The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    M17 R1 - Power Problems: How do I access the motherboard?

    Discussion in 'Alienware Area-51/Aurora and Legacy Systems' started by Malachi, Jun 30, 2011.

  1. Malachi

    Malachi Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Ok, forgive me if this has been answered before. I'm currently having power problems on my M17 R1 - I plug it in from the AC adapter (battery in or out doesn't matter) but the laptop doesn't seem to "see" that it is plugged in. I've gotten it to work once in the last couple weeks. I'm thinking there might be something wrong with the DC plug on the motherboard itself and I'd like to take a look but I'm not entirely sure what to remove on my case to get access to the motherboard parts like the DC power plug. Is there some sort of guide someone can point me to so I can see how to take a closer look at it? Thanks!
     
    Malachi, Jun 30, 2011
    #1
  2. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

    Reputations:
    357
    Messages:
    2,346
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    granyte, Jun 30, 2011
    #2
  3. Malachi

    Malachi Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Thanks! That looks involved but doable.

    Is my thinking right on this? If I plug in an AC Adapter that I am pretty sure is working and the "plug" LED indicator doesn't light up on my status panel then I should start looking at the DC plug on the Mobo?
     
    Malachi, Jun 30, 2011
    #3
  4. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

    Reputations:
    357
    Messages:
    2,346
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    depends on what adapter you are talking about any adapter that you wanna use with the m17 must be at least 120w for them to stay on

    you can test with the 90w or 60w but they will shut down after just a few seconds ps dell's adapter works with this laptop to
     
    granyte, Jun 30, 2011
    #4
  5. Malachi

    Malachi Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I have a 220W adapter (20V @ 11A) so that should work. However, I'll see if I can borrow someone's adapter with a "barrel" connector and see if that works. Even if its the incorrect Wattage should the "plug" indicator on the status bar turn on?
     
    Malachi, Jun 30, 2011
    #5
  6. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

    Reputations:
    357
    Messages:
    2,346
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    only dell branded ones will light it the no brand don't
     
    granyte, Jun 30, 2011
    #6
  7. Malachi

    Malachi Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Even on a pre-Dell model Alienware (M17 R1)?
     
    Malachi, Jun 30, 2011
    #7
  8. granyte

    granyte ATI+AMD -> DAAMIT

    Reputations:
    357
    Messages:
    2,346
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    at least the generic i tryed didn't

    so far i know that the flexes do work and the dell do also

    others didn't
     
    granyte, Jun 30, 2011
    #8
  9. Malachi

    Malachi Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    5
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Can anyone tell me (before I disassemble the whole thing) if that DC power jack is micro-soldered or regular soldered to the mobo? If it's a micro-solder I don't think I'll even try to replace it.
     
    Malachi, Jul 5, 2011
    #9
  10. tyflesh

    tyflesh Newbie

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    1
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    I had the same problem ended up being the graphics card went bad
     
    tyflesh, Aug 28, 2011
    #10