Studio 1537 doesn't boot

Question

Hello everyone, I hope somebody can help me with my issue. My Studio 1537 doesn't boot up anymore since yesterday. Hitting the power up button will start the Notebook, the lights in the quick bar light up, the harddrive rattles, the keyboard lighting turns on and that's it. The CPU fan doesn't spin and nothing else happens. It will just stay like that and I can only turn the Notebook off. There are also no beeps. Now when I start it up with holding the FN button I will get some diagnose information at least. The 3 volume buttons in the quick bar are displaying the following state: Volume Mute off, Volume Down blinking and Volume Up permanently lighted. Unfortunately the diagnose info posted in another thread doesn't feature my combination. What does this diagnose combination mean? Thanks in advance.

Dell-Jyotpal F · Answer

Hi Chirality,

Yes it does seem to be a No Post situation on the computer. However, am sorry that the sequence of lights you have mentioned above do not match to our records here. We can still try a couple of steps and see the outcome. First lets try and remove residual power on the computer, which at times does cause interferance. The steps are as follows:

Shut the computer down
Remove any peripherals plugged in into the computer.
Unplug the charger and remove the battery from the laptop
Press and hold the power button down for 30 to 40 seconds
Plug the battery first and then the charger back in.
Power on the computer

Do you notice any change in behavior after powering on the computer? Are the sequence of lights the same? If not, then please reply with the new sequence. Another step that you can try is to reseat the memory modules on the computer and check if that helps. Also try to plug one memory at a time in each slot and see if it boots into windows. For instructions, here is the link to the service manual (refer to page 29)

ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_studio_laptop/studio-1537_Service%20Manual_en-us.pdf

Please reply with the findings.

Chirality · Answer

Hello Jyotpal, I did this already and it didn't help. I will run down what I did already: -I removed all peripherals, the battery and charger and tried various different lengths of holding the power button to discharge. I also kept the pc like that over night, it didn't help. -I tried all various memory setup configurations (1, 2, none, switched them, etc). Starting without memory properly gives me another volume diagnostic code. -I removed the CMOS Battery and put it back in. -I booted with holding down 'D' on the keyboard and the LCD switches between black, dark blue, dark red and dark green. But the change in color is very subtle as the screen is very dark when switching. I don't know if its supposed to be like that. -Booting the notebook doesn't give me any volume diagnostic lights. I have to start it while holding 'FN' to get any volume diagnostic lights. This is strange, as removing memory altogether for example gives me the volume diagnostic code automatically, without the need to hold down 'FN'. My guess is Morherboard, CPU or Video Card. But it is a bit hard to narrow down. What is confusing me is that the CPU fan doesn't start to run and basically the notebook starts into a 'dead state'. In which it is kinda powered on, heat can be felt after a while but there is nothing happening. The LCD stays black and hitting keys like num or caps lock doesn't trigger the lights, so it is indeed locked/in a crashed state. So there is no information from your side what my volume diagnostic light combination means?

Dell-Jyotpal F · Answer

Hi Chirality,

I really appreciate your technical expertise, you have tried everything that is possible. Nothing else is left to troubleshoot. It seems that the motherboard of the computer has gone bad and would need replacement. If your computer is still under warranty then I can help you in getting the computer repaired and serviced. If not, then either you can contact Dell Out of Warranty repairs on 1-800-288-4410 (applicable to USA only; working hours are from Mon to Fri 9am to 6pm CST) or you can contact a local technician and see if they have a spare motherboard which could be of use to you. If it costs you more than $250 to get the repairs done then I would recommend getting a new computer instead.

About the diagnostic light combination that you had mentioned, the mute button did not match with our records but the volume low and volume up key's behavior did match.

Appreciate all your co-operation.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

Studio 1537 doesn't boot

Was this post helpful?