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Hello, My dell inspiron 3542 had given out 3 beeps on a loop and doesn't boot into Operating system. I got the beep codes from dell forum and it says motherboard failure Following are suggested causes : chipset Error (North and South bridge error, DMA/IMR/Timer error) Time-Of-Day Clock test failure Gate A20 failure Super I/O chip failure Keyboard controller test failure and i tried to run ePSA pre-boot diagnostics as well to get specific error code. But the test wasn't able to find anything, tests ran perfectly and still i get the beeps on startup. My warranty is expired since its been almost 5 years since i got this laptop. Am i restricted to only two options? motherboard replacement or getting a brand new laptop?
fireberd
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Posted July 19th, 2019 03:00
Based on the Dell diagnosis for 3 beeps it looks like you are down to two options (1) try to find a exact replacement motherboard (a different model board will not fit or work) or (2) time for a new PC.
However one remote chance, do a CMOS memory (BIOS) reset. This will require opening the case and with it powered off removing the CR2032 coin cell battery for at least 10 minutes. No guarantee this will fix it but worth a try.
Here is the link to the Dell manual and how to access the battery.
https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/all-products/esuprt_laptop/esuprt_inspiron_laptop/inspiron-15-3542-laptop_owner%27s%20manual_en-us.pdf