M15x not posting

Hey all. My M15x turns on, the ac adaptor light is blue and all other lights on the laptop are going. The fans are also going, and the cd drive spins up but I get nothing on the screen or my external monitor. The devices attached by USB are not turning on either. The alienhead hdd activity lights don't flash at all either. I have tried a power drain, and removing the coin cell battery. Any ideas?

I should probably mention that before this happened, the computer froze unexpectedly and I had to power the computer off.

 

Sounds like a bad GPU . Do you have a spare GPU that you can swap and test the system?

 

Are there any flashing LEDs (NUM, SCROLL, CAPS LOCK)?

 

No, no flashing lights. I guess I should try my other GPU. Really hope its not the motherboard, considering I'm 1 month out of warranty.

 

I guess it's the HDD, otherwise there should (normally) be some flashing lights. Do you have another HDD to test it?

 

Yes, I do. I'll try that. Thanks svl7!

 

Still the same after swapping the hard drive. Guess the next step is to swap the GPU?

 

I'd try the RAM modules first, try only booting with one module, exchange the modules between the slots, etc.

It's a bit weird that there aren't any lights and that it isn't the HDD (apparently). There should be some lights flashing when the GPU is malfunctioning or has bad contact, I experienced this a couple of times. Might be a completely dead mobo...

 

Yeah, I've tried swapping the RAM modules as well..

Well, I'm just a little concerned as I did a repaste a couple of days ago, has been fine up until now though.

 

Repasting shouldn't matter at all, unless you removed the GPU. Well you can try reseating it, this worked for me when I had a similar issue, but when you didn't remove the GPU it's very unlikely that this will help.

 

Yes, I've got my old 260m lying around which I can put in just to check if it posts. I guess failing that, it's the motherboard. I have my old 740qm as well, but I think a failed processor is pretty unlikely.

 

If the system board was dead, it's unlikely that the fans would work or the optical drive spin up. When I lost system boards in the past, there was absolutely no sign of life whatsoever -- no POST efforts, no lights, no fans, no disk checks. I've been following this thread and unfortunately have no new thoughts, but dead mobo doesn't seem right. On the other hand, you have to wonder why there are no error codes or reports. My sympathies. Will it boot from a USB stick or CD/DVD?

 

Well currently there is a game DVD in the optical drive, and it won't eject when I turn the computer on, so in terms of trying to boot from CD that's a no go. I guess I could try making a bootable USB key, but seeing as I can't access the BIOS at all, I'm not sure it will try booting from it.. I can always have a go though I guess. I appreciate all your suggestions.

 

Hi guys,

Ends up it was a bad GPU. Back to good old faithful, the mighty 260m. Sucks, but still, better than the motherboard.

Thanks for all your help.

 

Did you just put the 260m back or did you also try to reseat the 6970m? I had this issue once or twice, no idea why, but reseating the GPU helped.

 

Yeah, I tried reseating the 6970m, to no avail.

 

Ok, sorry to hear this. I guess you don't have any warranty on the card?

 

I've contacted the seller, asking about what I can do to obtain a replacement card. If he tells me to go get bent there's not much I can do about it, considering his company is in Canada, and I am in New Zealand.

 

Sorry about the 6970m . At least you got the system running back again.

 

Thanks, yeah, it was a nice card, RIP. To be honest though, I'm just glad I'm back up and running.. I need my computer for my university studies! Can't afford to purchase another 6970m now.