Dimension 3000 will not power up.

Question

I am helping with a Dell Dimension 3000 with WinXP. Somebody put it into sleep mode and it hasn't come back on since. After this happened it spent a couple of months completely unplugged. From what I've learned reading other posts with this problem I've checked the following things: - Whenever the computer is plugged in the green LED on the motherboard is lit. - When the power button is depressed the fans spin momentarily, the power light lights up amber briefly. - The green LED on the motherboard remains on throughout the power-up attempt. - I've reseated the RAM and pushed on all the connectors I can see. I think that unplugging the drives and removing component boards is next. Before I do that though I want to see if anyone thinks that putting the computer to sleep caused the problem and if there is a way of solving this without unplugging things.   Thank you.

oghk2000 · Answer

The power button light is just briefly amber. I don't know whether you would call it one blink or a very short constant on. The power immediately goes off after a very brief, 1 second, amber light and the fans come on and spin.   The four lights on the back never even flicker on - in any color.   Thanks for reading my post.

shesagordie · Answer

oghk2000

It sounds like the power supply has failed and should be replaced.

If you are handy around computers, you could test it.

Unplug the cord from the power supply, hold the power button in for about 15/20 seconds, open the case, unplug the 20-pin connector from the motherboard and jump the Green wire to one of the Black wires, reconnect the power cord and if power supply fan and hard drive runs, then the PSU should be good.

Note: Do not remove any wires from the plug, use a small piece of wire or a paper clip as a jumper.

Bev.

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shesagordie · Answer

@oghk2000 wrote:

Let me make sure I understand this:

Unplug the AC power from the wall. Push the power button in for 15-20 seconds (long enough for the green LED on the motherboard to go out?). Unplug the 20 pin connector from the motherboard. Jump the green wire on the 20 pin connector to a black wire on the 20 pin connector. Plug the AC power back in, push the power button, and the power supply fan and hard drive should spin. Right?

PSU is the power supply, right?

Thank you.

Yes, you seem to have got it.

PSU > Power Supply Unit.

Bev.

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shesagordie · Answer

oghk2000

What is the reading of the power button LED, green, blinking green, solid amber, blinking amber?

Check the sequence of the four diagnostic lights on the back panel of the case.

Bev.

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oghk2000 · Answer

Let me make sure I understand this: Unplug the AC power from the wall. Push the power button in for 15-20 seconds (long enough for the green LED on the motherboard to go out?). Unplug the 20 pin connector from the motherboard. Jump the green wire on the 20 pin connector  to a black wire on the 20 pin connector. Plug the AC power back in, push the power button, and the power supply fan and hard drive should spin. Right?   PSU is the power supply, right?   Thank you.

oghk2000 · Answer

The power supply fan came on and stayed on. The hard drive didn't spin. That's bad, right?

shesagordie · Answer

oghk2000

Could be, did you check that the power and data cables are securely connected to the hard drive?

Try running Dell diagnostic's extended test, read, write, verify, on the hard drive, not the quickie express test.

How to run the Dell's Diagnostics Utility

Bev.

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oghk2000 · Answer

I unplugged the power cable from the hard drive and plugged it back in. I retested and it still doesn't spin. It does spin briefly when the 20 pin cable is plugged into the motherboard and I try to turn on the computer.   How can one use Dell's diagnostic utility on a PC that doesn't power up? You lost me there.

shesagordie · Answer

oghk2000

You should have a CD with the diagnostics, you can use that, the instructions are in the link I posted.

When you tested the power supply, was the power button LED, solid green, blinking green, solid amber, blinking amber?

If your power supply is working and even if the hard drive has failed, you still should have diagnostic lights lite on the back panel.

Bev.

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shesagordie · Answer

oghk2000

Pleased to hear that the problem is resolved. :)

Bev.

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oghk2000 · Answer

You called it right. I took the power supply to a local computer store. They verified that the power supply wasn't working (they gave me specifics of what pins were out - I forget the details). I got a new power supply and the computer is up and running again.   Thank you for all of your help.

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