Desktops General - Read Only

[hdavy2002]

HI,
I have a dimension 4600 and I am not able to POST.

I took out the cover and the motherboard does not beep, nor does it have any diagnostic leds lit up. The manuel which I got says that no lights mean pre-bios failure. I could not find any support on that, I cannot even recognize the motherboard name, it has a number marking:E210882 on it. The other marking is DELL REV .A01

When i put the power, there is a small green light on that MOBO. Also I am noticing that the CMOS battery is very hot and side of the battery there seems to be a chip, which is very hot to touch.

What could be wrong? please advice. it used to work fine and was pretty fast.
Thnask in advance
hum

[volcano11]

There is a good chance that your power supply has failed.  See the hundreds of other messages concering this on the Dimension - General Hardware forum.

Steve

[hdavy2002]

Power supply is currently working on another dell machine. When I touch the battery, it's hot . Is there any way to clear the NVRAM, i see no jumper on this board expect a jumper to clear password. I will take a photo and post it on my site with a link on this

[volcano11]

You can try clearing NVRAM - Boot to system setup by pressing F2 immediately after starting the computer. Turn on Caps Lock, Scroll Lock, Num Lock, then press Press ALT+E then ALT+F then ALT+B.

Steve

[hdavy2002]

when the MOBO is not starting, how can i clear the nvram. I took out he processor,ram, all cables and powered on, i still heard no beep, without the processor, it should be beeping like crazy.

The battery area is hot to touch. IS there anyway to clear the cmos on the motherboard, i see no jumpers ect to clear the cmos.

[Majestic]

You can clear the NVRAM by taking out the battery.  Just follow this procedure......

With the machine unplugged from the wall remove the battery from the motherboard.  Then with the machine still unplugged press the On button for several seconds to dissipate any remaining electrical charge on the motherboard.  Then re-install the battery, plug the machine back into the wall and see if it will boot normally.

I doubt clearing the NVRAM will resolve the problem you are having.  If the battery is hot to the touch then I would try first replacing the battery with a new 3-V CR2032 coin cell which can be purchased for around $3 at any computer store or Radio Shack.  It is possible your present battery has failed in some way and could be shorting out which is the cause for the overheating.  The fact that you can see a chip or dent in it is a good indication there is a problem with it.  If the new battery starts to get very hot to the touch then either the motherboard is overcharging it or your power supply in giving the motherboard too much power.  In that case I would contact Dell Tech Support if your machine is under warranty for repairs. 

Message Edited by Majestic on 01-15-2005 08:15 AM