Vostro 410 Power Problems

Good Morning

Thank you for contacting the community.

If you could answer the following questions, it will give us a better understanding of exactly what is happening, and the best way to possibly solve the problem:

1. What exactly is the power button doing. what colour is it, and is it solid or flashing.

2. Do you hear any beep codes from the system. If so, how many.

3. Do you see anything at all on screen.

4. When you plug the system in, does the power suplly fan kick in at all.

5. Have a look at the front USB ports, do any of them seem bent, or damaged at all in any way.

6. Would you be comfortable going inside the system, and removing, replacing, and re-seating parts.

Manual for removing parts: ftp.dell.com/.../vostro-410_Service%20Manual_en-us.pdf

7. If you are comfortable, can you 1st disconnect the I/O panel, and remove the cmos battery. Then power the system on by plugging the power into the back of the machine. If the I/O panel is at fault, the system should boot up with it disconnected.

8. If nothing changes, can you strip the system down to motherboard/processor/power supply conneted and power on, see if the power button changes colour or the system boots. If it does, power off and start replacing 1 part at a time to see if there are any changes, if there are, this would usually indicate that the part changing the status of the machine is at fault.

Let us know how you get on, and also, where are you currently based/living.

regards

Kevin

Questions

#1.  It does nothing.  You press it to power on the device and you get a yellow light when you first press it.  Then nothing.  I f you press and hold it it just flashes yellow.  But you must hold the button.

#2 No beeps or noises ever.

#3 Nothing on the screen as it wont power up.

#4 when I plug it in I get nothing.  No fan, no beeps, no flashes.  Nothing...

#5 Usbs look fine

#6 I have no problems going into the system.

#7 I have not attempted this yet, but I will when I get home.

#8 same as #7 unless you can diagnose with what I have answered so far.

I live in California, and I have a laptop and Iphone with internet capabilities.

Good Morning

Thanks for getting back to us.

The best thing to do, would be to do that last few steps, as this would rule everything else out.  It would be fantastic if we had a power supply to test with, but if not its ok.

If you are in warranty, and require parts to be replaced, you would need to call your local technical support, advising everything that we have done (steps) and they will replace the correct part, and we cannot as we are based in the UK.

Let us know how you get on with the final steps.

Regards

Kevin

Well I removed the cmos battery and the computer power right up.  Just by removing the battery.  I reinstalled the battery and it wouldnot power up.  I will install a new battery tommorow and let you know the results...

Brodie70 and Kevin: Thank you for this page.  I would not have attributed the failure to start to the CMOS battery without these references.

Here are a few things I learned:

- The battery is a CR2032 (common watch battery).

- The failure symptom was an I/O symbol in yellow that lasted a second when on-off was pressed.

- You may want to download a copy of the XPS 410 Service Manual.  It is named XPS-410_Service Manual-en-US.pdf (Kevin, please check).

- You might do well to take a color digital photo of the interior, since you may be removing wires and need to remember where they go.

- Once the battery has been installed and the PC reassembled, plugging in the power cord will cause the PC to boot immediately.

- There is a procedure, but it may not match your machine: How to replace a CMOS battery. | Dell US http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/KCS/KcsArticles/ArticleView?docid=129714

-- In my Vostro 410, the battery holder is not as shown.  The part is different.

-- The battery holder "tab" does not release the battery.

-- The battery holder has 4 (not 2) lips.  Your fingernail will not fit under the battery proper between the lips of the holder .

-- You will need a "plastic screwdriver".  I found that shaving down a plastic swizzle stick to a screwdriver tip worked well.

- With the battery replaced, the PC boots more rapidly and performance is much improved.  Speculation: a dying battery may result in repeated attempts to access the CMOS.

Thanks to all.  I had the same issue.  I replaced the battery and all appears to be fine now.