But after finally getting through to A Technical Supervisor, They are sending a technician out to replace the Mother Board and the CPU. Once I got to this level of support I have been very pleased with Dell’s support. This guy gave me his direct number and wants to be called after the repair is complete. If there is more that needs to be done, he will see that is done. I really can’t ask for anything more.
hmm the only reason a bios would stall on boot up would be that one of the devices its checking is acting up. im thinking it could be that your harddrive or ram or cd drive, or some hardware component is functioning intermittently. dells fix for all problems is to change the motherboard as its the simplest and most cost effective way to get people off their backs. regardless im glad to hear youre happy with the support youre receiving, and i hope everything works out for you.
when i first got my machine i had a small problem and they wanted to replace my 20 day old motherboard with a 'reconditioned' motherboard (all dell replacement parts are reconditioned). thankfully i refused their suggestion and found out that my problem had nothing to do with my motherboard whatsoever, but rather with a driver. you have to watch out for dell support, they can be quite messed up every now and again.
Inspiron 5160, arrived early Oct. 2004 HD failed 3-7-05
Interesting mentioning those symptoms. I had some of them but didn't think too much of them. I never expected a sudden irreversible HD failure with loss of what was on it. I don't know what Bios check is but it would periodically freeze. one time, back in about Dec. it froze in IE and I had to power down manually and then it couldn't find the HD. Was ok the next day. Tech support wanted to replace my HD then but it was working ok and I dreaded having to reload everything.
Makes me wonder if those were warnings I missed or whether its something else.
One thing though. If you haven't already backed everything up do so. I hadn't and I lost alot. Actually I did a panic back up after it coudln't find the HD the first time and copied my most critical stuff to a thumb drive. Then later I thought I had backed up more than in fact I had. Now its too late. I also was still using the manual copy method of backing up which isn't working so well as things have gotten more complex. I backed up what I thought was my Eudora email data. Turns out I copied the wrong Eudora folder--the one with the program stuff rather than my data.
I'm not a tech so I don't know what your symptoms mean, but be safe and back up.
And I also wonder about Dell's tech support. It seems that its easier for them to just do a quick troubleshoot and then decide to replace things. Someone at CompUSA told me you can't really diagnose stuff without looking at it. I don't know but it sounds logical.
So maybe while your tech is out there he can check and see if that really is the problem, although I'm not sure that Dell field techs really do diagnostic work--maybe just installation. I'd feel better if a knowledgable tech would actually take a look and make sure before they start replacing things.
If you go to one of the F keys to run a check (and if you are stuck where I think you are, that is about the only thing you can do) check to see if it is recognizing the HD. For me it showed it didn't find the HD.
Run an advanced search under Inspiron Hard drives freeze or some other similar words. There are a lot of messages out there about 5100 and 5150 HD failures.
If it does show that you don't have a HD then look under Inspiron Hard Drive FAQ. It has some suggestions like pulling and reseating the HD. I don't quite understand how or why a HD would come loose under normal operating conditions but apparently it is a known issue.
There are also a lot of messages about overheating problems. Someone said he traced it out to dust accumulating on the heat sink I think it was, so that the heat wouldn't dissapate normally. They said to use compressed air to blow it out regularly. I think they also mentioned a film of oil that the dust would stick to so if it wasn't blown out regularly it would I guess become encrusted so that blowing wouldn't then work.
Of course if you go to the diagnostic when it won't boot and it is showing the HD, then I guess its something else, but that little diagnostic from the bios check page will give some indications of what it is finding.
It's not related to HD, and it's freeze 99% times before the Dell Splash screen (which display bios selftest progress), you can't even have a chance to enter bios setup. in normal PC, if you remove HD/DVD, only with mini System (motherboard/graphics card/keyborad), you can see the bios selftest screen.
After Dell replaced the Mother Board and CPU it still periodically froze at the BIOS check screen. When it Freezes, it does not matter if you press any of the ‘F’ keys. If you try and go into Setup or Diagnostic mode by pressing one of the ‘F’ keys. It will recognize that you pressed the ‘F’ key by the Message at the top of the Screen, ie.. ‘Entering Setup Mode’. But is still freeze at The BIOS check screen. So it never gets to Setup or Diagnosis. Even if you try booting from the CD.
The Technical Supervisor has stayed in contact with me. Over a week ago Dell replaced the Memory. So far it has not Freezed. It is still too early to tell. Will keep you posted.
ILoveMullets
192 Posts
0
March 15th, 2005 13:00
do you have an external usb harddrive or any usb device plugged into your usb port(s)?
M186652
3 Posts
0
March 15th, 2005 14:00
Nothing connected to the USB ports.
But after finally getting through to A Technical Supervisor, They are sending a technician out to replace the Mother Board and the CPU. Once I got to this level of support I have been very pleased with Dell’s support. This guy gave me his direct number and wants to be called after the repair is complete. If there is more that needs to be done, he will see that is done. I really can’t ask for anything more.
ILoveMullets
192 Posts
0
March 15th, 2005 17:00
KathiMR
282 Posts
0
March 16th, 2005 03:00
Interesting mentioning those symptoms. I had some of them but didn't think too much of them. I never expected a sudden irreversible HD failure with loss of what was on it. I don't know what Bios check is but it would periodically freeze. one time, back in about Dec. it froze in IE and I had to power down manually and then it couldn't find the HD. Was ok the next day. Tech support wanted to replace my HD then but it was working ok and I dreaded having to reload everything.
Makes me wonder if those were warnings I missed or whether its something else.
One thing though. If you haven't already backed everything up do so. I hadn't and I lost alot. Actually I did a panic back up after it coudln't find the HD the first time and copied my most critical stuff to a thumb drive. Then later I thought I had backed up more than in fact I had. Now its too late. I also was still using the manual copy method of backing up which isn't working so well as things have gotten more complex. I backed up what I thought was my Eudora email data. Turns out I copied the wrong Eudora folder--the one with the program stuff rather than my data.
I'm not a tech so I don't know what your symptoms mean, but be safe and back up.
And I also wonder about Dell's tech support. It seems that its easier for them to just do a quick troubleshoot and then decide to replace things. Someone at CompUSA told me you can't really diagnose stuff without looking at it. I don't know but it sounds logical.
So maybe while your tech is out there he can check and see if that really is the problem, although I'm not sure that Dell field techs really do diagnostic work--maybe just installation. I'd feel better if a knowledgable tech would actually take a look and make sure before they start replacing things.
wy6688
65 Posts
0
April 18th, 2005 05:00
Is you 5150 still under warranty?
I have the same problem now, but my 5150 out of warranty, I don't know if dell will replace the
defect motherboard or graphic card for that is 5150 hardware design problem.
it just run 15 months now, and have replaced AC during warranty.
it due to the motherboard or graphics card design defect , and dell should
call back all 5150 product, google search indict lots of 5150 user have
almost the same problem.
I email dell support and they tell me to call out of warranty repair (so they
will charge a lots for their design defect ? ).
My toshiba and fujishu notebook run 3-4 years now without any problem,
KathiMR
282 Posts
0
April 18th, 2005 07:00
Run an advanced search under Inspiron Hard drives freeze or some other similar words. There are a lot of messages out there about 5100 and 5150 HD failures.
If it does show that you don't have a HD then look under Inspiron Hard Drive FAQ. It has some suggestions like pulling and reseating the HD. I don't quite understand how or why a HD would come loose under normal operating conditions but apparently it is a known issue.
There are also a lot of messages about overheating problems. Someone said he traced it out to dust accumulating on the heat sink I think it was, so that the heat wouldn't dissapate normally. They said to use compressed air to blow it out regularly. I think they also mentioned a film of oil that the dust would stick to so if it wasn't blown out regularly it would I guess become encrusted so that blowing wouldn't then work.
Of course if you go to the diagnostic when it won't boot and it is showing the HD, then I guess its something else, but that little diagnostic from the bios check page will give some indications of what it is finding.
wy6688
65 Posts
0
April 18th, 2005 10:00
It's not related to HD, and it's freeze 99% times before the Dell Splash screen (which display bios selftest progress), you can't even have a chance to enter bios setup. in normal PC, if you remove HD/DVD, only with mini System (motherboard/graphics card/keyborad), you can see the bios selftest screen.
M186652
3 Posts
0
April 18th, 2005 11:00
After Dell replaced the Mother Board and CPU it still periodically froze at the BIOS check screen. When it Freezes, it does not matter if you press any of the ‘F’ keys. If you try and go into Setup or Diagnostic mode by pressing one of the ‘F’ keys. It will recognize that you pressed the ‘F’ key by the Message at the top of the Screen, ie.. ‘Entering Setup Mode’. But is still freeze at The BIOS check screen. So it never gets to Setup or Diagnosis. Even if you try booting from the CD.
The Technical Supervisor has stayed in contact with me. Over a week ago Dell replaced the Memory. So far it has not Freezed. It is still too early to tell. Will keep you posted.
wy6688
65 Posts
0
April 18th, 2005 21:00