M17x R4 - 5 beeps with any graphics card

[deadsmiley]

I have an M17x R4 which I had previously an M4000M and 120Hz display and it worked really well.  The laptop has been idle for about 2 years, so I was going to reinstall Win10 and give it to my son so he would have something to game on when out of town on business trips.

 

Well, I got 5 beeps when tried to start it up.   Honestly, I don't recall all of what I have done, but I know I replaced the CMOS battery and... I am starting to get the feeling that my BOIS is not configured for the dedicated GPU anymore.  I have tried cards that are known to work and I still get 5 beeps.  I even tried a GT 240M from an eBay M15x I got a few years ago.  Still no love.

 

I have considered trying the M15x display to see if I can get into the BIOS.  An external monitor has not helped so far.

 

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

[aldarxt]

1 hour ago, deadsmiley said:

I have an M17x R4 which I had previously an M4000M and 120Hz display and it worked really well.  The laptop has been idle for about 2 years, so I was going to reinstall Win10 and give it to my son so he would have something to game on when out of town on business trips.

 

Well, I got 5 beeps when tried to start it up.   Honestly, I don't recall all of what I have done, but I know I replaced the CMOS battery and... I am starting to get the feeling that my BOIS is not configured for the dedicated GPU anymore.  I have tried cards that are known to work and I still get 5 beeps.  I even tried a GT 240M from an eBay M15x I got a few years ago.  Still no love.

 

I have considered trying the M15x display to see if I can get into the BIOS.  An external monitor has not helped so far.

 

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

5 beeps is cmos battery fail. Did you recently replace the cmos or was that 2 years ago? Leave it plugged in for a while it might recharge

[Maxware79]

Usually with a CMOS error you can do a hard shutdown while it's beeping and restart and it will boot fine. Of course it will throw up the error when you go to use it again later though. 

The error shouldn't have anything to do with the GPU you are using. It should only mean that the CMOS battery is dead

[deadsmiley]

On 4/8/2022 at 10:23 AM, aldarxt said:

5 beeps is cmos battery fail. Did you recently replace the cmos or was that 2 years ago? Leave it plugged in for a while it might recharge

Sorry for the delay.  I know you all are trying to help!

 

It has been sitting for a while, so I got the five beeps.

[deadsmiley]

On 4/10/2022 at 4:59 PM, Maxware79 said:

Usually with a CMOS error you can do a hard shutdown while it's beeping and restart and it will boot fine. Of course it will throw up the error when you go to use it again later though. 

The error shouldn't have anything to do with the GPU you are using. It should only mean that the CMOS battery is dead

 

Well, crap, now I am getting 8 beeps.  I know that can mean a dead GPU, but I got that too when I had my BIOS setup wrong with a 980M.  sigh...

[Reciever]

More often than not it tends to lean towards incorrect BIOS settings for that configuration. I believe 6xx and up should be able to boot PEG+eDP, or a headless DP/HDMI adapter might fool the system into booting but I would confirm that before making any purchases.

 

 

[deadsmiley]

On 4/22/2022 at 1:15 AM, Reciever said:

More often than not it tends to lean towards incorrect BIOS settings for that configuration. I believe 6xx and up should be able to boot PEG+eDP, or a headless DP/HDMI adapter might fool the system into booting but I would confirm that before making any purchases.

 

 

 

So, pull the display cable from the motherboard and connect and external display?

[Maxware79]

21 hours ago, deadsmiley said:

 

So, pull the display cable from the motherboard and connect and external display?

 

Unfortunately you can't do that. If the system doesn't detect the internal display then you'll get the 8 beep error.

 

If you have the 120hz display then the 8 beep error is usually the GPU since it runs the display but it could still be an issue with the display or display cable. If you have the 60hz display then the 8 beep error is more than likely the display or the cable. Like receiver said, it could also be a BIOS setting. I've tried an M3000M in a 17 with the 120hz panel and also got 8 beeps. 

 

Sometimes the display cable can come out of the back of the LCD panel just from moving the laptop. It may even look like it's plugged in properly when it isn't. Other than trying another GPU, I would check this connection. You can remove the LCD lid without removing the whole assembly so it can be easy to check. Open the LCD as much as you can and you will see two screws partially hidden in the hinge area. Remove these screws and you can slide the lid off. Close the lid and push down slightly and slide it towards the Alien head side of the lid. 

Once it's off you can see the display cable connection. Be very careful and DO NOT pull up on the cable, it slides down and out. It's usually protected with tape and plastic so just pull this away and remove the cable and then slide it back in. Put the tape back and test. 

[ShadowMirror]

On 4/26/2022 at 8:50 AM, Maxware79 said:

If you have the 120hz display then the 8 beep error is usually the GPU since it runs the display but it could still be an issue with the display or display cable. If you have the 60hz display then the 8 beep error is more than likely the display or the cable.

Thanks for clarifying this. I’m trying to solve the mystery of why my M17xR3 still gives 8 beeps after replacing the 3D screen. Looks like I need to buy a new graphics card. 
 

Thanks again. 

[ssj92]

14 minutes ago, ShadowMirror said:

Thanks for clarifying this. I’m trying to solve the mystery of why my M17xR3 still gives 8 beeps after replacing the 3D screen. Looks like I need to buy a new graphics card. 
 

Thanks again. 

If your old GPU is a 580M then most likely it has gone bad. 580M were known for going bad. 560M is more reliable and still allows using the 3D feature on the internal panel. 

 

I kept my 560M in case I ever want to go back to using 3D mode but right now I am using 880M as it's the fastest GPU for M17xR3. 

[ShadowMirror]

2 hours ago, ssj92 said:

2 hours ago, ShadowMirror said:

 

If your old GPU is a 580M then most likely it has gone bad.

I feel like it was a 540M. If not maybe it was a 560M. Wasn’t a 580M. 
 

I can’t find these cards but found a 525M. Tempted to buy it just to confirm the problem. Anyone know if this card would work in The M17xR3?

 

Thanks

[ssj92]

6 hours ago, ShadowMirror said:

I feel like it was a 540M. If not maybe it was a 560M. Wasn’t a 580M. 
 

I can’t find these cards but found a 525M. Tempted to buy it just to confirm the problem. Anyone know if this card would work in The M17xR3?

 

Thanks

Official cards for 3D support are 580M, 560M, and 460M:

 

One secret is...675M = 580M it's just a rebrand. You can run the 675M in M17xR3 but need to flash vBIOS to 580M to enable 3D:

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/234599878542?hash=item369f3e0f8e:g:U6EAAOSwwsJitSZU&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwLb3mYxs2HMXLJXKCSpaf3ae9Q7TmQXenxzUj5s1bBljSp0UGfVrHLVwb3AUdSJNAf6YW0RBYhLp52lR8tdUeSTdfjy%2BTf3g65AUgKkGcIlfdfRPd3nhbawvcOrxS6y89lyCFGeOasjmdWrE9jzxTSdqwFnk6PwDVB0ToCkVl2yACGeRYVwUIp1SW%2FuqjLlSe8%2B3w1lmbPEPaCHwkb5En8nKKZOAuyfpOWF2N8PHUMzUDDFlPbXsn8WJZxj8Sd%2Bdkw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8jH7-7sYQ

 

560M: https://www.ebay.com/itm/334798073347?hash=item4df3852e03:g:hW8AAOSw6CdkF5lW&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwGZNPh89KBlXDI%2FAqrllZwnwy48HyaRxRrs0Ah0wqfJFuA7qKL2Sq5%2FbvmUKzeVAlioAiCtfD2DUFYj36pPNESeGxxrKDFJmoiARaVYFruKJ0GG%2FQHVW3LudvXNeGr93y8%2FzZXfSRiJrPBGiVyTHLvePAuVYqpbFgGBiy41YEYa7BTHGTXwtlJKkNn0TEW%2FQAOWqeaG%2B%2FTY%2FSjkzPQzRdt3FS4o57ze7vD%2FWxLJ9wtIjTPVm%2FH2FPjllGwCwNDyTvg%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8TA5e7sYQ

 

460M: https://www.ebay.com/itm/334798061753?hash=item4df38500b9:g:38gAAOSw2r1kF5YA&amdata=enc%3AAQAHAAAAwH8Nkjmg5K47rsIEz5PZ1FoTvLLtYEvBUTCm5%2BIzUjL9AASRNU6tfYPt55wxAMq2ie09HMmhqnUAtvSmRwKzBgodb0szZJE6Cca9LLmN4RX0Z7sM5qpXtmpZ4ELq15F874YuP9kTAF1TjIhPUx0t8NICAJcU4mOgfXHzs2v1ebLVzY32%2FRnt3F4eE%2B1j0X6kVkXRUiqVoeoTgReEwQ5btLHAz9%2BGr0nW%2BsgubT8HfRPoAZaNpwP%2F3itDJPot5%2FGdoQ%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR8yx6O7sYQ

 

If you don't care about 3D support and are fine using the display without 3D, try and find a cheap 880M, 780M, or 680M for maximum performance

[Maxware79]

@ssj92why won't the 675M run 3D natively? Is it just because it's in the R3? The 600M's had 3D support in the R4 and the 700M's / 800M's had 3D support in the Ranger. 

[ssj92]

On 4/10/2023 at 2:13 PM, Maxware79 said:

@ssj92why won't the 675M run 3D natively? Is it just because it's in the R3? The 600M's had 3D support in the R4 and the 700M's / 800M's had 3D support in the Ranger. 

Has to do with BIOS whitelist. Only 460M, 560M and 580M are approved in BIOS to use 3D mode. Otherwise my 880M would work too. 

 

675M works in 3D mode but only in M17xR4 due to same BIOS whitelist. I guess no one ever figured out a way to bypass it. 

[Maxware79]

ahh so it's system specific, That's what I figured.