I can only confirm what I have also been told by Dell. I have at one point removed all possible devices (see my previous posts)that did not involve physically cracking open the case and Dell final said that this is a motherboard issue and CPU. However, I was told they would be calling me to setup my onsite repair. That was late Friday. Hello Dell. Please come in!! I want my computer fixed. Needless to say I will be calling Dell here shortly.
I hope they figure this out and it does not cost anyone anything more than lost time.
Too bad CD removal doesn't fix the problem. That would have been too easy.
Larry, Snake, et al, try to get as much info as to exactly what Dell does to fix the problem.
Dreamstalker, your problem sounds more like it's thermal than mechanical. A legitimate problem, just not this one. Perhaps dust buildup or CPU thermal assembly became unseated or has failed. Thermal grease problem is also a possibility. Strange LED behavior could easily be due to overheated CPU or other components.
Ball now shifts to Dell's court. We'll be monitoring for the result, hoping that our machines don't fail in the interim. Good luck.
It took me 3 weeks of email run-around to get the (apparent) go-ahead that I would be shipped a new HD...their "fix" for what is likely a hardware problem? Reinstall Windows. Yeah. I can't afford to be without this computer for too long as this is my only comp here at school...
BIOS A29 (I'm now very hesitant to upgrade as the bulk of problems seem to be with the newest bios), no SP2 as I've heard too many horror stories about people who tried to install it. Temps seem fine now. I'll check the screw when I shut down for the night...
Chiming in here...I haven't tested this particular problem yet (just applied pressure to the spot mentioned and nothing happened), but something similar happened to me a few minutes ago, and my hands were not on the case. I noticed my CPU temps spiking, so I shut down through Windows. Power LED remained blinking even though power was off. Drive LED was flickering; I already have a ticket in to be shipped a new HD as this one is acting wonky and I thought it was that. I power up, 1 second fan, then shut down again, blinking power LED as if on standby. Repeat 3 or 4 times before it finally started up as normal; CPU temp spiked to 54 then came back down to 32 (degrees C) where it is now.
I also purchased mine in early January. BIOS A29 (came with the laptop).
I'm pretty surprised to find this thread. I ordered my 5150 in December 2003 and just this past Saturday (10/2) it started acting crazy like all of yours. If I even tilted it slightly it would cut power and almost go to restart.. the screen was black, the power light was on, and the fan was running and that was about all it did. If I tilted it more it would continue to do that even from the messed up state. I gave it a good (non-violent) shake and it actually stopped doing that, although it isn't completely better..
If I put it on standy and pack it up in my laptop carrying case, by the time I get to wherever I am going it ends up messed up again. Only now the power light is off, the rest is the same.. black screen and fan is running. I've never tried poking it, though I bumped into my desk pretty hard on accident and that triggered it once.
I was hoping to find a solution but I guess I'll call Dell. I doubt the guy in India will care that there is a whole thread of people having the same problem with the same model and about the same age computers, but I'll mention that anyway.
When I called Dell, I did in fact mention that there was a thread in the general hardware forum where a good number of people had the same problem I was having... she heard me, but didnt make any comments on it.
Go figure.
It would be nice if they would really recognize this problem as it's obviously widespread.. and it seems new people are popping up with the same symptoms every day
hopefully I receive my box to ship this back tomorrow. The problem is getting worse and worse. I barely even move the notebook.. and it locks up. It used to do it a handful of times a day, now, it appears its everytime I touch underneath.. or adjuster the monitor. ANY movement really will lock this thing up. I am probably going to go ahead and shut it down in a few minutes and remove the hard drive and get it ready to ship back. Luckily I have a desktop computer I can still do some stuff on.
Anyone and everyone who is having this problem please dont forget to post your experiences with it in this thread!! :)
I am supposed to receive my box to ship this thing out tomorrow. I was a little disappointed with the tech support, although I really don't know what else I should have expected. After dealing with the tech guy on the phone for about 40 minutes, he says "It sounds like something inside is loose" and then tells me I need to ship it in (which I expected having read this thread). When he transfered me to someone to work out the details of me shipping this out, the new person says at the last minute, "So one last time, your computer shuts down completely randomly. There is no pattern at all, correct?"
So what was I even talking to the tech guy about? I thought I made it pretty clear what caused my computer to mess up, and yet if that person had not tried to confirm the problem they would have received it thinking the computer sits there and shuts off on its own completely at random.
I also did mention the fact that there is a thread here of people having pretty much the exact same problem but he didn't care. I suppose it isn't his job to care, though, he has enough calls for help each day where "there is a thread with a problem like mine..." just doesn't mean anything. I understand that.
Well, good luck to the rest of you. I think most people here have already shipped, or are in the process of shipping, their laptops to Dell right?
I should be getting my box sometime today or tomorrow. I am going to type up a letter describing the problem and tape it to my notebook so the tech people can actually read it. I just want to be sure they know EXACTYLY what the problem is, you know?
That's a good idea. I did that to mine today, because it was supposed to be collected by DHL. However, it's now 6.20 pm and they haven't turned up. I'm just glad someone else happened to be home so that I didn't have to take the day off work to be in when they were supposed to collect it.
Its my fault.. but I figured I would try to load some more songs onto my 20 gig iPod. So I hookeed it up to my 5150 and tried to be as gentle as ever with the notebook so it would not lock up on me. Of course I just barely hit my desk..it moved the notebook and bam.. notebook locks up. What happens? I lose all 3000 songs on my iPod. I have about 2000 on my hard drive but the rest are from me ripping my CDs.
What a pain!!!!
And the notebook is to the point now where if I touch it barely.. it locks up. It went from bad to worse in a day. I hope i get the box to ship it back in tomorrow so I can get this taken care of..
1) I don't think this has anything to do with XP SP2. I can power the computer, apply pressure to the chassis before Windows XP even starts loading, and get it to shut off. Unless SP2 somehow installs itself into the BIOS, IMHO it's been eliminated as a possibility.
2) Has anyone other than lisowskimf removed the modem? I know it wouldn't boot for him after he removed the modem and numerous other peripherals but perhaps it was still in a hung state. Sometimes if I try to boot from AC power it constantly hangs until I unplug AC power and the battery and then put the battery back in and boot off it alone. I would like to see if the shut down event occurs when the modem is present in the system. I constantly use my modem because I am a contractor for the government and can't plug into their Ethernet network unless they take ownership of my laptop, so I am always dialed up at work to an ISP instead. Since this odd problem began I have lost dial up connection probably a half a dozen times as well, so I am wondering if this is a bad modem issue. I don't have my little screwdriver here at work, so tonight I will take it out and give it some tests. I can't really afford to be without the laptop for a week or more so if it's just a modem issue, I'll go buy a PCMCIA modem and eat the costs even if it's under warranty. If anyone can test this before I get home tonight, please post results here.
When I called tech support the guy had me remove everything but one of the memory sticks and the hard drive. He even had me switch memory sticks to make sure they were both ok on their own. It still loaded just fine, and still had the same problem with movement and touch.
The problem will occur well before windows loads, and will even happen from its messed up state of semi-on. It has also happened twice without anyone being near the computer. Maybe the hard drive spinning was too much shaking for it, or maybe those two were just random.
Let's wait 'n see what Dell does to fix the returned machines. Intuition would argue against SP2 having any effect, but what else has happened to cause all of these machines to fail within past 2-3 weeks when many users were upgrading? If something loose or shorting, the failures should have been random/spread out over time.
lisowskimf
63 Posts
0
October 6th, 2004 01:00
I can only confirm what I have also been told by Dell. I have at one point removed all possible devices (see my previous posts)that did not involve physically cracking open the case and Dell final said that this is a motherboard issue and CPU. However, I was told they would be calling me to setup my onsite repair. That was late Friday. Hello Dell. Please come in!! I want my computer fixed. Needless to say I will be calling Dell here shortly.
I hope they figure this out and it does not cost anyone anything more than lost time.
dspman
306 Posts
0
October 6th, 2004 01:00
Dreamstalker
51 Posts
0
October 6th, 2004 01:00
BIOS A29 (I'm now very hesitant to upgrade as the bulk of problems seem to be with the newest bios), no SP2 as I've heard too many horror stories about people who tried to install it. Temps seem fine now. I'll check the screw when I shut down for the night...
Dreamstalker
51 Posts
0
October 6th, 2004 01:00
I also purchased mine in early January. BIOS A29 (came with the laptop).
the_underscore
3 Posts
0
October 6th, 2004 02:00
I'm pretty surprised to find this thread. I ordered my 5150 in December 2003 and just this past Saturday (10/2) it started acting crazy like all of yours. If I even tilted it slightly it would cut power and almost go to restart.. the screen was black, the power light was on, and the fan was running and that was about all it did. If I tilted it more it would continue to do that even from the messed up state. I gave it a good (non-violent) shake and it actually stopped doing that, although it isn't completely better..
If I put it on standy and pack it up in my laptop carrying case, by the time I get to wherever I am going it ends up messed up again. Only now the power light is off, the rest is the same.. black screen and fan is running. I've never tried poking it, though I bumped into my desk pretty hard on accident and that triggered it once.
I was hoping to find a solution but I guess I'll call Dell. I doubt the guy in India will care that there is a whole thread of people having the same problem with the same model and about the same age computers, but I'll mention that anyway.
lisowskimf
63 Posts
0
October 6th, 2004 02:00
KingSnake1
2 Intern
•
193 Posts
0
October 6th, 2004 11:00
When I called Dell, I did in fact mention that there was a thread in the general hardware forum where a good number of people had the same problem I was having... she heard me, but didnt make any comments on it.
Go figure.
It would be nice if they would really recognize this problem as it's obviously widespread.. and it seems new people are popping up with the same symptoms every day
KingSnake1
2 Intern
•
193 Posts
0
October 7th, 2004 02:00
Anyone and everyone who is having this problem please dont forget to post your experiences with it in this thread!! :)
the_underscore
3 Posts
0
October 7th, 2004 11:00
I am supposed to receive my box to ship this thing out tomorrow. I was a little disappointed with the tech support, although I really don't know what else I should have expected. After dealing with the tech guy on the phone for about 40 minutes, he says "It sounds like something inside is loose" and then tells me I need to ship it in (which I expected having read this thread). When he transfered me to someone to work out the details of me shipping this out, the new person says at the last minute, "So one last time, your computer shuts down completely randomly. There is no pattern at all, correct?"
So what was I even talking to the tech guy about? I thought I made it pretty clear what caused my computer to mess up, and yet if that person had not tried to confirm the problem they would have received it thinking the computer sits there and shuts off on its own completely at random.
I also did mention the fact that there is a thread here of people having pretty much the exact same problem but he didn't care. I suppose it isn't his job to care, though, he has enough calls for help each day where "there is a thread with a problem like mine..." just doesn't mean anything. I understand that.
Well, good luck to the rest of you. I think most people here have already shipped, or are in the process of shipping, their laptops to Dell right?
KingSnake1
2 Intern
•
193 Posts
0
October 7th, 2004 12:00
cordless_larry
69 Posts
0
October 7th, 2004 16:00
That's a good idea. I did that to mine today, because it was supposed to be collected by DHL. However, it's now 6.20 pm and they haven't turned up. I'm just glad someone else happened to be home so that I didn't have to take the day off work to be in when they were supposed to collect it.
KingSnake1
2 Intern
•
193 Posts
0
October 8th, 2004 02:00
What a pain!!!!
And the notebook is to the point now where if I touch it barely.. it locks up. It went from bad to worse in a day. I hope i get the box to ship it back in tomorrow so I can get this taken care of..
rhammersmith
8 Posts
0
October 8th, 2004 12:00
Just a few comments:
1) I don't think this has anything to do with XP SP2. I can power the computer, apply pressure to the chassis before Windows XP even starts loading, and get it to shut off. Unless SP2 somehow installs itself into the BIOS, IMHO it's been eliminated as a possibility.
2) Has anyone other than lisowskimf removed the modem? I know it wouldn't boot for him after he removed the modem and numerous other peripherals but perhaps it was still in a hung state. Sometimes if I try to boot from AC power it constantly hangs until I unplug AC power and the battery and then put the battery back in and boot off it alone. I would like to see if the shut down event occurs when the modem is present in the system. I constantly use my modem because I am a contractor for the government and can't plug into their Ethernet network unless they take ownership of my laptop, so I am always dialed up at work to an ISP instead. Since this odd problem began I have lost dial up connection probably a half a dozen times as well, so I am wondering if this is a bad modem issue. I don't have my little screwdriver here at work, so tonight I will take it out and give it some tests. I can't really afford to be without the laptop for a week or more so if it's just a modem issue, I'll go buy a PCMCIA modem and eat the costs even if it's under warranty. If anyone can test this before I get home tonight, please post results here.
Thanks, Rob
the_underscore
3 Posts
0
October 8th, 2004 14:00
When I called tech support the guy had me remove everything but one of the memory sticks and the hard drive. He even had me switch memory sticks to make sure they were both ok on their own. It still loaded just fine, and still had the same problem with movement and touch.
The problem will occur well before windows loads, and will even happen from its messed up state of semi-on. It has also happened twice without anyone being near the computer. Maybe the hard drive spinning was too much shaking for it, or maybe those two were just random.
dspman
306 Posts
0
October 8th, 2004 16:00