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Flashing CAPS lock , wont boot , memory issue
Dell Inspiron 1501, vista basic, pc-2 5300
Hi, someone gave me their laptop to look at as it was slow.One of the first things I noticed was excessive paging. I had some memory same type and speed from another dell which I attempted to put into the spare dimm b slot but when i did this the computer would not boot with flashing caps lock. This was a one gig stick to supplement the existing 1 gig stick.
To see if it was the memory I tried the existing memory stick in the spare slot on its own and got the same behavour so I concluded that it was a defective slot. Then put the spare memory in dimm a and it booted fine. So Spare memory fine.
So I then tried a 2gig stick from a spare Latitude e6400 pc2-6400 in the good dimm A slot as I had read that this would work fine be it at lower speed and it did, it booted up and performance was much better. However after rebooting the machine it would not POST and was beeping (not sure beeps, 1,4,3 I think?). I reinserted the memory and got the flashing caps lock light and no boot. Now the sames happens with the original memory in either slot.
I have removed all memory hd dvd and now even the motherboard battery but the same happens. I tried powering on with no memory and re-inserting as suggested elsewhere but no luck. Please help! What can I try?
DELL-Nikhil D1
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January 16th, 2013 19:00
Hi bilbodell,
I would suggest you to run MpMemory test on the computer.
If MpMemory passes, follow these steps:
Please post the results.
bilbodell
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January 16th, 2013 23:00
Thanks for the reply but the machine screen stays black and I no longer get a dell logo, the caps lock just flashes very fast.
I have tried different known good memory from another system and the same thing continues. Ho can I get to the diagnostics screen if I cant get past the logo?
DELL-Nikhil D1
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January 17th, 2013 02:00
Hi bilbodell,
Flashing Caps Lock light indicates that the memory is believed to be good but it is about to be exercised (such as when shadowing the BIOS and when testing / zeroing all memory). It could also indicate that the system is not accepting the memory module.
Please try a different memory stick, also check the memory stick you are trying to insert meets the technical specifications for the memory module supported by Inspiron 1501 as shown in the below table:
Please check and reply for any further help.
bilbodell
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January 17th, 2013 03:00
Thanks for the suggestion. The original memory which was working fine will not work, infact none of the spare memory I have will.
Putting Latitude e6400 pc2-6400 ddr2 memory in should not have damaged it should it?
DELL-Nikhil D1
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January 17th, 2013 06:00
Hi bilbodell,
I appreciate your effort of performing the troubleshooting steps; based on the results this could be a problem with the memory card slot on the motherboard of the system, as even after changing multiple memory cards the system is not responding.
If there is a possibility, try swapping the motherboard at a local tech store and check the functionality of the computer and reply.
bilbodell
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January 17th, 2013 15:00
I am looking for a replacement mother board, on the ram slot it says ouw953 48643-73j-a116, online I can only see ouw953 , will any board with this number be ok?
DELL-Nikhil D1
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January 20th, 2013 03:00
Hi bilbodell,
Yes, ouw953 is the right motherboard part number for Inspiron 1501; you can also check this part # JN596.
Check this link for your reference: http://bit.ly/UZ8LWp
Kindly reply for any further help.
bilbodell
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January 22nd, 2013 12:00
I have replaced the mainboard and it is doing the same thing! What the heck could it be? Could it be the processor??
bilbodell
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January 22nd, 2013 15:00
and it has come back again so ran diags and it froze on the memory test, lines down the screen. and now flashing caps lock again.
bilbodell
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January 22nd, 2013 15:00
okay strange it started working, with the new board. I went into the bios to set the time and now it doing the same again.
Flashing caps lock...
DELL-Nikhil D1
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January 27th, 2013 00:00
Hi bilbodell,
I must appreciate the ease with which you are handling this technical issue on your computer.
Yes you are right the problem could be with the connection of the hardware components on the motherboard. I can understand it can be annoying when the technical devices fail to work the way they are designed but before coming to a conclusion try reseating the wireless card/hard drive/memory and processor on the motherboard and run the diagnostics once again and check.
Please refer this ink to reseat the components: http://bit.ly/TFnk6w
Kindly post the results.
bilbodell
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January 27th, 2013 02:00
I picked up a replacement processor after reseating everything several times. I even had only the motherboard processoe and memory connected, all removed from the shell, it would boot occasionally but never get to the desktop before failing with flashing capslock again.
I am pleased to report the replacement processor has solved the issue. The question now is, how could memory make the processor fail and is the original board actually faulty or was it just the processor? I do not want to disassemble it again to find out! At a guess, the motherboard was faulty and this is what allowed the processor to become damaged.
?
DELL-Nikhil D1
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January 28th, 2013 02:00
Hi bilbodell,
Glad that the issue is resolved. I appreciate all your efforts in fixing the problem.
It would be difficult to target the point or the component which might have caused the damage to the processor/ motherboard without running any test.
Hope your system is working fine now, please reach out to me in for any further help.