Optiplex 755 - No errors or diagnostics lights but won't boot

Question

Hello, Previously, there was a low battery voltage error, and I replaced it. The error is gone now but it won't boot to my Windows Vista. Please help.   Best regards.

speedstep · Accepted Answer

ST380815AS is a VERY VERY OLD Drive.

These units can be upgraded to 10 HOWEVER you can get a much better much faster unit like a 9020 Tower for almost the same price as the cost of the windows licence.

There is a reason why drives have a 5 year max warranty.

Updating to the latest bios will allow drives up to and including 2TB.

https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-Internal-Drive-3-5-Inch/dp/B07H2RR55Q

This is not a hugely expensive drive.

Windows 10 is not supported but will run fine on a 755.

An OEM 10 DVD is the recommended install media.

https://www.newegg.com/microsoft-windows-10-pro-64-bit-reinstall-recovery-disc-only-no-license-key-included/p/N82E16832350238

Once installed with the I dont have a key option for Home

$109 or Pro $199 you can purchase a key from microsoft.

The individual drivers are here

https://www.dell.com/support/home/en-us/product-support/product/optiplex-755/drivers

The AMT HECI SOL drivers and Audio Drivers etc are VISTA 32 or 64 and will work with 10.

There are no issues clean installing windows 10 on the 755. There are specific Legacy Driver requirements. Windows 10 works with Optiplex GX620, 745, 755, 760, 780, 960, 980, 990 etc.

http://downloads.dell.com/published/pages/optiplex-755.html

I also have no issues with upgrade install from previous versions 1511 or 1607. Clean install from Known good media is more stable however. Bios should be updated to latest for best results. That may require reinstall of XP temporarily to get up to A22. You must update in stages you cant jump from A00 to A22 in 1 step.

https://downloads.dell.com/FOLDER01133147M/1/O755-A22.exe

9/7/2007  9:11 AM      2074224 o755-a01.exe
 10/9/2007  1:20 PM      2075454 o755-a03.exe
 11/6/2007  3:14 PM      2120223 o755-a04.exe
 2/21/2008 10:31 PM      2129305 o755-a08.exe
 3/27/2008  1:02 AM      2128247 o755-a09.exe
 6/20/2008 10:57 AM      2230747 o755-a10.exe
 9/25/2008  9:30 PM      2245562 o755-a11.exe
 1/19/2009  3:50 AM      2218273 o755-a12.exe
  3/6/2009  5:01 AM      2220018 o755-a13.exe
 6/24/2009  4:59 AM      2220070 o755-a14.exe
 9/17/2009 10:58 PM      2223999 o755-a15.exe
 1/20/2010  4:49 PM      2226516 o755-a16.exe
  4/8/2010  3:09 AM      2229703 o755-a17.exe
 6/30/2011  3:50 AM      2227846 o755-a19.exe
10/26/2011  3:11 AM      2239507 o755-a20.exe

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027322

If you have windows 10 download and create a Windows 10 1703 DVD and burn at 1X or 2X or 4X max speed and clean install. Most of the hardware works out of the box but the chipset and intel RST and video cards like the Radeon 2400, 2600, 3400, 4600, etc are also legacy. The AMD auto detect utility does not work with these legacy cards and the Audio Codec is not installed automatically.

Directx June 2010 is a must.

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=8109

You download the file, extract into a folder, and run DXsetup.exe as administrator.

This is why you can now buy these models with Windows 10 Preinstalled. OEM System Builder DVD versions of the software in 32 and 64 bit ARE available. You need at least Pentium D 900 series like the 915 or better in order to install 64 bit windows 8.1 or 10.

Pentium D 800 series works fine with 32 bit version of windows 10.

https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Windows-Pro-Flash-Drive/dp/B01019TDJ8

I tell my clients these are Free computers because the retail cost of windows home is $119 and PRO is FQC-08788 $199. I only recommend the TOWER version because they do not have proprietary power supplies and they are the most upgrade-able.

https://www.cdw.com/shop/products/Microsoft-Windows-10-Pro-Box-Pack-1-User/3797267.aspx

speedstep · Accepted Answer

You could use a Dock to try and recover the files but at this point its not likely you will get much. Not impossible but not inexpensive to recover the files.

https://www.amazon.com/WEme-Dual-Bay-External-Duplicator-Tool-Free/dp/B00PTUQE4M/

Ontrack Data Recovery could do it. They recovered data from a hard drive that fell from the sky on the space shuttle colombia disaster.

https://www.ontrack.com/en-us/blog/kroll-ontrack-space-shuttle-columbia

$450 for diag and $4500 to recover files. I have used them and they do a good job. They are not cheap however.

https://www.ontrack.com/en-us/data-recovery/mclean

bradthetechnut · Answer

At lease for now, keep your BIOS on RAID Autodetect / ACHI.

Check Boot Sequence in BIOS. Make sure your boot drive is checked. And/or make sure it shows up in Drives.

As for SATA Operation, do you remember what mode it was in when when you accessed it?

Also, try giving it more than 30 sec. to boot I have a 790 DT for backup that takes about 40 sec. to boot. (Since it's a backup, I haven't modified it any.)

bradthetechnut · Answer

Bear with me a little, it's been a while since I've dealt with dark blue BIOS.

Below is a screengrab.. It should likely be the one that matches your BIOS. BIOS sometimes reverts to another boot mode when the battery is changed. I'm hoping you're still able to access F2 BIOS upon startup.

Capture+_2020-09-22-19-23-25.png

Drives > SATA Operation. Then on the screen to the right, select RAID Autodetect / ACHI. If it's already in that mode, try another. Your PC won't break if the wrong selection is made, it simply won't boot.

If an HDD was loaded in with BIOS in ACHI mode, it won't boot in Legacy mode, and vice-versa. In the screengrab, "Legacy".didn't quite fit on the right side of screen.

appho · Answer

Hello, thank you for helping, I have tried all of the 4 options and counted for 30 seconds for each, but my windows will still not boot up.   best regards

appho · Answer

Hello,

For the boot sequence, there are 2 not present devices and I believe the one I am using (SATA0-...) is the 3rd on the list. So, there are

1. ... (not present)

2. ... (not present)

3. SATA0

4. Onboard/USB CD-ROM Drive

For the SATA Operation, I started at RAID Autodetect/ACHI.

I have tried each SATA operation for 1 minute just to be sure and still no windows boot up.

thank you and best regards

bradthetechnut · Answer

So in Drives, did SATA-0 indicate anything on the right side of the screen? Also, make sure any of your drives that show are "On." "On" & "Off" at the top of the screen.

SATA On or Off Options 1-26-19.jpg

If read your reply right, I take SATA-1 & 2 don't have anything hooked up.

appho · Answer

Hello,

SATA-0 and SATA-1 were On. I had to switch SATA-2 to On.

Edit: there was a SATA-2 error after the loading screen for dell, "Drive 2 not found..." I will disable the SATA-2 from Drives to off.

Best regards.

speedstep · Answer

These models will not boot with bad cmos.

Its gone from low to dead.

Replacing cmos WILL NOT FIX a physically bad hard drive.

DL2032 batteries are easily found because blood sugar machines use them.

They may say medical device battery but they work fine in your computer.

Most grocery stores carry them.

Sata operation may need to be set to ATA or AHCI instead of RAID there are 3 settings raid ata raid ahci raid INTEL RST aka IRRT.

bradthetechnut · Answer

Appho indicated replacing CMOS battery in 1st post and "low system voltage" error went away.

A 755 will boot with no battery and indicate low system voltage. I did it with my previous 755.

I started suspecting a bad HDD also, but then it just so happen to go bad when CMOS battery was replaced?

@appho, in BIOS > Drives, does SATA-0 show your HDD on the right side of your screen?

If not, could you post photos of 5 screens? - SATA-0, SATA-1, SATA-2, & SATA-3 and Boot Sequence.

speedstep · Answer

I have to completely disagree

PUPPY 5.2.8 LUCID

"A 755 will boot with no battery and indicate low system voltage. I did it with my previous 755."

depends on the SATA operation setting, Bios version and whether or not you are booting from hard drive or USB or CD or dvd

AND

What SATA Operation setting was when the os was installed.

There are too many scenarios where bad battery will no longer show low voltage and it will no longer boot.

Once battery is replaced you can try the various modes including ATA AHCI etc.

If it still does not boot then the drive is likely physically bad.

I make a puppy Linux LUPU 5.2 CD (Puppy 5.2.8)LUCID

for my clients with these older models.

That CDR will boot via F12 whether the hard drive works or not installed or not.

Fits on 128 meg usb flash. USB 2.0 devices are recommended and max size is 32 gigs FAT32.

This iso will boot most Optiplex models from 2011 or earlier and only requires 2 gigs of ram.

http://mirror.aarnet.edu.au/pub/puppylinux/puppy-5.2.8/lupu-528.005.iso

bradthetechnut · Answer

Well speedstep, you can call me a liar if you want, though you didn't see it for yourself.

Scenario was simple: SATA Operation was on RAID Autodetect / ACHI and booted off an HDD.

You might think I'm telling @appho to remove the battery and boot, which isn't the case. What I am saying though even with no battery or battery voltage, the thing will still boot and simply give the "system voltage is low" errror first. It's another way of saying it should still boot, as you thought there was a problem with the CMOS battery, which was replaced and eliminated the error msg. CMOS battery is ruled out.

appho · Answer

Hello, Does this mean all my files cannot be accessed? my main priority is to get the files into another usb drive.   thank you and best regards.

appho · Answer

Hello,

very sorry for the late response.

I prefer not to upload images, but i i'll try my best replicating each screen.

______________________________________________

SATA-0 (On)

...

Controller details:

*Controller = Serial ATA

*Port= SATA-0

Drive details:

*Drive ID = ST380815AS

*Capacity = 80GB

*BIOS = This drive is controlled by the ACHI BIOS

SATA-1 (On)

...

Controller Details:

*Controller = Serial ATA

*Port = SATA-1

Drive details:

*Drive ID = HL-DT-STDVD-ROM DH10N

SATA-2 (Off)

...

Controller details:

*Controller = Serial ATA

*Port = SATA-2

There is no SATA-3

SATA Operation (currently on RAID Autodetect/ACHI)

...

This field configures the operating mode of the integrated hard drive controller.

RAID Autodetect/ACHI = RAID if signed drives, otherwise ACHI

RAID Autodetect/ATA = RAID if signed drives, otherwise ATA

RAID on = SATA is configured for RAID on every boot

Legacy = The hard drive controller is configured for legacy mode. This mode provides for compatibility with some older operating systems that do not support native resources assigned to the drive controller.

RAID mode is incompatible with ImageServer. Please disable RAID mode if enabling ImageServer. The factory default setting is RAID Autodetect/ACHI.

________________________________________________________

I'm not sure there is anything about HDD if it is supposed to be in the controller or drive detaisl.

thank you and best regards.

bradthetechnut · Answer

Couple of things I'm in agreement on. 1. It looks like the HDD went bad. 2. You're due for a newer PC.

Always important to run backup of files regularly.

I don't know why the problem would surface only after changing the battery. But in another thread, after the battery was changed on a 780, it wouldn't boot and BIOS couldn't be accessed. It turned out to be a stick of RAM. https://www.dell.com/community/Optiplex-Desktops/Dell-optiplex-780-SFF-can-not-setup-bios/m-p/7699924#M45532

Optiplex Desktops

Optiplex 755 - No errors or diagnostics lights but won't boot

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