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November 2nd, 2009 07:00
E520 Boot Problem, No Display
I own a Dimension E520 running Windows Vista Basic.
The PC crashed this morning and was unresponsive to any Ctr-Alt-Del combination or tab alt to switch to another application. I powered down the PC manually by holding the power button down.
Upon re-booting the PC sounded like it booted normally however there wasn't any display with the monitor light staying on 'orange' standby mode. Figuring it may be a loose VGA cable or such I disconnected and reconnected all the exterior cables of both the monitor and others including Ethernet, Sound and various USB. I then turned on the PC again and once more there was no display but this time after about 20 seconds the internal PC speaker emitted two quick beeps.
To try and fix this issue I have tried the following;
Tried a second monitor on the PC incase it was a monitor problem, this was unsuccesful. I have disconnected and reconnected the Graphics Card and RAM modules which also has had no effect. I've cleaned any heavy dust inside the PC. I've tried booting with just one memory module in the primary bank and each boot disconnecting a different piece of hardware - done this with the Hard Drive, the Graphics Card, the USB bus, the DVD/CD Drive etc
I've had a look through the E520 manual for the beep code and the diagnostic lighting codes when booting up. The 2 quick beeps code is not listed and out of the 4 lights the 1st, 2nd and 3rd are lit but not the 4th. The manual (http://support.euro.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dime520/en/SM_EN/index.htm) lists this as a "Another Failure Has Ocurred".
Anyone have any ideas? It's out of warranty with dell so I have emailed them but I'm still waiting for a reply. The HD contains my uni work which I desperately need access to, I know the HD can be recovered but I don't have a spare PC to hand. Thanks for your replies in advance.
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shesagordie
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November 2nd, 2009 12:00
luckydenvermint
GGGX diagnostic lights can indicate either a motherboard, or hard drive failure.
Is the power switch LED, solid green, blinking green, solid amber, blinking amber.
Did you try a different graphics card?
If you are comfortable working around computers, you could try the following:
Note: The only 100% method of testing a PSU, is to install a know working power supply.
Unplug the cord from the power supply, hold the power button in for about 15/20 seconds, open the case, unplug the 24-pin power connector from the motherboard and jump the Green wire to one of the Black wires, reconnect the power cord and power the system, if power supply's fan and the 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.
Power supply checks out and the system still does not work, again remove the power cord, hold the power button in for several seconds to discharge the residue power, reconnect the 24-pin connector to the motherboard.
Remove all the PCI cards, the video card [if applicable], memory, all peripherals, disconnect the data and power cables to all the drives, check that the front panel cable is connected to motherboard, with nothing else connected to the system, reconnect the power cable and power the system on.
If there is no change in the diagnostic lights and 'Beeps', then it would appear that the motherboard has died.
Bev.