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Go to SolutionVostro 230 - Solid Amber Power Light
Last night when I went to shut down the PC, there was a low virtual memory warning. Clicked OK and started to close some programs when the PC shut down by itself. On start-up, all I get is a solid Amber Light. Changed the power supply from another identical 230 - no go. Reset memory cards - no go. Took out memory cards - no go.
Is there anything I can do to try to isolate the problem?
4689
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Posted October 14th, 2011 11:00
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4689
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Posted October 14th, 2011 13:00
Nothing connect to the PC. Tried the cmos battery thick bu no luck.
4689
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Posted October 14th, 2011 13:00
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4689
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Posted October 14th, 2011 14:00
Did you disconnect the optical drive(s) too?
Did you check that cable from power supply to motherboard is correctly connected?
Did you check that CPU power cable is correctly connected to the motherboard?
Did you remove all PCI cards, except video, and reseat the video card in its slot (assuming it has an add-in video card)?
If this system has an add-in video card, and also supports on-board graphics, you can remove the video card and connect the monitor to the on-board graphics output.
Remove all RAM modules except the one in slot 1.
Try resetting BIOS:
Power off and unplug
Press/hold power button for ~15 sec
Open the case and remove the motherboard
Press/hold power button for ~30 sec
Reinstall the battery (right-side-up!) and see if it boots with only mouse, monitor and keyboard connected.
4689
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Posted October 14th, 2011 14:00
Disconnect the two drives and the cable for the front usb ports. Everything else is on the Motherboard. No screen, no beeps. Any other suggestions?
4689
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Posted October 14th, 2011 14:00
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4689
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Posted October 20th, 2011 10:00
I have had this exact problem with 5 Vostro 230s here in our business. It is not the power supply RAM or anything connected to the mainboard it IS the mainboard. I feel that we will have more 230s failing soon. We are very disappointed with the Vostro 230 here in the office. I can only feel that Dell knows this to be an issue with these. If I have seen 5 failures Dell surely has seen hundreds and hundreds. It happens only days after the warranty expires. I have purchased mainboards off ebay to repair ours so far at a $100 each. Good luck,
4700
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Posted October 20th, 2011 11:00
PS All the mainboards you find on ebay for the 230 are refurbs whick leads me to believe Dell has already replaced a bunch of these and sent them back to the board manufacturer who repaired them and dumped them onto the market.
4700
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Posted October 20th, 2011 13:00
greg_gourley
All of Dell's replacement parts are labeled *Refurbished*, even when they are new.
Bev.
user90121
1 Message
4187
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Posted June 26th, 2013 10:00
I had the same problem, swapped power supply no change, removed all pci cards/memory no change. Held down power button to reset mobo no change. Then I removed the cmos battery and then held down the power switch again 30 seconds, then viola, its working again. Power light went back to blue and everything is working great!