Inspiron 8200 fails POST with caps lock blinking 10 times

Question

My Inspiron 8200 fails Power On Self Test. When I press the power button, the display stays blank but the caps lock LED flashes 10 times, then the laptop shuts itself off. I have searched these forums and found information regarding BIOS LED Flash Codes. The problem is that the information I found so far does not explain a flashing LED. The information I found so far explains LED codes for LEDs that stay lit, not LEDs that are flashing. I have not seen any explanation of what it means when an LED flashes on and off. I would like to repair my laptop but want to be sure I understand the nature of the problem before I start spending money to fix it. Does anyone know the exact meaning of the caps lock LED flashing 10 times at power up? Thank you.

ejn63 · Answer

Could be the DC power board inside the system, which has been known to work itself loose. Try reseating it, and if that doesn't work, replace it.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins8200/en/sm_en/battch.htm#1084976

AussieChris · Answer

Hi,   It sounds like a memory issue. Try a reseat, or other memory. It could also be a fault with the socket.                                                                             Regards Chris

esgesg · Answer

Chris and ejn63:
Thanks very much for your responses. I tried reseating the DC power board and the memory but still get the same problem. I also tried reseating the processor with no luck. I did find that with both memory modules removed I get the 0-1-1 LED code which means memory failure and with the processor removed I get the 1-1-1 LED code which means processor not seated. So it appears the BIOS is working because it is able to correctly detect problems. The thing that still stumps me is that for the 0-1-1 and 1-1-1 codes the LEDs don't flash, they just stay lit. This is different from the caps lock error where caps lock blinks rather than staying lit, so it must be a different type of error code. Has anyone found information on what that blinking caps lock LED is indicating?

leduke30 · Answer

Try the RAM modules just one at a time and in both sockets. It may be a Bad or Loose-fitting RAM  socket

esgesg · Answer

leduke30: I have two ram modules. I tried each one alone in both sockets but still got the same result all times. The ram does not seem to be loose in the sockets. The sockets don't seem to be loose on the motherboard but that's hard to know for sure. I tried pressing the sockets down onto the motherboard while the computer was booting but still got the same blinking caps lock LED.

leduke30 · Answer

Okay, it is not Bad RAM slots and I doubt both slots and both modules would go bad at the same time. Next,  check the seating on your CPU; the pins on the cpus used in the 8200 are short and it does not take much misalignment to put them out of use.

j-f42 · Answer

hey,

i have an 600m and the same thing happens. it started once i removed my battery to check for the recall and now when i go to turn it on my screen stays blank. The led lights where the caps lock are blink as well as the hard drive(?) led next to the power led. I feel rather jilted by dell as my comuter doesn't work now because of their recall.

what can i do?

-Jeff

esgesg · Answer

leduke30: Thanks again for your suggestion. I removed the CPU. It has a lot of pins on the bottom but all look perfectly straight. The ZIF (Zero Insertion Force) mechanism on the CPU socket appears to be working fine. It seems like the CPU is being held tightly in place but I guess there is no way to know if one of the pins is loose in the socket. Most likely it is OK.   Jeff: sounds like you are having the same problem as me. The hard drive light on my laptop lights up also. This seems to be because the computer is trying to boot from the CD drive (the Hard Drive light also indicates activity on the CD drive). The error codes on the Inspiron 8200 are flashed on 3 LEDs that are in a row, with the middle one being the caps lock LED.   Maybe we can both get the answer to our problems. Any other ideas?

esgesg · Answer

I received a lot of helpful responses on this issue and tried all the suggestions but still have a laptop that won't boot. I'm willing to consider replacing the motherboard but only if I'm sure it's the culprit. The one constant with this problem is the caps lock LED flashing. There must be some documentation showing what this means. Is there anyone from Dell who can tell us what it means when the POST fails with the caps lock LED blinking 10 times?

AussieChris · Answer

Hi,   It could also be the CPU. It may be worth trying a slow CPU [ and It should also be far cheaper than the MBD. ] and it is an easy part to fit. My reason for saying this, is the flash code is from the CPU saying it cant see memory, and if both memory sticks and the sockets are OK it may be either the MBD or CPU. The MBD is the connection. I have struck a few Dell's where this was the case, the CPU was the fix.                                                                            Regards Chris

esgesg · Answer

Chris: Thank you for your response. You seem very knowledgeable and it sounds like you have a lot of experience fixing laptops. You say that the LED code means the CPU can’t read the memory. The only codes I found were the following:
1-1-1> Processor Not Seated
1-1-2> 0-0-1>Processor Failure
0-1-0> Motherboard Failure
0-1-1> Memory Failure
The code that my laptop shows is not on that table and would amount to
0-(blink 10x)-0
Were you able to find your information in a table of POST LED codes, or did you learn it by experience in fixing laptops? Have you ever seen that code being caused by something else, a bad CMOS motherboard battery for example? I appreciate any additional help that you can provide.

Message Edited by esgesg on 12-22-200609:42 PM

AussieChris · Answer

Hi,   I am suggesting the CPU as a possible cause, often you can have very different causes giving similar symptoms. My point was, that the caps lock led is a sign of memory trouble, it may be the CPU not seeing it, rather than the memory not working.                                                                          Regards Chris

esgesg · Answer

Chris: I'll try replacing the CPU before buying a new motherboard. Thanks very much for your help.

pistule · Answer

Hi,   I have the same troubleshooting since 1 week with my Inspiron 9300, so I would to know if you have replacing your cpu and if that works. Thanks.

esgesg · Answer

pistule: I haven't tried it yet. I'll post here after I try it.

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