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6 Posts
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67739
December 27th, 2015 14:00
My M17X R4 turned on in my bag and melted.
Hi, So after visiting my family this year, I had turned on my M17X R4. I checked a couple of emails, and then the computer was out of power - when it was done doing it's thing (saving session i believe) I put it in my bag. A couple of hours after, I had to get something in the bag, and I realized the laptop was boiling hot. I quickly took out the battery, and was very confused as to how it had gotten so hot (after all it had shut down due to lack of power). The palm rest now has a couple of marks, and one touchpad key is practically unusable. I can also see some damage marks on the display. How do I make sure this doesn't happen again? Is there a way to make the computer turn on from the power button and the power button only? The computer runs windows 7.
EDIT:
I uploaded some pictures:
http://peecee.dk/upload/view/455667
http://peecee.dk/upload/view/455668
http://peecee.dk/upload/view/455669
http://peecee.dk/upload/view/455670
http://peecee.dk/upload/view/455671
Also, I changed all sleep options to hibernate, deactivated waketimers, and all sorts of stuff. I hope this fixes the problem, but would still like to hear about it if somebody has useful information to share. I was completely baffled by this, as I really don't have any clue as to how the computer could get THIS hot.
AndrewSi
4 Apprentice
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901 Posts
2
January 2nd, 2016 07:00
I'll trying to look into my crystal ball here and take an educated guess.
"IF" the screen was on, as well as both HDD running, no air flow (Or very limited) to either GPU or CPU and a little extra heat from the RAM then maybe the combination is what caused it, I know the screens can get hot, if it was closed perhaps the heat from all of the above cause the marks.
Remember - when your doing these tests you have the screen open and the fans have access to air, that was not the case when the issue happened.
You can pick up a secondhand M17xR4 palmrest on ebay real cheap, probably around $20 and theres bucket loads of guides on how to change them, use a guide and download the service manual.
Alienware - Rodrigo
9 Technologist
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4.4K Posts
1
December 28th, 2015 12:00
Hello,
Try running a CPU stress test using the Support Assist tool to check how high the CPU temperature goes. If you do not have Support Assist installed in your computer, click here for the download link. Follow the steps below to run the stress test.
Let us know how it goes.
nfe
6 Posts
0
December 28th, 2015 15:00
So I couldn't use the dell software for stress testing. It just said "no available updates" and only option was to close the window. I used Heavyload instead, and the max cpu temperature was 80 degrees celsius.
However, this was done on a flat surface. the melting of the cover happened while the computer was in a laptop bag - where the fans couldn't get rid of all the hot air. What I wanted to know, was how I make sure the laptop doesn't ever turn on while in a bag, so it doesn't melt the cover again, and do potential component damage. I'm going to replace the current cover soon, and don't want the laptop to get ruined because there's some setting I forgot to change.
I think I got most of them covered, but need to know if there's anything I missed.
Alienware - Rodrigo
9 Technologist
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4.4K Posts
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December 30th, 2015 12:00
Hi,
Has the system ever turned on by itself before or it was just that time?
nfe
6 Posts
0
December 30th, 2015 16:00
As far as I know just this time - I assume it went into sleep after the battery went too low, and it turned on by itself from there.
I don't seem to have any waketimers active though, and I disabled the permission to wake the computer up by waketimers as well.
AndrewSi
4 Apprentice
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901 Posts
1
December 30th, 2015 18:00
Hi nfe, never heard of that happening before and I've repaired hundreds of M17R4's.
Both the GPU (Video Card) and CPU have built in failsafes that will shut the computer off when it reach's high temps, the GPU sensor may not be as sensitive as the CPU and may not shut the laptop down until after damage has happened but it will shut it down, the CPU sensor is more sensitive and works better, that's why your not getting high readings from the stress test.
From where you describe the damage to be is sounds more like the HDD's, they are directly below the touchpad in the M17xR4 and they can get VERY hot, especially if they are on their way out or fragmented, the HDD's temp sensors are set to a higher level and not as sensitive.
You can possibly try the Dell ePSA - I think it may have temp reading on the HDD while it runs a test, it may also be the RAM, but that a bit of a long shot, I'd check the HDD's first
nfe
6 Posts
0
January 2nd, 2016 01:00
I ran the eSPA extended for hard drives but received no information about temperatures. Fro mcrystaldisk it seems both my ssd and hdd are fine, however the hard drive does have 3000 hours on it's back, so that might be worth swapping out for a new one eventually. 0% fragmented, current temperatures look fine (40 and 47 degrees celsius). I'm not sure if the "current" and "worst" are showing, are actually the temperatures or some percentage - doesn't really make any sense either way, but the numbers don't really seem high compared to most other crystaldiskinfo-screenshots i've seen - despite those numbers being quite extreme if it is actually showing temperature in celsius. Here is a link to a screenshott: peecee.dk/.../455751
nfe
6 Posts
0
January 2nd, 2016 04:00
I did the alienautopsy tests, and the max temperature on hdd was shown as 51, max on ssd is shown as 70. So the hdd might not have been the troublemaker after all, but maybe the ssd? I assume the temperature needed to melt the rubber and plastic should be a bit at least 90 degrees celsius.
albertss
6 Posts
1
January 2nd, 2016 09:00
Well with your littlte disaster I for sure will remove the battery when I pack up my pc! Thank you for sharing.
nfe
6 Posts
0
January 2nd, 2016 10:00
Thank you for the tips - Yes, I already ordered one. And yes, the lack of airflow is without a doubt the biggest factor. Palmrest and touchpad was about 40$ including shipping to Europe and tax etc. etc. included, so no harm done, I hope. Can't wait to get a look at how the palmrest looks on the inside though.
What I've done by now:
What happens when the lid is closed - advanced power management - on/off button and lid options.
Everything I found under Sleep same place.
Disabled all wake on lan, wake on usb, etc.
And under 'battery' I changed the critical battery action to hibernate.
I'm very grateful for the suggestions!
Techgee
2 Intern
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623 Posts
1
January 2nd, 2016 10:00
Similar cases have been reported with the XPS 15 9550. The cause from looking at logs was determined to be Windows Update, which seems to wake the laptop to do Update related activity even if on battery and wake settings been disabled.
In my opinion, Dell should be taking this up with Microsoft, since this is a very serious issue (software that can cause physical damage).
I am so glad I have Windows 10 Pro, which gives as least some control over Windows Update. (I personally think Windows Update is a very, very poorly written piece of software, and incredibly CPU resource intensive for what it does.)