Dimension E521 Amber Light

Question

Hello Dell Community,   got a bit of an issue on my hands here.  I was just on my Dell Dimension E521..well..it was actually sitting idle with a download going in the background while I was on my laptop... and it randomly shut off. When I inspected it, the light was flashing amber. I held the button to shut it down, then opened it up. My PSU has LED lights that light up when its on, so I hit the button and the LED flashed and then went dead again, with the button still flashing amber.    I changed the power supply in it a long while back (along with updating to an Nvidia GeForce 8600 graphics card and increasing the RAM by 1 gig) so I figured something was wrong with those parts. I switched them all out to the old parts, and still the same, so I threw them back in. When I hit the power button after that, my power supply sparked, but the LED and fans and everything stayed on like it was working. Now the light is just a solid amber. No flashing. My warranty is gone so sending it in for repairs is out of the picture. Can anyone help me fix this?   Thank you, -Travis     EDIT: I dont know if it matters, but throughout all the testing, I kept my monitor hooked up and nothing ever kicked it out of standby, so it wasnt getting a signal. Message Edited by HxC Kegger on 10-13-2008 04:55 AM

fireberd · Answer

A flashing amber light, in most cases is a power supply failure. A solid amber light, in most cases is a motherboard problem.

Mass changing all the parts at once can lead you astray. Only change or remove one part at a time, to see if it makes a difference.

HxC Kegger · Answer

Alright, I've tried that now and I still just get the solid amber light. So it sounds like my motherboard fried?

fireberd · Answer

A 'probably' would be my best educated guess.  I don't want to tell you to buy a new Dell motherboard, but with from what you say is the symptoms and what you say you've done, that is probably what is wrong.

HxC Kegger · Answer

Alright, I plugged my old Gateway into the same plus just so I'd have a machine to surf the web on, it did the exact same thing. Everything kicked on, all the fans, even on the motherboard was running, but orange light and no monitor signal. The only thing similar to the two computers was the wall socket they were using, so I switched to one on the other side of the room. Same thing happened though. So I think my Gateway is fried now too..I know it worked perfectly before now, I had it plugged in a few months back and everything ran.

I plugged my Dell into a different wall socket as well..everything is running, solid amber light, no monitor signal. I did take note though, that my graphics card fan did NOT boot (fan stayed still). I know the graphics card isnt hooked directly to the power supply, but draws power through the motherboard..so once again, sounds like a motherboard issue.

Man..2 computers down..all I have now is my laptop.

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