M17x R2 broken by a Service Technician

if looking at keyboard and saying left side fan.. that's primary card so yea if fan is broken/ not plugged in it will have problem posting.. if looking at keyboard with screen open and is right side video fan then remove the video card entirely....

worst part is the R2 is the only M17X that didn't have onboard video :(  

Hi draiken k, in regards of the issue you have now with the computer, you can check this article to determine what the problem is exactly. About the delay on the service, it might be due to the part being on back order. I you want you can send us an email to awsocialmedia@dell.com for us to review the case and see if there's an alternative way to get the computer fixed.

Thanks for the replies, it is the Left Fan, so it will not post.

I got into a chat this morning with support and they told me the fan had arrived, and out of the blue, 20 minutes later got a call from a tech to schedule a visit today...

Hope it is a happy coincidence, and hopefully this will fix the laptop's heating problems.

I'm still very concerned that the tech will break something while fixing the fan, never the less I'm gonna have to let him do his job, will keep you posted on the outcome.

Thanks again for your replies, will look into the article for some extra pointers.

The technician showed up on time and proceeded to exchange the damaged fan.

He also had to re-connect the LCD and Touchpad Cable, properly place the palm rest, connect the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth antenna cables to their respective plugs in each card and re-assemble the system.

Everything went fine... the only hiccup is that now the keyboard does not light up... none of the four zones in any color. Opened and re checked connections twice, just to be sure.

We talked again to the 800 number to report this and request a new keyboard, hopefully it's the keyboard and not the motherboard again... but they didnt have electrical power and were unable to create and provide us with a new dispatch number. The tech told me he would call within the hour (it's been 1.5 hours now) to provide me the number for my tracking.

If I don't hear from him by tomorrow I will have to escalate this via telephone or chat... :(

Will keep this thread updated for reference.

draiken, let me know if the tech does not call you so I can review your case.

M17x R2 were always a bit tempermental with alien FX lighting.

Try completely uninstalling alienware command center, restart you computer and reinstall Alienware command center.

Here is a link to command center driver for your model.

http://www.dell.com/support/drivers/au/en/audhs1/DriverDetails/Product/alienware-m17x-r2?driverId=DVV2X&osCode=W764&fileId=2731096967&languageCode=en&categoryId=AP

Dani, thanks for your support, the technician did not call, and I reviewed my case online and still does not show any new service call for the keyboard.

Anything you can do to help will be greatly appreciated, this weekend I will be out of town, but I'll be back by monday.

Thanks again

Send me a PM with your service tag and I'll review your case.

Cannot figure out how to... if you can write me to draikenkishnov at gmail, I can reply with the S-Tag

Dani, when I try to send you a private message I start typing your name on the Recipients box, but cannot find you. ¿How can I send you my Service Tag?

As you already added me as fried you will be able to send me the PM.

Thanks again, just sent you a PM with the system info, and a quick re-cap on what has been done to my system.

Hope you can solve the issue once and for all.

Hi, sorry for not posting sooner, but was testing to see if everything worked fine.

Last friday got the fourth visit from a tech, he had to exchange:

• Motherboard (DOA)
• CPU Heat Sink
• Right Video Card
• 2 Video Card Fans
• Keyboard

When he finished re-assembling everything the laptop would not power up... nothing, no lights, no fans, no nothing.

He did some troubleshooting in case he did leave something unplugged or loose, but eventually had to put the old MB back (I say old, but it was replaced two weeks ago). Now everything worked fine, and the new keyboard lights up pretty nicely.

I took advantage of the weekend and proceeded to put the laptop to its paces, played some SWTOR, and Diablo 3... with no issues. After about an hour and a half of continous gaming, the fans kick into full-blast. After quitting gaming and waiting for 15 minutes they begin to slow down, but it never goes back to the near-silent state like when you just power up the system.

I did some follow up gaming sessions of SWTOR and did not find the texture problems I had before, but then I started playing Neverwinter.

I don't know if this is the most demanding game of the 3... but right after launching, the fans go full-blast, had to disable again (didn't after re-installing) the 3rd party access to the keyboard and lighting, because it screws up the game. It played fine but like clockwork after an hour of playing the textures began corrupting and showing either as flickering gray/texture or just lines streaking accross the screen.

I quickly switched to Starcraft 2, where the texture issues were also very eminent and was right, they also re-appeared.

Could it be that the Left graphics card (the one they did not replace) has issues?

This is turning into a nightmare

Hello Draiken!

I will recommend you to flash the BIOS if you haven’t already done that.

If the issue persists please send me a PM with your service tag so I can check on the case.  

Milena, since the Motherboard is the same one my system had, it already has the A10 BIOS.

Dani is already doing some follow up on this, but will also send you my Service Tag

Thanks