Optiplex 7010 doesn't recognise HDD or powers off during start-up

Question

I have an old 7010 i5 3570 that is used once or twice to run a 32-bit account app and little else. Yes it's an old box, but not sure I want to buy new just for the accounting suite or take the hit of moving to a cloud solution and having to completely change the way we use an accounting suite. So really just trying to coax this thing along.

I posted about this issue some time back and got advice of:

It's the disk, it's the disk, but despite the HDD passing all tests including extended tests, I got a new HDD and guess what ... now change
It's the power supply, you need a new power supply. So I tried a new power supply. Guess what ... no change

The machine suffers two issues

On boot it will say is cannot find an HDD, but try and try again and it will find it
Or it will boot, get to the Dell logo and power off
Or it will boot, get past the Dell logo to the Win10 logo and then power off
But if it gets past the Dell logo, gets to the Win10 logo and the 'dancing ball bearings' appear, you know you'r good to go

Once started there are ZERO issues.

I had wondered about NVM and a motherboard battery, bt no comments on that theory. Hibernating rather the Shut down does seem to give a better chance of a restart next time around. Remember too, only used once or twice a month and so stands powered off (or hibernated) for days or weeks on end.

The machine was shipped with 1x 4GB RAM and I upgraded this to 2x 8GB ("16GB kit (2 x 8 GB) for Dell Optiplex 7010 (PC3 12800U) Memory Module RAM" from Amazon (SiQuell)). I did not get these issues prior to the memory update ... just a very slow machine.

The memory is claimed to be specifically for a 7010 but might a memory incompatibility be the cause? Note it does eventually recognise everything and this past week when it was coaxed into life I found re-seating the RAM and SATA lead resulted in 'no disk' to booting properly, so could it be a duff SATA cable or connection?

Previous suggestions included rebuilding Win10 etc., however, these problems seem well before Win10. At the bios level it doesn't seem to be recognising an HDD even those it has a new drive and once it's persuaded to crank up, happily runs without any form of issue.

So yes I know it's an old box. Yes I know it's 'only' a 4 core i5 without hyper-threading, but it is more than adequate to run a 32 bit accounting suite once a month which is its sole purpose in life.

Any ideas other than check it out and either 'go cloud' or buy another unit? NVM battery?

bradthetechnut · Accepted Answer

Replace the size 2032 CMOS battery if it hasn't been done in the last 5 years. A low battery will cause all sorts of bizarre problems, including boot issues. Duracell or Energizer is suggested as Sony only lasted me 2 years. Better deals on Amazon than in store.

I'd definitley want to try that first.

redxps630 · Answer

sounds like a complex issue. could try to isolate problem.  first suggest disconnect all devices connected to system including hdd and all usb devices.  remove all rams and install only one ram stick.  try to establish stable POST with HDD past Dell logo.  If you still get erratic POST from system, try all the other ram one at a time.  report back when you are done.

redxps630 · Answer

typo in 1st reply. It should say: try to establish stable POST without HDD past Dell logo.

If system can consistently POST with one ram stick installed only, and no HDD or any other device connected, then you have ruled out the issue with that ram stick or motherboard/BIOS. A stable POST means video passing through Dell logo screen smoothly and shows DOS preboot screen (it should say no boot device).

If indeed only 1-2 ram stick was bad, you would find out this way by isolating the culprit.

iain_h · Answer

Well now, this is precisely where I started when I originally asked about this issue; is there a NVM battery that needs replacing? Answers were in effect no, go change disk, power supply etc., but...

No, the NVM/CMOS battery has never been changed
Yes I happen to have some Energizer 2032 batteries
Yes I have now replaced it ... boy was that easy!
And yes the machine has started

The big test will be how it fares over a period of time, but so far so good. Makes me wonder why I didn't just change the thing given it was staring me in the fact each time I 'played' inside with RAM, disks or whatever.

I will report back in a few weeks. Thank you @bradthetechnut

bradthetechnut · Answer

Glad you got it working.  An Optiplex (and I'm sure others too) will sometimes throw a confusing error code if the battery is bad.  Once battery is replaced, it'll either work or throw an error code that's accurate if something else is wrong.  Replacing the battery can often be the 1st thing to try in older/somewhat ollder machines.

iain_h · Answer

Yes, simply replacing the CR3032 NVM battery has solved it. Starts every time inc. from complete Shut Down.

Now if you want to weep, go look at my thread; 'Intermittent boot issues with Optiplex 7010' on this same issue with this same machine from a year ago. I actually suggested the NVM battery, but instead I got:

Change the HDD ... despite it passing every test
Change the power supply
Change the machine ... an i5 is of not use, I apparently need an i9 10 core machine ...

But simply changing the NVM battery has indeed solved it. Should have stuck with that thought and change it a year ago

Thanks for the oh-so-simple, not to mention cheap, solution @bradthetechnut. Perfect solution

bradthetechnut · Answer

You're welcome.   Always glad to have made somebody's day. When possible, it's also nice to be able to simplify through an otherwise confusing mess.

Optiplex Desktops

Optiplex 7010 doesn't recognise HDD or powers off during start-up

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