Precision 490 start-up problem

Hi Pete,

Did you already check your troubleshooting guide? The number 4 light indicates a normal system off state. But the 1 and 3 lights indicate a possible power supply problem.

I looked through a bunch of things before I posted this question. I had a feeling it was a power supply issue. Do you think I should just go and replace it before it dies?

Im having the same symptoms precision 490 reseated ram took out all cards disconnected drives etc., The only thing that works is leave it off for a while, with the  power disconnected,and then try again. It may have been triggered by a suspect usb hub with several memory sticks connected to it while I was doing a antivirus scan!

Id be interested in any suggestions, the documentation suggests a power problem as above!

Thanks

Did you have any luck with sorting that problem? Is it a motherboard issue or a powersupply? Mine has finally refused to boot even when stripped almost bare.

Did you replace the powersupply and did this solve the problem?

Thanks George

I am having the same problem with a few of my 490's. 3Q10 I lost 1 to this same thing, replaced the power supply, and a few weeks later I was having the same problem. I have another post explaining my other isses with these. I have 12 systems all bought in 1Q08 that run 24\7, with about 4-5 reboots a year.

I am having this issue as well, I worked around it for months by unplugging the computer while I was not using it, and plugging it back in and pressing the power button to get it to start. This worked for months, but i needed to unplug more and more bells and wissles to make it boot. It stopped booting today, even after I unpluged everything but the cpu ram and gpu, it still did not boot. Any ideas?

I have had a 490 since 2007, was to loud to be a server in my loft where I slept as well, so it been sitting for years.

I am getting diagnostic light 1,3 and power blinking.(manual says power supply) I currently have the power supply out by itself and have a paperclip in the 24 pin connector on the the green and a black. Does the same as if it was in the case and hooked up to everything.(powers up fine but once I power down it wont power back up until I unplug and leave i for a while.

Assuming its the power supply? but don't understand why it intermittent?

Be careful when replacing the superpower. It does not follow the standard spec for a 24 pin cable. I killed the computer I was having problems with to learn this.

I remember that whenever I would plug my 490 in, the fans would spin up for a second before it went back to off. I found that if I turned it on before this happened, I got better luck. Once the computer is on, it works fine for a very long time, though I was using it as a PC instead of a server.

thx, but once  turn it off it won't start up for a while?and what do you mean be careful ?

1 and 3  is related to power supply if 1 and 3 are Blinking Amber.

Solid Green ON is ram modules are installed and they are bad.

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/product-support/product/precision-490-dt/manuals

By careful, I mean that when I replaced my power supply, I got a normal one, and it killed the motherboard. 

Towards the end, It was very finicky about when it would turn on for me, I need to leave it unplugged for a while before trying.