Inspiron 546, will not POST

Question

I have a 10 year old Dell Inspiron 546 that is way out of warranty period that suddenly stopped booting. After my initial troubleshooting and trying to boot the PC with a bootable CD and bootable USB, I tried to do some advanced troubleshooting.

There were no beep codes and so I could not tell if there was bad RAM or bad drive or any other blown component. I started by removing all the RAM and booting, still no go. I removed the video card and no dice. I even bought a new (OEM) motherboard and swapped that out without any success. I bought a new Power Supply and swapped that and again not a thing.

As a last resort bought a new AMD Phenom proc couple of weeks ago and even after changing that there has been not one beep from the PC. This has now got me stumped. I suspect there maybe some sort of short somewhere but don't know where to even start.

The light on the power button stays solid amber as does the light inside the motherboard. The fans all turn on but there is no other indication as to what the issue could be.

Any suggestions?

Inspiron Desktop 546
Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 945 Processor (3.0GHz, 8MB)
Thermal Module Heatsink,95W
1024MB nVidia GeForce GT 220
8 GB DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz (4 DIMMs)
1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM) 3.0Gb/s, 32MB Cache
8X BD Writer (BD Read/ Write + DVDRW)
16X DVD +/- RW w/dbl layer write capability

RoHe · Answer

Sounds like you've just about rebuilt this PC. Sure the new motherboard works?

Is the replacement CPU an exact replacement? Otherwise BIOS might not support the CPU you got.

When you removed the video card, did you reset BIOS by removing the motherboard battery and pressing/holding the power button for ~30 sec before reinstalling the (fresh) battery and then connecting the monitor to one of the onboard video ports?

Visually inspect all USB ports from the outside with a flashlight to see if any of them is bent/deformed and shorting. That would prevent the PC from booting.

Is it worth spending anymore time and $ on this PC, after all you've already spent...?

thalaivar · Answer

Thanks for the response. I have stripped it down to the bare minimum (disconnected the front panel usb and card reader cables). I have done the 30s reset with a fresh battery. Still no luck. If I knew what was wrong I would probably just junk this and move on. It is the irritation of not knowing. LOL. Currently I only have the CD drives and Hard Drive connected. If I heard just 1 frigging beep I would be so happy.

RoHe · Answer

You didn't say if the CPU is an exact replacement or something different. You might want to put the old CPU on the new motherboard since the new one doesn't make any difference, especially if it's not identical to the original CPU. Sure you reconnected all the power cables to motherboard correctly? Double-check all the connections.

Might not boot if you've disconnected front USB ports...

Power off unplug and press/hold power button for ~15 sec. Open case and remove motherboard battery. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec. Disconnect HDD and optical drive from the power connections. Reinstall battery, close up and connect only mouse, monitor and keyboard. You should get "no bootable device" (or similar error). If not the motherboard could be either dead on not connected correctly.

And I guess it could be a failure in the front panel's I/O circuit board...

thalaivar · Answer

Thanks! Yes the processor is the same model # (Phenom X4 945). When I got the new processor I tried it first on the new MB and then on the old one as well. Tried all that you listed above but no go. I think to the junkyard with this. Oh well. Thanks for your time Ron.

RoHe · Answer

You're welcome, but sorry we couldn't get it working again...

Before you send it off to the junkyard, pull out the hard drive, especially if your files aren't backed up elsewhere. You can install the drive in as a secondary in a new PC to recover your files. And if you need it, reformat the drive and use it for extra storage/backup.

Otherwise, be sure to nuke it with Dban (free) to wipe off all your personal info before recycling it.

And I guess you could try to sell the parts you bought on eBay etc...

thalaivar · Answer

Yup. I had already pulled the HD out and got the data onto my NAS. It’s a shame. It worked really well when it was working.

RoHe · Answer

You had a good run with that PC, but they all eventually go to the PC graveyard. :Crying:

Inspiron Desktops

Inspiron 546, will not POST

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