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XPS 420 Desktop PC won't boot with Diagnostic Lights 1, 2, 3
I am currently unable to boot-up my Dell XPS 420 Desktop PC from a cold start. I have shut-down Windows and powered-off the Desktop PC completely and it will not boot-up again. All it does is get to a point, quite quickly, where it displays Diagnostic Lights 1, 2, and 3, and a blinking, white cursor at the top left of the screen, the rest being black. I cannot access the BIOS, as it doesn't reach that point and continued efforts to try turning it off and on again make no difference.
I have followed the procedure for troubleshooting Diagnostic Lights 1, 2, and 3 as outlined in the Dell XPS 420 Troubleshooting Documentation <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> here:
<ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell>
I was thorough and meticulous, however the suggestions outlined there did not solve the problem.
When this happened previously…
I was able to get the PC to boot-up properly again after leaving it off and untouched overnight (a wait of approximately 8 hours).
It started-up fine and with that I decided to do a bit of a test.
After using the Desktop PC for a number of hours, I then did a restart, or warm boot, where I rebooted the PC without a complete power-down. This worked fine, with the Desktop PC restarting and booting-up Windows without trouble. To further test, I then did a complete shut-down and powered-off, to see if the problem still existed. Unfortunately, it did! I couldn't boot the PC and had to leave it off for another period of hours before it did start-up.
It seems like my XPS 420 Desktop PC has a problem during the initial POST (power on self-test) sequence, which doesn't happen during a warm reboot.
I'm going to leave it now for a few hours and hopefully it will boot-up when I come to give it another try. As for a more permanent and reliable solution, does anybody have any suggestions? Is there a hardware component that I should investigate further or replace?
chopp3r
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January 12th, 2012 23:00
As a footnote to this post, I should point-out that I have already posted on this problem as a reply to someone else who was also experiencing the exact same thing with their Dell XPS 420 Desktop PC. To read my reply to that post, take a look here…
en.community.dell.com/.../20014081.aspx
DELL-Chris M
Community Manager
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January 13th, 2012 17:00
Disocnnect the PC power cord from the rear of the PC. Press and hold the PC power button in for 4 seconds. Reconnect the PC power cord. Attempt to power it on.
chopp3r
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January 16th, 2012 03:00
I'm sorry to say that this suggestion, Chris M, didn't work and the situation is now worse in that I cannot boot up my XPS 420 Desktop at all, no matter how long I wait. I guess it has to be a hardware fault somewhere but the question is where?
Any further suggestions would be appreciated? Thanks.
mamajune81
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November 26th, 2012 09:00
If I turn my XPS 420 completely off at night and try to turn it on in the morning, the fan takes off like a helicopter and nothing comes on. It is very hard to turn it off with the button. If I keep trying, it will finally come on, but I just do not EVER turn it off anymore.
Do I need a new processor? Can I buy one separately? Where?
Please help!
My daughter used one of the hard drive backup thingees for me.
Mamajune81
shesagordie
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November 26th, 2012 12:00
mamajune81
When this issue happens, check the following:
What is the colour of the power button LED, is it blinking, solid, or off?
Check the reading of the 4 diagnostic lights on the front panel.
Are there any error messages, or 'Beeps'?
THIS <ADMIN NOTE: Broken link has been removed from this post by Dell> is the XPS 420 troubleshooter and diagnostic guide.
Bev.
denmarfl
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March 30th, 2014 14:00
RoHe
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March 30th, 2014 17:00
When was last time you replaced the motherboard battery?
denmarfl
115 Posts
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March 30th, 2014 19:00
The XPS420 did bootup to Windows; I re-started it and it wouldn't. Battery replaced 4 or 5 mos ago. What does the 123 code mean (seen on the top of the Tower).....that code is not listed in the XPS420 manual..... The original Poster said that after his 420 sat turned off for 8 hours it would than boot-up....but if he tried another cold boot it would not boot to Windows.......
speedstep
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March 31st, 2014 08:00
The code is listed but you are not attempting to read the manual.
Check for BAD RAM and or BAD VIDEO ram on CARD.
xps-420_owner's manual_en-us.pdf
Memory modules are detected, but a memory failure has occurred.
A possible graphics card failure has occurred.
If two or more memory modules are installed, remove the modules, then reinstall one module and restart the computer. If the computer starts normally, continue to install additional memory modules (one at a time) until you have identified a faulty module or reinstalled all modules without error. Reseat any installed graphics cards. If available, install a working graphics card into your computer.