Alienware Alpha (Steam OS) - Flashing yellow lights

Just received my unit back from repair (17 days turn around from my despatch)..

... and discovered the units case top has a lump gouged out from a loose screw stuck in the inside of the packing box lid. [:(]

Document enclosed says mother board has been replaced - but I haven't plugged it in yet.. will wait for comment on the damage from Dell first.

...NOT happy!!!!

Hey guys, I did a video explaining what you need to do.  You just need to do the power cycle and disconnect the cmos battery and then reconnect it.

https://youtu.be/iQEZiXPeXCA

It would be nice to think that disconnecting the CMOS battery is all it takes, but I am doubtful.  The first time this problem happened to me, a quick power drain allowed it to reboot.  The problem did not happen again for several weeks, which included multiple reboots.  Then it started happening more frequently and it took a longer power drain to get it started again.  Now,  it happens every time and  the only thing that helps is to leave it unplugged for several hours.  

The widespread reporting of this appears to have started around November.  Since the design of the system did not change then, it seems more likely that there was a flawed batch of some component used in manufacturing at that time.   Whatever is failing seems to degrade over time, since most people report that the problem becomes more frequent and intractable after it starts happening.

Your solution  begs the question of what started the problem in the first place.  The followup question is "What will keep it from happening again?".  I personally don't relish the thought of disassembling the box every month or two to reset this. 

It is also possible that you are dealing with an unrelated problem, such as loose RAM, that you inadvertently fixed while disassembling and reassembling the system. 

I sincerely hope you are right, but I will be convinced when others report success with the fix and it holds for more than a few weeks.

Has anyone else tried this yet?

So Dell have offered to send a replacement top cover however..

The problem of flashing yellow lights still exists!!

Exactly the same circumstances, If I leave the unit plugged in after shut down when I try to turn it on again I get 5 flashing yellow start button and will not even go to post BIOS.
Unplugging everything and holding start button to power drain usually works, but sometimes only unplugging and leaving for a lengthy time seems to then allow reboot.

I also have additional issues now - probably connected with the constant rebooting failures.

It is apparent a re-installation of the operating system took place during the repair which is fine, but originally the hive mind interface was set up on the desktop and wasn't present this time.
When I found the link in the programmes folder it appeared to work fine, but now when I do eventually get the system to start up it goes straight to hive mind console mode and has no option on the power icon to "go to desktop mode" if I use the "exit" option the screen just goes black and unresponsive then requires me to use ctrl-alt-del to get the restart option.
 
So to sum I have 3 separate issues now.

1. Damaged case cover.
2. Flashing yellow light boot up failure.
3. No desktop mode any more.

[:'(]

Still not working after repair.  That's bad news.    I just sent mine back to be fixed this weekend.  Sounds like Dell may not really know what is causing the problem.  Either that or you got a replacement motherboard from the same batch as your original one.   Others have reported no longer having a problem after repair, but there are only a handful  reported on this forum, so there isn't a lot of data to go on.

Have you tried disconnecting the CMOS battery for 10mins before plugging it back in? That's what I and several others have done and had no problem afterwards.

so after some further correspondence Dell offered to exchange the whole thing or refund me..

I replied with my concerns..

"I don't really want to give up on the Alpha and when it works I'm quite happy with it, however my concern is that Dell don't seem to know what the issue is?

I am not alone in experiencing this issue and forum threads have suggested that it could be to do with upgrading the OS to Windows 10 or with the fact that its plugged into an "old" mains power socket in my house??
If either of these were known to be the cause then I'd happily follow Dells advice and not upgrade the OS system or get a surge protector for example, but without this advice I'm fearful of ending in the same circumstances again. (I am assuming that Dell are still investigating the issue rather than just going through a tick box exercise of ...'replace the mother-board', ...'replace the whole system', ...'offer a refund..)

Anyway, please replace the whole system and if any understanding of the circumstances comes to light from investigations dealing with others with the same problem please let me know."

Dell's response...

"Thank you for the information.

 This issue is quite common, but the motherboard replacement should help. As it didn't help in your case, we are not sure what exactly could cause it. I don't think that it has something common with a version of Windows."

I am now going ahead with a complete replacement system. Fingers crossed that that one works!

Adding to the pile of comments on this issue:

I'm just now experiencing the flashing yellow alien head of death.

It flashes 5 times.

Not related to WindowsAnything, since my steam machine has Linux on it.

the unit is plugged into a functioning surge protector.

I have not tried any of the suggested fixes yet (though I have just now unplugged it from the power source (though i don't know what power drain there is to speak of, if it's a NUC with no battery (beyond the CMOS battery)))

It is not encouraging to read that replacing the main motherboard and reinstalling the OS does not fix the problem. I had my reservations about purchasing a Dell, and I'm loathe to discover my suspicions confirmed.

It is not a good sign that this might be such a widespread problem they are back ordered on parts.

I am expecting a more comprehensive response and resolution about this from Alienware/Dell beyond the copypasta'd Try This™ which periodically gets posted.

This is a good box when it works. I am disappoint.

So I received my entirely new replacement unit on the 5th May and so far so good.

I've put Windows 10 on it just like i did before and  we've just passed the three week period I had the first unit before the "5 flashes of doom" appeared. So thus far it appears that the new unit is not suffering the same issue... Would still be nice to have an actual explanation from Dell!

I'll keep you appraised of any developments.

DELL replaced motherboard in ours, and no recurrences since. It got sent to a repair shop in Poland, but the process was swift once it got started.

Getting it started was a nightmare, but that's been reported to DELL. Basically once I got through to the person who does AlienWare replacements it was fine, so basically use the priority support  number from the website, and make sure you have the right person...

This is our 3rd round of the flashing-yellow light of death.  Nothing, on our own, so far has permanently repaired the issue,  So I guess I'll go the route of contacting Dell Support, dreading that nightmare!

What a waste of time and money the unit is only 4 months old!!! 

Yeah, my system was never fixed. The flashing yellow lights came back about a month or two later. Also, the mouse and keyboard that came with the Alpha completely gave up on me recently. Had to get those replaced. Very disappointed, I love this machine when it's working. Will be sending it back.

Oh and they told me I can't get a refund nor can I get a replacement.

When asked "What the *** am I supposed to do when this thing breaks again in December, when my warranty expires?" they said "We don't know. I don't have an answer for you sir. We'll just have to keep trying to fix it until then".

*** customer service.