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Inspiron 660 - Solid Amber Light, No POST, Won't start
Hi everyone,
Having trouble getting my Inspiron 660 started. When I press the button, it turns solid amber and there is no display. Do I need to replace a part in the computer?
Full story:
Earlier before, I clicked the sleep button on my keyboard and left my computer for a while. When I came back, the computer showed a black display but it was still awake. I left it alone for a while but I couldn't get the screen to show so I held the power button.
I then restarted hoping everything was ok but then it restarted several times by itself. It then showed a blue screen with a frowny face stating "inaccessible boot device". I decided to try Safe mode. After scanning the hard drive, it did eventually boot to safe mode. After a few moments, I did shut it down safely.
I figured after that I should try a regular boot. When I hit the power button, it stayed white but there was no display. After leaving it alone for a little bit, I tried to turn it off by holding the power button. But that didn't work. The only option I had was to pull the plug. After re plugging it back in, it now has the solid amber light, no display, no post.
Hoping someone has a solution that I at least turn my computer back on.
speedstep
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December 21st, 2015 09:00
Solid amber power button indicates Dead motherboard.
DELL-Hemalatha
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December 10th, 2015 05:00
Hi,
If the machine is working fine in safemode, then suspecting software issues i.e. windows.
Can you try remove the HD and try on a different machine if possible.
Regards
Anonymous
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December 13th, 2015 21:00
I don't have another machine but my brother does. I will try it on his this weekend.
I took a main panel and dusted off the inside. When the computer turns on, all of the fans spins and the hard drive also spins up. Still getting the solid amber light.
DELL-Hemalatha
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December 14th, 2015 06:00
Also please try with 1 memory at a time and observe any changes.
Anonymous
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December 16th, 2015 13:00
Thank you for this suggestion! Last night, I removed one of the memory chips and the computer was able to boot up. Took a while to load but I was able to get to the desktop. I proceeded to backup my important files onto an external drive.
After that, I noticed several programs wouldn't work and the start menu didn't work either. I did the SFC command and it told me that some Windows 10 files were corrupted and it couldn't repair them. I attempted the DISM process but that came with an error. Since it was becoming a long night, I shut down computer safety.
Today, I tried turning it on and while it has a white light, it doesn't boot up. The fans spin but there is no display and none of the USB ports are powered. I pressed the power button for a few seconds and it turned off but then it started up again. It went through a reboot loop where the computer starts for a few seconds and then turned off (again, no display, no USB). I noticed that during the boot loop, the green light on the power supply would be off for a second when the computer tried to turn on. Then the light would stay on dimly and when the computer was off, it shone brightly.
Does this mean there is a PSU issue?
Thanks for the help so far!
DELL-Hemalatha
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December 19th, 2015 03:00
Hi,
Nice to hear from you.
Is the machine still on one memory ?? Did we try with the second memory alone??
The best we can suggest at this point of time is to try reinstalling windows afresh (note::you will lose the data). If still the same the most probabilities are motherboard and PSU.
Is your machine under warranty??
Regards
DELL-Hemalatha
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December 21st, 2015 01:00
Hi,
We are awaiting your response still.
Regards
Anonymous
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December 21st, 2015 11:00
I don't have the solid Amber light anymore. I have a solid white light, but it doesn't want to boot up. Fans spin and none of the USB ports are powered
speedstep
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December 21st, 2015 11:00
Boot sector is damaged beyond repair then. Time to reinstall from scratch. Given the age of the system the hard drive could be BAD and need to be replaced. There are no SOFT fixes for hard damage.
Anonymous
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December 21st, 2015 14:00
How would you repair the boot sector? Stick the hard drive into another computer and repair/reinstall from there?
Emet
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December 21st, 2015 18:00
By the way, have you tried turning on your computer with the HDD disconnected? What message do you get?
Anonymous
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December 30th, 2015 15:00
Took in the computer to a local computer shop and it's a bad mobo. $200 to replace (which is not worth it to me, especially for a computer that is barely 3 years old).
Thanks for the help.