Inspiron One 20 Doesn't Display Anything

Can I assume this is an Inspiron One 2020? What version of Windows?

First, power off and disconnect the power adapter cord from rear of PC. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec. Reconnect power cord to rear of PC and see if it works when you boot.

Have you tried pressing any of the three Volume/Display settings buttons on the left edge of the screen, #18 in this diagram? The docs don't say what each button does, so you'll have to see if they're marked and/or try all of them...

Ron, thanks for the reply. I tried your suggestion, no luck. When  restarted it the light for the optical drive flashed a few times, but the hard drive led never lit up. It had earlier. And yes, I had checked the display on-off button No. 16 per the start up guide (below). Unfortunately that wasn't my problem. Got any more suggestions?

So exactly which model Inspiron AIO is this? The diagram I posted is for the Inspiron 2020 and the one you posted is different...

Is there a disk in the optical drive or a USB device connected?

Can you boot from a bootable CD or DVD?

Hey Ron, Dell Inspiron One 2020.is the only model info I'm aware of. The info is as shown on my Quick Start Guide. It has a bar code label on the back, 0V2GDJA00. No, I don't have a disk in the drive, but I have inserted a couple of different recovery disks, and nothing changed my black screen. No, there are no USB devices attached.

Well that's a different diagram than I found in the startup guide on Dell's support page for the 2020. DUH!

Are you capable of working inside the PC? AIOs are rather complicated because everything is crammed inside behind the screen, so it's not as easy as with a desktop or min-tower PC.

At this point it's hard to tell what might be the problem, especially if the power button is solid (not blinking and not amber, solid or blinking). Could be the LCD panel, the video card, hard drive...

So you may want to take it to a reputable shop for diagnosis...

EDITED

Given the age and the fact that you cant F2 F2 F2 F2  VIA PLUGGED IN USB KEYBOARD into bios could mean the screen backlight is dead or the motherboard is dead.  

Hi RoHe. I don't mind working on it, but I don't have any idea what I could do. How might I logically narrow it down and work on first things first. I'm becoming a little leery of the hard drive. Immediately after the computer died, I could hear the hard drive when I would turn it on. And yes, the power button is lit solid. But the last few times I've turned it on, I don't hear the hard drive at all, but I don't know how to confirm that's my problem. If it were, I'd be happy to buy a new hard drive and install it, but I hate to pay for a new hard drive on nothing more than my current "hunch". Suggestions?

What makes you think I can't F2 F2 F2 F2. What makes you think I have a plugged in USB keyboard?

If the HDD failed, you'd probably see "hard drive not detected" or "operating system not found" error message, assuming the LCD, video card and motherboard are all working,  but the screen stays black which points toward one of those 3 as the problem. 

If you're willing and able to work inside, you might try clearing BIOS:

1. Power off, unplug power cord from rear of PC
2. Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
3. Open up and remove motherboard battery (see the service manual for details)
4. Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
5. Reinstall the battery (using a fresh battery might be a good idea)
6. Close up and see if it boots now

What SpeedStep was saying is, given the age of this PC, and if tapping F2 repeatedly doesn't get you into BIOS setup, it's possible the screen's backlight or the motherboard failed, and I'd add video card to those two suspects.

And he was suggesting you try using a wired USB keyboard in case the receiver for your wireless keyboard, which is inside the AIO, failed.

How many beeps are you hearing between pauses?

OK Rohe. I cleared BIOS as you suggested. Afterwards, I rebooted, no change in behavior. The power button came on solid, the optical drive led flashed a few times, the hard drive light came on solid for about 5 -10 seconds, then went off for good, i.e. no disk operation (with the blinking light) ever occurred.. At that point I turned it off and went and found a USB keyboard, plugged it in, pressed the power button, got drive lights as before, tapped F2 repeatedly. No display. But, after maybe 50 or so F2's, the power went off, and after another dozen or so F2's, the power came back on and I got the same drives lights as before. Does the fact that the drive lights extinguish so quickly provide any insight as to what's failed based on a start=up sequence? I tried the F2 procedure again, got the same behavior, i.e. it turned off then turned back on, but this time I had an audible alert when it turned back on. Five quick beeps, pause for a second or so, repeat beeps. It continued this beeping until I powered it down. I only get the beeps after the power light goes out and comes back on during the F2 procedure. Does any of this suggest anything to you?

Five quick beeps, pause for a second or so, repeat beeps

Thanks ejn. I've never heard the "reserve" battery name before. There's only one CMOS battery, right? As part of the BIOS clearing procedure I did earlier, I removed the 2032. I was going to replace it as had been suggested, but instead I just tested it. I seemed to be as good as new, so I reinstalled it. Maybe not a good move. I'll go back in and replace t this time. You mention the "mainboard". Is this the board the battery sits on? I'll try replacing the battery first before I explore replacing the mainboard. I'll post with the results from that (probably tomorrow).

Hi RoHe. I'm absolutely certain I got the correct polarity on the battery. I'm less certain that I got it fully seated. I had a really tough time getting the battery out. The manual shows a release tab and makes it look real easy. I pushed the release tab as best I could, and the battery never really released. I more or less pried it out. So maybe I didn't really get it reseated properly. I reused the original battery, cause it tested really strong. I'll go back in and replace it with a new one, making sure I get it properly seated. Got any hints or tips for easily removing the battery?

Hi RoHe. I'm absolutely certain I got the correct polarity on the battery. I'm less certain that I got it fully seated. I had a really tough time getting the battery out. The manual shows a release tab and makes it look real easy. I pushed the release tab as best I could, and the battery never really released. I more or less pried it out. So maybe I didn't really get it reseated properly. I reused the original battery, cause it tested really strong. I'll go back in and replace it with a new one, making sure I get it properly seated. Got any tips for easily removing the battery?