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Aurora Won't Power Up - I read the other posts with no luck

post #1 of 15
12/17/08 at 3:36pm
Thread Starter 
Need some help really bad….
I have a AW Aurora that will not power up, I’ve read some of the posts here and have done the following:
1.Power supply is putting out 19.9 V on both sets of pins
2.Removed all Video Cards, CD ROM, HD, Memory, NIC etc
3.Reseated the RAM
4.Tried just one stick of RAM, then switched out with other stick of RAM
5.Pushed in the power button for couple of min to discharge the system
6.Reinstalled the video cards
7.Removed video Cards
8.Tired just one Video Card
9.Switch Video card with other slot
10.Tried every config with Video Cards possible
11.Power up Laptop with just HD and video Card In
12.Tried with battery in and out

Here is what is happening:

Power button is push, blue light for the 3D button blinks once as well as the power button lighting up for a sec, all FANS come on, yes the processor and the video card fans. But nothing else not even the back light on the LCD comes on and laptop cannot be powered off, it has to be unplugged for the fans to stop.

If one video card is in, and then and the same process as above is performed the LCD shows white for a sec and then goes off, and SOMETIMES I can power it back off with the power button. Also SOMETIMES the green lights under the power button with light up but only a couple for a split sec.

Was going to try and reset the CMOS but for the life of me I can’t find the battery location or how to do it.

I've spent hours and hours of trying every config I could think of and hours and hours of reading posts.

What do you guys think? Motherboard?


Thanks
Tom
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post #2 of 15
12/17/08 at 9:16pm
Aurora just means it's got an AMD processor, is it an Aurora m9700 since you mention two vid cards?

I'm not aware of any issues with the m9700 that would explain your issue. Since it acts differently with one or two vid cards in there, it could be part of the SLI system, chipset or bridge...

If you're under warranty, call Alienware, if not you can still call them, but they'll want to charge you for shipping and diagnostics to give you an estimate for repairs.

cmos battery might help, it could be a corrupt bios causing problems. For the cmos battery, here is AW's knowledge base article on the battery replacement.

You can search the knowledge base from that page to see if you can find anything else.
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post #3 of 15
12/17/08 at 10:34pm
yeah i would definitely try the cmos battery...
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post #4 of 15
12/18/08 at 1:15pm
Thread Starter 
I did see that FAQ, but this laptop looks nothing like that config in the pictures!

Here is what it says on the bottom of the laptop for a model number:

Model: M59k and M590k

The fans in the photo for the vid cards don't even look the same....hence that is why I am confused as to where this cmos battery is, lol....


Please help, lol!
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post #5 of 15
12/18/08 at 3:17pm
Ah, if its a Clevo M590K, it's an mALX.

Didn't find a cmos article in the knowledge base. Try searching Alienware's knowledge base for the mALX, or google for info on the Clevo M590K.

If Alienware won't deal with you on the diagnosis/repair, several companies like Sager also sold that model. You may be able to find some help with diagnosis and repair online.

ztronics.com is a good place to start, they're "authorized Alienware resellers" and I've seen posts here from customers that were happy with their work on their Clevo d900's...
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post #6 of 15
12/20/08 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 
Ok, maybe I am missing something but after hours and hours of searching the internet and this forum I still can't find anything on the CMOS battery for the laptop, lol.......

Anyone?

PS Thanks for the Clevo tip that helped a little but still no luck.
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post #7 of 15
12/22/08 at 1:14pm
Thread Starter 
bump.....?
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post #8 of 15
12/22/08 at 1:35pm
i should be able to find it should be a round circle that is covered with a black sleeve that will have like two wires coming out from it...like a big watch battery...
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post #9 of 15
12/23/08 at 9:42pm
Thread Starter 
I dont see it anywhere, man I am going crazy, I even took the keyboard out and tried looking under the metal plate, but no luck. I really don't want to have to take the whole thing apart.....they never seem to be right after that.....

Anyone? Someone has had to reset this before......
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post #10 of 15
12/24/08 at 9:04pm
Sorry, I have no idea. mALX owners are few and far between, so I'm not sure if you'll get much help here.

Also check in forums with other companies like Sager that sold the same platform. Sager has helped Alienware owners of other Clevo laptops for repairs, so you might want to check with them.

Any shop that works on Clevo laptops can help as well if you can find one locally, or online.
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post #11 of 15
12/26/08 at 6:02pm
Thread Starter 
Thanks Hammerhead....... I do appreciate the effort
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post #12 of 15
2/2/11 at 4:19pm
I'm suffering from the exact same issue. New Board I think! it sucks because it posted once! got all excited too! 500 restarts later and it's the same old thing.
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post #13 of 15
2/2/11 at 5:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by makingtrails View Post
I'm suffering from the exact same issue. New Board I think! it sucks because it posted once! got all excited too! 500 restarts later and it's the same old thing.
Before contemplating on replacing the motherboard, you might want to try the baking.

cheers ...
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post #14 of 15
2/3/11 at 11:59am
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
Before contemplating on replacing the motherboard, you might want to try the baking.

cheers ...
I thought that "baking" was just for GFX cards as the caps blow on motherboards?

read some really funny stories though, one guy baked his monitor as it has a couple dead pixels, lol. some people...

Not sure I want to bake the GFX cards as I have no way of telling if they are faulty or not. I mean each one posts individually it's just the board's bios that crashes on posting and surely 2 cards couldn't have the same fault?

Will try a BIOS chip replacement (only £15) and then i'll might give it ago.
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post #15 of 15
2/3/11 at 4:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by makingtrails View Post
I thought that "baking" was just for GFX cards as the caps blow on motherboards?

read some really funny stories though, one guy baked his monitor as it has a couple dead pixels, lol. some people...

Not sure I want to bake the GFX cards as I have no way of telling if they are faulty or not. I mean each one posts individually it's just the board's bios that crashes on posting and surely 2 cards couldn't have the same fault?

Will try a BIOS chip replacement (only £15) and then i'll might give it ago.
I bake anything that pertains to dead motherboards due to GPU - if the GPU is not integrated then I bake it alone And yes, unless you have some serious tools, you cannot always tell if the card is bad or the board.

Good luck with the BIOS chip replacement

cheers ...
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