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Tomeeboy

7 Posts

43778

September 3rd, 2009 09:00

Dimension 5150 Won't Boot Unless CMOS Battery is Reseated (Blinking Amber Lights)

I've got a problematic Dimension 5150 that randomly refuses to boot up.  When it does this, I'll get a flashing amber light (which seems to plague this Dimension model) on the front of the tower after pushing the power button and all drives and fans are silent.

After some trial and error, I've found that removing the battery from the motherboard and reseating it will usually allow the system to boot again.  It starts up with the same flashing orange light after doing this, but then boots up afterwards.

Any ideas what the problem might be here and if there's a long-term fix?  I have suspected that it may be related to the onboard USB ports.  I seem to remember reading that boot issues stemming from USB shorts were more common on the 5150 than other systems, and the front ports on this system are used frequently.  At this point, it seems like the most likely explaination, but I'm not sure of a fix.  Is there a way to just completely disable or disconnect the front USB ports to see if the problem goes away?

Thanks in advance for any insight!

xpkrys26

12 Posts

September 3rd, 2009 10:00

additional to that you should also check if the power supply is set to 115volts...reply if you have done that already..

xpkrys26

12 Posts

September 3rd, 2009 10:00

hi..try these steps:

I. have you already tried to reseat the power supply voltage to 115v?

II. Try a Different Known-Good Wall Outlet

 

Test the device using a known-good wall outlet:

  1. Unplug the external power cord from the back of the device.
  2. Push the power button for 5 seconds to drain any remaining power.
  3. Reseat the power cable.
  4. Verify that the wall outlet is known-good by testing it with another device, such as a lamp.
  5. Confirm that there are no power strips, surge protectors, or uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) connected to the power cable.
  6. Plug the power cable into the known-good wall outlet.
  7. Attempt to power the device up.

III. Remove All External Devices

 

  1. Turn the system off.

  2. Unplug everything from the front and back of the system except for the power cord or AC adapter, including:

    • keyboard
    • mouse
    • monitor
    • speakers
    • printers
    • scanners
    • USB devices
    • MP3 Players
    • external Blu-Ray or hard drives
    • joysticks/game pads, etc

     

  3. Attempt to turn the system on.

iIV. after that the system led should change...pls reply if it does or it does not...

Tomeeboy

7 Posts

September 3rd, 2009 13:00

Thanks for the reply.  I've already gone through all of these steps (I even reconnected/reseated the internals of the computer, such as the RAM and cable connections).  The ONLY thing that has allowed the computer to boot again is to remove the CMOS battery from the motherboard, then put it back in and power the system up.  It works every time this happens.

On a side note, I also visually inspected the motherboard for corrosion (which seems to be a common issue with these) and did not find anything.  I also inspected the USB ports for bent pins, or something that might be causing a short, and couldn't find anything there either.

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