Latitude E6430 Will Not Power Up After Windows 7 Fresh Install

Question

I am hoping you may be able to give me some clues about my E6430 problem. I bought my E6430 at an auction that the company I work for had.  I used to use an E6430 at work, and I really like the performance and feel, so I wanted to pick up one of the ones that came off lease. I made sure it powered up, and I got a 'No Valid Boot' device message, due to the HD being wiped clean.  I downloaded a Windows 7 Pro ISO image (SP2), made a bootable USB and made sure the laptop booted to USB.  I had downloaded the SATA Intel SATA drivers and 'slipstreamed' them into the USB boot disk under the Dell drivers. I was able to start the install, and select the HD (Disk 0) to install.  I got a message about not being able to boot to Disk 0, but I figured that was due to the current boot selection on I selected at the beginning. Well, Windows installed, started and I thought I was up and rolling.  I changed the resolution of my screen to the highest resolution and rebooted.   My laptop never booted. When I try to boot up, the 'Caps Lock' lights briefly, then the WIFI, Power and HDD lights light up, and then I hear the DVD drive fire up, then the fan, and then ... nothing.  The wifi and power light stay on, and the HDD light has a steady blink o and off, and the screen is totally black. I've tried numerous things - pull out battery, unplug, plug back in, tried to reseat the memory, connected an external monitor to the video connector ... none of these have worked.   I am hoping I didn't just create a $140 brick! I am thinking of doing the following, just to see if it works -  1. change the CMOS battery to a fresh one. 2. Reseat as many things inside the shell as I can - all RAM sticks, CPU, etc. 3. Try a new HD, see if the system comes up complaining about new hardware (I can only hope for this!). What I don't want to have to do is buy a replacement MB, but it may come to that. Any advice?

Dell-SreejithR · Answer

Thank you for your message.

Disconnect the power cord and remove the battery, press and hold down the power button for 30 seconds, this is to release the static.

Check if the light on the AC adapter is on & does it stay on when connected to the notebook.

The LED status indicates a possible CPU failure. You can contact Dell out of warranty team & get the processor replaced.

Scott917 · Answer

Sreejith - I tried all of your suggestions, and still the same result. How do I get in touch with the out-of-warranty team?

ejn63 · Answer

Remove the hard drive from the system - will that allow the system to boot to a BIOS screen (F2 at powerup)?

Scott917 · Answer

ejn63 - Did that.  Nothing. I removed the RAM ... same thing.

ejn63 · Answer

If you do not get a two-beep sequence without RAM installed, the mainboard is bad.

Scott917 · Answer

I get no beeps.

I am hoping, if I get the CPU replaced, it will come to life.

Does Dell support replacing the main board at no cost for out of warranty laptops? A new MB is going to set me back another $150 or more.

Locked Topics – Laptops General

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