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32465
December 18th, 2011 11:00
Dell 531S won't boot, distorted/static screen on startup
I am working on a dell 531S with vista installed. when I start the system it immediately displays a static on the display. It does not even get through the initial boot sequence, in other words the distorted display occurs before the message to hit F2 for Setup. I have tried 2 different monitors with different cables. I disconnected the power cord from the system and waited so that the motherboard would totally power down. I have tried to boot from a bootable cd, but that didn't work which kind of makes sense since the problem seems to occur when the bios is being loaded.
So, does anyone have a clue as to what I might try?
Thanks
John
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coltrane58
2 Posts
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December 18th, 2011 15:00
thanks for your suggestion, which sounds good, but the answer turned out to be simply re-seating the ram. Strange for that to suddenly occur. I did run the RightMark mem tester app and let if run for a few hours and not a single error.
oh, well problem sort of solved
thanks again,
john
fireberd
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December 18th, 2011 14:00
This sounds like a video problem, especially since the display is messed up when you first power it on. Most of the S models were sold with the basic Integrated (on the motherboard) video. If you have one with a separate video card try reseating the card and see if that helps. Reseat - with the PC powered off, open the case and remove the Video card, then reinstall making sure it's fully and correctly seated.
If you have the Integrated Video, try resetting the BIOS (CMOS Memory) and see if that helps. With the PC powered off, open the case and remove the CR2032 CMOS backup battery on the motherboard for at least 10 minutes. Reinstall and try.
There is space for a low power, low profile type video card, which is an option to consider. Otherwise if the video can't be corrected it will take a new motherboard.