Disconnecting the laptop battery is simple. I bought one of the refurbished 17 R3s with the UHD screen on ebay also. Mine looked to be absolutely new. I upgraded the drives and none of the screws appeared to have been ever removed. I suspect that it was returned because of buyers remorse or the slight light bleed at the lower corners of the screen. The only problem I have had is that it occasionally will not load the initial boot screen. It turns on but the screen will remain blank. It does not happen often and turning it off and restarting it cures the problem. If you get it going, make sure to go to the Dell driver upgrade utility and update the drivers and the BIOS. The utility will tell you if the BIOS is current or if there is an upgrade available. If you do upgrade the BIOS and the chipset driver, you will need to do each separately as they will not upgrade with the other upgrades if multiple upgrades are chosen.
If you have problems and go past the return window of the seller, it is covered by Dell up to the warranty date period from the original purchase.
If you keep it and have any intention of upgrading the M.2 SSD to a Samsung NVMe PCI-e SSD you will not get full advertised read speeds from the Samsung's with the standard Microsoft NVMe driver. Samsung has an NVMe driver, but it will not install if the BIOS is set to RAID, which Alienware has done. So in order to get full read speeds from the new Samsung 960 series and possibly the older 950 Pro, you will have to set the BIOS to AHCI and do a new install of the OS. Then you can install the Samsung NVMe driver and get the 2800 MB/s read speed. Read speeds will be reduced by about 30-35 percent if you leave it in RAID and just let it use the windows driver. The windows driver seems to do well with the write speeds as the Samsung driver offers very little advantage. More info than what you asked for, but may be of interest to you.
Thanks for the reply, but this is the 15 R3, which would be equivalent to 17 R4, which is newer than the instructions you provided. I've already followed steps for unplugging the battery and touching the CLP1 (I think) pins together to clear it out.
I think my problem is different. When I plug in the power cord the LED on the cord turns off.
The original ad for the laptop said it did not include a Dell warranty, but that they provided a 90 day warranty. I've sent them a message and have not gotten a reply, though. eBay is saying it's not covered under buyer protection or anything. I called Alienware and they said I'd have to pay about 400 dollars to send it into them to get it fixed.
This is the newer model so resetting the CMOS and disconnecting the battery is different. I disconnected the battery and held the power button for 20 seconds and that didn't do anything. Also tried touching the CLRP1 pins together, but that didn't help either.
The seller didn't offer returns but in the ad listing it said they gave a 90 day warranty with purchase. Tried contacting seller and they haven't replied yet.
It's not that it doesn't get to POST screen, literally nothing happens when I turn it on. The blue light on the power cord also shuts off when connecting it to the laptop.
Tried calling Alienware tech support but they told me I have to transfer the ownership. The seller was also in Canada, which further complicates it. But to transfer the ownership you have to have original warranty holder's info, which I don't have.
The listing said it didn't include a Dell warranty, in which case Alienware tech support said I could pay around $400 to send it in and they could fix it. Or I could possibly talk to sales and try purchasing a new motherboard or whatever parts to see if I can fix it. Not sure how much that would cost.
Just so insanely frustrated. I guess all I can do is wait and see if the seller replies. If not, I guess the most I can do is leave bad feedback and pay $400 to send it in to Dell. At that point I might just sell it for a huge loss as broken on eBay and stay the *** away from eBay and Dell in the future. Talk about an absolute disaster. Paid $1,600 for this laptop and it's worthless after a few weeks. The seller is supposedly a Dell authorized reseller and everything.
I'm not saying it applies to your situation, but in general ... it's no secret that people sell KNOWN flakey and defective computers on eBay, hoping someone will buy them.
I definitely would not buy anything expensive from eBay without AT LEAST a DOA return warranty and PayPal Buyer Protection. I've been lucky over the years, but since every high-dollar eBay purchase is a roll-of-the-dice ... I just don't do it any more.
Can you disconnect main lipo run-battery from outside or is it internal? Have you checked that AC-Adapter is correct model and outputting correct voltage?
1. They actually agreed to let me send it back for an RMA, though, which is nice.
2. I'm not sure what a lipo run battery is, but the battery is internal. I opened it up and disconnected the main battery line and held down the power button for a while, but that didn't seem to fix anything.
1. Oh good. I wish you luck.
2. Yes, Internal LiPo Run Battery. We are talking about the same thing. Good, you tried it.
Yeah, I know, I've been screwed over by purchases on eBay in the past but this was a really good deal so I went for it. The business is supposed to be an authorized Dell refurbished seller. They actually agreed to let me send it back for an RMA, though, which is nice.
I'm not sure what a lipo run battery is, but the battery is internal. I opened it up and disconnected the main battery line and held down the power button for a while, but that didn't seem to fix anything.
As for the AC adapter, I'm not sure. It did work fine for about 3 weeks, so not sure if that could be the issue. The seller was from Canada, so maybe this is an issue if they have different outlets?. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to electricity, could you please tell me what to look for?
How do I know if AC adapter is running correct voltage?
With a Volt-Meter. That's "with no load" but it's a start. Further testing is possible, but really only available to computer technician with advanced skills (ie, they know what they are doing).
Remember that the SMPS (the AC Adpater) is semi-intelligent and the LiPo Run-Battery is very intelligent (has it's own independent Micro-Controller computer inside it).
Frank Mezo
2 Posts
0
January 30th, 2017 11:00
Here is the link to disconnect the battery and replace or remove the CMOS battery.
blog.parts-people.com/.../
Disconnecting the laptop battery is simple. I bought one of the refurbished 17 R3s with the UHD screen on ebay also. Mine looked to be absolutely new. I upgraded the drives and none of the screws appeared to have been ever removed. I suspect that it was returned because of buyers remorse or the slight light bleed at the lower corners of the screen. The only problem I have had is that it occasionally will not load the initial boot screen. It turns on but the screen will remain blank. It does not happen often and turning it off and restarting it cures the problem. If you get it going, make sure to go to the Dell driver upgrade utility and update the drivers and the BIOS. The utility will tell you if the BIOS is current or if there is an upgrade available. If you do upgrade the BIOS and the chipset driver, you will need to do each separately as they will not upgrade with the other upgrades if multiple upgrades are chosen.
If you have problems and go past the return window of the seller, it is covered by Dell up to the warranty date period from the original purchase.
If you keep it and have any intention of upgrading the M.2 SSD to a Samsung NVMe PCI-e SSD you will not get full advertised read speeds from the Samsung's with the standard Microsoft NVMe driver. Samsung has an NVMe driver, but it will not install if the BIOS is set to RAID, which Alienware has done. So in order to get full read speeds from the new Samsung 960 series and possibly the older 950 Pro, you will have to set the BIOS to AHCI and do a new install of the OS. Then you can install the Samsung NVMe driver and get the 2800 MB/s read speed. Read speeds will be reduced by about 30-35 percent if you leave it in RAID and just let it use the windows driver. The windows driver seems to do well with the write speeds as the Samsung driver offers very little advantage. More info than what you asked for, but may be of interest to you.
Hope you get it solved.
jl-rober
5 Posts
0
January 30th, 2017 14:00
Thanks for the reply, but this is the 15 R3, which would be equivalent to 17 R4, which is newer than the instructions you provided. I've already followed steps for unplugging the battery and touching the CLP1 (I think) pins together to clear it out.
I think my problem is different. When I plug in the power cord the LED on the cord turns off.
The original ad for the laptop said it did not include a Dell warranty, but that they provided a 90 day warranty. I've sent them a message and have not gotten a reply, though. eBay is saying it's not covered under buyer protection or anything. I called Alienware and they said I'd have to pay about 400 dollars to send it into them to get it fixed.
So beyond frustrated...
jl-rober
5 Posts
0
January 30th, 2017 15:00
This is the newer model so resetting the CMOS and disconnecting the battery is different. I disconnected the battery and held the power button for 20 seconds and that didn't do anything. Also tried touching the CLRP1 pins together, but that didn't help either.
The seller didn't offer returns but in the ad listing it said they gave a 90 day warranty with purchase. Tried contacting seller and they haven't replied yet.
It's not that it doesn't get to POST screen, literally nothing happens when I turn it on. The blue light on the power cord also shuts off when connecting it to the laptop.
Tried calling Alienware tech support but they told me I have to transfer the ownership. The seller was also in Canada, which further complicates it. But to transfer the ownership you have to have original warranty holder's info, which I don't have.
The listing said it didn't include a Dell warranty, in which case Alienware tech support said I could pay around $400 to send it in and they could fix it. Or I could possibly talk to sales and try purchasing a new motherboard or whatever parts to see if I can fix it. Not sure how much that would cost.
Just so insanely frustrated. I guess all I can do is wait and see if the seller replies. If not, I guess the most I can do is leave bad feedback and pay $400 to send it in to Dell. At that point I might just sell it for a huge loss as broken on eBay and stay the *** away from eBay and Dell in the future. Talk about an absolute disaster. Paid $1,600 for this laptop and it's worthless after a few weeks. The seller is supposedly a Dell authorized reseller and everything.
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
January 31st, 2017 11:00
I'm not saying it applies to your situation, but in general ... it's no secret that people sell KNOWN flakey and defective computers on eBay, hoping someone will buy them.
I definitely would not buy anything expensive from eBay without AT LEAST a DOA return warranty and PayPal Buyer Protection. I've been lucky over the years, but since every high-dollar eBay purchase is a roll-of-the-dice ... I just don't do it any more.
Can you disconnect main lipo run-battery from outside or is it internal? Have you checked that AC-Adapter is correct model and outputting correct voltage?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
January 31st, 2017 11:00
1. Oh good. I wish you luck.
2. Yes, Internal LiPo Run Battery. We are talking about the same thing. Good, you tried it.
jl-rober
5 Posts
0
January 31st, 2017 11:00
Yeah, I know, I've been screwed over by purchases on eBay in the past but this was a really good deal so I went for it. The business is supposed to be an authorized Dell refurbished seller. They actually agreed to let me send it back for an RMA, though, which is nice.
I'm not sure what a lipo run battery is, but the battery is internal. I opened it up and disconnected the main battery line and held down the power button for a while, but that didn't seem to fix anything.
As for the AC adapter, I'm not sure. It did work fine for about 3 weeks, so not sure if that could be the issue. The seller was from Canada, so maybe this is an issue if they have different outlets?. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to electricity, could you please tell me what to look for?
jl-rober
5 Posts
0
January 31st, 2017 12:00
How do I know if AC adapter is running correct voltage?
Tesla1856
8 Wizard
•
17.4K Posts
0
January 31st, 2017 12:00
Remember that the SMPS (the AC Adpater) is semi-intelligent and the LiPo Run-Battery is very intelligent (has it's own independent Micro-Controller computer inside it).