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Precision T3500 - Card Cage Fan Failure error during POST
I have an out of warranty T3500 that is showing a "Card Cage Fan Failure - Press F1 to continue" error on start up.
When I look at the fans, both are spinning - although the fan pushing air over the processor seems to be spinning slower than the one for the memory.
The pre-boot diagnostics show fan rpm readings of 0 - but it is definitely spinning!. it then gives the error code: 3700:011B Msg: FRONT_CARD-CAGE_FAN - the fan speed is incorrect. (See attached pic)
I updated to the latest BIOS, but there doesn't seem to be any way to by pass the message - the computer isn't suffering any thermal issues.
I swapped out the whole fan assembly from a known good T3500 and this gave the same error- so it seems to be a problem reading the fan speed rather then the fan itself.
I'm out of ideas and open to suggestions!
Thanks,
Brian
speedstep
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March 27th, 2015 11:00
The T3500 has 2 Fans not 1 and so unless you replaced it with a DELL fan assembly its not going to work
Dell Precision Workstation T3500 Dual Cooling Fan Assembly HW856 CP232
RoHe
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March 27th, 2015 12:00
Since the problem exists after you swapped in known working fans, it must be elsewhere.
Does the T3500 have a separate temp sensor somewhere inside the case that plugs into the motherboard?
Is the chassis intrusion switch working correctly?
You updated BIOS which should have cleared any error messages, but try resetting it to factory defaults by removing the motherboard battery and pressing / holding the power button for ~30 sec, before reinstalling the battery.
Note: copy down the current BIOS settings before resetting them to the defaults, just to be safe.
speedstep
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March 27th, 2015 12:00
The Temp sensor is on the front panel board with the USB connectors and Audio. I doubt this is the issue because temp sensor has nothing to do with Fan RPM which is what your error is.
see:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19271901
Dell Precision WorkStation T3500 I/O Panel Assembly with USB Audio I/O Control Panel, 29" Internal Audio Cable D/PN X389H, Front Panel Cable D/PN JN454, and Mounting Bracket, Dell M884G, MC532.
http://www.txcesssurplus.com/servlet/the-8929/Dell-M884G-Precision-T3500/Detail