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malaproptor
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August 2nd, 2006 15:00
boot-up problem
I have a one-year-old Dimension 3000 desktop. When I turn it on with the front power button the power LED does not turn on (no green, no amber, no nothing) and nothing appears on the monitor (yes, the monitor is on). However, something is happening, because the fan in the CPU turns on. So to sum up, I can hear things happening, but no CPU lights and nothing on the monitor. Can anyone advise? Is it dead? Can it be fixed? Thanks.
malaproptor
4 Posts
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Posted August 2nd, 2006 16:00
I don't have a swap or a voltage meter, but I'll see if I can look into that.
For argument's sake, what are other possibilities if it's not the power source? Motherboard? Fried hard drive? It's been hot, and that fan really gets going.- I think the only possibilities are the power supply or something attached to the power supply that has failed dramatically.
I would try disconnecting everything you can from the PS. You can leave just the motherboard and try that. You can leave just one HD and try that (you will need to jump two pins on the motherboard power supply connector to start the power supply).
If the power supply never starts, it is the problem. If it starts only when some items are not connected, then they are the problem.
Peter - I just spent an hour and a half with tech support for, what sounds to be,this exact same issue. My Dimension 3000 is a year and a half old, and I had a couple of "Thermal Event" shutdowns before the system quit altogether. The first suspect was the power supply, but after consulting with a supervisor, the tech said that they were sending a new motherboard. The logic against a bad power supply was that the LED on the motherboard is always on, and the power for that LED must be coming from the power supply. I'm not sure that I buy that, but we will see what happens.
malaproptor
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Posted August 3rd, 2006 11:00
rufus2k: Thanks for the additional insight. I'm going to take a crack at checking the power supply tonight (though I fear I'll destroy my computer in the process). I'll see what happens. I haven't had the thermal event shutdowns, though I did have that problem on a previous computer, an eMachines notebook. On that one the hard drive eventually fried.malaproptor
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Posted August 4th, 2006 13:00
Fixed it. I just opened up the computer, poked around a little, and removed a lot of dust that had built up. Not only does the computer start up, but also the fan runs much quieter now than it had been running. Thanks for all the advice.
PETER345
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5796 Posts
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Posted August 2nd, 2006 15:00
If you have a volt meter, you could check the voltages at the power supply output and see if they are correct.
Peter