Alienware Sentia 3450 Technical Reference
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Chapter 8: Troubleshooting Overview
Should you have any problems with your computer, before consulting your service
representative, you may want to try to solve the problem yourself. This chapter lists
some common problems and their possible solutions. This can’t anticipate every
problem, but you should check here before you panic. If you don’t find the answer in
these pages, make sure you have followed the instructions carefully and observed the
safety precautions in the preface. If all else fails, talk to your service representative.
You should also make a record of what happened and what remedies you tried.
Of course, if something goes wrong, it will happen at the most inconvenient time
possible, so you should preview this section just in case. If, after you’ve tried
everything, and the system still won’t cooperate, try turning it off for a few minutes
and then rebooting. You will lose any unsaved data, but it may start working again.
Then call your service representative.
Basic Hints and Tips
Many of the following may seem obvious but they are often the solution to a problem
when your computer ap¬pears not to be working.
• Power - Is the computer actually plugged into a working electrical outlet?
If plugged into a power strip, make sure it is actually working. Check the LED
Power Indicators (see “LED Indicators” on page 1 - 6) to see the computer’s
power status.
• Connections - Check all the cables to make sure that there are no loose
connections anywhere.
• Power Savings - Make sure that the system is not in Hibernate or Stand by
mode by pressing the keys con¬figured in your Power Management/Power
Options (see “Configuring the Power Button” on page 3 - 8), the Fn + F4 key
combination, or power button to wake-up the system.
• Brightness - Check the brightness of the screen by pressing the Fn + F8 and F9
keys to adjust the bright¬ness (see Table 1 - 4, on page 1 - 8).
• Display Choice - Press Fn + F7 to make sure the system is not set to “external
only” display (see Table 1 4, on page 1 - 8).
• Boot Drive - Make sure there are no optical media and/or USB storage devices
in any connected drive when you start up your machine (this is a common
cause of the message “Invalid system disk - Replace the disk, and then press
any key” / “Remove disks or other media. Press any key to restart”).
