Dimension 4600 hangs at startup - incomplete boot sequence.

Question

Diagnostic lights on rear panel display a pattern that does not appear in the Advanced Troubleshooting section of the manual.  The sequence is GYYG (Green Yellow Yellow Green).  The startup status bar illuminates to about one third its complete length and stalls.  Pressing F2 and F12 produces nothing.  I think the hang occurs during POST, but have no other clues.  Any assistance would be appreciated.

mombodog · Answer

Can you enter the bios by tapping F2 during the dell logo screen?   You may have to do a hard reset of the bios by removing the cmos battery for 15 Minutes, reinsert it, try to enter this bios or boot. You may also have a failing cmos battery, consider replacing it.

RoyT1944 · Answer

Thanks for the tip on the CMOS battery.  I'll try it.  Also, I forgot to mention that the machine does not produce any beep codes.

RoyT1944 · Answer

Battery replaced, but problem persists.  Additional assistance would be greatly appreciated.

mombodog · Answer

unplug the power cord from the PC, then Unplug and disconnect everything from the motherboard, except the 20/24 pin power plug, this means pulling the memory also, plug the power cord back in and hot the power button, see what diagnostic lights are on then. Next put the memory back in and power on, what do you have now.   Be sure you disconnect the PC power cord and hold the power button in for 15 seconds to discharge any remaining voltage from the motherboard each time before removing or adding parts.

RoyT1944 · Answer

The process worked.  I identified a bad memory strip.  With half of its memory, the machine worked fine.  Thanks for the help.

mombodog · Answer

Process of elimination, works every time, congratulations!  :smileyhappy:

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Dimension 4600 hangs at startup - incomplete boot sequence.

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