Dimension 5150 will not boot into Windows XP - Drive Dead?

Question

PC displayed a blue screen and I did not capture the error code prior to restart. After restart, it's just black screen with a flashing DOS cursor in the far upper left corner, with the same results on every restart. I have restarted and attempted to access safe mode, with no success. Also, I can not get to the BIOS upon reboot. I've unplugged all perhipherals and restarted with no success. I'll plug a USB keyboard in after booting with no peripherals and it doesn't even appear to get power. I've inserted the OS CD and rebooted with no success.

There were no hardware or software changes before the issue occurred. It will not accept any keyboard response after boot up. It just hangs at a black DOS screen with nothing but a flashing white cursor at the top left hand corner of the screen.

No weird sounds from the hard drive. I suppose it's toast (or at least just needs to be wiped and reloaded). Any feedback appreciated. Thanks!

mmiller77 · Accepted Answer

That got me going in the right direction.

I had actually upgraded my PCIe video to a Nvidia G-Force E8600 a couple of years ago. I removed the card a plugged directly into the onboard video port (had to remove a cap that Dell shipped with, that had a circle with a slash on it as in "don't use"), and there was no signal. Perhaps the cap was right...and maybe that was never enabled

I managed to find the original ATI PCIe video card the tower shipped with, and installed that. Rebooted, and actually got something to display instead of the flashing cursor, which was:

RV370 P/N 113-A62801-106 BIOS

It would hang on this code and not go to the Dell logo.

Searched the web for this and found a lot of results for for tech forums the exact code. Most forums were dated, and many were blaming the issue on the ATI video card, but able to send it in within warranty and get it fixed. Those forms where people were fixing the issue to completion themselves were finding the root cause to be either the RAM (most often) or the CPU going bad.

Started testing my 4 RAM chips one by one (two 256 MB Samsung chips that came with the Dell; one 512 MB Kingston chip; one 2 GB Patriot chip; for a total of 3 GB).

Each one booted the PC into windows on 1 chip. Then I rotated testing the chips in different slots on the motherboard, would still boot up. Reinstalled all 4. Error again, but this time got different diagnostic light codes, of 3 & 4, which is Memory Failure.

Bingo. So I started booting up with just 3 chips, and every time it would boot into Windows. So I tried all 4 chips again, and it booted into Windows. Repeated booting with 4 chips and repeated success.

Ran the Extended Dell Diagnostics test Bev suggested. Everything checked out ok. PC starts fine now. I’ll keep an eye on the RAM. I know there’s guidance about using like RAM chips in pairs, but I”ve been running like this for 3 years and this is the first time something like this has happened.

mmiller77 · Answer

Thanks Bev.   Solid green on the power LED.  System diag lights have 1 2 3 lit, 4 is not lit.

shesagordie · Answer

mmiller77

Is the power button LED, solid green, blinking green, solid amber, blinking amber?

Check the sequence of the diagnostic lights at the front panel of the case.

Dell's E510/5150 diagnostic guide and troubleshooter is HERE.

<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>

Bev.

shesagordie · Answer

mmiller77

GGGx diagnostic lights indicate 'Another Failure', not a very helpful diagnose.

First check the system setup [BIOS] push F2 on startup, to see if the hard drive is recognized.

If the hard drive is recognized, try Dell's solution offered in the Troubleshooter, remove and reconnect all the power and data cables to hard drives and optical drives and see if it makes a difference.

No difference, run Dell Diagnostics extended test on the hard drive, using the Dell 'Drivers and Utilities' CD, the directions for this, is included in the Troubleshooter link, in my first post.

Bev.

mmiller77 · Answer

Still no luck. It's a black screen as soon as I boot up. I don't even get a Dell logo. No success with F2 to get to BIOS or F12 to run diag utility from my disk that I have inserted in my CD ROM .

Even opened it up and made sure Hard Drive cables were secure to the mother board.

RoHe · Answer

Dead motherboard battery?

Power off and unplug

Press/hold power button on tower for ~15 sec

Open the case and remove the motherboard battery

Press/hold power button again for ~30 sec

Reinstall the battery (right-side-up!) - might be time for a fresh one if it's more than ~2-3 years old

Close the case and see if it boots now with only mouse, monitor and keyboard attached.

Ron

mmiller77 · Answer

That was worth a shot, as the PC was 4 years old with no change in battery. Sadly, no improvements in results after replacing the battery.

Tom Green · Answer

Hello MMILLER77 I have the same machine, it has a PCIe video card. If your machine also has one, I'd remove it and plug monitor into the onboard intel video and see what happens. Good luck Tom

meh3 · Answer

I have a friend who has an older Dell and seems her hard drive also crashed.  I assume she will have to install a new hard drive and install the Windows XP operating system.  However, Dell does not provide operating system CD's - Does anyone know how to get the operating system from Dell to install?

shesagordie · Answer

mmiller77 Pleased to hear the 5150 is running again and thank you for the heads up, on the solution. Have a great New Year. Bev.

shesagordie · Answer

I have a friend who has an older Dell and seems her hard drive also crashed. I assume she will have to install a new hard drive and install the Windows XP operating system. However, Dell does not provide operating system CD's - Does anyone know how to get the operating system from Dell to install?

meh3

If your friend resides in the US and is the registered owner of the computer, a disc containing the factory-installed operating system specific to your system, can be requested from HERE.

Dell may charge for the disc.

Bev.

mmiller77 · Answer

Thanks for all your help everyone. I do IT support for a living, but it's all remote via telephone and only software applications. Fun to fix a hands on hardware issue here and be successful.

The PC that had the issue is actually my backup tower, only used to internet surf. I keep no data on it. I keep XP on it because that's the PC environment at my work - still - and I can mess around on it with no consequences (I can ALWAYS wipe the hard drive and reload the OS from the disks), or use it as a learning tool when it fails, as it did in this case.

Thanks again for helping me keep this alive! Happy New Year!

meh3 · Answer

The hard drive checks out ok, so problem is elsewhere.  At start of boot process after windows screen the blue screen comes up and says 'attempt made to execute non-executable memory'.  Any idea why computer is not booting?

mmiller77 · Answer

Maybe try reseating the memory, by taking it out and putting it back in. If that doesn't work and you have multiple memory chips, try rebooting with one chip installed at a time.

Since this is your unique issue that may have a different resolution, to eliminate trouble shooting confusion between your issue and the original posted in this topic, do you want to start your own topic?

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Dimension 5150 will not boot into Windows XP - Drive Dead?

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