Amber blinking light

Question

I just unpacked my Optiplex 330 from a move, and it was working right before the move, but now its giving me a blinking amber light. I looked it up and saw that it is probably a power supply problem, so I got a new power supply and the same thing happened. I opened it up and started testing the connection and found that when I unplug the 4 pin plug from the power supply, it stops the blinking light. But then the CPU fan wouldnt start up and it went straight into 'Power Save Mode' on the Monitor. I dont know where that 4 pin connecter goes, but it or what it leads to does not work. Ive tried taking the RAM out, I've dusted everything and cleaned it all out, tried multiple power supplies, changed the bios battery, and there is nothing wrong with the USB ports. Is the 4 pin connector necessary? How can I fix this? Thanks.

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi Swankycailou,

I’d suggest that you follow the steps mentioned below and check if the system switches ON.

Switch off the computer.
Disconnect the power cable from the wall.
Press and hold down the power button for 15 seconds.
Then connect back all the peripherals and check if the system switches ON.

If the system is able to boot up after performing the above steps then I would suggest that you run the diagnostics on the computer by following the steps mentioned below and check if there is any issue with the hardware on your system.

Turn on or restart the computer.
Immediately at the Dell logo screen, starting tapping the key once a second until the One Time Boot menu appears (if the computer boots to Windows turn the computer off and try again).
At the One Time Boot menu, press the arrow key to highlight Diagnostics, PSA+ or Enter ePSA, then press to begin the hardware Diagnostics.
Write down any error codes listed. Reply to us with the error codes.

Dell Optiplex 330 comes with diagnostic indicators. If the computer is not starting up you can refer to the diagnostic indicators.

Blinking Amber on Optiplex 330 indicates ‘The power supply is receiving power from the source but is unable to properly distribute it to the components’. Also, I’d like to know the status of the diagnostic LEDs (1 2 3 4) which are located on the front of the chassis between the headphone and USB connectors, depending on the chassis.These diagnostic indicators are only active and visible during the POST process. Once the operating system starts to load, they turn off and are no longer visible.

Swankycailou · Answer

I did all of the first 4 steps. When the 4 pin connector is connected to the motherboard I get a flashing amber power LED light, but no diagnostic lights are on. But when I unplug the 4 pin connector, the power supply fan turns on and the amber light comes on but doesn't flash. It stays on. And still no diagnostic lights or the CPU fan are on.

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi Swankycailou, It should be an issue with either the system board or the power supply on the system. The cheapest option is to replace the power supply first and isolate the issue.

Swankycailou · Answer

I bought a new power supply, and everything is the exact same. So a new motherboard?

DELL-Ravi Ch · Answer

Hi Swankycailou, Yes this seems to be an issue with system board. You can purchase the System board from our spare parts division at 1-800-357-3355 (US only) and get it assembled.

Locked Topics – Desktops General

Amber blinking light

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