M18x R2 Won't Power Up After Power Discharge

Hey guys,

My other build thread was too many pages so thought I should make a separate post in order for more people to see it.
This is my build thread:

My problem is after assembling the laptop from scratch, it turn on but screen was black and beeped 7 times in sequence. I then did the power discharge trick by removing AC, Battery, CMOS Battery and holding Power button for 30s, after which the laptop died.

I'm getting no power whatsoever to the motherboard. How could the discharge cause it to die?

Any help is appreciated since this build has taken quite a bit of my time, fund and patience and its future prospect is looking like me tossing it out the window

 

remove the CMOS battery, remove all RAM dims, and do the discharge again, then take a voltmeter and attach to CMOS battery terminals, see there should be 00.00V DC coming from them. Next - while measuring the CMOS battery terminals plug in main power, see if it begins to fluctuate at all. then try to power on if it still does not show any fluctuation, and see if voltmeter reading changes even slightly.

before anything just check if your power button is properly connected and one more question... when battery not fully charged and plugged in to machine, and you plug in the power cord, does alien head begin to glow indicating charging?

 

Ok, that sounds like a plan. I'll have to find some small pin voltmeter cables as my ones are thick and both wouldn't fit the CMOS Battery terminals.

Checked the power button and connection is ok, unless the power button board has crapped itself? But even then, the scenario you mentioned, plugging in cord with battery half charge, there is still no glowing or any other sort of illumination. Could the power jack on the MB have been damaged since no power is entering the MB? I saw a video where a guy was saying the M17x had this problem alot and he re-soldered the joints.

I'll try the voltmeter method and get back. Cheers

 

oh, btw, my WLAN card has only two sockets but I have three wires from the LCD (Grey, Black, White), and so I haven't plugged them in, would be contributing to the power up issue at all?

 

no, wlan or any other device apart from RAM+CPU+heatsink with CPU and CPU heatsink with fan mounted and connected should not interfere with power on sequence. maybe if your mentioned CPU fan is defective maybe thats causing all this halt? try plug in GPU fan in to CPU fan socket and to CMOS reset and try restart... maybe mobo is now in limbo mode stuck until gets reading from CPU fan connection... just guessing

 

lol, you bloody genius:thumbsup:

Spot on mate, I tried the GPU fan and it powered up but this time 5-beeps which the code table notes as "RTC Power Fail - CMOS Battery failure". But after a power drain and restart it turns on to a black screen with keyboard etc lit up and then the fan turns off and then it restarts itself like in the video below:

 

The other problem I can think of is the compatibility of the CPU with the MB.

The Ad description of the MB was:
INTEL i7 LAPTOP MOTHERBOARD PGA989 GRP9C 0GRP9C for DELL ALIENWARE M18X R2

Chipset Manufacturer:
Intel
Graphics Card Type:
Non-Integrated
Expansion Slots:
WIFI
Package:
Yes
Socket Type:
Socket 754
Application:
Laptop
With CPU:
No
Ports:
VGA,HDMI,USB 2.0,Ethernet,Wifi,Bluetooth
Form Factor:
ATX
Hard Drive Interface:
sata
Memory Type:
DDR2,DDR3
FSB / HT:
3.0
Model Number:
M18X


And the Ad description for the CPU:

Type
CPU / Microprocessor
Market segment
Mobile
Family
Intel Core i7 Mobile
Model number
i7-3630QM
CPU part number
AW8063801106200 is an OEM/tray microprocessor
Frequency
2400 MHz
Turbo frequency
3400 MHz
Bus speed
5 GT/s DMI
Clock multiplier
24
Package
988-pin micro-PGA (rPGA988B)
Socket
Socket G2 / rPGA988B



So is the cpu compatible with the MB?

 

Any suggestions?

Would flashing the BIOS make a difference?

 

That Ivy Bridge CPU should work fine with the M18xR2 motherboard.

5 beeps can be a memory problem, too. Remove all of the memory and try booting with just one stick. If it does the same thing, move it to another DIMM socket. Try the same SO-DIMM in all 4 slots. If it still does not boot, try another stick or RAM and repeat the process.

If it will stay on long enough to initiate a blind flash, that might fix it... depending on what the problem is. Here is a link, in case you are not already familiar with that. The process is the same for the R1 and R2, but you use a different file for the R2. There is a link in the first post related to the R2.

 

Tried the swapping RAM into all slots trick but still the same, cpu fan powers up for a second or two and then shuts off, laptop restarts and repeats.

I finally managed to install VirtualMachine and run Windows 7 in order to extract the zip files from the exe (M18R2A03WIN) since it was a pain in Ubuntu (on my working laptop). I put the file into a USB drive and then re-connected the M18x daughter board as the instructions say to use the e-sata port. Went on to turn the laptop on and its DEAD AGAIN!!! No power up or anything, just like before.

I have never come across a more tempramental laptop before. I'm contacting the Motherboard supplier to see what they say. Otherwise getting the butter out of the fridge to put on this toast of an M18x.

 

The M18xR1/R2 are actually not temperamental machines at all. I think you were sold a bad motherboard. You can still buy them new from Dell Spare Parts. I'd recommend doing that if the seller you bought it from doesn't stand behind the product. I just ordered one last month for a friend's machine that I was working on. Here is the part number and price.

 

Thanks for pointing that out Mr. Fox, glad to know they still sell the MBs brand new. I couldn't find any during my hunt for them. I'm talking with my MB supplier at the moment and will see what the outcome is. Hopefully they can refund me so I can spend that towards a new board.

I'll be moving to CA next month so ordering a new one will have to wait until then since Dell do not ship internationally Looks like I'll be bringing over my sick M18x with me :s

 

A bit of an update:

I managed to finally get the Motherboard to power back ON I stripped the laptop back to nothing and took the MB out, removing CPU, RAM any cables etc from it. Then I plugged in the LCD and turned it ON. It beeped for RAM and CPU error codes and I replaced them one at a time. But now I think I may have figured out the culprit.

Back in my Build thread, I mentioned that I tried to start the laptop without CPU fan and it beeped 7 times which when I checked it was the CPU not being locked into the socket properly (noob mistake). Today when I tried powering on the laptop with CPU, RAM, LCD and CPU fan, it started acting wierd. The fan would spin slow, then really fast and then shutdown.

Another thing worth pointing out is that when I screw down the CPU heatsink all the way, the fan spins momentarily upon turn ON and then restarts but as I undid the screws slowly, the fan started at full speed.

I think I may have fried the CPU. The supplier keeps saying they tested the MB before postage so it seems fine, I think.

So my question is:
1. What I want to know is if the CPU has some sort of overheat protection or if the MB shutdown in case of CPU overheating? How long could a CPU last without heatsink but with a fan? I touched the CPU when it was running without a heatsink but with a fan after a few seconds and it was bloody hot. So is the CPU cooked? or are these new gen CPU not that fragile? If the CPU is cooked, would I at least get some sort of display with information? (VIDEO BELOW)

2. Now that the motherboard stays on for a bit, I thought about trying the BIOS update which says to use the e-sata port. The ribbon cable I got with the daughter board fits fine on the daughter board side but is way too small to fit on the motherboard side, is that normal? (PIC BELOW)


VIDEO:


PIC:

 

Looks like you may have the wrong daughterboard and ribbon cable. That looks like it might be an R1 daughterboard and ribbon cable. Try removing it completely (disconnecting the ZIF socket and cable) from the chassis and see if the machine stops misbehaving. The R1/R2 daughterboards are model specific and not cross-compatible. They have different USB 3.0 chipsets and possibly other differences besides the different ribbon cables.

 

Thanks for pointing that out Mr. Fox. That's another thing on the shopping list now.

I removed the daughterboard and it didn't make a difference. I did another power drain and this time got 5 beeps and the fan stayed ON violently loud for upto 15mins. After I turned it OFF and then ON again, it went back to the original routine of CPU staying ON then laptop restarting and repeat. I then plugged in the HDD and then an external monitor but it was still the same.

Does this sound like BIOS issue? I;m edging to at least see something pop up on the LCD.

 

You've got something really odd going on. I cannot remember, have you already tried a blind flash? If not, that might fix it. There's always a remote chance the CPU is bad, but that is very rare for Intel.

Blind BIOS Recovery process for all M18x R1 in case of corrupt BIOS (For the M18x R2 see the link in the first post.)

 

I was going to try a blind flash but that's when I realized that the ribbon cable on the daughterboard is not for this MB. The blind flash asks to use the e-sata port which is on the daughterboard which is wrong one, and so I tried the left handside USB ports but pressing END while plugging in the cord did nothing.

Is the e-sata port the only way to initiate the blind flash process? I really hope the CPU socket on the MB doesn't have dry solder joints or something since it shuts down quickly when the Heatsink is fully tightend but acts normal when the 4 screws are loosend.

 

Yes, sorry I totally didn't connect the dots there. You'll need the correct daughtboard and ribbon cable to do that. The eSATA port is the only one that works for that.

 

Sweet, thanks for clarifying that Mr. Fox. Looks like I'll be hunting for a daughterboard now before any good news.

Is is possible at all for the MB to be bricked? and if so, is it possible at all it can be recovered? I might as well play around with this MB until I move to CA where I can order a new one from Dell.

 

Yes, very possible the BIOS is corrupted. You need the correct daughterboard and ribbon cable now matter what. Once you have them, you can try the blind flash before moving to replace the motherboard. That might straighten things out.

 

Alrighty....time for an update. I sent the old busted motherboard back to China for a refund and now the seller has ceased communication "Note to self, don't buy electronics from China...again"

Anyway, the problem did seem to be dodgy motherboard and after purchasing another one from Dell, all is fine. I will be updating the build thread now.

 

Did you pay by Paypal? You should be able to get your money back that way.. Or did u use a credit card? Could always do a chargeback...

 

That particular website accept only Credit Card (but its like ESCROW) "Alibaba, Aliexpress, Made-in-China etc etc" they are all same bunch of crooks. I did try talking with the website's service center regarding how they allow dodgy sellers to operate on their website but they simply say it will be taken care of and you never hear about it again. When you try talking with them again, its a new person and the complaint process repeats. Quite astonishing how these shifty site are stealing in daylight and nothing is been done about them.

Haven't heard of a chargeback, is that something that applies to China as well or is it just a US thing?

 

No idea... You paid by an Aussie card I assume? maybe your Aussie bank allows this..

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chargeback

 

hmmm...in that case I will get onto them about this. Just remembered actually, I changed banks recently so I don't think they will be too keen on hunting down that payment. I will still try with the website's customer service to at least punish or put restrictions on the sellers' account.

Thanks