Dimension 2350: Hibernate issue or memory?

Question

A friend turned off her Dimension 2350 before going on a week's vacation.

Upon her return, the computer powers up (power light is green), but we can't seem to get any hard drive activity. I can hear it start up, but then it immediately quiets down -- as if going into hibernation. Her Dell monitor immediately reports "going into power-saving mode" or something similar. I tried a different monitor, but that didn't work either.

Diagnostic lights on the back suggest a memory module problem: A and B are yellow/amber, C and D are green. I have removed and re-seated both RAM chips, one at a time, in each slot, to no avail. Only thing that changed is when I kept both RAM chips out -- then the diagnosic lights let me know that no memory could be found.

Is it really possible, though, that both RAM chips failed at the same time, after she powered off? I would hate to buy chips if there are other things I should be looking into first.

osprey4 · Accepted Answer

Hi Dcbast,

Unlikely but not impossible. That desktop requires PC-2700 or PC-3200 DDR memory modules, which should be extremely cheap through Ebay or a local computer shop, so it would be worth trying other modules.

rdunnill · Answer

I had a problem with my 2350 ... the fix was resetting the BIOS.

dcbast · Answer

Thanks, Osprey4! You're right about the memory being cheap. Will post back when I get that installed.

dcbast · Answer

does one reset the bios, when I can't get any response from the keyboard, mouse, etc.? Seems to be no way even to get into setup.

dcbast · Answer

I have been meaning to post back; sorry for the delay.

Last weekend installed two new memory modules. Worked like a charm -- was back up and running in under 5 minutes. Thanks very much, Osprey, for confirming that this fix might very well do the trick.

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Dimension 2350: Hibernate issue or memory?

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