I wish that I could afford a brain new tower. I live on SSDI disabilty. I have to make due with what I can afford. I got this tower for the best price posable, I got it free
Mary G said: Time to replace that 12 yr old workhorse. Lots of deals available now at Dell.com.
When was last time the motherboard battery was replaced? It's a 3-volt CR2032 coin cell battery, ~$2.00, which you can find at big box discount stores and drugstores. I'd start with that, if nothing else than to rule the battery out, for not a lot of money.
Instructions to replace the battery start on page 99 in the Service Manual. If you can't do this yourself, maybe you have a geeky relative or friend who can help...
The bios battery did need to be changed. It now has a brand new bios battery in it. The power led is blinking yellow insted of blue now. But the tower still won't power up.
I have no idea as to when the bios battery was changed. I just got the tower a few weeks ago. But thanks for the tip. I will test the battery, I have a tester and spare batterys.
RoHe said: When was last time the motherboard battery was replaced? It's a 3-volt CR2032 coin cell battery, ~$2.00, which you can find at big box discount stores and drugstores. I'd start with that, if nothing else than to rule the battery out, for not a lot of money.
"...computer has four lights labeled "1," "2," "3," and "4" on the front." They're #13 in image on page 25 of Service Manual when PC is standing upright (tower orientation).
If all 4 LEDs are off: The computer is in a normal off condition or a possible pre-BIOS failure has occurred. The diagnostic lights are not lit after the system successfully boots to the operating system.
If the power light is blinking amber: See Power Problems in the Service Manual.
I found the diagnostic lights after I cleaned the front panel. All 4 are off. The manual says if the power light is blinking amber check the voltage switch to see if it is in 110 ac or 220 ac, it is in 110 ac. The manual also sead to check if the ps molex plug to the to the mother board is seated right, it is. The power light is still blinking amber and that's it. Still nothing else works
Manual says to check that microprocessor's power cable is correctly attached to the motherboard. That's not the same as the power connector from the power supply to the motherboard. So look near the CPU to see if there's a small cable going to the motherboard and gently reseat it.
You may have to strip it down to bare essentials to see if you can find a component that's causing the problem. Disconnect all internal drives, except boot drive, remove all add-in cards except video card, and all RAM except the one in slot 1 (check slot numbers printed on the board because slot 1 may not be the first/closest to CPU).
Then remove motherboard battery and press/hold power button for ~30 sec, reinstall the battery and see if it boots now with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected. Note, there's a chassis intrusion switch on this PC so make sure it's correctly positioned to be depressed when you close the case.
And if that doesn't help, remove the last remaining RAM module, close up and try to boot. You should get beeps from the tower because "No RAM detected". If no beeps, probable motherboard failure...
I ran through the whole list bellow. No change. I still only get a blinking amber led. The 1 thing that I can't check is the chassis intrusion switch. What happens if the switch or the contacts to the motherboard are bad? I can't pull out the plug on the motherboard for the switch. The plug is frozen. If I pull to hard on the wires, I will pull the wires from the plug. I also tried prying the plug out with a small flat blade screw driver, no go.
RoHe said: Manual says to check that microprocessor's power cable is correctly attached to the motherboard. That's not the same as the power connector from the power supply to the motherboard. So look near the CPU to see if there's a small cable going to the motherboard and gently reseat it.
You may have to strip it down to bare essentials to see if you can find a component that's causing the problem. Disconnect all internal drives, except boot drive, remove all add-in cards except video card, and all RAM except the one in slot 1 (check slot numbers printed on the board because slot 1 may not be the first/closest to CPU).
Then remove motherboard battery and press/hold power button for ~30 sec, reinstall the battery and see if it boots now with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected. Note, there's a chassis intrusion switch on this PC so make sure it's correctly positioned to be depressed when you close the case.
And if that doesn't help, remove the last remaining RAM module, close up and try to boot. You should get beeps from the tower because "No RAM detected". If no beeps, probable motherboard failure
Did you get any beeps from motherboard after you removed all RAM modules?
Search these forums for threads about that intrusion switch. IIRC, some users taped its button down so it wouldn't register as an intrusion even with the case open.
Assuming you got motherboard beeps with no RAM, you've narrowed things down. It could be CPU or video card or PSU.
Try the paperclip test on the PSU. Power off, unplug and press/hold power button for ~15 sec. Open case and disconnect main power plug from motherboard. Use bent paperclip to connect the pin socket on the PSU connector from green wire to pin socket for black wire. Plug power cord into wall. Fans and hard drive should spin up. If not, suspect a failed power supply. NOTE: Do not cut or remove any wires from the connector.
BTW: If you're using a surge protector, power strip or uninterruptible power supply, remove those and connect PC directly to a known working outlet...
Any sign of leaking, bulging or otherwise faulty capacitors on the mainboard? These systems were ground zero for the bad capacitor plague of their time -- I'd be very surprised to find one that doesn't have bad caps on it if they have never been replaced.
fireberd
9 Legend
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33.4K Posts
0
November 25th, 2018 03:00
Same as my Windows 7 forum post.
Here is the correct forum section for Precision desktop's.
https://www.dell.com/community/Precision-Fixed-Workstations/bd-p/Precision-Fixed-Workstations?ref=lithium_menu
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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November 25th, 2018 12:00
Button blinking blue? Service Manual says it may blink green.
Read the troubleshooting section in the manual and check for a diagnostics LED code.
Power supply...??
Mary G
4 Operator
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20.1K Posts
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November 25th, 2018 13:00
Time to replace that 12 yr old workhorse. Lots of deals available now at Dell.com.
reble
88 Posts
0
November 25th, 2018 16:00
I wish that I could afford a brain new tower. I live on SSDI disabilty. I have to make due with what I can afford. I got this tower for the best price posable, I got it free
Mary G said: Time to replace that 12 yr old workhorse. Lots of deals available now at Dell.com.
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
November 25th, 2018 16:00
When was last time the motherboard battery was replaced? It's a 3-volt CR2032 coin cell battery, ~$2.00, which you can find at big box discount stores and drugstores. I'd start with that, if nothing else than to rule the battery out, for not a lot of money.
Instructions to replace the battery start on page 99 in the Service Manual. If you can't do this yourself, maybe you have a geeky relative or friend who can help...
reble
88 Posts
0
November 25th, 2018 17:00
The bios battery did need to be changed. It now has a brand new bios battery in it. The power led is blinking yellow insted of blue now. But the tower still won't power up.
Steve
reble
88 Posts
0
November 25th, 2018 17:00
I have no idea as to when the bios battery was changed. I just got the tower a few weeks ago. But thanks for the tip. I will test the battery, I have a tester and spare batterys.
RoHe said: When was last time the motherboard battery was replaced? It's a 3-volt CR2032 coin cell battery, ~$2.00, which you can find at big box discount stores and drugstores. I'd start with that, if nothing else than to rule the battery out, for not a lot of money.
reble
88 Posts
0
November 25th, 2018 18:00
I looked at the service manual and the part about the diagnostics LED codes. I don't see the 4 green led's anywhere in the tower.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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November 25th, 2018 18:00
A little bit of progress...
"...computer has four lights labeled "1," "2," "3," and "4" on the front."
They're #13 in image on page 25 of Service Manual when PC is standing upright (tower orientation).
If all 4 LEDs are off:
The computer is in a normal off condition or a possible pre-BIOS failure has occurred.
The diagnostic lights are not lit after the system successfully boots to the operating system.
If the power light is blinking amber:
See Power Problems in the Service Manual.
reble
88 Posts
0
November 25th, 2018 22:00
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
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November 26th, 2018 12:00
Manual says to check that microprocessor's power cable is correctly attached to the motherboard. That's not the same as the power connector from the power supply to the motherboard. So look near the CPU to see if there's a small cable going to the motherboard and gently reseat it.
You may have to strip it down to bare essentials to see if you can find a component that's causing the problem. Disconnect all internal drives, except boot drive, remove all add-in cards except video card, and all RAM except the one in slot 1 (check slot numbers printed on the board because slot 1 may not be the first/closest to CPU).
Then remove motherboard battery and press/hold power button for ~30 sec, reinstall the battery and see if it boots now with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected. Note, there's a chassis intrusion switch on this PC so make sure it's correctly positioned to be depressed when you close the case.
And if that doesn't help, remove the last remaining RAM module, close up and try to boot. You should get beeps from the tower because "No RAM detected". If no beeps, probable motherboard failure...
reble
88 Posts
0
November 26th, 2018 13:00
I ran through the whole list bellow. No change. I still only get a blinking amber led. The 1 thing that I can't check is the chassis intrusion switch. What happens if the switch or the contacts to the motherboard are bad? I can't pull out the plug on the motherboard for the switch. The plug is frozen. If I pull to hard on the wires, I will pull the wires from the plug. I also tried prying the plug out with a small flat blade screw driver, no go.
RoHe said: Manual says to check that microprocessor's power cable is correctly attached to the motherboard. That's not the same as the power connector from the power supply to the motherboard. So look near the CPU to see if there's a small cable going to the motherboard and gently reseat it.
You may have to strip it down to bare essentials to see if you can find a component that's causing the problem. Disconnect all internal drives, except boot drive, remove all add-in cards except video card, and all RAM except the one in slot 1 (check slot numbers printed on the board because slot 1 may not be the first/closest to CPU).
Then remove motherboard battery and press/hold power button for ~30 sec, reinstall the battery and see if it boots now with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected. Note, there's a chassis intrusion switch on this PC so make sure it's correctly positioned to be depressed when you close the case.
And if that doesn't help, remove the last remaining RAM module, close up and try to boot. You should get beeps from the tower because "No RAM detected". If no beeps, probable motherboard failure
RoHe
10 Elder
•
45.2K Posts
0
November 26th, 2018 14:00
That was quick...
Did you get any beeps from motherboard after you removed all RAM modules?
Search these forums for threads about that intrusion switch. IIRC, some users taped its button down so it wouldn't register as an intrusion even with the case open.
Assuming you got motherboard beeps with no RAM, you've narrowed things down. It could be CPU or video card or PSU.
Try the paperclip test on the PSU. Power off, unplug and press/hold power button for ~15 sec. Open case and disconnect main power plug from motherboard. Use bent paperclip to connect the pin socket on the PSU connector from green wire to pin socket for black wire. Plug power cord into wall. Fans and hard drive should spin up. If not, suspect a failed power supply. NOTE: Do not cut or remove any wires from the connector.
BTW: If you're using a surge protector, power strip or uninterruptible power supply, remove those and connect PC directly to a known working outlet...
reble
88 Posts
0
November 26th, 2018 17:00
No beeps after pulling all 4 ram sticks. The power led just goes on blinking amber and that's it
ejn63
10 Elder
•
30.7K Posts
0
November 27th, 2018 07:00
Any sign of leaking, bulging or otherwise faulty capacitors on the mainboard? These systems were ground zero for the bad capacitor plague of their time -- I'd be very surprised to find one that doesn't have bad caps on it if they have never been replaced.