17R3 just turned itself off mid-gaming. Won't turn back on.

Only the power button lights up. Nothing on the screen and no post or error sound.
I've tried turning on with only the battery and only the power cable (battery unplugged)
Nothing seems to work.
I bought refurbished in January so hopefully I still have warranty.
Anything else I should try?

 

Contact Tech Support. I had something similar happen to my 13 R1, and whatever I tried, nothing made the laptop boot.
You should still have some warranty left.

 

Ok, so just called dell, went through some troubleshooting and they've asked to send the laptop for repair.
They said if the motherboard needs to be replaced, it'll be at least until the end of the month or october because they don't have them available

 

You could try and do a power drain.

1. Unplug the laptop
2. Take off the bottom panel of the laptop.
3. Disconnect the battery.
4. Hold down the power button 5 seconds while the battery is disconnected
5. Reconnect the battery and put the bottom panel back on.
6. Try the laptop now.

There have been several times I have seen this work. Not saying this will work but its worth a shot since you have some time.

 

Thanks. Dell support walked me through power draining and also the CLRP1 thing.
Neither solved the issue.
I'm just trying to backup the data now before sending it to them.
Any recommendation for an adapter for an M.2 SSD to back it up?

 

https://www.amazon.com/DEGOL-NGFF-A...8&qid=1474431820&sr=8-2&keywords=m.2+ssd+case

 

I haven't seen much posted on this issue I am about to tell you, but it 100% is a very real problem and you might be dealing with it yourself, essentially the motherboards on the AW15/17s are dropping like flies, or atleast failing at a far too often failure rate quicker then should be expected. I have spoken with several contracted out techs out who have worked on hundreds of the AW15/17r2s and apparently a huge portion of their calls the last few months have been for mobo swaps, especially with the gtx980m 8gb versions (due to the soldered mobos). No real specifics on what exactly is causing it, but I am on my fourth motherboard currently. It always manifests the same way, clearly a short somewhere in the system, burnt electronics smell from the laptop, and it will put the power brick into protect when plugged into the laptop. Even after the second replacement fried on me I really did not have the patience to go through the repairs, right now I am on the table of just attempting a refund because this is insane. Hopefully you aren't dealing with the same issue.

 

Only 4 motherboard? Not a record http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...-port-ever-manufactured.796258/#post-10348616
With you... 18 different motherboards for 4 Aw owners. You aren't alone with this mess I can understand that Dell is in short for new MB.

And I havent count on how many swapped MB because of this http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...3-owners-lounge.770314/page-350#post-10357157

@Thatoe Haven't you paid for home support the day after? You shouldn't need to send in your machine.

 

A lot of motherboard failures where unfortunately due to a faulty bios update. Bios 1.2.12, 1.2.13 could brick tbe system.

 

I don't really understand what more I can do as a customer. I have even called corporate at Round Rock, TX and the lady basically told me there is nothing she can do to escalate it... I have been a loyal AW customer since they were originally started and ran out of Miami before even purchased by Dell. After the first original motherboard fries you essentially never have the same system, after multiple repairs clips screws etc just wear down, its not the same and shouldn't be something we have to deal with for a system costing even a fraction of the price. I always have had the newest bios so I can't see that being the issue. Mine is electrical issue shorting out in the DC jack somewhere, yet all though they addressed replacing the dc jack every time sent in for repair, they never do it.

 

Update: Just got the laptop back yesterday and all the fears I had about sending to repair depot happened.

A lot of very noticeable scratches at the bottom of the laptop

I've emailed them again about this. Will see what they say.

 

I dunno but there was a common knowledge rule to never use the depot.
In the past the low end warranties were called "Depot Only" warranties.
There for if you have a next business day on site warranty you should demand an on site tech.
Then you hover over him!
Just sayin'

 

^#This.

 

Is this for real? For the first time I’m having second thoughts about getting my first AW or gaming laptop for that matter. Think I might know now why the warranties cost as much as the laptop itself. I hope this won’t be a thing for the latest batch of AW’s tho, especially coming from a MBP, so I’m looking for something that resembles it as much as possible in terms of quality etc.

I was under the impression that AW was the cream of the crop when it comes to gaming laptops but I’ve noticed a lot of topics regarding various issues, and having to mail mine off for repair would never be an option for me, nor is paying hundreds or over $1k in warranties an attractive option either. My laptop has been kicked off the bed onto hardwood floors & traveled the world with me for 2 years but I still haven’t experienced a single software or hardware issue.

 

So, they're asking me to send it to Texas depot again.
I asked about the on site repair but they said it's a "complicated" process and they can do better repair at the depot.
Ironic as the second repair is required only because they scratched it up there.
We'll see how it goes this time.

 

They always say "it's complicated" because it is much cheaper for them if you send it in for repair than it is for them to send out a technician to you. If your warranty covers on site tech service you can demand/insist that they send one out to you and they cannot refuse that. You paid for it! Don't be stupid, you NEVER want to send it in for repair-let alone doing it twice. You can get a brand new machine if they fail to fix it; I've been given 7 brand new laptops from them over the last 5 years when they failed to fix the issues on different machines. Stand your ground, stop behaving like a complete noob.

 

And the fact that you can see everything they do with your laptop when the repair takes place at home. Easily and point out mistakes made by tech

 

Hmm, the repair request has already been submitted and they're already sending a box.
Do you think I should call again and demand on-site repair?

There's another reason I really don't wanna ship it to Texas.
The FedEx in my area is very dodgy and for the first repair return shipment, they claimed to have attempted 3 times.
First time, I actually missed. Second time, I left the door tag signed and they didn't take it.
Third time, I sat at the door the whole day and tracking just updated to "customer not available" lol.
So, I had to take a cab to their location to pick it up.
Don't really wanna repeat it again. (and again.)
Asked Dell if they can ship with UPS or USPS instead but they said no.

 

I admire your patience (personally i go mad when i see scratches on my hardware) and persistence.

Seems like dell can't get a thing right lately. Bad motherboards, bad bios and warranty not living up to the money amount paid.

 

Call them back and insist they send out an onsite technician. They have to. There is nothing an onsite tech cannot repair unless your laptop chassis has physical damage, and that is the only thing that will keep them from being able to repair it. Literally nothing else.

 

Wait, don't scratches count as chassis damage?
That's what the guy on the phone told me they'll need to swap out.
It's not just the bottom cover.
There are scratches on the bottom chassis too.

 

Doesn't matter. Dell sends out parts and the tech will come home to you and change whatever is broken. You have paid extra for this service

 

If the bottom chassis actually needs to be replaced-that is something they do not ship out with the onsite techs EVER. If this is the case, (happened to me once before) you have every right to insist they give you a brand new system replacement. I got one this way once before, but I benefit from living in Canada, as Canada gets BRAND NEW replacements, where as the US and many other countries are only eligible for used/refurbished replacements.

As mentioned above the physical chassis CANNOT be sent out through an onsite technician, trust me, I have tried-it cannot be done. Anything but that would be fine.

 

They sent one to me after a technician ruined mine.

 

They sent you what?? A chassis for a 17R2/R3? I find that very difficult to believe as I escalated the case when they damaged mine and was assured they have no ability to send that out. I can believe they sent you a replacement laptop, but not the chassis itself... Unless numerous people from AW lied to me.. I have pretty good internal connections so that's unlikely but not impossible.

 

I received both a bottom cover, Bottom chassis part and screen lid. Last february in the Netherlands.

For an AW15R1

 

Thanks for the info. I wonder if certain countries have different protocols or certain machines have limitations as far as what a tech can repair and what parts are sent out?

Alienware management assured me that they cannot send that out as there is no ability for them to even select that part in the system to ship it out to me or to the technician. They insisted the only way was to send it in.

 

Yeah I have no clue about that. Maybe it is a country thing indeed.

 

Dell support in different countries isn't same. You have seen the mess from Dell India. And what they can replace of parts, depends what they have lying.