 also).
Replaced it with a new one, same issue.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

PS.: +3VALW and +5VALW are present.

LE.: Board is an AAP21 LA-C912P Rev:1.0

Schematic ---> https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...132#post953132
PDF Boardview ---> https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...679#post987679
Boardview (*.cad) ---> https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...13#post1198813

[myth77]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

Do you have VCCIO and VCCSA?
PLT_RST?
DRAMRST?
Also check VR_SVID_CLK, VR_SVID_DATA and VR_SVID_ALERT

[Olixman]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

Do you have VCCIO and VCCSA?
PLT_RST?
DRAMRST?
Also check VR_SVID_CLK, VR_SVID_DATA and VR_SVID_ALERT

Hi.

+VCCIO is present after power button is pressed (1.0V),
+VCCSA not present, nothing on PWM_SA (pin 12, U511), not even continuous.
VR_SVID_CLK present after power button (1V)
VR_SVID_DATA present after power button, also 1V
VR_SVID_ALERT 150mV after power button

LE.:
3.3V on PLT_RST
600mV on DRAMRST. but it is cut right after each boot retry

[myth77]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

i believe that you have to have vccsa before vcore...Check for shorts on pu511 and on that line. what is resistence in ohms to gnd on vccsa coil (pl508)?

[Olixman]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

i believe that you have to have vccsa before vcore...Check for shorts on pu511 and on that line. what is resistence in ohms to gnd on vccsa coil (pl508)?

Pl508 to gnd is 370mOhm.. is that a short?
No shorts on pu511 except gnd…

Oh by the way, cpu vcore to gnd is 120mOhm. Short also?

[myth77]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

If your readings are correct and you have 0,37 ohm on vccsa line then it is short. Remove that coil and see from what side you have 0.37 ohm.
For the vcore 0.12 ohm is very low...you should also remove coils and see from what side you have 0.12 ohms...

[Olixman]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

If your readings are correct and you have 0,37 ohm on vccsa line then it is short. Remove that coil and see from what side you have 0.37 ohm.
For the vcore 0.12 ohm is very low...you should also remove coils and see from what side you have 0.12 ohms...

All shorts on the CPU side.. Will remove the CPU and see if the short will dissapear.
I`m well aware i can`t solder a new one onto the board, but since it`s f*cked, i might as well have some fun (with hot air only, no bottom heater and no board holder with no pushers).

Thanks for the help!

[myth77]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

thats a big chip, it will be very hard to remove it with only hot air...and you will probably rip some pads and destroy board.

[Olixman]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

thats a big chip, it will be very hard to remove it with only hot air...and you will probably rip some pads and destroy board.

I know.. but a new CPU from Aliexpress is 140 - 190EUR. Not to mention the need of specialized equipment (bottom heater, board holder, bottom pushers, maybe top pushers as well...)
Might as well get a "new" board.. for less than 400EUR and play with this one...

[mcplslg123]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

Doesnt make any sense trying to remove a SOC with hot air gun-Its impossible. Even with BGA workstation,most of the people fail to remove it without damaging the mb as it requires a lot of skill and temp profile adjustments.Instead you can remove the Cpu core coils and measure resistance to GND in ohms modeon both the pads of coil. Another point worth noting is this is a gaming machine which uses H cpu and may show resistance as low as 1 Ohms on VCore. So it may not be shorted.

[Olixman]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

Doesnt make any sense trying to remove a SOC with hot air gun-Its impossible. Even with BGA workstation,most of the people fail to remove it without damaging the mb as it requires a lot of skill and temp profile adjustments.Instead you can remove the Cpu core coils and measure resistance to GND in ohms modeon both the pads of coil. Another point worth noting is this is a gaming machine which uses H cpu and may show resistance as low as 1 Ohms on VCore. So it may not be shorted.

With the coils removed, i have 0.37 ohms on VCCSA and 0.12 ohms on +VCC_CORE (both readings on CPU side).
Measured with a Mastech MS8040, in relative (to probes shorting) mode. So i`m pretty sure the readings are correct.

[mcplslg123]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

Anything less then 1 Ohms on gaming motherboard is very likley shorted SOC.

[Olixman]

Re: Alienware 17 R3 seven beeps

Anything less then 1 Ohms on gaming motherboard is very likley shorted SOC.

Yep..
That CPU will make a great keychain after i`ll take it off.