" Strangely, there are a few rare times that it turns on normally, but then this problem returns if I try to reboot "

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My 6 years old All-In-One Desktop did the same thing about 3 months ago. It finally didn't boot up at all. Turn out to be a failing coin cell battery. Do you know if any of the 3 technicians replace the coin cell battery with a brand new one? Some technicians will reseat coin cell battery instead of replacing it with a brand new $3.00 battery.

See image of coin cell battery in Service Manual:

 Alienware M17x R4 Owner's Manual (dell.com)

Any of them try to fix it by using a USB flash drive to re flash the BIOS? Do you know what version of BIOS is on the computer? If you don't know, type msinfo32 onto the search box, you should be able to see it listed by BIOS version.

Yeah that's a 1-Beep error code. Most of the time it means that you need to replace the board. Do you know what the technicians actually did?

You could try a power drain / NVRAM reset. Remove the adapter, battery, CMOS battery and all RAM sticks (possibly two under your keyboard) and hold the power button down for 60 seconds. It's a long shot at this stage though.

Hey @LSUFAN51, many thanks for your detailed answer!

Yes, all the technicians tried to change the laptop's coin battery... two of them said it was the first thing they tried to do. Regarding the BIOS, they also tried to update using a USB flash drive, but without success.

On the weekend the laptop crashed and now it's not turning on anymore... the beeps still persist. So I can't see what version of my BIOS is.

One of the technicians said that, because it's an older model, it may be necessary to change the whole motherboard, but for its price it would be worth investing in another machine.

Hi @mattyb3, thanks for you reply!

As far as I know from what they told me, they tried to check all the possibilities: they changed the ROM, checked the AC adaptor power, updated the BIOS, changed the coin battery, tested another hard disk, changed the RAMs, cleaned the machine, etc... but nothing helped. 

I also tried the power drain/NVRAM reset, as you suggested, but it didn't work either. 

Well, that's a bit sad, because when my laptop occasionally turns on, it works normally, even with heavier activities like games and 3D renders.

Anyway, thanks for your attention and suggestions.

Hi @rgbordini  the Dell suggested action is to run the Dell F12 ePSA Enhanced Pre-Boot System Assessment diagnostics.

Please download SupportAssist to ensure that the most recent version of ePSA is installed, and Restart. Press and hold down F12 key during boot, the splash screen appears, followed by a menu. Use up and down keys to select, and use enter key to run diagnostics. Wait for hardware diagnostics to complete.

If hardware diagnostics detected a problem, this will be declared at first appearance of the white screen with is recommended solution. 

If no hardware problems detected, a white screen will appear, look in bottom right hand corner and click on Results. This will give a summary of tests performed and clicking on the left hand icon will give full test results for that hardware device. 

Please share an update. Thank you. 

Dear @crimsom,

Many thanks for your suggestion.

Unfortunately the laptop is still stuck in the beeps when I turn it on, so there's no way I can run the diagnostics now.

In October, when this problem started, I remember that I ran the SupportAssist and it identified these failures in the hard disk (image bellow). I sent this report to the technicians, and even after they tried to change the hard drive, the problem with the beeps persisted.

If you have any clues on this issue, I will really appreciate if you can help me.

Thank you

Hi @rgbordini  thank you for sharing update complete with image of SupportAssist diagnostics. SMART drive test code says life has expired and drive should be replaced asap. 

We recall your thread opening with observation that there are a few rare times that it turns on normally, but then this problem returns if reboot. Which suggests that an internal device is having difficulty making electrical connection or "lost" its driver. This explains why POST cannot finish checking the function of all the internal hardware. As it can boot very rarely, it has found all the drivers or their default drivers at that time. The question is which device, or connection, is problematic. 

Checking all the install devices is usually undertaken first. So this list includes RAM card, SSD card, etc. followed by checking HDD connection, etc. In industry, they use a thermal camera to try and detect a hot spot connection problem. Unfortunately, users have to resort to manual checking every connection. Sometimes, user gets "lucky" and the smell of burning, or using bright light shows unusual change in colour, reveals the culprit. 

Not fully reset though, somehow it still remembers all the chassis and keyboard led colour settings.

 Always taken good care of, even had 5 year warranty, and it chooses to fail on the 6th.

Why would it fail so mysteriously all of a sudden, planned obsolescence built into bios?

Same problem here, today all of a sudden, my M17x i7-4800MQ won`t turn on. Single beep error continuosly. Tried disconnecting everything, disassembled, reset battery, but it stays the same. No change when all drives and keyboard disconnected or the ram chips swapped around. It was working fine a few weeks ago, and generally it has only been used as a desktop pc, never transported around. So that should rule out any mechanical or humidity damage. I measured the bios battery to 2v, and replaced with a new one, but no change, still 1 beep error. Tried to short (reset) the 2pins on the dotted bios chip. Also ran the diagnostic a month ago with no errors. The bios version was updated to the most recent a few months ago, A17.

Hi @ronors 

I'm sorry to hear that you are experiencing a problem similar to my M17x R4. After posting on this forum and seeking help from a few more technicians in my city, unfortunately I gave up fixing it and bought another laptop. I also tried to make all the adjustments that you did, but all the technicians I consulted said that it could be a specific motherboard problem and that it would be more advantageous to buy another machine than trying to fix it. It's a shame, because it's a very good laptop that accompanied me for 7 years and suddenly started to present this problem without demonstrating any other hardware problems.

I advise you to look for specialized help in your town and, in case you don't succeed, I wish you luck in finding a new laptop.

@rgbordini @rumors.. Hi.. Any update? I have the same problem of mine too.. I hope someone could help around.