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Yellow light on Motherboard - Blinking yellow power button
So here's the challenge! Can anyone out there actually give me a definitive answer to the question: What does the yellow light on the motherboard signify when it lights up? Is it connected to the blinking yellow power button? And why are neither of these items given any sensible and comprehensive explanation in any of the Dell documentation? A full answer, for the technical bit anyway, would be gratefully received.
PC: Dell Dimension 8100
Symptoms: Switch PC on, power button is blinking yellow, yellow light on motherboard, CD player alive momentarily. Entire system stays hung in this situation. Depress power button for five seconds, system begins reset, but hangs at same point. No life from screen. Still same with everything disconnected. No system beeps. No life from diagnosis lights.
shunney
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March 21st, 2004 12:00
Hi,
Also related to the power... As Majestic said, this can happen if a power cable isn't seated properly, or if a piece of hardware has failed and is shorting the power somehow..
Shut down the system and remove all cables, press the power button to ground the motherboard, open the case and unplug all the power connectors except the motherboard and remove all the cards... Now try power up the system, if you get a green light, power down again by pressing the button and install one card at a time, checking the power each time, then on to the power connectors, same again, one at a time checking the power each time you plug one in... While doing this process if you come across the blinking amber light, you know it was the last piece of hardware you plugged in that was causing the problem... (the most common usually being the floppy drive)
If you unplugged everything and you still get a blinking light, then its probably a dead psu, also possibly the cpu (but this is rare)
Make sure you either wear a grounding strap or touch your hands on the bare metal of the chassis to minimise static charge..
Good luck
Message Edited by shunney on 03-21-2004 02:46 PM
Majestic
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March 21st, 2004 12:00
According to the 8100's Reference Guide the blinking yellow light indicates a problem with the computer's power supply. Check to see if the fan is running and the all connectors inside the system are securely attach or even try reseating them. If that doesn't work then you're possibly looking a bad power supply.
Here is a link to your Reference Guide: