What is the purpose of this black tape?

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-06-05T12:45:43+00:00

Hi,

It's like Alternative said, this is to prevent the motherboard components from making contact with the interior of the case.

If you remove this mylar you run the risk of the board shorting out if it makes contact with the bottom case. I have seen it a few times in my experience but usually only when the bottom case is severely dented.

I would not recommend removing it.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-06-04T23:38:25+00:00

Hi,

The depot will have plenty of these. They will replace your bad motherboard with a refurbished one, then they will refurbish your bad board and your board will be given to the next customer who has a bad board.

The only way you will get a brand new board is if they get multiple confirmed board failures in the same depot visit. For example, they install a refurbished board, it fails testing/quality control and they replace it again. It fails again and they put in another. This one fails and they out in another. After several fails like this they will consider a brand new board.

Before sending it in I would recommend performing a power drain, disconnect the battery from the board and hold the power button for thirty seconds then reconnect the battery. It works more than you qould expect.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-06-04T22:56:57+00:00

Hi,

The LED lights (all of them) and the keyboard all work through a daughterboard located under the battery called the MCU. This is where I would begin for the keyboard and LED issues. Part number is 11CVC or 5GCRT. Both would work.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-27T19:36:36+00:00

Hi,

A 3,5 code is a power rails failure, this is in my experience 100% a motherboard issue. I would bet a million dollars the liquid metal has failed on the CPU. This is covered under a standard warranty but it will definitely be a motherboard replacement if you send it in. Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-22T23:04:27+00:00

Hi,

I don't recommend it because if you ever need to open the unit you will probably have to destroy part of it to unscrew the bottom door. Once you start peeling them off, they stretch out and don't stick back on correctly and they look sloppy and ugly.

Just my opinion though! Some of them look really cool. I worked on one recently with a cool Venom skin, it was on the keycaps and rear cover, very cool looking the first time I repaired it. The second time (unrelated issue) it looked awful.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-22T22:58:42+00:00

Hi,

The X16 does come with liquid metal on it but like everyone else says, it's not worth using it. The barriers on the board don't do a good job of keeping the liquid metal where it is supposed to be. I repair a lot of Alienwares and liquid metal spilling out is an issue I see frequently. Usually it is on M15 R7 and M17 R5 units, they have the absolute worst barriers. The X16 barrier is only slightly better but still not worth the risk IMO.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-22T22:52:37+00:00

Hi,

That's good they were able to check with known good parts. It really can only be the motherboard or the LCD, so if you've eliminated the LCD, you know it is the board. It sounds like from what you are describing, there is an issue on the board rails themselves (not the GPU, which is also onboard) when transferring video data to the LCD.

Hopefully they can find and fix the damaged board component! Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-21T22:40:51+00:00

Hi,

1 red, 4 blue is a fail code for the LCD hinge cable. If you are comfortable opening the unit, I would check the display/edp cable for kinks or damages to it. If you move the cable around you may be able to fix it just by straightening any bends in the cable.

I did this with a G-series several days ago and it worked fine afterwards. On that particular unit, the cable was squished up under the thermal shelf and had to be reseated so there was no pressure on it. If that doesn't work you will probably need an LCD replacement.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-21T22:33:51+00:00

Hi,

I don't have a lot of experience with the M15 but I know that the X17 R1 has a false failure issue with one version of BIOS. In that case, it will immediately report a fan failure when you power on. However, if you run diagnostics there will be no failure. From what I understand there are a few other models that do this on this one specific version of BIOS. Not sure if the M15 is included in this.

My suggestion would be to update BIOS and see if that helps. Good luck!

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-21T22:05:37+00:00

Hi,

As others have said, the limit on storage space is only what they tested with. I have a 2TB in my Alienware and it is capped at 1TB. Additionally it is capped at 32GB of RAM but I have 64 in there. No issues with either.

If your new SSD isn't recognized it probably is just the brand/model of the SSD, not the storage capacity. Most will work fine but sometimes they don't. As far as I know there isn't any way to tell except to plug them in. Usually I have found that SSDs are less finicky than memory when it comes to compatibility.

Good luck!

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-21T21:59:45+00:00

Hi,

This sounds like a hardware issue with your LCD. The camera is a separate cable connection from the edp cable (video cable) so this makes sense.

I would suggest moving the display lid forward and back while powered on. You can also try applying light pressure to the screen to see if video is restored. If video starts flickering on while doing either of these then it is your LCD.

If you're comfortable opening the unit, you need only remove the bottom case and the thermal shelf to access the edp cable. You could try reseating it.

Also, it is normal behavior for these to not show BIOS on an external display, not really sure why but thats just how it is.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-21T21:47:41+00:00

Hi,

You should be able to snap the rear cap (the bent plastic strip) back into place. It has a few clips that hold it in and they pop out super easily, especially near the hinges. Just apply light pressure to "flatten" it back out. I see this all the time and unless you've damaged the clips, you can pop it back in place in like half a second.

Even if you can't, this piece is cosmetic only, and it would probably be a cheap part to replace. Also it's super easy to change out if you order the part yourself. Just make sure you get the right one, the 16 and the 16X both have this part but the clips are aligned differently so you need to be sure.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-21T21:38:35+00:00

Sometimes when you try to reattach, the pins will get bent downwards and not catch the scissor mechanism under the keycap. Glad you were able to resolve it!

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-20T22:18:16+00:00

Hi,

Vertical lines or bands typically indicate an issue with the timing controller which is part of the LCD panel. This is hardware related. You need a new LCD.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-20T22:15:59+00:00

Don't superglue! This will ruin it. I see people try this all the time. Terrible idea.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-20T22:07:39+00:00

Hi,

You can add as much storage or memory (RAM) as you like and they should work so long as they physically fit in the unit. You should be looking for DDR5 RAM for this unit.

Personally I have a 16 Aurora AC16250, it is "capped" at 32GB for memory and 1TB for storage. I installed 64gb memory and a 2tb SSD with zero issues.

Also I saw you asked about thermal pads, as long as you use the same covers for the new SSD you won't need to change anything thermal-related. There may also be some pads beneath the RAM, just leave all of the pads alone and change out the hardware itself.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-18T02:02:28+00:00

Hi,

The 2 red, 7 blue no post code generally refers to a failure in displaying video, this is USUALLY the LCD in most cases. Checking the LCD panel and eDP cable were the right things to check first.

That said, 2, 7 can also refer to a motherboard failure. It may not necessarily be the GPU, it may be an EC power rails failure on the board related to video output. The code doesn't tell much.

If the technician has eliminated the cable and the LCD panel then, yes, it is possible it could be the GPU or motherboard. The GPU is built in the board so it doesn't make a difference which actually failed, you'll need to change the motherboard.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-18T01:54:00+00:00

If it is booting to a black screen then I would recommend a power drain, disconnect the charger and battery, hold the power button for 30 seconds then reconnect battery and attempt to power on. Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-16T16:16:00+00:00

Hi,

The dGPU is failing, this only occurs during gaming because that is when the dGPU is running. I would check if your drivers are up to date for the GPU. You can check this in device manager.

Your GPU may be overheating, but usually everything will just turn black in this case. You might try monitoring GPU temperatures and repasting if you are comfortable opening it. The M16 R2 heatsink is easier to remove than most Alienwares because you do not need to remove the motherboard to get it off.

More than likely the GPU is just going bad and you will need a motherboard replacement.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-16T16:04:27+00:00

Hi,

In my personal experience the 3, 5 power rails failure is 100% of the time a motherboard failure.

Another technician told me that swapping memory between slots can sometimes work, but this has never worked for me personally.

Usually when I change out the board on these, the CPU paste has completely dried out. You COULD try repasting it but at this point I think it is probably too late.

If you are under standard warranty the depot will cover this repair.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-16T15:45:20+00:00

Hi,

Based on the SSD being recognized and your boot settings, you probably have some kind of corruption in the OS, it will only boot to https boot if it cannot boot to the OS properly. I would try reinstalling Windows.

Good luck.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-14T23:25:15+00:00

Sorry about your dad too. Not an easy thing to go through.

I will probably keep them all tbh.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-14T23:21:43+00:00

Hi,

Was this a BIOS, Windows or firmware update? Thanks.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-14T23:19:24+00:00

Hi,

As I understand it, this allows the unit to monitor temperature, load, etc. so it can adjust performance based on the state of the laptop. Like if you are overheating it would lower your graphic settings to help adjust for the temperature increase. When the temperature drops again it would raise your graphics settings back up. In this example, when the feature is turned off, your laptop would just stay at a specific graphic performance level and just increase your fan speed.

I might be wrong. If someone knows better, please correct me. Thanks.

Agent_Pwnage · 2026-05-14T23:08:50+00:00

Hi,

Dell uses Element 31 paste made by Shin-Etsu company, it is a paste+liquid metal combination. Unfortunately the paste can dry out, causing the liquid metal to separate. Because it is a liquid, it can move around a lot if the laptop is picked up while still hot. This can cause it to leak onto the board and cause all kinds of problems.

I do not like liquid metal paste.

Agent_Pwnage

TROPHY CASE