XPS 8700, won't power on

* Power off
* Disconnect the power cable from the XPS 8700
* Remove the cover (page 15)
* Remove the front bezel (page 22)
* Remove the top cover (page 47)
* Trace the power button module cable (page 57) to the motherboard
* Reseat the cable
* Disconnect/reconnect every other cable connecting to the motherboard
* Reconnect the power cable to the XPS 8700
* Press the power button. What happens?

I removed the top cover and moved the push button around while pressing it. The PC powered on. I think the button module is faulty.  It has to be pressed without the top cover a certain way for the power to come on. I found a replacement on eBay. Thank you!

Hi there, I have the same issue. If you would be so kind as to place the button module link that you bought from eBay, that would be awesome! Also, some tips on how to replace it would be very helpful.

Search for "XPS 8300 8700 Switching Line 0f7m7n F7M7N" on eBay.

I never installed it.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2334524.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.A0.H0.XXPS+8300+8700+Switching+Line+0f7m7n+F7M7N.TRS1&_nkw=XPS+8300+8700+Switching+Line+0f7m7n+F7M7N&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_osacat=0&_odkw=+XPS+8300+8700+Switching+Line+0f7m7n+F7M7N

very little information there, sorry,  and details matter.

• front button dead, (rear is the cheater button BIST and only proves PSU is almost ok)
• Front button pushed (FB)  and the LED on the button is dead,?  or flashes or changes to amber?
• FB pushed and all fans are silent, I guess yes. In fact whole PC silent, now.
• The PC monitor turned on last will tell you , all inputs to monitor are  dead, I sure it does that.
• PCs can do this and is normal, under ESD events or even sleep mode stuck.(bad drivers caused)
• The intel ACPI power modes can get stuck, ok? so what we all do is this first, not tear PC apart 1st.
•  DO THIS: the hard power RESET,  

This just resets power, and is fully safe  and changes no software in the PC, just resets all chips in the PC

to start fresh.

even near (not direct) lightening hits can cause what you see, and the cure is same if lucky.

Or human ESD events.

It can also be a bad PSU, if the PSU, input "POWER on" logic gates are blown, the PSU is bad.

your button BIST rear  push bypasses that.

the problem is this when you push the button the button tells the ICH chip to go to power on, the ICH then sends power on to the PSU input, and then IT  responded.

The power button can also be programed to go to sleep when pressed, there are may power modes

the above secret fix is the cure. (if lucky)

also caused by a AC line power surge too.

at mr dells steps2

step 2.5 add this,  :push the power button with no AC cable attached, 3 times, for 2-3 seconds"

when the fans stop twitching , now and only not is it save for the PC for you to yank cables inside.

if you do this wrong skipping step 2.5, this very wrong at actually cause the latchup  you  are trying so hard to cure.

really.

in a doctors office they'd call this "first do no harm"  same here.

learn to discharge all CAPS fully or you will do harm.  (im the guy that fixes your harm)

After pressing the power button on my XPS 8700, it would power up for a second or two, then right back down. In addition, after a couple of seconds, it would repeatedly try to restart every couple of seconds without even touching the power button. The LEDs on the power button would light up white while it was trying to start up, then they'd go out when the computer failed to stay turned on. The only way to stop the computer from trying to restart itself was to pull the power cord out in back.

I performed the power supply test and isolated each component as demonstrated in this YT video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=udGOe7LQJEI Everything checked out fine but did not fix the problem. Only after removing and reinstalling the video card and all four RAM chips on the motherboard, was the problem fixed.

This same symptom presented several months ago. Looking back through my notes, I see that the current remedy was the same as the previous remedy. (Guess I should've dug my notes sooner out). Anyway, this leads me to believe that fixing the problem was not a lucky coincidence in each case: I think the problem is related to the video card (probably) or the RAM chips (less likely). If it is related to either of them, I have no idea what the underlying cause of the problem is; I only know what fixes it. Regardless, now that my computer is working fine (and now all is good in the universe), I don't want to do isolated tests with the video card or RAM in case testing creates another problem I can't fix.

I hope this helps you if you encounter the same problem I encountered.

@JBAsurvey  - Since reseating RAM and video card fixed the problem twice, at least for you, it sounds like one of those is getting lose in its slot and/or has dirty contacts and/or a damaged slot.

If the problem happens again -hopefully not- use some canned air to blow out the RAM and video card slots, wipe the RAM and video card contacts gently with clean microfiber cloth. Then reinstall and carefully reseat everything in the slots. Make sure RAM retainer clips are locked, and if the video card has its own retainer, that it's securely locked too.

Your video card probably has a fan so I wonder if it's vibrating and dislodging the card just enough to cause problems. So while you're in there, use the canned air to clean that card fan and make sure it turns freely/easily.

Thank you very much, Ron.  That's great advice.  I'll blow out the slots when/if the symptoms present again.  Meanwhile, you're correct:  there is a video card fan, which has light dust on the blades.  I'll blow the fan clean tomorrow.

Did you ever find a solution I’m having the same problem? 

I did all of that, didn't work.

as am I, it just started. I know the Alienware r8 is having the same issues because I have a r8.

Hi all, my XPS 8700 has been working fine until last week when I was suddenly unable to power it on. When I push the test button on the back, I will get solid green light with the fan running (Dell Rep says this indicates my power supply is working OK). Someone earlier suggested pushing both the test and power buttons together, but it didn't work for me. I chatted w/ Dell tech support, the guy asked me to unplug power and everything else, hold power button for 30 seconds, and plug power back in, then push the power button, but my PC still refused to turn on, no lights, no beeps of any sort, nothing. The Rep gave up. I wonder on this forum, with my situation, someone can provide me with any tricks, to revive my Dell PC. Appreciated!!!