4600 Won't Boot!

Question

My 4600 will not boot up. Nothing on the display, Steady amber light on the power button, but no diagnostic lights on the rear. I went through the dell manual, and pulled all the drive plugs, memory, and all the cards, to no avail. Had it looked at by the local Geek Squad, and they say its the power supply and mother board. Anyone have any ideas.

shesagordie · Answer

Rangers032

Solid amber power button LED, indicates a failure of either the motherboard or the processor, mostly it is the motherboard.

Remove all the PCI cards, video card and memory, disconnect the IDE and FD cables, check that the front panel cable is connected to motherboard, with nothing else connected to the case, except the power cable, then power the system on. If you do not get any beep

codes or no LEDs in the back, then it would appear that motherboard has died.

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

Toy_Soldier · Answer

I bought a new motherboard (sealed refurb) from Ebay for about $100 (icludes s/h). Just type in 4600 Motherboard. There may be some "Buy it Now" auctions for about $99.

If you're using on board video. It may be a good time to upgrade to an AGP Nvidia 6200 128mb/256mb. I wouldnt get anything more powerful because your power supply may not be able to handle it. 6200 is the sweet spot.

Rangers032 · Answer

Thanks for all your help with my problem. One more qustion. The motherboard appears to be a Intel E210882. Do I have to install a Dell model, or will any E21882 do? Thanks.

Toy_Soldier · Answer

Not sure about the model # you posted but any '4600 Motherboard' will do while searching Ebay. All are pretty much the same.

shesagordie · Answer

Rangers032 wrote:
Thanks for all your help with my problem. One more qustion. The motherboard appears to be a Intel E210882. Do I have to install a Dell model, or will any E21882 do? Thanks.

Yes, you should install a Dell motherboard, because they have proprietary features, that standard ATX boards don't have.

Bev.

Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.
Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

Rangers032 · Answer

Just to update, my problem turned out to be the Video Card, not the Motherboard! Once I replaced it with a trial board, everything started up normally. Go figure! It will be a cold day in you know where, before I go back to the Geek Squad!

shesagordie · Answer

Rangers032   That's great.     :)   Bev.         Please don't send me questions about your system by DCF Messenger.Post the issue in the appropriate Board, where they will be answered.

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4600 Won't Boot!

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