Inspiron 600m does not power up, flashing LED's (intermittent problem)

according to this PAGE the three lights flashing is a system board failure.

Thanks to a post by another (in a different thread), I've been able to consistently get my Inspiron 600m started by slightly twisting the base of the notebook when I press the power button.  I ran the Dell Diagnostics and got the following error message:

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Error Code 3B00:0887

Msg: Invalid interrupt count.  Expected 64h but received 0h.

Device 5705M Int NIC 0

NIC Interrupt Test

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Does this mean that the only solution is a total motherboard replacement?  It sounds like the Broadcom 5705M ethernet card is bad, but is it possible to replace only that, or is it actually part of the motherboard?

Thanks,

- Ed

The Ethernet adapter is part of the system board.

Does the ethernet port work after that laptop boots up? Could just be a short where the ethernet chip is on motherboard. Fixable by a qualified laptop tech otherwise you need new/used motherboard.

In bios disable the onboard ethernet see if it will then startup without twisting the case.

Hello Ed,

Don't feel to bad. You have just joined the thousands of Dell laptop owners with the poweron symptoms you described.

The problem is on the MB. I believe it was caused by a heat buildup. See my post on this issue. I have been dealing with it for over three years. 

I have been twisting, pulling, pounding, pressing my 600m on for over 3 years. Very frustrated that Dell can't or won't tell us what the problem is.

Sure a new MB will fix it, but I am positive there is a fix that can be performed on the MB if we were told where the problem is. I twist mine on by twistiing or lifting the front left corner while looking at the HD light. As soon as it flashes I let go and it powers on. I have had the whole system totally disassembled and can't find anything obvious.

My onboard NIC does not work as a result of this MB failure. Should be a clue Dell. Are you listening?  I tried to get a used MB from Ebay, but got stuck by a scammer.

The world is full of evil, irresponsibility, greed, corruption, lack of a conscience,   well I better not get going on that. We all know the story.

My suspicions on this failure is the socket attached to the MB that the poweron board plugs into. Lots of fine connections close together.

Also I believe this problem was initially caused by a heat buildup in the laptop causing an open that twisting the case closes. Possibly that socket I mentioned.

It could be anything from a cap to faulty solder traces - the system is relatively old and yes, parts do fail due to thermal cycling.

The cost of a replacement board is about $200 for this model - so it's cheaper than having a shop do a repair.

http://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=2739

It seems to be a progressive issue. In my case, I started seeing the odd blinking of the LEDs for NumLock, CapsLock, and ScrollLock LEDs. According to Dell, blinking indicates hardware problems. More specifically, combinations of blinking and static lights indicate specific problems--unfortunately, arbitrary in my case. 

One year later, the power button on my 600m started to misbehave. It would not start my system immediately. Several months later, the issue became worst. Particularly after automatic Stand By and Hibernate, it would fall into a long sleep mode. Today, leaving it plugged in for a while, i.e. next morning, it will respond.

I have observed that the power and battery LEDs are also indicating a problem rooting to capacitor issues. A few days ago, I was trying a number of things to recover from this irreverent silence. After removing the battery and unplugging the laptop, I observed that power LED was still on and stayed on for a little over one minute. Now, my understanding is that the backup battery only supports the BIOS ROM. Seeing the power light on for such a timeframe without power into the laptop can only point to a hardware issue.

I am not an expert in electronics, but I would really appreciate any direction that would get my computer back.

Regards,

Gregory Z

Ditto.

Twist case while powering on to get it to power up when LED lights are blinking and it won't power on. 

Weird, but it works.

Isn't this problem related to a failed Power Jack?

I have replaced it after intermitent power failures (some of them showing the leds blink)

The center pin was broken (is very thin, as you can see in the picture here: http://store.yahoo.com/cgi-bin/clink?impactcomputersmiami+rwB4XL+imp-135134.html+ )

The failure disappear after replacement.

 I was given this laptop a few days ago to fix, It had all the symptoms, blinking lights, battery or no battery...same stuff. I read where some one said that they twisted the machine to make it come on and I thought they were twisted...so when no one was looking, I twisted it....and LO N BEHOLD...I WORKED! How long is that gunna last? Oh well, It has made it 6 or 7 years by now. I just re-installed a used HDD in it before I noticed the problem, Seems like a nice little machine...Just ride the wave till it hits shore I guss....or never turn it off...........................

A couple of days later after trying some undesirable methods of starting this computer, I tried putting the pc in "stand by" mode instead of shutting it off completely (once it was started), which keeps the Mobo mostly  energized, stops the HDD, almost as if it was off. When I open the lid, it lights up nicely and regains the wifi signal and I can go about things as usual. Once the machine has warmed some, I can restart it, and it comes around just fine. Transporting it may be an issue depending how good your battery is. If it needs replacing like mine, I guess I'll just have to hurry to an outlet. This seems to be working OK for me now, Hope this idea help someone else. Good luck..................over

Laptops that dont boot up and have leds blink usually points to a power related issue. There's a power regulating chip on the motherboard, a Maxim 1987 or Maxim 1532ETL that regulates voltages to all components on the motherboard. Thanks to heat-caused expansion and contraction of this chip, it loses contact on some of its 48 pins, and the laptop starts acting up. There are tons of improvizations to force this chip back into contact with the motherboard, but the best approach is to just go ahead and resolder it.

I've helped literally hundreds of people with this same problem, and today I just repaired a non booting lights flashing Dell Latitude D610 in for repair. You can find this Maxim chip at the bottom of the motherboard, next to the docking port. All you need to do is do a redistributive resolder. The link to the repair process is for a Toshiba, but the procedure is identical for any laptop with this problem.

on 600m or d600 motherboard, there is absolutely not a maxim 1987 or 1532etl chip anywhere any ideas on what else the chip might be called.. There is also not any 40 pin chip around the docking connector Help!!!.

try looking for a Maxim 87xx or 97xx, cant remember the exact code but the Max1987 was replaced by one of these chips.