m18x r1 8 beeps - Recommend places for repair quotes UK.

8 beeps of doom
I followed these instructions:

After getting to the 5 beeps stage I've powered off, but when I power on again it turns off automatically after a few seconds then powers on automatically and then the 8 beeps start.
I've tried about 10 times with no luck.

Other things to mention...
- The BIOS screen doesn't show up, screen is completely blank.
- holding FN doesn't work.
- I have a very strong feeling that the main culprit is the latest AMD beta drivers I installed. 15.3 Beta 1 driver. Since I installed this the desktop would go all distorted with the start button flipping to the right. I put up with it for a few days and then eventually the screen went all light green I had to force the laptop to shut off. Since then it's been constantly beeping 8 times.
- Disconnected the power, battery, CMOS and left for over a day. Nothing still.

I've called my insurance, they want me to get a quote with taxes/VAT from any place that repairs Alienware. Not only a cost for repairs but a cost for a full replacement for the whole unit if not repairable. Not sure how that will work for a system from 2011. I live in the UK but bought from the US (via HidEvolution).
Any places in the UK anyone can suggest. I was thinking contacting DELL but I just want a prompt quote, not something where I have to send everything in and wait for weeks.
Or I might call Dell anyway just to see what they say.

 

Call dell.. As long as you own the system, they should be able to do a remote diagonistics and give you a quote...

 

It's taken a while but I've got somewhere.
I got quoted GBP £1,052.47. I wouldn't think for a second to pay this, rather invest in another gaming laptop instead.
HOWEVER
Unexpectedly my home insurance had partially covered me for that quoted repair cost and received a check, yet at the same time the system was not required off me. I have been given £800 GBP.
So now not only do I have money to afford another laptop, I still have my m18x R1 sitting at home (all fully complete with original box and packaging). m18x R1 could be a very simple fix or it may not. Working parts could be sold off to help afford a better laptop, but this is too much hassle for me.

So I have a number of choices....
I use that money towards another gaming laptop off a none Dell brand. OR I was thinking of possibly getting a brand new Alienware gaming laptop.
Looking at Alienware 17 R2 @ £1598.99 GBP. However at the same time somehow give my R1 in to somehow save on this purchase? Bearing in mind it has the 8 beeps fault.
Otherwise I will probably get a low end MSI gaming laptop or something, which will suffice and sell off spare parts off the R1 when I have time. And at the same time maybe attempt to suss out what the problem is to get it up and running again?

Any ways to save money off that 17 R2 laptop? I e-mailed the person who quoted me to tell them my latest situation and see if anything further can be knocked off with my faulty R1 for a trade, even via spare parts.

Worst case I will just see what £800 can get me. Considering I got the R1 way back in 2011 I don't think anything will be much of a downgrade in this day and age for £800 right?

 

8 Beep code is LCD failure... What I would suggest is to sell it on ebay or part it out (I would part it out)... That way you'll get at least £800...

As for a new laptop, I wouldn't get the AW17 R2... it has soldered BGA junk in it and it's a horribly designed laptop with overheating keyboard etc, inadequate PSU and massive BIOS lockdown... I would suggest putting all the money you get to get a dual GPU Clevo P370SM-A from a UK Clevo reseller like Scan 3XS, PCS Specialist, Schenker etc..

 

I usually agree with @TomJGX , but not in this case. Beep codes are not always 100% accurate. LCD failure is one possible reason, but the problem is seldom the LCD. It is almost always display related, and usually a bad GPU. You'd get the same beep code trying to use a Maxwell GPU in this machine with nothing broken at all.

If I were a gambling man, I would bet my last dollar that one of the 6990M cards died. Probably just the primary GPU. Yank 'em out and the machine will most likely run just fine from the Intel HD Graphics. If it does, swap the heat sinks onto opposite GPUs, put the secondary GPU in the primary PCIe slot and leave the one removed from the primary slot on the table. Your machine may run just fine with the seconary GPU in the primary slot, which means it's time for an AMD GPU replacement. If so, you've been extremely fortunate to get this many years out of an AMD MXM card... much longer than almost everyone else has.

You can upgrade the R1 to 7970M CF, 580M SLI, 675M SLI, 680M SLI or 780M SLI. Still a wonderful machine in every way. Maxwell won't work, unfortunately. With 780M SLI it will still outperform any single GPU gaming machine you can buy, including one with a single 980M. Your 2920XM CPU is a crap ton better than any new BGA turd CPU. The 2920XM is head and shoulders better than any new BGA low-TDP feces, so you're miles ahead of the competition with nothing more than a simple GPU upgrade on this wonderful dinosaur.

And, 780M SLI in my M18xR1 runs like a real banshee.

Here's an example, with only one 330W AC adapter: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/9295437

Tons of headroom for more CPU and GPU overclock with a dual AC adapter, but this lethal antique beast can still kick the teeth out of almost any brand new single GPU machine with one 980M.

 

On standard 780M clocks with two 880M im getting something about 12K but with 8 GB of vRAM

Still much more power than I really need as I play old games

 

Thank you all for your replies, especially Mr Fox for encouraging me to have another go at this old beast……because I NOW HAVE IT WORKING! *mini celebrations*. After a lot of headache via trial and error that is, but worked in an unusual order of doing so.

I’ll give my experiences in case it might help others possibly.

I did the following - very long story short:
- Took both x2 6990m GPU’s out. Turned on only to get 7 beeps. My m18x doesn’t have integrated graphics. Not sure if this is right??? Should the m18x r1 have had integrated graphics?

- Switched GPU’s, working great! But when installing ANY AMD drivers windows kept crashing.


- Took the ORIGINAL primary driver (now secondary GPU) out. Installing AMD drivers no problems. Crossfire cable also now taken out with no use.


Mr Fox looks like your last dollar gamble worked for me, so thanks once again!

So one GPU gone and I don’t know how much longer this next 6990m will last. I’m running everything on clock speeds for now including CPU. At the same time I don’t game any more these days – too many life commitments, hardly much free time.
Also like GodlikeRU I have a lot of old games to catch up with like…..Monkey Island *ahem* well maybe not that far back (but great game).

The money I have I can now use towards more important things, so bonus. Mr Dell would have been laughing to the bank should they have had quoted GBP £1,052.47 off me for an easy fix and cheap replacement.

I could just now run this laptop to the ground via general use and buy something new when the time comes, OR maybe go all out and start to upgrade the GPU’s for r1.
I will never go AMD again it will be time to go green from now on. So if I were to look at 780M SLI around how much would I be looking at spending, and where’s best to look?
I’m assuming that the same heat sinks for the 6990m CFX won’t work? And I’ll have to look around for a SLI cable as well.

Also CPU wise there isn't much of an upgrade option worthwhile for the r1?

 

Awesome. Glad you got it sorted. Yes, your system has Intel HD Graphics. Note sure why it did not want to switch. Clearing the CMOS with both GPUs removed might have allowed it to boot from IGFX.

2920XM can be upgraded to 2960XM, but there's really nothing to be gained by that. 2920XM is an amazing CPU and there is no need to upgrade it. There hasn't been a non-Extreme mobile CPU since it was released that is as good as 2920XM.

 

Hmm not sure what's going on with having Intel HD graphics. TBH I never really ever bothered to check or look into it from day one of purchase.
Not that my BIOS detects it either if I'm looking right (pic taken before I took the bad GPU out):


BTW this R1 was purchased from hidevolution 4 years back should that raise any concerns. Again with both GPU's out it would give me 7 beeps. But no big deal, too late to deal with if something suspicious is wrong with my machine.

I've decided that I will just run this r1 on it's last legs. I barely game now, if anything I just watch the odd Blu-Ray movies on this former 'champ' of a machine. When it's time is up I'll be looking into buying a brand new notebook then. I wonder how much longer this second 6990m will last me
I'm surprised to hear that there isn't a beast of a CPU that far surpasses the 2920XM, after all these years of owning this r1. Even more shocked that the latest Alienware notebooks are garabage

I just randomly watched some YouTube videos comparing benchmarks like the 980m vs 980. It's really good to see how close mobile GPU's can be to desktops these days! Things really have moved on

 

You can mod your heatsinks to the Nvidia ones if you like DIY works. Check my signature

Otherwise you will need to buy two Nvidia 100W heatsinks.

Regards

 

Your BIOS does not detect it because it is not activated. This is by design. The machine uses manual switching, not hybrid Optimus/Enduro switching. When discrete graphics are active the integrated graphics are disabled by design. It should look exactly like your BIOS photo shows. When Intel HD Graphics (IGFX) is active, both GPUs will be "Not Detected" in the BIOS instead of the Integrated Graphics.

 

Yeah that's how the "old" bios in our laptops works.

By disabling IGFX completely in BIOS you can reroute display directly to the powerful Nvidia/AMD PEG display card. In newest Alienware design display is tied to the IGFX and PEG just renders the screen. IGFX has limited capabilites in sending display and that's why newest AW laptops can't send 144Hz display over DisplayPort. It's significant downgrade as it can cause many other problems that I didn't listed here so you should be happy that you have older rig as we are

Regards

 

Ahhh I see now
I guess I can temporarily use it further this way when the last 6990m dies out while I decide what to do / upgrade the r1 or new notebook.
I wonder how much luck this machine has left. All clock speeds are on default now I don't run anything intensive on it; should give me some extra miles

Thanks both for your help and responses