PE 600SC - no POST, no video, no power LED, but fans spins

Question

One day out of sudden my PE 600SC is down with the following symptoms:   1. Monitor go blank -- my dell flat panel power button goes amber as if there is no video signal. 2. Both the Power and HDD LEDs on the front panel keep lights up continuously. 3. No response from keyboard and mouse.   I have to push the power button for a few sec to turn off the server. When I restart by pushing the power button of the front panel, only the HDD LED lit (continuously without blinking), the power LED don't lit, but all the fans do spin up, no POST, no video at all, no beep codes nor any error messages.   My Box PE600SC P4 2.4GHz 533MHz FSB 2x512MB PC2100 DIMM, 120Gb ATA 100 HDD x 4 OS W2k3 SBS   I've check monitor and cables, they are fine with my desktop. I've switch the P4 2.4GHz CPU to another PE 650 and the CPU seems to be fine. I've change the CMOS battery, no helps.   Some times when I remove all cards, all cables except KVM, all RAM, the beep code sounds, but sometime its not.    Any advise please.   Regards, Andrew

rpn1000 · Answer

It is most likely the system board or power supply.  An after market power supply can be tried to verify if it is the power supply.  And yes because it powers up it still could be the power supply.  I think you will find it is the system board but I am trying to give you low cost options.  Just as a side note, pull out all the cards, and disconnect the CDROM and floppy, and try it that way.  Also pull out all the memory trying inserting them one at a time.

wulee · Answer

Bingo, you are right. I've just has my box up with a new power supply. Two dell engineers thought it is the MB / CPU problem initially.

They thinks power supply is unlikely because the fans spins!

Cheers,

Andrew

rpn1000 · Answer

I have been servicing PCs for 17 years and in that time it has been about 70%/30% for system board/power supply replacements given your symptoms. On the other hand when there is not power at all, it has been about 30/70 the other way. Good luck. I love my 2 600SCs. They make a great Windows Cluster.

indy_dude_smt · Answer

Anyone, know what a new system board costs for a 600sc, will I be able to use the current processor on th board, P4 2.4?

I tried a new power supply and that did not work, so must be the system board.

rajnaini · Answer

I have a similar problem no POST, no video, no power LED, but fans spins   My system does not beep during startup. Front LED's are off.   Tried replacing power cable, RAM, CD-ROM still the same.   How can I find if the motherboard or processor is dead.   Thanks in advance.

rpn1000 · Answer

Did you try a power supply.  Power cords do not usually go bad unless the cat needed a little bounce in its step.  :smileyhappy:

rajnaini · Answer

Tried replacing the power supply, that did not help.   Also found that the processor is okay. So finally it comes down to motherboard.   Where can I find a replacement motherboard? Tried searching through Dell website but could not find anything.

rpn1000 · Answer

ebay of course http://search.ebay.com/600sc_W0QQfkrZ1QQfromZR8 As of 7/8/2005 @ 9:PM EST, there is one listing with a $16.00 bid.  Good luck.

rajnaini · Answer

Thank you very much for the response.   Not sure if that motherboard works with my processor P4 2.4Ghz 533FSB. This would be a great option if I can run my current processor at lower FSB.   According to the below thread looks like the above motherboard is not compatible with my processor. http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=pes_other&message.id=10771&query.id=243671#M10771   Any suggestions? Message Edited by rajnaini on 07-08-2005 09:18 PM

rpn1000 · Answer

Oops!  the one on ebay must be the older board.that only runs a 400FSB CPU.   One of my 600SCs is the same way.  THe other one will run 533FSB.     I see three options 4 u. 1 - Buy a board from Dell, I know the have them because the are 600SCs in warranty and need to be replaced. 2 - Look for the correct mobo on ebay 3 - Look for a 600SC that has been stripped on ebay 4-  Look for another brand of board such as Tyan.  I picked up a Trinity GC-SL S2707 on ebay for $100.00.  I needed a new case but that is cheap compared to what dell wants for a 600SC mb.  You could move all the other parts to the new case and mb.

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