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.