Dimension 3000 Starts then dies

DonC98  

Regards to:

"is there any way to narrow down the problem, so I can buy the right replacement part the first time?'

That is not always possible, unfortunately, while a person can make an informed diagnosis, sometimes computer troubleshooting, due to the complexity of components, is diagnostics by substitution.

Is the power button LED, solid green, blinking green, solid amber, blinking amber, or off?

If you are comfortable working around computers, you could try the following:

Note: The only 100% method of testing a PSU, is to install a known working power supply.

Unplug the cord from the power supply, hold the power button in for about 15/20 seconds, open the case, unplug the 20-pin power connector from the motherboard and jump the Green wire to one of the Black wires, reconnect the power cord and power the system on, if power supply, case fans and the hard drive run, then the PSU may be good.

Note: Do not remove any wires from the plug, use a small piece of wire or a paper clip as a jumper.

Power supply checks out and the system still does not work, again remove the power cord, hold the power button in for several seconds to discharge the residue power, reconnect the 20-pin connector to the motherboard.

Remove all the PCI cards, the video card [if applicable], memory, all peripherals, disconnect the data and power cables to all the drives, check that the front panel cable is connected to motherboard, with nothing else connected to the system, reconnect the power cable and power the system on.

If there is no difference in the diagnostic lights, 'Beep' codes and/or the LED indication of the power button, then it would appear that the motherboard has died and/or maybe the processor.

Note: The good news is, processors rarely fail, as the only method I know of checking a processor, is to install it a compatible working PC, or use a known working processor.

Bev.