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December 17th, 2023 23:37
Aurora R7, does not load OS except in safe mode or with bootable disk
I have an Alienware Aurora R7 that was freezing for a few seconds here and there in recent times but nothing major. I had installed additional RAM and an SSD a month or so before that and things were working fine.
One fine day, I come home, and the screen is frozen. Since then, always the same behavior. In both cases whether I force reset and start the computer or reboot after entering safe mode/installing fresh OS. After Alienware logo, the screen scrambles and then goes blank. Computer stays on.
I tried a number of things - and nothing would get me past Alienware logo except for bootable disks or safe mode. Even when I select safe mode with networking, I do only enter normal safe mode as well. So, I am a bit handicapped on what diagnostics I could run there.
Windows, Linux both had the same problem. I wiped all my disks, did a number of fresh installs of both OS's and still the same issue.
ProfessorW00d
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December 18th, 2023 00:22
Consider replacing your CR2032 coin cell battery with a brand new one.
alienware-aurora-r7
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December 18th, 2023 22:36
@ProfessorW00d Oh man... That old thing! Yeah, I have got a new one on the way. I will let you know on Wednesday.
Any idea why that would cause this? I think we had a dead battery like 20 years ago. But that machine would not even load BIOS. Here, all that is working fine. CMOS clock retains time between boots. BIOS settings are saved correctly.
ProfessorW00d
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December 19th, 2023 02:26
I'm not an expert, but it goes something like this; you seem to be having trouble with a boot process. When you do a "normal controlled shutdown", a kernel is saved to your motherboard with information about your computers configuration. This kernel info is used at a subsequent power-up to speed the boot process. When you do a restart, no kernel is saved to the motherboard. So after a restart you are booting "blind", without the information that would be stored in that memory kernel. If your CR2032 battery is weak, it may not have enough power to properly hold stored information. Again . . . just spitballin' here
alienware-aurora-r7
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December 21st, 2023 18:35
Nothing much. Had yellow flashing power light after switching out the CR2032. Took out rams and plugged them back in. Machine started after that but same issue.