The XPS GEN5 challenge - Round 2

Ron, did I ask for computer stuff to get more weird in the new year? I think NOT! However, was taking your suggestion that I may need to tell the laptop to look for another monitor. I did find in settings where you can detect a monitor. I went about hooking up the ol XPS Gen 5 monitor to the laptop but forgot to put the laptop to sleep. HEY, what was that??? The XPS Gen 5 monitor showed the laptop screen just for a few seconds just like while trying to boot up XP using the XPS Gen 5 hardware. SO does this mean  that I have a bad ol XPS Gen 5 monitor or cable then?

I put the laptop to sleep and reconnected the cable. Once I woke up the laptop it showed the laptop screen just for a few seconds. I unplugged and went to settings and reinserted the ol XPS Gen 5 monitor cable. It showed the laptop screen just for a few seconds and I hit the detect button. Laptop said I should have screens 1/2 (one and two) but  the ol XPS Gen 5 only showed the laptop screen for a few seconds. wiggled the cable at both ends, gave the ol XPS Gen 5 monitor a glaring stare but still no joy in 2017.

You're asking for trouble, connecting a monitor to a laptop like that...

If the monitor won't work with the lappy for more than a few sec, then you may have found your problem. Did you use the same video port on the monitor with both the XPS and the lappy?  Can you try a different video port on the monitor?

A new video cable is cheap but I would tend not to suspect it. If it works for a few sec at the beginning, there's no reason to think the cable would suddenly fail unless you're wiggling it around and there's a broken wire or loose connector.  

Do you have a known working monitor you can test with the XPS, even if you have to borrow one or lug the XPS to work or to a friend's place?

Hmmm, I guess so. Not that I would  know…

I did use the same port. I’ll look to see if there is a DVI plug in or another VGA. Laptop only has VGA so would need an adapter.

Nope just wiggled the connections while it was plugged in to see if any play. It was tight in the monitor.

Maybe I can get Best Buy to put the monitor on a  machine. Wow what a task to bring the machine somewhere.

Kinda brings us back to the two beeps though. Unless there is some connection with a non working monitor and the memory in the graphics card. I’ll try to see what I can find for a monitor.

Stay tuned,

Dan

As I see it, you have 2 choices as of now.

Test a known working monitor on this PC

Borrow / buy a new video card

Since the monitor showed same (mis)behavior with your lappy, that sounds like you have a monitor issue, but doesn't rule out a video card issue too. If either one failed, they could have wiped out the other...

Only you can decide how much more  time / money / hair(!) you want to devote to this antique...

Thanks Ron,

What actually happens when someone upgrades RAM? When the machine boots up will it require me to go into setup f2? Would there be something in setup that would need to be changed and might affect the monitors performance? Is there additional strain on the power supply?

The Reason I ask is that I’ve brought out the 6lb sledge to help with the adjustment of the monitor (just kidding) and found that if I start up the ol XPS Gen 5 I still here the two beeps. If I turn off the monitor and then turn it back on I get to see where I am for about two seconds. Press F1 to continue or F2 to go to setup. I pressed F1 after turning the monitor on and off a couple times so I could read the sentence on the screen. Once I hit F1 the machine booted up as I could hear the hard drive. I recycled the monitor again and saw that I was at the point to select a user to login with or power down. I tried to recycle the monitor a few more times before just powering the machine off using the mouse this time though. If I go to setup is there something I could check out? Why would it be asking to go to setup in the 1st place? Maybe just the monitor failure or card failure as you suggest.

Getting warmer…

Dan

At this point, I'd be very happy if you hit the whole thing with a sledge hammer, and put both of us out of this misery...

2 beeps isn't a listed error code for the Gen 5. Beep codes are supposed to come in 3 groups, separated by a short pause. So I don't know why you're getting 2 beeps at boot.

Do you get a diagnostic LED code pattern on the front PC panel after you boot? If not, then I still go back to a failed monitor.  Do you perhaps have a TV with a VGA input that you can test the PC with?

If BIOS doesn't detect a RAM upgrade automatically,  you can use F2 to go into Setup and tell BIOS to restore the defaults which should force it to check all the installed hardware. Or, you can pull the motherboard battery and press/hold power button for ~30 sec to force BIOS back to the defaults.

Find a geeky friend who has a spare monitor you can borrow, or use that hammer...

HAHAhehe, working on it (without the hammer)...

At the Press F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup, I am back to the green 123 diag lights -

Another failure has occurred. l  Ensure that the cables are properly connected to the system board from the hard drive, CD drive, and DVD drive.  l  If the problem persists, see "Contacting Dell" in your Owner's Manual. (Done early on and several times but no help)

A bit more messing about and I went into setup and out again with no changes made. Machine booted up XP fine after exiting setup. Logged into XP and was able to open audacity software, record a song from vinyl LP and play it back. Play a dvd. All while viewing this for a few seconds by turning on/off the monitor, Seems to me that the machine is using the new memory, Hard drive is OK, Optical Drive one is functioning was able to recognize external hard drive. All sound feasible to you as well? Would still like to know how much RAM I'm actually using.

Brings us back to the monitor and video card. I am leaning toward the monitor at issue since the darn video card thing does show what it is supposed to at any given point of boot up and running software. I observe that the monitor is not very bright when I am able to see it. When hooked into the laptop it functions in the same manner. Upon power down and reboot the machine returns to Press F1 to continue or F2 to enter setup, I am back to the green 123 diag lights and two beeps. Will receive new monitor round Wednesday 1/11and will supply update then

Dan

Sure sounds like the monitor. The backlight may have failed and goes out after only a few seconds, but turns on again when you power the monitor on again, at least until it goes out again..

Dim screen is a symptom of a failing/failed backlight...

New monitor arrived today. Gave up lunch break to setup and install. Boot up the machine and I see lights and color and the hits just keep on comin.  I hear two beeps and diag lights 1,2,3 lite  up in their   favorite shades of green. New monitor shows Floppy Disc Seek Failure press f1 to continue or f2 to enter setup. What the heck, (Maybe where Speedstep got his/her idea) I hit f1 and the machine boots up. I'm getting a monitor burn on exposed skin while I watch a movie. Monitor working nicely. All the while pondering the two beeps and adding a couple of beeps myself. WAIT, has boot sequence been desturbed?????? 8-(

Nope,

Boot Sequence

1, onboard SATA

2, onboard or USB CD-ROM

3, USB device  (not present)

4, onboard IDE hard drive  (not present)

5, onboard or usb floppy drive   (not present)

Exit Setup and XP boots up without a prob.

Your Thoughts Ron?

You're almost home...

Reboot and press F2 to open BIOS setup. Look for the Floppy Drive (aka: Drive A or Diskette Drive) controller option and DISable it.  The default setting is Enabled even if you don't have an internal floppy drive. (If you do have an internal floppy drive it may have failed so disable the controller anyway.)

Be sure to save the change before exiting BIOS setup and you should be all the way HOME!!!!!!!!!!

BTW:  here!!!   :emotion-4:

Ron, although ya spelt it kinda funny (RoHe) your da HeRo man. I've got to thank you again. Pretty wild to have the monitor fail as I was installing RAM at the same time. Perhaps would have been the end of the old XPS Gen 5. I would not have the knowledge to figure the issues from round 1 or 2 without your expertise. Thanks for the patience as well. Now I know you may not be jumping for joy but I owe you much and would be happy if you turned up in Chi-town looking for a cold beer. I'd tell ya where we could meet up for sure. Now I'm going to try an let the old beast roll over on its own. No more memory, larger hard drives, fancier CPU's. I've not got the good luck/skill for it but will put what is here to good use. Thanks so much again Ron. Cheers to you.    Respond to this thread again if your ever out my way. It should show up in my email.