Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging either

[JGAN]

Hey guys,
So I just picked up an Alienware M17x R2 laptop that doesn't work, and I'm trying to get it back up and running again. I believe it has an i5-540m, 4GB DDR3, and some sort of discrete graphics. The problem is quite simply that it doesn't seem to get any sort of power at all, either to or from the battery or from the charger. I have no lights, nothing spinning, blank screen, and no sounds coming whatsoever. Also, I'm only using a single 2GB stick of DDR3 that I'm 99% sure is good for testing, and using the button on the motherboard as the power switch, not the Alienware logo).

I have tried reseating everything, testing the charger with a multimeter (the charger puts out 19.5+ volts and the blue ring is always on), trying a new charger, with/without a battery, and another motherboard that I was told is good. When I use the other motherboard, I only insert the CPU and a stick of ram, no GPU or anything else. It does the same exact thing, no charging, no lights, no power. Whenever the power and battery is plugged into either of these boards, the Alienware logo does not flash and the battery does not seem to charge too.

Any ideas? Could a bad CPU cause this? I'm very much completely stumped, especailly after having tried another board. Help!!

Thanks,
JGAN

[fddizon]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

try removing cpu and ram. then power it up. if no problem with board, laptop will power on but no display. with this you will figure out if processor is bad.

hope this helps

[JGAN]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Nope, nothing still. What are the chances that both motherboards are dead? Do they need to be grounded with a case when I try them?

Also, I don't see any charging light on. I tested the pins connecting to the battery, and all the non-ground voltages were in the mV. Can I/Do I have to add resistance somewhere to trick the motherboard into thinking there is a battery?

[Maj.GHOB]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Normally if a laptop is not posting, the first thing to do is remove the battery, hook up the AC adapter, hold the power button for 4 seconds and then power it on and see how it goes.

If that doesn't work then you take out the RAM sticks and replace them with known good ones and boot it up again. Should that fail then you can start replacing the CPU and the video card daughter board if there is one. If the video card is soldered to the main board then I am afraid you are dead in the water.

Given the fact that it is an Alienware and they are normally heavily used for gaming, it is most likely the video card that has kicked the bucket.

[spleenharvester]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Are both the chargers you used genuine?

Remove EVERYTHING except the bare minimum you need to see life - i.e remove wifi card, power switch board, daughterboards etc. Just the board and adapter.

If it doesn't work then, and both the adapters are genuine, I think you have two faulty boards on your hands. But that seems unlikely to me.

[JGAN]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Are both the chargers you used genuine?

Remove EVERYTHING except the bare minimum you need to see life - i.e remove wifi card, power switch board, daughterboards etc. Just the board and adapter.

If it doesn't work then, and both the adapters are genuine, I think you have two faulty boards on your hands. But that seems unlikely to me.

I will try this. One charger is genuine, the other is universal.

Normally if a laptop is not posting, the first thing to do is remove the battery, hook up the AC adapter, hold the power button for 4 seconds and then power it on and see how it goes.

If that doesn't work then you take out the RAM sticks and replace them with known good ones and boot it up again. Should that fail then you can start replacing the CPU and the video card daughter board if there is one. If the video card is soldered to the main board then I am afraid you are dead in the water.

Given the fact that it is an Alienware and they are normally heavily used for gaming, it is most likely the video card that has kicked the bucket.

Should I still be able to boot without the discrete graphics? The i5 should have integrated graphics IIRC.

[Maj.GHOB]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Ya you can try to remove the video card daughterboard if there is one and see if it will boot up using the integrated intel graphic card.

[spleenharvester]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

I will try this. One charger is genuine, the other is universal.


Should I still be able to boot without the discrete graphics? The i5 should have integrated graphics IIRC.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but is it possible that the genuine charger has a severed middle wire and the universal adapter doesn't have a middle wire?

I remember with some HP models the ACDET wire being cut would stop the laptop taking the voltage. But I can't remember the effect it had on Dell-based stuff.

Also yeah you should be able to boot without discrete graphics. Even if it can't POST without it it should still be able to fire up if there's a short on the daughterboard, at least.

[JGAN]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Someone correct me if I'm wrong but is it possible that the genuine charger has a severed middle wire and the universal adapter doesn't have a middle wire?

I remember with some HP models the ACDET wire being cut would stop the laptop taking the voltage. But I can't remember the effect it had on Dell-based stuff.

Also yeah you should be able to boot without discrete graphics. Even if it can't POST without it it should still be able to fire up if there's a short on the daughterboard, at least.

Well both chargers have a pin in the middle of the barrel. I think it's attached to the outside of the barrel, not 100% sure though.

I have tried booting on a second mobo without the discrete graphics, but it is the same problem.

[Pascal Komlassan]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

hello please i need the bios of this manchine Alienware M17x R2

[wildmermaid]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Check the charging port for correct voltage output. Usually a bad charging port leads to laptop not powering on.

[Pascal Komlassan]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Thank you very much. But your bios did not work for my machine. mine is 4096ko it turns on the machine but it does not boot on USB or hard drive

[SMDFlea]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Thank you very much. But your bios did not work for my machine. mine is 4096ko it turns on the machine but it does not boot on USB or hard drive

Maybe its your vBios , read this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thre...17x-r2.646752/

[Pascal Komlassan]

Re: Alienware M17x R2 no power, no lights, no sound, no boot? Battery not charging ei

Thanks for all