This post is more than 5 years old
4 Posts
0
8331
March 20th, 2019 04:00
XPS 15 ram socket issue
I have a XPS 15 which now out of warranty. All of a sudden it refused to boot flashing 2 amber lights and 3 white. So RAM problem.
I have only the 2 8gb factory ram sticks in it.
I tried stick 1 on its own in slot a - computer boots fine.
I tried stick 2 on its own in slot a - computer boots fine
I tried stick 1 on its own in slot b - computer boots fine
I tried stick 2 on its own in slot b - computer boots fine
So it seems that it only fails to boot when both sticks are in together. And so it does not appear to be a ram stick issue.
What could this be? Can this be fixed or do I need to replace the motherboard? Can it still be a RAM stick fault?
0 events found
No Events found!
JOcean
11 Legend
•
12.6K Posts
•
69.5K Points
0
March 20th, 2019 06:00
It could be a CMOS battery issue. The following support page will help. Try removing the CMOS battery (coin cell) for 15 minutes and then reinstall the battery. You could also replace it with a new battery but that version of coin cell is a little tricky to find.
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/us/en/19/xps-15-9570-laptop/xps-15-9570-service_manual/procedure?guid=guid-4bc8bfac-8b48-446d-becf-20e0be1f933e&lang=en-us
https://www.dell.com/support/article/us/en/19/sln284985/how-to-perform-a-bios-or-cmos-reset-and-or-clear-the-nvram-on-your-dell-system?lang=en
NicGen
4 Posts
0
March 21st, 2019 06:00
I tried removing the CMOS battery and then plugging it in again after 1 h or so, but the problem is still there. I also got a different stick of RAM and tested all setting with it as well.
Long story short: if there is RAM i both socket the laptop does not boot (or it boots briefly and then freezes) and I get the 2 amber + 3 white blinking.
Is there anything else worth doing short of buying anew motherboard?
NicGen
4 Posts
0
March 22nd, 2019 08:00
Right now I have the laptop working but using only one RAM socket so now I have 8GB of RAM.
In order to keep working with my laptop I need my 16 GB of RAM back.
I have been told to replace the motherboard but frankly I can't afford that on the 2 years old laptop.I suggested to get a 16GB single RAM stick and keep using one part. Any thoughts on this? Since the motherboard is faulty am I likely to simply run into another problem down the road and so wasting the RAM?