Unable to power on CPU after moving and reconnecting Inspiron 530

Raboatman

First try opening the case and check all the power, data cables, all the cards and RAM are properly installed, by removing and reconnecting them, incase  one of them has become dislodged during the move.

Bev.

I have also noticed that the front button has a steady blue light.  It does not beep when I push it and neither fan comes on.

I have tried all the connections without success.  I vaccumed out some dust (carefully) thinking that that might have caused the problem, but still no success.  Obviously some power is getting to the system, because when I plug the cord in the back green light and the amber motherboard light come on.  When I unplug it they go off after a few minutes. There are a number of cables and cords not attached inside, but I think that they are for bays that I do not use.  I have 2 hard drives and 2 CD/DVD players.

Is there a diagram of what should be plugged into the output wires from the power source.  I also checked the wires that go toward the on-off button in the front.

What next?

Weak/dead motherboard battery was unable to hold BIOS settings while the PC was unplugged?

Try replacing the battery and/or resetting BIOS to defaults.

I have tried all the connections without success.  I vaccumed out some dust (carefully) thinking that that might have caused the problem, but still no success.  Obviously some power is getting to the system, because when I plug the cord in the back green light and the amber motherboard light come on.  When I unplug it they go off after a few minutes. There are a number of cables and cords not attached inside, but I think that they are for bays that I do not use.  I have 2 hard drives and 2 CD/DVD players. Is there a diagram of what should be plugged into the output wires from the power source.  I also checked the wires that go toward the on-off button in the front. What next?

Raboatman

I will assume that you have the Dell Inspiron 530 Mini Tower and not the 530s Slim Tower version.

You can find  the details of the Dell power supply connectors [page 120] and power connectors on the motherboard and the drives, here:

  ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_inspiron_desktop/inspiron-530_owner%27s%20manual_en-us.pdf

As you have 2 HD's and 2 optical drives installed and still using the default Dell power supply, then there should no free power connectors, except maybe the Floppy Drive connector.

Bev.

The a Bios battery was replaced.  The old had a voltage of 2.5 and the new is 3.0 volts.

The back amber light by the power supply is green.

The front On-Off Button is a steady blue.

The amber Mother Board light is on.

I have checked for loose power connections and found none.

When I push the main power button, the fans do not come on. I do not hear any spinning of the hard drives.

The monitor is connected and on.

The keyboard and mouse are plugged into their USB slots.

I have tried  several power cords and all have the same results.

Ichecked all the wires/connections from the power supply.

How can I reset the Bios if the fans and hard drives are not functioning?  How would I reset the BIOS?

What can I try next?

If you removed the battery and pressed/held the power button for ~30 sec, that should have reset BIOS to the factory defaults.

• Does fan spin up in the power supply?
• Did you check cable connection at both ends between front panel and motherboard?
• Power off and unplug. Check voltage selector switch, slide it back/forth a few times and make certain it's set correctly before reconnecting to the mains
• Bypass power protection devices, power strips, and power extension cables
• Try a different wall outlet
• Broken power button?

There are 3 fans on the computer.  One is on the back of the power supply. One is on the motherboard, One is connected to the motherboard and mounted on the back of the case not far from the power supply.  When I plug in the power cord to the CPU and monitor, the green light comes on on the back of the power supply.  The anber one on the mother board is on and stays on for a short time after unplugging it. The blue power On-Off button on the front is on with a steady blue.

When I push the button on, I do NOT get any of the 3 fans to come on. I know that power is coming out of the power supply.  However, should the power supply fan come on whenever it received power after switching on, or does it take a message from the BIOS.

I removed the new motherboard battery, 3 V., pushed the power button ofr 30 seconds to reset the BIOS to factory default.

That did not change or help anything.

I moved and verified that the power swithc is showing 115.

Both the computer CPU and Monitor are plugged into a funcioning wall outlet with not power strip. I have tried different outlets in the wall.

I have plugged , unplugged and replugged the cable from the front power button, which glows blue, and then goes to the motherboard.  That switch wiring comes out of the motherboard and goes to the blue on-off switch.  Therefore, since the mother board has an amber light on and the front swithch has a blue light, when plugged in, then power is leaving the power supply.

None of these have solved the problem.  I have checked the seating of all connections, including the memory units.

As I mentioned initially, when I powered down the unit to prepare for moving, I backed it up and then powered down windows. After disconnecting the mouse, keyboard, wireless, printer, and monitor, i carefully placed it in the factory box that I had saved for such things.

In the troubleshooting section of the manual, it makes reference to beeps when starting to power on, and I do not hear any of those diagnostic beeps.

What next can i try?  Should i try to borrow a power supply from another computer to test that?   It seenm to me that at a minimum, that the power supply fan, should spin, yet none of the fans spin.

Thanks for continuing to help me work through this problem

Raboatman

Yes, the power supply fan should work when the machine is powered on and yes, on using a different PSU, the only 100% method of checking a PSU is to install a 'know' working unit.

Generic standard ATX power supply units can be installed, in the Inspiron 530 MT, with either a 24-pin or 20+4-pin main motherboard power connector, with or without the on/off switch.

Note: A power supply with four SATA power connectors, is required.

Regards to 'checked the seating of all connections, including the memory units', did you remove all the cards and memory modules from the slots and reinstall them?

Try disconnecting all the peripherals from the tower, except the monitor, mouse and keyboard, disconnect the power cord and hold the power button in for 30 seconds, reconnect the power cord and see is this makes a difference.

Bev.

Raboatman

Glad to hear that the issue has been resolved.

Bev.

Now the last thing to do is update the BIOS, since one suggestion was to revert to the factory BIOS.

There's no such thing as 'reverting to factory BIOS". You can revert to the factory settings for BIOS but that doesn't change the version of BIOS that's installed. So unless there's some optional setting you want to change, there's nothing else to do in BIOS. If it ain't broke, don't break it! :emotion-4:

Glad to hear you got it sorted.