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Alienware M17x R2 Booting with black screen
Recently, my fiancee's laptop (my old one) was having a "disk read error" that I was going to fix. When I turned the laptop on I heard it start up, the fans turn on but the alien head splash screen never shows, everything remains black. The keyboard is lit up, the alienware name (on the actual screen) is lit up. The num lock indicator is on (not flashing) and I cannot turn any other indicators on (such as caps lock). Any suggestions? Need any more information?
The laptop was working a couple days ago before the disk read error occured.
Thank you
Alienware - Rodrigo
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February 1st, 2016 08:00
Hello,
Try doing a power drain, follow the steps below to perform a power drain.
Let us know how it goes.
Soolim
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February 1st, 2016 13:00
Did as directed above and there is no change. Results are the same as described in first post.
Did want to add some information though. So, it seems that the num lock indicator was a fluke. I can turn on caps lock and num lock indicators on/off as I please. It does not appear that the back light for the monitor is on (completely dead black). Also, as I mentioned before I was planning to fix a "disk read error". I know the message typically says to press ctrl+alt+del to restart. When I press ctrl+alt+del, it sounds as though the laptop resets as it normally would at the error message.
AndrewSi
901 Posts
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February 1st, 2016 14:00
Try a COMPLETE power drain.
Remove AC power.
Remove battery.
Remove rear cover.
Remove coin cell battery.
Press and hold power button down continuously for 60 seconds.
Replace all batteries and AC.
Start laptop - If operation has been successful you will get a 5 beeps warning on first startup (CPU Clock error)
Restart laptop after 5 beeps, with a little luck this will work, if it doesn't then you may have bigger problems like a blown motherboard or GPU.
If it does work make sure to set the correct time/date so you don't get any BSOD's
Alienware - Rodrigo
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February 2nd, 2016 11:00
Hi,
If possible, connect an external monitor using an HDMI cable (like a TV) to confirm if you get an image on the external display.
Soolim
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February 2nd, 2016 11:00
Did as directed above. Nothing changed on the startup. I didn't hear any beeps and screen is still completely dark.
Just saw the post about trying an external monitor. I plugged my TV into the laptop via HDMI cable and it displays on the TV. Still shows the "read disk error" but it displays normally on the screen.
Alienware - Rodrigo
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February 3rd, 2016 12:00
Hi,
Thank you for confirming this. Since you do get an image on the external display, there may be a problem with the LCD screen. Make sure the display assembly is properly installed, you can refer to the Service Manual for assistance with this.
Soolim
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February 4th, 2016 13:00
Thank you for the input. I will see what I can do this weekend. Pretty busy during the week. I will tell you what happens once I am able to check the installation.