Dell Dimension 8200 diagnostic lights ABCD problem

HERE <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> is the Dell manual for the 8200 and the light codes.  That code is listed as "other" failure and no suggestions other than to call Dell. 

To be honest, with that "old" model PC, if it's not something like reseating memory modules, etc and you have to put $$ into it seriously consider replacing it.  Resale value of an older PC is virtually nothing.

This is interesting to me because I'm having a very similar problem although mine never failed during operation. (I have a Dimension 8400 built in 2004) I have the same diagnostic code which for my model also indicates, "Another failure has occurred". Not a very helpful code.

Right now I'm looking into the possibility that my motherboard is bad. After doing some research I checked the caps and they appear to be bad. Dell advised me to replace my hard drive but I didn't have any success there although as I noted in my post, my video cable might not have been connected properly during that time so that gives me some doubts.

I can't solve your problem but I just thought I'd throw some ideas out there for you to look into.

mikeodba

GGGY diagnostic lights can indicate a bad motherboard, or possibly a hard drive failure.

You could try opening the case, then remove and reseat all the power and data cables, cards and memory and see if the system boots

Check for burnt/charred power connectors on the motherboard and for any capacitors with bulging tops or are leaking, the tops should be perfectly flat.

Bev.

Mike,

I was hunting around for infomation on 8200s and saw your post.

Sorry to hear about your plight. Had similar symptoms with an E-Machines box, that turned out to be motherboard, fans worked but nothing else.

Hard-drive failure should still allow power on (to bios at least--- I held F2 function key on power up to see if bios setup screen comes up) it did with my 8200. I was able to change the boot selection drive and boot from the "rescue cds". Then replaced hard-drive. Hard drive, unless completely dead, usually reports "operating out of spec" messages at power up (at least it did with ours)..

Good luck.

Steve F.

More information. I can see that the PSU fan is not spinning when I switch on the machine..

I think that it should spin if the power is on (the CPU fan is spinning). So I think that the PSU is dead or dying.

It is part number 2N333, so I will try replacing that, or just replacing the fan on the PSU they are cheap.

I know the box is worthless, but the 2gigs of ram and the three disks, and their contents (with old backups) are worthwhile to me, so that is why I persist. I can move the drives to other boxes, but if I can spend a little to get another spell of life, then it is worthwhile to me.

Thanks for all the replies.

mikeodba

Yep, the power supply fan should be running all the time when the system is on.

It's your choice whether to replace the fan, but personally I would replace the power supply.

The D-8200 uses a standard generic ATX power supply with either a 20-pin or 20+4-pin main motherboard power connector and no on/off switch, if you use a PSU with the switch, you would need to modify the back panel of the case, by cutting a hole for it.

You can buy a compatible 250w power supply from HERE for $39.

Bev.