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399675
Optiplex 990 Amber Light / 2,3,4
I have a two Optiplex 990's that have quit booting up. They turn on...fans spin up and the DVD drive spins up...but then the Diagnostics lights show 2,3,4 and the power button lights up Amber instead of green.
The system then just keeps powering up and shutting down with those diagnostic lights constantly.
I have tried removing the HD, CD drive, Graphics card, CMOS, Both fans. None seem to resolve the issue. On one of the two I replaced the motherboard. That also didn't help.
I have also reset the memory on the units
Grateful for any help!
E
mothballstocks
18 Posts
1
October 4th, 2016 22:00
i have the same problem with dell optiplex 990 SFF... also there was a previous optiplex 790 with the same problem but both i was able to fix... i opened the power supply and found out bulging 2 capacitors (10V 2200uF) and replaced them both. Now both systems are running good. This is a cheap cap and needs to be replaced with high quality ones like nichicons, etc...
It could be possible to also find bulging caps on the motherboard esp on the heatsink area.
if you are not that technical then go to an electronic shop and have your powersupply be re-capped/ refurbished.. Take note: before repairing it myself i tried the built-in self test for the powersupply (pressing small black button at the rear) and it says the psu is good and also i measured each individual output voltages (5V, 12V, 3.3V) and all were giving good readings but you cannot be sure since there is still yet no Load. So as i suspected i opened the PSU and found out the bulging/leaking caps...
Hope this will help you all.
DELL-Shawn B
3 Apprentice
3 Apprentice
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540 Posts
0
March 5th, 2014 08:00
Hello wdtsts,
A 2-3-4 LED error codes would usually point to either a system BIOS corruption or a USB configuration error.
Have you been able to test the systems with front the front IO panel and power button unplugged? The system should automatically power up after the power button is removed and a power cable plugged into the systems PSU.
Faulty Memory can also cause irregular LED error codes so if available I would recommend swapping with known as well as stripping the systems to the bare minimum for POST in testing. Please see the 990 service manual below for detailed instructions regarding the I/O and power button removal.
Manuals & documentation for your OptiPlex 990
http://www.dell.com/support/my-support/us/en/04/product-support/product/optiplex-990
Thanks,
Birdofparadise
1 Message
1
October 25th, 2015 11:00
My OptiPlex 99 has the solid power amber LED plus flashing amber 2,3,4 lights. In addition, there is nothing on the monitors. I've unplugged all components and restarted with the same results. Please advise.
NineEyes
23 Posts
0
April 10th, 2016 09:00
I too woke this morning to find my Optiplex 990 SFF with a solid amber power light and blinking 234. The manual doesn't list this condition, but this page http://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/SLN284978/en#2012_to_Present .
indicates the error is "The computer hardware is operating normally but the BIOS may be corrupt or missing."
I removed and replaced the button cell, DRAM, video card, USB card, drives and tested each time (out and in) with the same results. The power supply 3.3, 5.0 and 12.0V lines look good. I also replaced the button cell with a fresh one.
Any suggestions about what to replace or check next?
Thanks,
tjf