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    Alienware m14x R2 Beeping at POST - Hardware failure?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by morbecknaga, Sep 4, 2014.

  1. morbecknaga

    morbecknaga Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hello everyone, I bought my Alienware m14x R2 from Dell a little over a year and a half ago. The computer has never had any issues and I've always taken incredibly good care of it. Now, about a week ago, I started having issues when I'd try to turn the computer on. I started getting the dreaded and infamous "one beep" code (which I believe means a motherboard failure). I powered the computer off and then turned it back on and it worked fine. Now, it's happened about four times, though usually on the second try it'll power back on.

    Now, are there any ideas or suggestions on what I should do? :confused: I really don't have the money to contact Dell (plus I'm a little bit bitter that I've been out of warranty for six months and NOW the computer has a motherboard failure...), and I don't know really know anything about taking apart laptops. At this point the laptop is completely fine once it's turned on (and I haven't had to try more than two times before the computer comes back on). At this point my solution is just keeping it in standby, but I'm wondering if this is an evolving thing... :(

    Thanks in advance!
     
    morbecknaga, Sep 4, 2014
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  2. morbecknaga

    morbecknaga Notebook Enthusiast

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    On an additional note, I'm trying to update the BIOS but it gets really upset with restart feature (which is basically how you upgrade any driver...) Does anyone know if it's possible to upgrade the BIOS by turning the computer off and then powering it back on via the power button? Since the restart feature seems to be the main thing that causes it to fail POST. :(

    Thanks!!
     
    morbecknaga, Sep 5, 2014
    #2
  3. simonmpoulton

    simonmpoulton Notebook Deity

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    You can use the BIOS recovery procedure - procedure should be the same as the m17x as posted here M17x R3 Recovery
     
    simonmpoulton, Sep 6, 2014
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  4. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    This should work. Let us know how it goes.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Sep 9, 2014
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  5. Doctor JO

    Doctor JO Notebook Consultant

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    You try cmos reset? Sometimes laptop identified cmos low charge like motherboard problem and give same beep, try replace cmos battery (they are very cheap)
     
    Doctor JO, Sep 9, 2014
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  6. morbecknaga

    morbecknaga Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey everyone! Thank you for that thread, that would almost surely have come in handy. Before I actually got a chance to use it though, I had a burst of luck. After trying to restart the computer multiple times and having the same issue, I tried one more time to update the BIOS in the standard fashion. For some reason... The computer restarted that time! I don't know why, but it did. The BIOS updated successfully and the problem has not returned since then! :D :D Thank you all for the info though. I'm really curious how the BIOS became corrupted, and is it normal for a BIOS issue to set off the "Motherboard Failure" beep?
     
    morbecknaga, Sep 13, 2014
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