XPS 15 9560 - Doesn't turn on - Power button blinks

Question

Hi everyone,

My laptop Dell XPS 15 9560 doesn't turn on. I tried everything I could think of but I live in Costa Rica and cannot get parts delivered easily, I'd like to find a solution before buying (again) a new motherboard.

PROBLEM: when I press the power button, the power button’s LED is constantly blinking once every 4 seconds, but nothing happens (no fans, no screen, no front LED, etc.).

BEHAVIOR: The problem appears with or without internal battery plugged in and AC adapter. There is no code appearing with the front LED, no amber no white (the front LED works because when it's plugged to the AC adapter, it shows a constant white). The power button’s LED continues this blinking pattern even if the laptop is physically closed (I can see it from the bottom without the back cover)

HISTORY: it’s from 2017 and the original motherboard died due to a power surge (in Costa Rica, it happens frequently without us noticing), so I bought a new official motherboard. It was installed by a certified Dell technician here 2 weeks ago and the computer was running perfectly. After two weeks, I simply removed the SSD M.2 NVMe out of the slot to insert it onto another computer. When finished, I've put it back in place and then the problem appeared.

DIAGNOSTIC: I opened the computer and tried things out

With or without battery, just the AC adapter, or just the battery
Removing the CMOS battery, pressing the power button for 30+ seconds to release static electricity
Removing the SSD
Pressing "d" while pressing the power button, the LED screen works fine
Removing the RAM - Swapping them - Using only one at a time, in the 2 different slots - Using another RAM
Disconnecting the LCD display

The technician says it’s the motherboard, and Dell doesn’t want to give me advices because it’s out of warranty. I am afraid the new motherboard died and I have to replace it. But I want to understand why this happened, and if my computer is cursed and has to be entirely replaced.

Thank you all for taking the time to read and for your eventual help

shinerbawk · Answer

I am having the same issue with the same model and year, with all the same symptoms, minus the motherboard replacement.

albic7 · Answer

Did you fixed?

ptgf127 · Answer

I am having a very similar issue. Don't know what to do. Will probably get a new laptop but would like to save my data.

Dudedilligence · Answer

Hey all! I know this thread is from quite awhile ago but my laptop recently started doing the same thing as everyone else. It only worked with the battery disconnected and when connected the power button would slowly blink. I tried resetting cmos, cleaning every part I could, etc etc. I did end up finding my fix though and I hope it helps at least 1 other. For me it ended up being a bad connection between the power adapter and the DC power jack socket in the laptop. Taking a look inside the socket was where I found my problem. Three of the copper pins were pinned to the outside of the socket. One of the copper pins had broken away from the wall and got stuck inside, up against the center column. I took the smallest flathead screwdriver I had and wedged it away from the center and back to the outer wall. Once I got it put back in place I made sure to angle my power adapters connector in a way that would keep that pin to the outside. It plugged in much easier than it had been recently and lo and behold my battery started charging and laptop started. Hope this helps someone!

The Big G · Answer

@Dudedilligence​ nice one Dude! Was about to give up attempting, leaving me on holiday without a pc. Flexed the pins out and its now charging fine.

TopPlunder · Answer

I seem to have similar symptoms to @Dudedilligence where the laptop will turn on if the battery is disconnected (and plugged in) but not otherwise.  My 4 centre pins weren't great, but they didn't touch the sides of the port.  Wondering if this is a battery issue...probably not worth replacing though.

XPS

XPS 15 9560 - Doesn't turn on - Power button blinks

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