Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything

mooseman99 · 01-13-2009, 08:18 PM

In advance: anyone who helps me with this, you are amazing.

I put my computer on standby, and left for a couple hours (probably not a good idea, I know) when I came back it was out of standby, but the monitor was not on. When I try restarting it, I hear my hard drive, my fans kick in, the quick launch and power button, and the alien head, all light up blue, but the monitor doesn't show anything (not even a backlight comes on)

Following the advice of google searches, I unplugged the battery, held the power button for a minute, and put it back in, and nothing changed. I then took off the bottom, unplugged + replugged the CMOS battery, which didn't work, and then I gutted my video cards and RAM, and tried with just the CMOS.

When I restarted the computer the monitor flashed white for a second and then closed in (like cathode ray tvs used to do when you turned them off).

Then I tried reseating the LCD cable and LCD inverter cable, which didn't work either.

Plugging it into an external monitor doesn't work, the same problem happens and the external monitor reads "No Signal"

Any help would be greatly appreciated, as otherwise I might have to send it in to alienware, in which case I might just buy a new computer considering how expensive I've heard repairs normally are. (And I'm off of my warranty)

Thanks,
Alex

mooseman99 · 01-14-2009, 04:54 PM

any ideas?

I've begun to think it might be the motherboard

**wrench97** · 01-14-2009, 05:09 PM

If you took the video card out it definitely will not display anything, normally you would want to try the external monitor first before dissembling, At this point I would double check that the video card, memory, and cables are connected correctly and test using the external monitor. Do you have the m8xxx series Nvidia card?

mooseman99 · 01-15-2009, 10:44 AM

Already tried an external monitor. When I reseated the video cards I made sure everything was connected etc.

I have dual GeForce 7950 GTX cards

**wrench97** · 01-15-2009, 12:39 PM

Did you try switching the cards and using the other card only when you took one out?

mooseman99 · 01-16-2009, 06:04 PM

Would that work? One of the video cards is a Parent and one is a Daughter (and it says it on the card) or some other comparison
Will one work in place of the other?

**wrench97** · 01-17-2009, 02:48 AM

It may not I thought they were the same, The "Flashed white for a second" after you put it back together is part makes me muse if something didn't get back in correctly.

mooseman99 · 01-17-2009, 08:55 AM

To clarify- it flashed white whenever I tried to turn it on without any hardware inside.
Now that I put it back together i have the same problem I originally had.
The cards are the same i think... but i got them from alienware and one of them says Parent whereas the other says daughter (same brand, model, etc)
see pic

**wrench97** · 01-17-2009, 11:24 AM

It may be the bios on the cards is set up different.
I thought you meant the white flash happened after reassembling.
With a laptop it's tough to find a card to just stick in and see if it boots like you normally would with a desktop, spare video cards are hard to come by, you might try some local shops to see if one may have a laptop to test the cards in?

01-13-2009, 08:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
mooseman99 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 11 OS: Vista x 32	Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything In advance: anyone who helps me with this, you are amazing. I put my computer on standby, and left for a couple hours (probably not a good idea, I know) when I came back it was out of standby, but the monitor was not on. When I try restarting it, I hear my hard drive, my fans kick in, the quick launch and power button, and the alien head, all light up blue, but the monitor doesn't show anything (not even a backlight comes on) Following the advice of google searches, I unplugged the battery, held the power button for a minute, and put it back in, and nothing changed. I then took off the bottom, unplugged + replugged the CMOS battery, which didn't work, and then I gutted my video cards and RAM, and tried with just the CMOS. When I restarted the computer the monitor flashed white for a second and then closed in (like cathode ray tvs used to do when you turned them off). Then I tried reseating the LCD cable and LCD inverter cable, which didn't work either. Plugging it into an external monitor doesn't work, the same problem happens and the external monitor reads "No Signal" Any help would be greatly appreciated, as otherwise I might have to send it in to alienware, in which case I might just buy a new computer considering how expensive I've heard repairs normally are. (And I'm off of my warranty) Thanks, Alex

01-14-2009, 04:54 PM	#2 (permalink)
mooseman99 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 11 OS: Vista x 32	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything any ideas? I've begun to think it might be the motherboard

01-14-2009, 05:09 PM	#3 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,868 OS: Win7	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything If you took the video card out it definitely will not display anything, normally you would want to try the external monitor first before dissembling, At this point I would double check that the video card, memory, and cables are connected correctly and test using the external monitor. Do you have the m8xxx series Nvidia card? __________________ Power Supply and Selection

01-15-2009, 10:44 AM	#4 (permalink)
mooseman99 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 11 OS: Vista x 32	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything Already tried an external monitor. When I reseated the video cards I made sure everything was connected etc. I have dual GeForce 7950 GTX cards

01-15-2009, 12:39 PM	#5 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,868 OS: Win7	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything Did you try switching the cards and using the other card only when you took one out? __________________ Power Supply and Selection

01-16-2009, 06:04 PM	#6 (permalink)
mooseman99 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 11 OS: Vista x 32	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything Would that work? One of the video cards is a Parent and one is a Daughter (and it says it on the card) or some other comparison Will one work in place of the other?

01-17-2009, 02:48 AM	#7 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,868 OS: Win7	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything It may not I thought they were the same, The "Flashed white for a second" after you put it back together is part makes me muse if something didn't get back in correctly. __________________ Power Supply and Selection

01-17-2009, 08:55 AM	#8 (permalink)
mooseman99 Registered User Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 11 OS: Vista x 32	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything To clarify- it flashed white whenever I tried to turn it on without any hardware inside. Now that I put it back together i have the same problem I originally had. The cards are the same i think... but i got them from alienware and one of them says Parent whereas the other says daughter (same brand, model, etc) see pic Last edited by mooseman99; 01-17-2009 at 08:56 AM.

01-17-2009, 11:24 AM	#9 (permalink)
wrench97 Moderator, Hardware Team Join Date: May 2008 Location: S.E. Pennsylvania Posts: 18,868 OS: Win7	Re: Alienware m9750 monitor won't work- Tried almost everything It may be the bios on the cards is set up different. I thought you meant the white flash happened after reassembling. With a laptop it's tough to find a card to just stick in and see if it boots like you normally would with a desktop, spare video cards are hard to come by, you might try some local shops to see if one may have a laptop to test the cards in? __________________ Power Supply and Selection