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November 2nd, 2015 15:00

Alienware Alpha (Steam OS) - Flashing yellow lights

I have an alienware steam machine and today the power button started flashing with a yellow light. Can't find any info about the error except some hints that it might be RAM related. Just received this less than a month ago. Hadn't used it in 2 weeks because I had to rearrange the room where I use it. Today I couldn't get a wired ethernet connection so I was shutting it down to check the cabling and got the flashing yellow light. Guess my next step is to call Dell.

June 21st, 2016 06:00

This hasn't worked for me. I'm still getting the yellow flashing light.

Is there a fix?

Is there even any information about what the flashing yellow light means? (It flashes 5 times, repeatedly, so telling me what 3 flashes means isn't any use to me). If not, why not?

I'm regretting buying an Alienware now, and should have gone with a self build.

June 21st, 2016 06:00

Contact your credit card or debit card people. You may be able to get them to deal with forcing a refund for you.

9 Posts

November 16th, 2016 11:00

I found why it five yellow light it link to 2 super speed USB ports in rear system stop using SS usb and the issue will stop.

3 Posts

November 16th, 2016 12:00

Not really an answer, but look to You Tube.  That's where I found two videos that had a some what simple repair.  It works until there's a power outage.  Then we have to unplug from the wall as well as from the PC and leave unplug for a few hours.  Then plug back in and the system re-starts operating normally.  I'm always waiting for the day on an explanation from Dell or whomever.   And YES WE DO REGRET OUR ALIENWARE PURCHASE!  How do you take away a gift you gave to someone for Christmas?

3 Posts

November 16th, 2016 12:00

@Chouchers.  How did you arrive at your conclusion that the issue stems from the rear "super speed" USB ports?

2 Posts

December 17th, 2016 15:00

I've had my Alpha for about 2 weeks and got my first yellow light of death. After unplugging it for about 90 minutes, I was able to get it to boot. It booted to the BIOS and I ran diagnostics. Nothing wrong, but when I went into BIOS settings, the clock was reset. This points to a BIOS or CMOS issue. After booting into Windows 10, I noticed that my ANT+ USB stick plugged into the USB port on the back of the machine no longer worked. Moved it to a front port, and it worked fine. Have to do more testing but could be related to the rear USB ports. I also found a post on another forum about disabling deep sleep control in the BIOS as a fix. Another post mentioned a forced shutdown as a cause of the problem. Interestingly, my machine died after a forced shutdown during a Windows update. Few things to check out.

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