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INSPIRON 1545 Time-of-day clock has stopped
Hi
My 2 year old Grandson decided to play with my INSPIRON 1545 which I had left switched on whilst I was getting dinner ready.He was tapping and banging all of the keys at once for a good 3-4 minutes or so before I could leave what I was doing to stop him as I stupidly thought that no harm could be done to the laptop's system simply by over-working the keyboard !
Within 3-4 minutes of him banging and tapping multiple keys on the keyboard my laptop shut down volountary and it wasn't untill Grandson went home a couple of hours later that I attempted to re-start the laptop and discovered that it would not " boot up ".
When I turn the laptop on I see the DELL LOGO page and within about 30 seconds I get a black screen with the message " Time-of-day clock has stopped " in the top left-hand corner. I have tried everything to get past this error message such as turning it on whilst constantly tapping F2 and then F12 and F8 but to no avail...the only two screenshots I get are the DELL LOGO screen and then the black screen with " Time-of-day clock has stopped " message.
I have tried telephoning DELL technical support but I am left on hold each time after I have given them the "service tag number "...after 10-15 of being kept on hold I give up...I have now given up about 4-5 times after going through the exact same ritual with DELL technical support 4-5 times without ever actually getting to speak to a " live technician ".
I am hoping that somebody here will be able to give me some advice as to what the problem may be and what I may be able to do to bring my laptop " back from the dead "...???
All answers wil be very much appreciated and acted upon...so the more the merrier please lol. Maybe one of you has experienced this problem yourself at some stage or maybe you have a suggestion as to what could be causing the problem...maybe someone could even just tell me what the " Time-of-day clock " is and where it might be...as to be honest I haven't got the foggiest idea and neither has any of my friends whom I have asked...?...Lol
Rapid Response Required As The Time Of Day Clock Needs Re-Winding
Thank You
Love Today
Tina { aka alfiesgirl }
ejn63
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April 16th, 2012 16:00
Time of day clock stopped means the clock chip has failed. You either need a repair shop that can solder in a new one (figure on $150 or so) or to replace the mainboard (figure on double that, or more with labor).
alfiesgirl
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April 16th, 2012 18:00
Thank you soooo much ejn63 for answering my post sooo quickly, not quite the answer I would have liked due to the expense side of things but if thats what has happened then hey...at least I now know not to keep re-trying the boot/start-up process hoping to figure out a way to get it working. So, unless I get my laptop repaired and fork out the money it appears that it will never work again doesn't it?. I have soooo many photographs on it of my Grandson since birth and my new Grand daughter that I think I have no choice other than to follow your advice and have the repairs done otherwise I will lose them all and I cannot let that happen for a 2nd time as I already lost alll of my first photos of my Grandson which were stored on my previous laptop when it got stolen...which led to me buying this INSPIRON 1545...grrrr. It never rains does it huh...it always absolutely buckets it down lol
Thank You Again
Tina aka alfiesgirl
ejn63
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April 16th, 2012 18:00
It isn't necessary to repair the system to retrieve the files (you can copy them by mounting the hard drive in a 2.5" external case and attaching it to a working system for copying purposes. It is however advisable to invest in some method of backing up the system - keeping just one copy of any data files is not a sound strategy.
alfiesgirl
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April 17th, 2012 08:00
Thank you for you advice, it is appreciated very muchly indeedy. I had all my files backed-up via the DELL online datasafe-backup service which was installed on my laptop when I bought it. I have just spoken to a guy at DELL technical support who insists that I couldn't have that unless I had paid for the service which I didn't as there is a basic version which backs up a small amount of files for free which I used to store my photos on. As I said, the basic free version of DELL datasafe only allows a small amount of files to be backed-up for free but offers an additional larger amount of online storage at a price...which I chose not to buy but still used my amount of free online backup space with my photos and a few other bits n pieces. The technician guy said that if this is the case then I should go to the DELL datasafe website, log-in and retrieve my saved files but as I explained to him I had this free basic version of datasafe pre-installed on my laptop at time of purchase and as that was over 2 years ago I have no idea what my datasafe log-in details are...the DELL tech guy then decided to tell me to take my laptop to a local engineer who will be able to retrieve my photos from my laptop at a cost. I asked if he could help me get my photos via the DELL datasafe backups I have made and he said no LOL. Oh yeah, and he told me that my laptop warranty has now expired but that he would send a technician to my home to fix my laptop which cheered me up...untill he informed me that it would cost me 359 GBP....which of course I declined as I can buy a brand new INSPIRON 1545 from SAVERSTORE.com for 349.99 GBP at which point he dropped his price to 249 GBP...which again I had no choice but to decline as I do not have that sort of money going spare and even if I had then I certainly would not spend it on fixing my DELL laptop which I have only had for just over 2 years and which went balls-up after just a few months with loss of being able to recharge the battery shortly followed by loss of being able to use the DELL supplied power supply then loss of function to my system clock followed now by total loss of computer access due to " Time-of day clock having stopped ". I would surely be a nuttah were I now to spend another 249.00 GBP on the <ADMIN NOTE :Profanity removed per TOU policy> INSPIRON 1545 which only worked as it should for a few months wouldn't I...that's not to say that I am not a bit of a fruit-cake at times...daft I may be but stupid I aint...ish ...lol.
Well thank you once again anyway and my apologies for drawing this message out as I have...I shall no go and find a box, line it with silk, say a prayer and launch my INSPIRON straight out of my open window into the murky waters of the River Thames...R.I.P...Amen xxx
ieee488
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April 17th, 2012 08:00
Did you not understand what was written in the previous post about recovering some of your files???
alfiesgirl
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April 17th, 2012 11:00
Yes...well I didn't understand a bit of it but my brother did and so he has taken the DELL laptop back to his house to retrieve my photographs as he says that he has the device to carry out your suggested file retrieval back there and will do the necessary procedures to get all of my much loved photo's onto discs for me...luckily for me you both happened to be in the right place at the right time and so thank you so very muchly indeedydo.
DELLS burial at sea is post-poned untill further notice...lol x
Love & Light
Tina aka Alfiesgirl x
AnhMyTran
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September 15th, 2012 14:00
"the clock chip has failed" means that 1) the chip itself is dead, and 2) its own battery is dead after the service time is expired.
However, I have no idea how much does the repair cost.
I have the same laptop, the same symptom and its value including a new hard drive (purchased from Dell at $100 dollars) is about $150 dollars.
The conclusion is: buying Dell products costs more than renting good laptops of other brands, even made in China.
yazzi
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October 2nd, 2012 00:00
I understand exactly what you're going through. As of 1hr ago I'm in the exact same boat as you...my dell is saying the same thing. And guess what???? Every problem you've had with your computer.. the same exact thing happened to me in the exact order. I now see it wasn't me, dell computers are just worthless. I'm writing you because I would love to know did you get your pictures and if so how? And did your computer just so happen to start working? I've had a similar problem once before and I just so happened to turn my computer on to charge my phone through the USB on my dell and said what the heck, see if it comes on and it did...I was so happy.
Haidou
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March 6th, 2015 14:00
Is there a way to fix it without paying? I can't afford that and I'm saving for a new one.. I won't have the funds for a while.. So how could I fix it now without paying anything?
ejn63
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March 6th, 2015 14:00
You can see if changing the battery (about $3, CR-2032 lithium button cell) will fix the problem. If not, the mainboard needs to be replaced. Ironically enough, boards seem to go for more than complete, used systems - which are available at $100-150 all over EBay, if you need a temporary fix.
Anthony193
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October 25th, 2015 00:00
I just ran into the same problem with my Inspiron 1545. I dismantled it, replaced the CR2032 watch battery that runs the CMOS clock, and the computer is running fine.
I began by downloading the Inspiron 1545 Service Manual from the Dell website. It gives you step-by-step instructions for replacing the coin-cell battery. But the instructions aren't clear or accurate. They aren't clear because they are intended for technicians who know how to properly disconnect/reconnect various connections. It's not accurate because it says you have t remove the processor in order to replace the coin-cell battery. That's not obvious to someone doing this for the first time.
More specifically, when you click on "Removing the Coin-Cell Battery," in the Dell manual, you get instructions for removing the system board (which is necessary). But step 8 of the instructions for removing the system board is is titled, "Remove the processor heat sink and processor (see Removing the Processor Heat Sink and Removing the Processor." If you followed step 8, you could easily ruin your computer by trying to remove the processor. YOU DO NOT NEED TO REMOVE THE PROCESSOR TO REPLACE THE COIN-CELL BATTERY.
Someone posted an excellent explanation with detailed instructions on the web, titled "Complete disassembly guide for Dell Inspiron 1545." If you follow the steps in the Dell Manual (without removing the processor) and use this other set of instructions when going through each of the steps in the Dell manual, you will have a clear and easy-to-follow set of instructions for replacing the CMOS battery.
Of course, the battery itself is inexpensive. My Inspiron 1645 had a Mitsubishi brand CR2032 battery inside. I replaced it with a different brand CR2032 battery (can't remember the brand), and when I plugged the power cord into the computer, it immediately booted up and began running diagnostics. After about 5-10 minutes, it had found no problems and gave me the option to skip further diagnostics, which I did. Then the computer booted up normally. I just had to readjust the date and time.
http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/inspiron-1545/manuals
AlexChogo
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April 28th, 2016 03:00
Try removing the CMOS battery for a while and return it. Hope this will fix.
Kec79
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February 19th, 2017 07:00
Somebody 've a video how open and change de little batery??? I ,ve tje same problem and is dificult to me pay for this and i'll do my self but i can"t open all the computer. Any sugetions to help me?? Thanks
ejn63
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February 19th, 2017 09:00
Service manual
www.dell.com/.../manuals