AW M18X 8 Beep Problem w/ A Twist

I got in an Alienware M18X Single Video Card with the 8 beep problem.. I read thru all the threads I could find and tried all the hints and tips. Pulled the CMOS Battery, hold the power button to discharge power, short the RESET pins, get the 5 beeps, etc etc..

None of it helped.. Power up, black screen, 8 beeps...

I disassembled the unit and pulled the video card.. Re-seated it. No luck..

Did a reflow on the video card. I know, I know.. A hail mary..

But it worked!! Sorta...

I have the unit disassembled on my workbench. Top cover off and the laptop hooked to an external monitor.

I put the video card back into the slot. Still wouldn't boot. I put it the video card in the second slot, just for sheets and greens.. Still wouldn't boot...

Put the card back in the original slot and some beach!! It booted!!

Again.. Sorta..

It boots to the BIOS screen (see attached pic) and then the cursor appears for a sec or two and then the screen goes black and I hear the 8 beeps...

I tried pushing F2 (USB keyboard attached) to get into BIOS. No luck..

I am so close... Anyone drag me over the finish line??

 

So, this is an M18x R1 with a Sandy Bridge CPU? What CPU and GPU does it have?

Looks like the GPU has the wrong vBIOS on it. Remove the GPU and boot from Intel integrated graphics. If that works, get a production vBIOS for whatever GPU it has and flash an unlocked system BIOS. Set the BIOS to SG mode (video configuration), shut down and install the GPU. It will boot from integrated graphics, but the GPU will be accessible in SG mode. Flash the GPU using a DOS-bootable USB stick.

Hopefully, the reflow didn't ruin a good GPU with a bad vBIOS on it. Worse case scenario, if it runs fine from integrated graphics all you will likely need to do is get a good GPU for it.

 

Awesome!! Thanx for the info...

I'll try it as soon as I get home and report back.

Thanx again...

 

If that doesn't help find someone that knows how to unsolder bios chip and reprogram it with correct vbios. I had to do this on my own.

 

OK, just tried this.. Before I get to it, let me backtrack a little and explain the sequence of events

What happened initially was I just got the 8 beeps upon power up. All the lights on the laptop come on, but nothing on the screen..

I researched it and tried all the BIOS battery removal and shorting the battery pins and jumpers next to the battery... Then I got the 5 beeps as indicated I would. I then rebooted and it still went into the 8 beeps..

Which brings me to the here and now.. When I power up, I get the 5 beeps. I hold the power button til it shuts down, then power back up. That's when I get the 8 beeps and nothing on the screen..

When I pull the video card, I don't get any boot up at all.. Just the 5 beeps/8 beeps process...

I only get the screen shot above with the video card installed...

 

Yea, it would probably be that does it.. NOT looking forward to that.. Is the BIOS chip one of those square multi-multi legged critter?? Or the easier 6-8 pin IC??

 

If you remove the GPU and get 8 beeps, then you have something else going wrong. Your CPU should have Intel HD graphics and should boot from that with the GPU removed. If you are still getting 8 beeps with the GPU removed, that may indicate the LVDS cable is bad. I would not spend any more time or money tinkering with the GPU at this point. Until it can boot without the GPU using integrated graphics, you cannot determine if the GPU is still functional unless you try to use it in another machine. Whether it is or is not will not fix the problem you are having with the 8 beeps.

It is also possible that the previous owner changed one or more video configuration settings in the BIOS to something that does not work, or enabled Non-Turbo Flex Support, in which case you will need to do a blind flash of the BIOS to restore the proper defaults. Pulling the CMOS battery and that sort of thing does not reset those values. The process is explained in detail here. Since this costs nothing and may be the cause, I would try this first, before spending money on an LVDS cable.

It would be wonderful if you would show us which chip is the vBIOS and do a basic tutorial showing how you removed and desoldered it, and how/what you used to reprogram it, the tools you used, etc.

 

By LVDS cable, I assume you mean the cable that goes from the motherboard to the LCD display??

I don't have that plugged in at all. I am running an external monitor hooked to the laptops DB15 connector..

I'll check out the steps for a blind BIOS flash..

Thanx for the replies and help. Very much appreciated..

 

It's impossible to do this at home. I've used JOVY RE-8500 machine in my friend company.

Here's the vbios on NV gpu



You need to unsolder it using machine then clear the bottom of old balls. Put it to reprogramming adapter, plug it to PC and write new bios directly to the chip memory. There a lot of adapters that requires soldering chip to it to be able to reprogram it, my friend's one doesn't rquire that. After reprogramming You need to put new balls on the bottom then carefully solder chip to the GPU. Better don't do it on your own if you don't have experience with soldering BGA chips. You can damage or destroy the card using too hot temperature or too hot at start. Chip have to warm up slowly and only then you can use soldering temperature. If you don't know what im talking about find some laptop service center with these machines and they will surely do that for you.

 

OK I followed the procedures listed in your link..

Put the USB stick with the BIOS file into the E-Sata Port (Learned something new. Never knew that would fit! ) Holding the END key, I plugged the AW power adapter into the AW... There was some access to the USB stick. I don't know about the fans as I still hadn't completely reassembled the unit..

I did NOT get 8 beeps.. But I also did not get the 20-30 beeps the link said I should..

So, right now, it's just sitting there. I know it's a bad bad thing to interrupt a BIOS update..

Just wondering how long I should wait..

 

While I will do a reflow at the drop of a dime (as is obvious ) I never got up the gumption to do re-balling... Always was a little wary about that...

 

OK, it's a good thing you mentioned this or we would have never gotten to the bottom of the problem.

Yes, that's the cable. Not having it plugged in is probably your problem with not booting from Intel graphics with no GPU installed. That cable MUST be connected for the machine to work. It will not look for the external monitor at POST if this cable is disconnected. Plug that back in and start over.

If it never starts beeping doing the blind flash, the flash procedure is not taking place. You would not be interrupting the process. If there is no activity (looking at the LED) after a minute or so, then there is nothing to interrupt.

 

Thank you. Appreciate the photo.

 

DOH!!! Sorry.. Apologies for my ignorance..

The GOOD news is with the LCD Display plugged in, the laptop DOES boot up normally!!

I still get the 5-beeps, but after power-down then power up, the laptop boots up..

OK, so where does that leave me? Bad BIOS on the GPU/Video Card??

UPDATE: Even better news! It now boots up normally, even with the Video Card plugged in..

Still says "Engineering Release Not For Production use" but it DOES boot..

 

Maybe. What happens if you put the GPU back in? If the 8 beep problem returns, then goes away after removing it again, obtain the proper vBIOS for that GPU. Set the BIOS to SG mode, reinstall the GPU and flash it in DOS using NVFLASH with the proper vBIOS. Then change the BIOS back to PEG mode and see if it will boot. If the flash fails or does not correct the problem, then you probably have a bad GPU.

That it boots properly now, with the LVDS cable connected, is great news. Worse case scenario will likely be you need to buy another GPU. Looks like that is an antique GPU, so not the end of the world.

 

I couldn't find any VIDEO CONFIGURATION/SG MODE in the BIOS.... But the Video Card is being seen

 

Awesome!!

Thanx so much for the assist.. Going to re-assemble everything and see...

 

You need an unlocked BIOS to access that. While you have the GPU out, you could go ahead and update that to have a "real" Alienware laptop.

 

I am all for that!!

View attachment 122148
According to my BIOS screen, I am at A03..

Is there a later version???

EDIT: Never mind. Looks like they are up to A05... Downloading it now...

 

I deleted the image showing your Dell Service Tag number. For your own protection, you should avoid disclosing that information to anyone except Dell/Alienware.

 

Thanx, that was a bonehead move...

Well, the laptop is up and working fine..

Thanx again for all the help..

 

What was the end result? What fixed it?

 

To be honest, I am not sure...

I did a lot of testing and such with the video cable unplugged...

When I plugged it in after you said it needed to plug in, it worked... Still had the 5 beeps, but it booted..

I pulled the Graphics Card and updated the BIOS from A03 to A05 and then the 5beeps also disappeared...

Gremlins???

 

Well, all is well that ends well. Glad it is fixed.

 

Yep.. Thanx again...