You're welcome Chris, glad it helped! Kind of shocked that it was the network card that failed, but participating here is teaching me at least as much as I'm passing on with suggestions.
Until someone with more knowledge of these systems replies...
You didn't mention if the system normally boots from the network, as it apparently tried to do just before it shut down. It should have run POST before it got there, but from what you're saying there was no DELL splash-screen? That it was attempting PXE boot may indicate that it can't detect the SSD (or a valid boot image on same) or that the BIOS settings somehow got changed/reset.
You didn't specify if your SSDs (either original or replacement) are M.2 or SATA (2.5"); I don't want to assume. Maybe try removing the SSD temporarily, to see if that enables you to get to the BIOS settings and diags. Hopefully there's no damage to the connector that would cause strange behavior. You could also try another AC adapter if one is available, and/or replacing the coin cell battery if you still have no luck getting to the BIOS screen.
NJDave
2 Intern
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406 Posts
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April 3rd, 2022 18:00
You're welcome Chris, glad it helped! Kind of shocked that it was the network card that failed, but participating here is teaching me at least as much as I'm passing on with suggestions.
DELL-Cares
Moderator
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27.5K Posts
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April 2nd, 2022 22:00
To ensure the security of your information, I recommend deleting any Dell-based information (Service Tag) post.
NJDave
2 Intern
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406 Posts
0
April 3rd, 2022 13:00
Until someone with more knowledge of these systems replies...
You didn't mention if the system normally boots from the network, as it apparently tried to do just before it shut down. It should have run POST before it got there, but from what you're saying there was no DELL splash-screen? That it was attempting PXE boot may indicate that it can't detect the SSD (or a valid boot image on same) or that the BIOS settings somehow got changed/reset.
You didn't specify if your SSDs (either original or replacement) are M.2 or SATA (2.5"); I don't want to assume. Maybe try removing the SSD temporarily, to see if that enables you to get to the BIOS settings and diags. Hopefully there's no damage to the connector that would cause strange behavior. You could also try another AC adapter if one is available, and/or replacing the coin cell battery if you still have no luck getting to the BIOS screen.
chrisp9au
1 Rookie
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10 Posts
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April 3rd, 2022 15:00
Thank you Dave,
I tried your suggestions after Googling my problem and finding references to network card problems.
I found that if I removed the network card I was able to get into the BIOS.
That then revealed that neither of my SSDs were being recognised, they were working fine before.
So I created a bootable USB drive and installed a fresh copy of Windows.
Boots up OK, but the network card appears to be history; so have ordered a new one.
Thank you for your time!