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Possible Dead Power Supply??
Last night out power went off and when i woke up this morning and tried to turn my system back on it wouldn't power up. Just an Amber light on the power button. I've watched videos and tried a few things. Reseating my RAM, Video Card and HDD's. Nothing happened. Now a few minutes ago i popped the CMOS Battery out for about 5 minutes then put it back in and the system turned on.. My motherboard beeped 5 times.. I thought i had fixed the problem but when i turn the system off it does the same thing again. When i pop the battery out and reinstall it will turn on and do the same thing. Went to Wal Mart and bought a new CMOS battery and still response. So do you guys think my power supply is dead?
RoHe
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June 11th, 2011 19:00
I can't find the beep codes for the 435MT anywhere on line ( @Chris-M :emotion-12: !!) but on some other Dell systems 5 beeps is a RAM problem.
So, power off and unplug. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec. Open the case and remove the motherboard battery. Press/hold power button again for ~30 sec. Now strip the system down to its bare essentials: Remove all PCI cards, except video, disconnect the optical drive(s) and remove all RAM modules except the one in slot 1. Leave the boot hard drive connected. Now reinstall the battery again and see if it'll boot with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected.
If that doesn't work, swap all RAM modules into slot 1 to see if you can ID a bum module.* If you find a bum RAM module, you'll have to replace it as a matched pair. If they all work in slot 1, add one to slot 2, etc, to see if you have a bum slot. If a slot is bad, you'll have to replace the motherboard.
Unfortunately, a power outtage can cause this problem because there could have been a surge when power came back on. Some electric companies have insurance to cover damage caused to customer's electronics by outtages. You could contact them to see if they'll cover any repairs. Also, if you have homeowner's or renter's insurance, that might cover you if the electric company won't, but that will depend on the deductable.
Ron
*EDIT: Always power off, unplug and do the "battery thing" before removing/installing hardware.
RoHe
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June 10th, 2011 22:00
Always include the system model in your posts. :emotion-5:
Is that amber power button steady or blinking?
Did you unplug the system from the wall and press/hold the power button for ~30 sec after removing the battery?
Ron
Oblivious700
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June 10th, 2011 23:00
And the amber button is blinking
Oblivious700
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June 10th, 2011 23:00
Sorry about that... I have a studio dos 435mt... And no I did no hold the power button for 30 seconds after I changed it.
Oblivious700
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June 10th, 2011 23:00
So I just popped te CMOS battery out and back in plugged the power supply back up. The system seemed to power on. The motherboard beeped 5 times. The case fan spins up. So I hook the monitor up sand it instantly says going into power save mode. So I'm not gettin any picture.. The graphics card isn't stock.. I replaced it with a XFX 4850 1 GB card
DELL-Chris M
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June 11th, 2011 11:00
Blinking Amber Power LED = The computer is receiving electrical power, and power supplied by the power supply is normal. A device might be malfunctioning or incorrectly installed. Remove and then reinstall any cards. Remove and then reinstall the graphics card, if applicable. Test the PC with the original video card.
5 beeps - RTC power fail. CMOS battery failure.
Oblivious700
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June 11th, 2011 12:00
Chris M- I reseated all my cards and RAM. Replaced the CMOS Battery with a new one. Just tried testing it with the original video card and still the same outcome.. What RTC power fail?
DELL-Chris M
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June 11th, 2011 17:00
RTC = Real Time Clock. I am now wondering if the motherboard is at fault. RoHe?
Oblivious700
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June 11th, 2011 18:00
I honestly hope now Chris M. I probably won't have the money for a replacement motherboard right now. Would a power outtage cause this?
Oblivious700
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June 11th, 2011 20:00
Ok Ron i just done what you said. I left my video card in and just my boot hard drive. Left one ram stick in slot 1 and put the battery in. The power button blinks amber still fast and the system won't even power on. The case fan moves barely. Maybe half an inch. But system won't power on now.
Oblivious700
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June 11th, 2011 20:00
UPDATE! I left it alone for a few minutes and the power light turned solid amber so i pressed it again and it turned on and it actually displayed something.. Says CMOS Checksum Error. So do i continue? It says press F2 to run setup or F1 to load default values and continue. Also i just have one stick (1 GB of RAM installed). Do i turn off and install the rest or do that later?
RoHe
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June 11th, 2011 22:00
A bit of progress! :emotion-3:
Power off and unplug, press the power button for ~15 sec. Remove the motherboard battery, press power button...You know the routine...
This time, leave it unplugged for a couple of hours, without the battery. Then reinstall the battery (right-side-up!) and try again with only a RAM module in slot 1.
BTW: Are you sure the new battery is good and you installed it correctly? Is it possible you accidentally re-installed the old battery?
Before installing the battery again, wipe it with a clean, lint-free cloth to remove fingerprints and hold it by the edges when you install it. You might also very gently wipe the battery socket with that cloth before reinstalling the battery.
And keep fingers x'd ! :emotion-5:
Ron
Oblivious700
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June 11th, 2011 22:00
Well i already pressed F1 and loaded the default values. Then ran Startup repair (I think thats what it was called) Then the system started up as usual. When i signed in i powered off and reinstalled the rest of my RAM. Started it again and everything worked as normal. Had to correct my time and date settings though. It was a bit slow on startup and so far i notice applications are a lil sluggish when starting but other than that the computer is working fine.
RoHe
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June 11th, 2011 22:00
Just to be clear, don't add back any hardware at this point. Leave everything except the essentials disconnected.
If you can get it to boot with just the essentials, then you can add back the rest of the hardware.
If it still won't boot after leaving it unplugged without the battery for a couple of hours... :emotion-9:
But don't give up hope yet!
Ron
RoHe
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June 12th, 2011 12:00
:emotion-21: :emotion-21:
As long as it's working again that's all that matters!!
If you reset BIOS to factory defaults, it's possible something in the defaults isn't right for your configuration and that's why it's slow. So check through through those settings.
You might want to run chkdsk c: /f on the hard drive from the Start>Run window in case there are some bad sectors now, and run a RAM test to make sure all the memory is working correctly too.
Glad you don't need a new motherboard! :emotion-49:
Ron