Alienware Area 51 (2011) model. Shuts off Instantly!

Question

Hello. I have a HUGE problem with this machine. It shuts off instantly, as if I pull out the power-cable. Then it restarts automatically, it behaves as if there was a momentary power failure, when there in fact was not. There is no logic to this behavior at all. I have tried almost everything I can do myself. Things that have been ruled out: No. It is not a faulty power-supply. It has been replaced 4 times now. Still same problem. No. It is not an overheating issue. I have the CPUID program, and it shows normal temp across the entire system. Besides, the erratic behavior indicates otherwise, the machine can stay on for as little as a few seconds, to several hours. With little to heavy strain making no difference. I have played resource heavy games, and it shuts off. I have let it sit still while no programs run at all, just sitting on the Windows desktop, and it shuts off. I have taken out the GFX card, the RAM, HDDS, everything but the power-supply, the motherboard and the AlienFX card. It still shuts off. Ruling out any software problem as the HDDS were not even in. I have dusted it so completely, it looks brand new. There is no dust blocking anything. I have unplugged every cable i can get to, and back in. I have even exchanged the bios battery. A little history... 3 years ago, this problem started. I was playing a resource heavy game. Then instantly it shut off and then restarted. It appeared that it only did this on this game. After talking to Dell support and trying all the standard stuff. And this kept happening, they suspected it could be the GFX card. So they exchanged it. But alas, same problem, they exchanged the GFX card once more. But still the problem persisted. They they were kind enough to slightly upgrade my GFX card to a better model that had better cooling. And for a while it looked like it was solved. But then a few months later, it happened again. So now Dell exchanged the motherboard, and the power-supply. And it now seemed stable again. But then about a month later, it started again. So now they exchanged the motherboard again, the power-supply again, and in addition the AlienFX card. Once more it looked like it worked. It lasted almost a year, then it started shutting off again. They changed the power-supply once more. And it worked until now. Where the power-supply was once again changed. But this time it did nothing, it lasted only a few minutes before it shut down again. Only now, it has become worse. It shuts off, then tries to restart, but it wont even get to the Alienware Logo splash-screen before shutting off and restarting. Now it can try to restart for like up to 10-15 times before it suddenly gets up to windows and looks normal. It did not do this the other times. This is new. Here's the thing, there is NO logic here. It shuts off, restarts, and stays on for anything from 10 seconds, to 10 hours... I can find no reason for this whatsoever. It is really weird, and not to mention annoying. And I thought I finally stumbled unto the solution, when I opened it and replaced the bios battery, all of a sudden, it worked perfectly again. For a week. I used it for a full day, shut it off when I went to bed, the next morning, I turned it on, and it lasted 10 minutes, and poof, shuts off. And starts the attempts all over again. So I took out the bios battery, resetting the bios. And tried again. As I was setting the time, it shuts off. So in a last desperate move, I bought a brand new battery again, and tried. Nope. still shuts down. It then took about 10 tries to start. And then it was stable for a few hours. I really don't get it, there is no overheating problem. Everything is as it is supposed to be. The Alienware thermal controller shows everything normal. CPUID shows everything normal. And if it was overheating, then why does it shut down while it does nothing. But can stay on while everything is used to the max. Or vise versa. I even tried removing the side door, and placing a fan to get extra cooling. Just to be sure. I have run every test program Dell can throw at me, and then some. All say that the machine is in perfect working order. And as long as it stays on... It works perfectly. If I play minesweeper or Crysis, doesn't matter. It can shut down instantly at any given time. Sometimes thermal controller will increase the fan speed when using heavy games. And everything is normal. Then while sitting idle on the desktop it shuts down. I even let it sit in the bios setup screen, to make sure there was no pressure on anything that could cause a shutdown. And still *click* This is the most frustrating machine I have ever had the displeasure of being near. As long as it stays on, it works perfectly, runs any game or program with no difficulty. The problem is, it is so unstable that it is at this point a useless garbage can. (Very expensive garbage can) I don't know what to do, I cannot comprehend what in the world is causing this to begin with. But the same problem for 3 (three) years now. Please someone, anyone. I beg of you, what is causing this?

EuroFox · Answer

I have removed the ram and gpu completely, the cpu has been changed twice. Including the cpu cooler.

john-kimball44 · Answer

tried changing the ram sticks and cpu chip ? and disc drive and cpu cooler?

john-kimball44 · Answer

also gpu *

Cass-Ole · Answer

I don't know what's wrong with your Alien, but it sure sounds fussy & temperamental.

You've had about everything replaced, therefore I would look into a new Top I/O, since the blue 'power on' pcb board can go bad, leading to shut-off issues. I can't promise this is the cure, but as a low-cost tester I'd buy one, cut off the zipties, take the blue pcb board out, unplug the one in there & plug new one in, let it hang free outside of the case a while by taking advantage of the long wire lengths (take side panel off, allow blue pcb to be insulated away from case); if shut off issue disappears, begin process of integrating power on pcb into your top I/O.

If it doesn't cure the issue, that's 'ok', since everyone is advised to have a spare 'power on' pcb on-hand for times just like this, given they can go bad

If they replaced the power supply, I doubt they replaced the case harness; if you'd like to try a new case harness, buy U647R, as that might be the next likely suspect & perhaps the last likely suspect. U637R would be a good way to spend $ (it at least becomes a spare), U647R might fix this or might not. If U637R fixes this, be sure to buy another one as a spare.

front panel 'power on' header, bottom right of mthrbrd

U637R: disconnect front panel header & MIO JFL1

remove new power on pcb from U637R assembly
'patch' new test pcb into your system (connect front panel & MIO JFL1)
if ok, begin process of incorporating new pcb into system
either insert the entire new U637R assembly -or- take your old blue pcb out & place new in

remove hard drive trim (disconnect MIO hard drive bay leds connector 1st)

check for any pinched / cut wires on both sides of case
avoid cutting / pinching wires when reattaching HDD trim

Typical U637R install & parts removal:

Both doors, front panel (& wiring), top activent assembly (& wiring), hard drive bay trim (& led), grfx/batt shroud (& wire) & pci fan (& wiring) are removed.
You may want to remove video card(s)
Protect your lower panels with a towel etc.

see bottom of page with links to service manual & teardown vid: Success Haswell & USB3.0

Time for a new mthrbrd / cpu + DDR4 memory?

New Power Supply?

link to seller page

for best results, use both color cables, one connect from each

note in the 980 & 980Ti photos, the person is (wrongly) using just one yellow + jumper
note that person's blue cable is unused: use it
each cable is on its own 12volt rail, deploy both colors / cables for maximum power & less likely shut-off / restart issues
Titan X above will work best when the blue & yellow connectors are inserted, & would eventually restart (trip) if just the yellow & yellow jumper were inserted
single yellow = 216watts | single blue = 216watts >< single cable + jumper = minimum power
deploy blu + yellow = 432watts to card = maximum power

example: 980 only fed off of 216w yellow, while 216watt blue is unused? deploy both

solo / single card configs connect as above >< SLI X-Fire may be different

search 'Alienware Area 51 connector chart' in google to find posts & chart pictures for SLI etc

inspect your wiring for pinches / cuts:

activent harness
top left powerboard
top left powerboard continued
sata & related wiring behind PCI-E fan

replace or repair as necessary

this is my 4th Area-51, purchased last August 2nd

complete teardown + inspection of all wiring: been there done that

think about buying a spare MIO board & report back

EuroFox · Answer

Wow, thank you. That is the greatest answer I have ever gotten. You are quite correct, they never changed the case harness. That is one of the very few parts that has remained orignal and untouched. I will try to get a replacement for this, i so hope it will cure it. If it turns out it is the cause, it would also explain the lack of logic as to why it shuts down seemingly at completely random times.

And thank you very much for the extremely detailed explanation, with pictures. This will make everything so much more easier now. You seem to know a little about this. :)

Thank you again. I will update this post when i have gotten the replacements and hopefully it will work then.

Cass-Ole · Answer

Afterthoughts:

move Alien into different part of your house, in case it is the wall wiring
buy a new power supply cord of same length / rating: generic example

By-pass the MIO Board & all of its related wiring:

keep side panel & pci shroud open during testing, to help cool interior
disconnect radiator 'system' fan from top left powerboard, disconnect MIO cpu_fan (@memory), insert rad-sys fan 4pin connector to cpu_fan header (see photo later below)
disconnect MIO white 10pin power connector (see earlier landmark photo)
disconnect liquid cooler pump 5pin connect from top left powerboard
face 'positive latch' upside down
place the three main wires / pins (1,2,3) onto your top chassis fan header
power on, cooler now has constant 12volts, all MIO wiring & board are non-functional, isolated from system, 'should' not can trip the power off ... if system stays alive?
possible MIO defect, component attached to MIO board defect, or related wiring defect

5pin cooler connector: cooler only requires ground / 12v + rpm

pin / slot 4 = empty >< pin / slot 5 = redundant ground jumper
basic fan connector shown in bottom chasis fan header
basic fan wiring left to right: ground / 12v / rpm

cooler connector positive latch faces upside down, you're interfacing with the top 3pin chassis fan header, cooler 5pin makes contact with fan header pins 1,2,3 >< pin 4/5 makes contact with air

lower chassis header will not work, only outputs constant 5volts

To by-pass your MIO board & keep vital computer cooling alive, you must power the cooling pump & radiator fan:

CPU_Fan1 is next to memory banks, plug your rad-sys fan in there; buy a 4pin pwm fan extension if yours won't reach

constant 12volt fan header is green arrow:

remove CPU 8pin & 24pin ATX: inspect for loose, bent or damaged poles / pins
run one memory stick, see how far you get

power supply: back the 66pin black bulk connector out, inspect all 61pins for bent / damaged 'mouth', repair or replace case harness if signs of bent damaged deformed pins. Tug on all wires, see if a pin backs out, if so, repair or replace.

To RMA / warranty / return memory like Corsair, they ask you to 1st test their memory using MemTest86 so think about doing that. I've never had to run it; Windows also has a memory diagnostic you can run, the motherboard also has PSA pre-boot assessment, hit F12 or similar at start-up & launch diagnostics ... also try to burn a CD/DVD and do 32bit diagnsotics with MIO plugged in of course. Last? Check battery shroud rechargeable batteries for corrosion, replace with like batteries

Cass-Ole · Answer

I had my own problems here lastnight with a shutdown issue while booting into 5beeps (RTC Failure), I think the motherboard's shot on mine; I had to do some major troubleshooting, wanted to clarify some things for you in case they help:

onboard power on button

I forgot we have an onboard 'power on' button; to bypass your top power on button, back the front panel header connector off (shown above, right, yellow plastic with arrows), then push your red momentary switch, see how long your pc stays afloat. Afterwards, use windows to shutdown, then place your FP connector back on. A system that stays afloat without shutoff issue may indicate a bad top power on button (backing the FP connector off may, may isolate it from the system, it depends on if the MIO sends a feedback to the top power on PCB, where it's indicated the diodes / resistors can go bad, as was said yesterday, top power on PCB can go bad).

Another look at the cooler 5pin connector, by-passed onto chassis fan header

my camera *** on close ups, but I'n trying to show once again the cooler pump connector 5pin has a 'clip', a latch, that faces down:

SYSFAN 5 is a 3pin fan header pushing constant 12volts which the pump can use
the 5pin has 4 wires but 5 slots
1) ground blk 2) 12v red 3) rpm wht 4) empty X 5) redundant ground jumper blk
place power to pins 1 2 & 3, forget empty 4 & ground 5, they lay to the side

From there, get power to your radiator fan. We must power the cooler pump & rad-fan when removing all power from MIO for testing, since MIO of course relays fan/pump power (to the top power board)

Got it?

Honestly, I don't know if I can help you fix yours, but we can talk it out, certainly. As for me?, King Jeremy's getting a motherboard replacement ... wish him luck

Cass-Ole · Answer

make sure your chipset cooler fan is still spinning / working, the tiny one, mid-board under the pump

Locked Topics – Alienware General

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