Alienware Problem

Hi Daniel,

Check if any external devices are connected. If any, disconnect the external devices and then try to restart the computer.

Hardware Diagnostics Check:

Run diagnostics on the computer. (Restart the computer by holding down the FN + Power button simultaneously).

Let the diagnostics complete.

Awaiting your response!

Hi Daniel,

Check if any external devices are connected. If any, disconnect the external devices and then try to restart the computer.

Hardware Diagnostics Check:

Run diagnostics on the computer. (Restart the computer by holding down the FN + Power button simultaneously).

Let the diagnostics complete.

Awaiting your response!

Xiraba - Looks like you have some major problems there, try what Rajesh suggested, but by the looks of the youtube video you will not be able to do that. so try these things.

1. Remove battery and try with power adapter only

2. Try with battery only, no power adapter.

No luck!!! - Then try this:

Next process is a little more complicated

Complete power drain- You will need a small star screwdriver and a large soft cloth (bath towel is good)

1. Remove battery and disconnect power.

2. Lay cloth down and turn over laptop (on top of cloth, for no scratches) to get access to bottom cover.

3. Remove the four screws that secure the bottom cover and GENTLY slide the bottom cover up, or towards the rear of the laptop.

4. Look for a small coin cell battery about 20mm in diameter, it will probably be black, but may be blue.

5. Disconnect that battery.

6. Turn over laptop and hold power button down (alien head) and count slowly to 20 - DO NOT release the button until you have reached 20 count.

7. Turn over laptop, reconnect coin cell battery.

8. Replace bottom cover - but be careful, if you dont line the small plastic internal clips up correctly they will bend and snap off easily.

9. Insert main battery and reconnect power supply.

10. start computer as normal

I noticed in your video you mentioned doing a system BIOS update to A10, I really hope you did not switch the laptop off while it was updating, if you have then your in for some real trouble

Hi Andrew Si,  thank you for your help!

    I am going to do what you are suggesting me. But, by the way, what is supposed to happen when I restart the laptop pressing FN and button? Would  something in the screen show up? Doing it the only diferences is the leds of num lock, scroll lock e caps lock turn on (as you can see in my second video here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/0uhqpzytbp0eo3i/20130127_124941%5B1%5D.3gp)

    I did the flash Bios update correctly. Everything did well on the processes. This problem started only few months later.

    But as I told in my youtube video, this happens sometime, not every time. Two days ago I could use my Alienware with no problem. Yesterday this problem came up again. Today at morning, the laptop worked nicely. I just power it off and tried to turn it on now, and the problem came up again.

    When this problem happens, I have to wait for almost one hour to be able to turn it on with no problem. Do you think that it could be a battery of CMOS problem? I have this Alienware for almost 3 years…

Best
Regards,

    Daniel

Hi Rajesh, thank you for your support.

     I did your suggestion. The difference is that now de caps lock, scroll lock and num lock leds turn on.

     See it in my video: www.dropbox.com/.../20130127_124941%5B1%5D.3gp

Hi Andrew Si,

     I did your suggestion, but no luck...

Here is the LED code Behavior list. It seems to me that it is a hardware issue and we might need to check the PC at our repair facility.

Hi,

         This is what I was trying to not believe. So, basically maybe this could be a motherboard. Video card or anything else could be the problem, RAM or HD (SSD) ?

          My warranty is over… I think I will open my laptop and check by myself.

          But, before I do it, a BIOS problem is 100% discarded?

           I have a Alienware CD that if I boot I can do a complete system check (this is take some hours). As I said before, sometimes my Alienware works perfect. Do you think that running this system check , a hardware problem could be detected?

Thank you for our reply.

Yes that could determine some hardware error but if the computer is having that behavior I don´t think you'll be able to boot from it.

Hi Luis,

In these last days it didn’t want to turn on. But, with a couple of lucky, the laptop worked… for a while.

I tried to run the system diagnostic, but, after some minutes running, it shuts down and does not turn on. I have to wait some DAYS to be able to turn it on.

But the strange thing is that when a software try to execute some kind of instruction, I don’t know, the alienware shuts down. If I turn on, when possible, and press F2 and stay on the BIOS screen, it stays turned on for a long time…

So, I couldn’t run and see the result of the system diagnostic. But, every time I try to turn it on and load de Windows, I receive two fatal errors. One is “IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL”, and the other is “DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL”.

Do you think this could be the motherboard?

Daniel

Hi Xiraba,

It’s important to gather the blue screen information; this video tutorial will show you how.

Then, since we are dealing with random shutdowns you could check the temps to make sure your laptop is not overheating.

Hi Kanndy,

Thank you for your response.

As I described, I don’t think that this is a software bug, neither a high temperature, because just when I turn it on, in a couple of minutes, sometimes just a few seconds, the laptop shuts down. And about the Windows fatal error, this kind of fatal error also occur when I try to run a Linux live CD and when I try to run the system diagnostic too.

Because of this symptoms and don’t think this is software error. I can take a picture of the blue screen error and send to you.

You’re right, it might not be software related, but it’s always important to gather as much information as possible.

Please collect the relevant details of the BSOD.

Hi.

I thought it could be something related to thermal issue. I removed the old thermal paste and I applied a new one.  But no. Is really something about motherboard.

I did another test. I removed the processor CPU and I installed it on another laptop, and it worked. So, my first conclusion is that the processor is working well.

My second test was putting the processor CPU back on my Alienware motherboard, without the cooler. The processor came so hot in seconds, and, doing this, the scroll lock led blinked. In other words, the motherboard could check the CPU before boot start. But, putting everything back again, with the cooler and the others parts, the original problem did come up again, as you can see in my original post on youtube.

It seems like the motherboard doesn´t have enough power to supply every component… I don´t know…

The interesting point here is the test I have done. On another laptop, I took out the cooler and I turned on that laptop. It worked ok, but, in one minute, that laptop freezes, and I had to reset it. After resetting, the other laptop behaves like my alienware. The leds on keyboard was on but no post, no boot.

My conclusion is that there is something wrong in some motherboard´s sensor component s. I don´t know. I confess I am really tired. Guys, there are others test ( an hard test ) I could do before ordering a new motherboard? It could be a software problem on a microchip, I don´t know, that internally controls the motherboard? A single component on motherboard could be damaged? (so, now we are talking about electronic in a specific way).

 Maybe the CPU was becoming hot constantly and the original thermal paste was not well fitted, and, in this last year, some component could be damaged, and now it doesn´t work anymore? It´s a long time it doesn´t boot. Some months ago it uses to work (but sometimes), to boot, and I could use normally the laptop.

Please, any help I would thank you a lot!

Daniel

Hi Daniel,

I understand how frustrating it is to deal with issues like the one you are having, and so far, the troubleshooting steps suggested here and the ones you've taken seem very accurate, but let me ask you something, have you tested the ram memory? Try one memory stick at a time, on each slot (remove one memory stick, and test one in one slot and then switch that same stick to the other slot) this way we will be able to rule out a ram or motherboard issue. You should also try (if you have one) a different HDD, or your system's HDD on a different computer.

The best thing we can do in this case is to try to find the exact component that is failing, it could be the motherboard, or it could just be the ram memory or the HDD, or the CPU, but figuring out what is the damaged component could save you a lot of money.