Inspiron 5100 won't boot - stops during POST

Question

My 5100 started having boot issues over the past month or so. When booting the DELL logo for POST is displayed. The progress bar moves to just after the words Dell Inspiron Series and stops. The fan/disk goes to a higher pitch for a bit. As for configuration - BIOS rev is A28, upgraded to 1GB RAM and USB 1.x & 2.0 devices are attached but only the hub has power (nothing is powered on)

Initially I could reboot once and it would boot. Then it was that I needed to hold the power button a tad longer and it would boot. Now I have tried a lot of times (read this as dozens) over two days with no success.

Is there anyway to get the POST codes? I hear nothing - no beeps or tones. What might the issue be? How might I be able to check it out? I have not opened the case yet ... would like to be prepared as to what to look for first. Recommendations on opening the case would be heplfull (have not even tooked to see how to get into it yet).

Rich

ejn63 · Answer

Boot, press F12 immediately and run the Dell diagnostics.

RedcellRich · Answer

THanks - I neglected to state that I tried that and found F2/F12 only work AFTER the system test is done. My system does not get to that point ....

ejn63 · Answer

Reseat everything (RAM, drives, cards, battery) and try again. No luck? Remove the hard drive - will it complete POST then?

RedcellRich · Answer

OK. I reset the memory & battery and the system booted. I suspected memory but was looking for confirmation before reseating it. I also feared the on/off switch was failing/failed.

I would still like to know how to get the POST output for the future. Does anyone know a keyboard option? As I said earlier - F2/F12 works AFTER the POST is done. I have an old ISA-based POST tester - but that won't help anymore with a PCMCIA system as I know.

Rich

nottspete · Answer

Hi there!   Sounds like you havin fun, not. My 5100 is 2 years old an last nov I started having all sorts of problems with it. It was seeming to overheat, couldn't move it or the system would freeze, only able to power down by battery removal, trouble booting,disk errors on startup when it would, corrupted file, disk read errors, all sorts! I was almost ready to send it back to Dell as scrap!   I was a complete novice at the time and after all sorts of diagnostics, re-installing window, hours and hours on here with the help of several kind contributors, emails to dell etc one of the things that I ended up doing was revising my BIOS up to A32, as at the time, apparently their were known issues, to do with the fan that was causing overheating. It didnt stop the disk errors, but it did help loads at the time as the system seemed a lot better able to handle the heat and this relived some the stress.   The disk errors unfortunately were due to the fact that the disk was failing, and I have to say that Dell were very good and had an engineer here within 24Hrs to change it, although I do have some sort of NBD Worldwide warranty. He did tell me that there had been other cases and replaced the hard drive with a fujitsu model.   Since then I have had no problems, the laptop works lovely, never overheats even with extended use, and the disk never seems to miss a beat. I am about to investigate the fact that I cannot account for just under 5 Gig of my hard drive, no matter how hard I look, but have found other articles on this and I think is to do with how windows and the hard drive works and not the 5100 which I have enjoyed for the last 12 months. Not sure if this will help any but good luck anyway.   Pete.   P4 2.8GHz, 768RAM, XPHomeSP2,

RedcellRich · Answer

OK ... The system rebooted BUT everytime I reboot - I have needed to reseat/open up the system (memory/battery/hard drive/...). I did run diags but - surprise! Everything I ran passed. No surprise since it passed POST.

I said everything I ran - that is because I run Linux, I built the system using teh whole drive and thus I don't have a diag partition. Nor can I find the Dell Diag CD .... I will go look for the CD. Will the diag partition test show more than drive access tests?

I am rather disappointed. This system is only 21 months old and I have traveled rather little with it. As such, I have always has a notebook fan under it to keep it cool... Seems early to be having what appears to be a serious failure.

Rich

RedcellRich · Answer

Your reference to 'known issues with the fan' hit me. When looking at the underside of the laptop, the upper left towards the middle seems warm/hot to me. I thought about the fan but dismissed it since I have the laptop cooler underneath. Without any diags to ascertain what the real issue is - I am hosed. I will look for the A32 PROM update but without being able to boot to load it - I don't see that as a viable solution. I am considering spending my Saturday eve with opening up the case and seeing what might be obviously wrong. Without diag tools, I am not sure I will know what is out of order. I have built many desktops but never a laptop. I anticipate a MB is an MB.... My plan is: 1) Check to see if the fan is moving. Depending upon the cost, I may try to replace it. 2) Buy a USB enclosure for the 2.5' drive and boot that to verify it is working(and to get back into Linux - Winders bothers me). 3) See if there is a way to check the memory out.... the system may have gotten to warm and fried it. Any ideas here???? 4) I have a thought that the On/Off switch and/or power supply may be on the fritz. Having reseated things multiple times makes power, the fan you referenced and the MB suspect... There is a computer show in the area and I'm contemplating going for a new system. With this experience, Dell is no longer at the top of the list. Building my own laptop is something I considered when I bought the Dell .... I may revisit that as well... Rich

nottspete · Answer

Lol, as i said I'm a novice to this sort of stuff. Isnt the memory under the panel in the centre of the bottom of the laptop?

Sorry, I didnt realise you couldnt start the thing up at all. U could insure the comp and go out and leave a stick of dynamite under it!!

Pete.

cazint · Answer

You may end up kicking yourself after this, but have you actually blown compressed air through ALL the back vents on your laptop.  This is a well-known issue with the 5100.   Read here for the solution: http://www.geocities.com/i5100dustproblem/   good luck.

mv201 · Answer

Hi Rich,   I'm having a very similar problem right now with the same machine. I5100 stops during boot after the bar has crept most (but not all) of the way along. Bios is A29.  Just trying it now (having already done 5times) and it's booted fine - NOW i'm confused! (Hadn't tried it for 2 days) I don't think temperature's a serious problem, although it does get hot after using for a long time but the first time it happened, it'd been sat for a good 12hours before i tried turning it on.   Mike

mv201 · Answer

Tried it again later that evening, and since, hasn't managed to boot.  When it fails - and the reason I tried it when I posted the last message - it gives me a message about some device not being properly connected?! It hasn't had any knocks though, so I don't see how that can be.

RedcellRich · Answer

I never got a message about something not being connected. I did see that if I let it settle for a longer time than I was willing to wait, it would boot. I did get the compressed air and blew the fan area out. I have not played with it for a while but will over the weekend.

I did try to contact Dell but their customer service did not answer any questions. The response was - it's out of warranty. I bought a 9300 and like it. This was before their response. Due to the lack of interest from Dell support, I cancelled a very large order for their equipment at work (4 digit number of systems). The machine died within 20 months. If they are not willing to stand by that, I'm not thrilled to work with them. I did not like going to HP so we are building our own. It'll be cheaper in the end. There will be a built-in refresh as we replenish the spares. Techs are happier since they get to actually build and test things.

mv201 · Answer

Ok, since that last post mine's been working ok - hasn't failed to start once. One thing I have done since then is get it to hibernate instead of turning it off normally. It still goes to the same boot screen when you turn it back on, but it's passed it every time so far for me. I'm not hugely technically minded so don't know if this could be helping it, or the problem's just gone away. Maybe worth a try?   Mike

RedcellRich · Answer

I recall I started hibernating alot. Things tended to be okay there but eventually degraded. I am going to blow the dust our with the compressed air again (haven't used it since I did this before and test the system out. I felt there was something with the physical switch but have not checked it out yet.

mv201 · Answer

Heya - how did you get on? - I've continued with the hibernating and haven't had any problem yet.

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Inspiron 5100 won't boot - stops during POST

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