Studio XPS 435MT will not POST, solid amber power button.

it sounds like the new power supply may be bad.  Remove the 24 pin (or 20 plus 4) connector from the motherboard.  Jumper the Green wire to a Black wire and see if the power supply comes on.  This doesn't verify that the power supply is good but it will tell if it is powering up.

If ti's not the power supply, the next most logical thing is the motherboard.

Thank you.  Using your trick I verified that both power supplies power up (and the one in the computer spooled up the disk drives).  So I have a new mobo on order from one of the online surplus places based in TX....

Fellow Nashvillian here!  Thanks again, buddy.

I realize that you have already ordered a new motherboard, but if you haven't gotten it yet could you try something for me?

My son has the same exact computer, and the same problem.  Shut it down one day and the next day won't start, solid amber light on the motherboard.

But, if he takes the cmos battery out, waits a few seconds, puts it back in, then the computer will start.  You have to hit F1 and reset the bios to default.

The only problem is that when you restart the computer the same thing happens all over again.

If you are happy with the place that you got the motherboard from could you send me an e-mail?

Thanks

The motherboard was delivered but I'm on a business trip so haven't had a chance to install it yet.  I can try the cmos battery and let you know what it does.

Removing and then replacing the CMOS battery didn't have an effect.  I put the new motherboard in the system and it is working once again.  However, the motherboard does not have a Service Tag set in the BIOS.  As a result, the system thinks my copy of Windows 7 is no longer "genuine".  I'd love to be able to set the service tag but can't figure it out so far.

My Studio XPS 435MT will not POST as well.  The fans do not come on, and there are no beep codes.  When I hit the power button, its light simply turns solid amber and the CPU fan "wiggles" maybe a centimeter.  I have checked the fans, they are good.  I have checked the PSU and it is good.  If I take out the battery on the motherboard, the system will start up although I have to reset the bios to default each time.  I have put a new battery in, but I get the same results as above.  I also have the solid amber light on, on the motherboard.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks!

Sounds like the same symptoms I had.  The new motherboard fixed the issue.  I purchased the motherboard from a third party, so it does not have the service code programmed into the BIOS.  As a result I had to use up one of my Windows 7 "authorizations" (I'm running a retail copy, not Dell OEM).  The system is running stably for me now.

Best of luck.

Glad your's is working and  your issue was fixed. 

I still find it hard to believe that something with the battery on the motherboard would cause us to have to replace the whole motherboard.  :(     Found a Dell board via txcesssurplus.com, but want to see if anyone else has any suggestions as to what is happening or other 'things' to possibly diagnose.

Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance!

I fixed mine, but do not try this except as a last resort.  It did work on mine but I'm not making any guarantees.  I read several threads about repairing video cards by baking them in the oven (use google).  So I took the motherboard out of the case, took out the battery, took off the fan and cpu, took off the heat sinks.  Took off everything that would come off, then cleaned the thermal grease off with a Q-tip and 91% rubbing alcohol.   Heat the oven to 385.  Put your motherboard on a cookie sheet, supported by three or four ping pong ball size wads of tin foil.  I put one under the cpu and two under the corners, trying to touch only the board.  When the oven is hot put the motherboard in and bake at 385 for exactly 8 minutes.  You are trying to melt the solder without melting any plastic.  Sit in front of the oven and watch.  At about 7 minutes you will smell hot plastic, don't panic.  At eight minutes turn off the oven and open the door.  Let it cool a minute or two before moving it, be gentle.  When the board is all the way cold put everything back together, remember to use fresh thermal compound on the heatsinks and cpu.  Put the battery back in and hook everything back up.  On the first boot you will probably get the 5 beeps, checksum error, press F1 to continue.  After that shutting down and restarting is back to normal.  The theory behind this is that the problem with the motherboard is caused by micro fractures in the electrical  circuitry.  The solder gets just hot enough to re-establish contact.  If you are ready to toss the motherboard in the trash anyway, then you may want to try this.  You may want to make sure your wife is not at home and spray some air freshener in the kitchen when you are done.  Good Luck

Wow!!!   Makes sense, but never thought of that and thanks for the detailed instructions.  I will try that as a last resort.

Any other suggestions on how to diagnose to ensure that it is the motherboard?  I want to make sure before I buy a new one or cook this one.  LOL

Thanks again!

Sorry to hear the problem came back.  :(    Fortunately, our system is all original and has a nice power strip.  So we should be ok there.  I may look at upgrading the case fan when I change the motherboard.

No other ideas and you may not want to try this after all. I waited for a while before posting about this, everything was fine. After I posted, the next day my son calls me and says it quit again. Time to buy the new motherboard. He is renting a very old house with old wiring, I'm not sure if he ever got a UPS or high quality power conditioner. Also he took out the Dell graphics card and replaced it with a double size, hot, power hungry model. The case for this model is a very small mid-tower, and the graphics card is about a quarter inch from the bottom of the case. No way to relocate it. The fan has very little chance to move air, being on the bottom of the card, pushed up against the bottom of the case. If it was mine, it would get a new case, and a new power supply, so the new motherboard won't melt again. I've got to talk to him about money before I decide what to do next. Thanks It did last for about a month, but your mileage may vary. (My previous post was deleted because I used the dollar sign as a shortcut for the word money, this apparently was objectionable and may have offended someone.)

Have You tried using the DCCU (Dell Client Configuration Utility) to input the servcie tag? It is free from dell  http://support.us.dell.com/support/downloads/download.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen&releaseid=R204280&formatcnt=1&libid=0&fileid=285029

I have had the same issue with a client recently and turns out the power supply failed and took out the mobo. Pwr supply lost a 12v rail and 5v pin as well. I have not found a mobo repair solution as of yet. Looks like replacement is the only option. Antec EA-380D was a perfect match power supply replacement for 45 dollars and txecesssurplus.com has the motherboard for 130 plus shipping.

hi !

so if im having same problem ,what should i replace motherboard or power supply??

I had the same problem. Blinking power lite over night, fan twitches when attempt to press start button, and the PC will not start.

First, I opened the PC and disconnected all drivers to make sure no harm is done to my data. Then, I removed the motherboard connector P1 and shorted with a paper clip the green and black cable to see if PSU is working properly or not, check how to test the PSU on youtube.com.

The PSU fan worked fine.

I ordered a new motherboard from ebay, installed it and every thing worked fine and got back my data and PC.