1. Unplug everything from the front and back of the system except for the power cord, including:
   
   • keyboard
   • mouse
   • monitor
   • speakers
   • printers
   • scanners
   • USB devices
   • handheld PDAs
   • external Zip or CD-R drives
   • joysticks/game pads, etc
     
2. Attempt to turn the system on.

 

Steady Yellow/Amber

Second state of the LED at power up. Indicates the POWER_GOOD signal is active. If LED remains this color, it is unlikely that the power supply needs to be replaced.

 

To reseat the ATX and 12-volt connections and the input/output (I/O) panel connection, perform these steps:

1. Unplug the external power cord from the back of the system.
2. Press the power button for three seconds to drain the flea power.
3. Open the case.
4. Reseat the ATX 20-pin connection and the 12V 4-pin (2 black and 2 yellow) connection from the power supply to the motherboard.
5. Reseat the 12V 4-pin connector.
6. Reseat the I/O panel connector from the I/O panel on both the front of the chassis and on the motherboard.
7. Close the case, reconnect the power cord, and start the computer.

Remove all the memory from the system, then try to power up the computer. and listen to beep codes and reply back so that we can do the further trouble shooting steps

I have a Dimension 8400 and the other day it froze, shut down, and wont start with the blinking yellow light.

 

My friend gave it a look over and said that i blew the power supply. Need to get a new one installed.

Hi, thanks for the input. I have tried all the above and not come to any resolutions.

But I think I have found out the real problem, after some small experiments on my hardware. It appears that the 4 pin 12V CPU power plug on the motherboard is damaged. The top bits of the plastic coverings on the plug and on the motherboard have become charred brown. If i don't apply small amounts of force onto the plug, the CPU fan won't start, meaning the CPU won't start either.

Could this been due to a cause of temperature or a fault in the power supply unit? Is there a cheap and easy way to fix this or do I need to replace the motherboard and the power supply?

Thanks.

From what i can see, the top 2 pins on the motherboard are charred. Instead of silver, they are now brown. The plastic covering the top two pins on the plug are charred too. The pins in the plug are brown. Not sure if they are supposed to be made of copper or silverish metal.

Does anyone know what could have caused this to happen? There hasn't been any power surges or the like. I remember calling Dell before, and spoke to them about the charred plug and they said its normal.

Thanks.

Thanks for reply.

That's what I thought too. It'll be such a pain if I have to replace both the m/b and the PSU.

Would a power surge or similar incident caused this to happen? I do have those surge power boards, but I guess they don't always work. Are Dell components known to cause this charring?

Thanks.