Final update on this post. The main board was dead. Thanks to the knowledgeable answers I received here from BJFox, DELL-Ravi Ch, and ejn63, and their previous posts on similar topics, I felt empowered to try another option.
My wife had an old e1405 she had abandoned after getting a new Asus machine. I suggested we upgrade the e1405 with the better parts from the e1505, CPU, ram, and HD. She wanted to be the one to do it so I walked her through the steps from the wonderful online service manual. This worked perfectly. I now have the performance of the better e1505, with the T7200 CPU and 4 gigs of ram, in a more portable package.
I can't overstate my gratitude to the respondents and to the moderators and participants who have made this board a professional and encouraging venue. This was a very rewarding experience. Thank you.
If your Dell Inspiron 6400 / E1505 do not go past the POST (Power-On Self-Test) screen, you will have to check for keyboard status lights that are lit in a sequence indicating a system problem.
I‘d like to know what light indicators you see on the ‘Num lock’, ‘Caps lock’ and ‘Scroll lock’ LEDs on the system, So that I could suggest you further steps.
I would remove the system battery, disconnect from AC power and remove the CMOS battery. This will reset BIOS defaults. Reconnect the CMOS battery, system battery and AC adapter. If you can POST after that, enter the BIOS setup to update the correct date and time.
I‘d like to know what light indicators you see on the ‘Num lock’, ‘Caps lock’ and ‘Scroll lock’ LEDs on the system, So that I could suggest you further steps.
The three lights you mentioned above all come on green immediately as I push the power button and stay on for just over 1 second and all go off at the same time. No other color, only green.
Thanks ejn63. I'd like to hear back from DELL-Ravi Ch about what the lock-lights indicate B4 pulling the proc. Not even sure how to acquire a replacement mainboard for a 6 year old laptop. Probably not a reasonable investment at this point.
Nevermind. I just found some of ejn63's old responses to previous questions about the same issue. Looks like it would take about $600 to turn this into something resembling a modern machine. And of course, for $600 I could just go out and buy a modern machine. Oh well.
Any luck yet? Have you tried with only one memory module in place, and multiple times with a different module, alternating memory slots, but only one at a time?
Thanks BJFox. Great suggestion. One of my co-workers suggested the same thing. Just tried it by exchanging the positions of the 2 DIMMs, having only one in place in each slot and switching the one that was in the DIMM A slot. No change. Probably time to try ejn63's suggestion to reseat the CPU but I have to find a service manual to figure out how to get to it.
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mikostew
9 Posts
1
November 2nd, 2012 15:00
Final update on this post. The main board was dead. Thanks to the knowledgeable answers I received here from BJFox, DELL-Ravi Ch, and ejn63, and their previous posts on similar topics, I felt empowered to try another option.
My wife had an old e1405 she had abandoned after getting a new Asus machine. I suggested we upgrade the e1405 with the better parts from the e1505, CPU, ram, and HD. She wanted to be the one to do it so I walked her through the steps from the wonderful online service manual. This worked perfectly. I now have the performance of the better e1505, with the T7200 CPU and 4 gigs of ram, in a more portable package.
I can't overstate my gratitude to the respondents and to the moderators and participants who have made this board a professional and encouraging venue. This was a very rewarding experience. Thank you.
DELL-Ravi Ch
7 Technologist
•
7.1K Posts
0
October 18th, 2012 20:00
Hi mikostew,
If your Dell Inspiron 6400 / E1505 do not go past the POST (Power-On Self-Test) screen, you will have to check for keyboard status lights that are lit in a sequence indicating a system problem.
I‘d like to know what light indicators you see on the ‘Num lock’, ‘Caps lock’ and ‘Scroll lock’ LEDs on the system, So that I could suggest you further steps.
BJFox
2 Intern
•
763 Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 17:00
I would remove the system battery, disconnect from AC power and remove the CMOS battery. This will reset BIOS defaults. Reconnect the CMOS battery, system battery and AC adapter. If you can POST after that, enter the BIOS setup to update the correct date and time.
mikostew
9 Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 17:00
Thank you for you quick response.
The three lights you mentioned above all come on green immediately as I push the power button and stay on for just over 1 second and all go off at the same time. No other color, only green.
mikostew
9 Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 18:00
CMOS battery taken out and put back in. No change :-(
mikostew
9 Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 18:00
Sounds like a plan. Thanks. I'll report back.
ejn63
9 Legend
•
87.5K Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 19:00
Reseat the CPU in its socket. If that doesn't solve the problem, replace the mainboard.
mikostew
9 Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 19:00
Thanks ejn63. I'd like to hear back from DELL-Ravi Ch about what the lock-lights indicate B4 pulling the proc. Not even sure how to acquire a replacement mainboard for a 6 year old laptop. Probably not a reasonable investment at this point.
mikostew
9 Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 21:00
OTOH, if it is possible to upgrade the mainboard and CPU to a more current setup, that might be worth looking into.
I got this machine from a friend when the HD died. I replaced the drive and loaded Win 7 on it and it has been fine for about a year.
My understanding has always been that laptops were pretty much un-upgradeable. If that is not the case, I'd like to hear more.
mikostew
9 Posts
0
October 19th, 2012 22:00
Nevermind. I just found some of ejn63's old responses to previous questions about the same issue. Looks like it would take about $600 to turn this into something resembling a modern machine. And of course, for $600 I could just go out and buy a modern machine. Oh well.
BJFox
2 Intern
•
763 Posts
0
October 20th, 2012 10:00
Any luck yet? Have you tried with only one memory module in place, and multiple times with a different module, alternating memory slots, but only one at a time?
mikostew
9 Posts
0
October 20th, 2012 11:00
Thanks BJFox. Great suggestion. One of my co-workers suggested the same thing. Just tried it by exchanging the positions of the 2 DIMMs, having only one in place in each slot and switching the one that was in the DIMM A slot. No change. Probably time to try ejn63's suggestion to reseat the CPU but I have to find a service manual to figure out how to get to it.
DELL-Ravi Ch
7 Technologist
•
7.1K Posts
0
October 21st, 2012 00:00
Hi mikostew,
I’d suggest that you follow the steps mentioned below and check for issue resolution.
1. Switch off the computer.
2. Disconnect the AC adapter from the system.
3. Remove the battery from the computer.
4. Press and hold down the power button for 15 seconds.
5. Then connect back all the peripherals and check if you are able to turn on the system
If not I would advise you to reseat the processor as suggested by ejn63.Most probably the motherboard is faulty.
Please let me know if this helps.
DELL-Royan S
4 Operator
•
3.8K Posts
0
May 29th, 2013 04:00
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