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April 24th, 2025 20:25
Inspiron 13 7378, not powering on
Dear Dell Support,
I hope this message finds you well.
I am writing to request urgent assistance regarding my Dell Inspiron 13 7000 laptop. The system has been experiencing critical issues with startup and power.
Over the past few days, the laptop has intermittently failed to turn on. Recently, I observed diagnostic LED blink codes including:
5 white, 2 amber – indicating an RTC power failure.
3 white, 2 amber – indicating an embedded controller/motherboard issue.
Despite multiple troubleshooting attempts—EC reset, BIOS recovery (CTRL + ESC), full battery drain, and power button holds—the system still does not boot properly and has stopped working entirely.
This device is crucial to my work and studies, and I'm currently unable to continue my tasks without it.
Please advise me on how best to proceed. If this issue qualifies for repair under warranty or service options in Nigeria, I would be grateful for further instructions.
I can provide the service tag or express service code if needed.
Thank you for your support.
Best regards,
Albert Adekanye
ejn63
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April 24th, 2025 21:13
There's no way there will be a warranty on a 2017 model system -- and the likelihood is that you would need a mainboard replacement. Given that the system is worth perhaps US$ 100 or less, the system is likely better off replaced with a new(er) one rather than paying that much or more for a repair of this one.
ejn63
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April 24th, 2025 20:32
Which model Inspiron (7638, etc.). They range from 10 years old to much newer, and the trouble codes are model-dependent.
From what I can see both are related to memory issues -- first thing to try is unplugging the system, removing the base cover and disconnecting the battery from the system board. Remove and reseat the memory module(s), assemble and test.
CodeWithKanye
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April 24th, 2025 20:45
@ejn63
Thanks for the insight.
I’m using a Dell Inspiron 13 7000 (model 7378). I actually tried the steps you mentioned earlier—unplugged the system, removed the back cover, disconnected the battery, and reseated the RAM.
It worked for a while after that, but then the system stopped powering on again and started showing different blink codes intermittently (5 white/2 amber and 3 white/2 amber).
At this point, I’m starting to suspect a deeper motherboard or EC-related issue.
Appreciate any further suggestions you might have!