Dell Latitude laptops have various integrated visible and audible diagnostic indicators to help identify possible failure of hardware components causing specific symptoms. Most of these symptoms are related to the laptop not being able to boot to Windows, displaying a black screen from startup, and so on.
Various reasons for computers experiencing startup issues can be found in the following article. This is in addition to the information and solutions offered in the section below.
The battery charge LED light turns white or amber to indicate the power status and remaining battery charge. See the tables below.
LED Light Description | |
---|---|
1 | Battery status light |
If the laptop is connected to an electrical outlet, the battery light operates as follows:
System Power State | Battery Charge Level | LED Behavior |
---|---|---|
S0 - S5 |
Fully Charged | Off |
S0 - S5 |
Less than Fully Charged |
White |
If the laptop is running on a battery, the power or battery light operates as follows:
System Power State | Battery Charge Level | LED Behavior |
---|---|---|
S0 - S5 | 11% to Fully Charged | Off |
S0 - S5 |
Less than 10% | Solid Amber |
System Power State | Description |
---|---|
S0 (On) | The laptop is powered on |
S4 (Hibernate) | The laptop is almost turned off, context data is written to the hard drive. |
S5 (Off) | The laptop is powered down/off. |
The battery charge LED is located on the side of the laptop (as shown in the section below).
LED Light Description | |
---|---|
1 | Battery Charge status light |
NOTE: These laptops rely on the battery charge LED blinking an amber or white pattern to determine failures listed in the following table:
The blinking patterns consist of two sets of numbers that represent: (First Group: Amber blinks, Second Group: White blinks).
The following table provides information about the amber and white blinking patterns with possible troubleshooting steps:
LED Flash Sequence | Fault Description | Faults |
---|---|---|
1,1 | TPM Detection Failure | Motherboard Error |
1,2 | SPI Flash Failure | Motherboard Error |
1,5 | EC unable to program i-Fuse | Motherboard Error |
1,6 | EC Code flow errors | Power Issue |
2,1 | CPU | Possible CPU Failure |
2,2 | Motherboard BIOS | Motherboard, Covers BIOS Corruption, or ROM Error |
2,3 | Memory | No memory/RAM detected |
2,4 | Memory | Memory/RAM failure |
2,5 | Memory | Invalid Memory Installed |
2,6 | Motherboard Chipset | Motherboard/Chipset Error |
2,7 | LCD | LCD Failure |
2,8 | LCD | LCD Power Rail Failure |
3,1 | RTC Power Failure | CMOS Battery Failure |
3,2 | PCI/Video | PCI or Video Card/Chip Failure |
3,3 | BIOS Recovery 1 | Recovery Image Not Found |
3,4 | BIOS Recovery 2 | Recovery Image Found But Invalid |
3,5 | Power Rail Failure | EC ran into power sequencing failure. |
3,6 | SBIOS Flash Corruption | Flash corruption detected by SBIOS |
3,7 | ME Error | Timeout waiting on ME to reply to HECI |
These laptops rely on the battery charge LED blinking an amber or white pattern to determine failures listed in the following table:
The blinking patterns consist of two sets of numbers that represent: (First Group: Amber blinks, Second Group: White blinks).
The following table provides information about the amber and white blinking patterns with possible troubleshooting steps:
LED Flash Sequence | Fault Description | Faults |
---|---|---|
2,1 | CPU | Possible CPU Failure |
2,2 | Motherboard BIOS | Motherboard, Covers BIOS Corruption, or ROM Error |
2,3 | Memory | No memory/RAM detected |
2,4 | Memory | Memory/RAM failure |
2,5 | Memory | Invalid Memory Installed |
2,6 | Motherboard Chipset | Motherboard/Chipset Error |
2,7 | LCD | LCD Failure |
2,8 | LCD | LCD Power Rail Failure |
3,1 | RTC Power Failure | CMOS Battery Failure |
3,2 | PCI/Video | PCI or Video Card/Chip Failure |
3,3 | BIOS Recovery 1 | Recovery Image Not Found |
3,4 | BIOS Recovery 2 | Recovery Image Found But Invalid |
3,5 | Power Rail Failure | EC ran into power sequencing failure. |
3,6 | SBIOS Flash Corruption | Flash corruption detected by SBIOS |
3,7 | ME Error | Timeout waiting on ME to reply to HECI |
The power button LED is located near the top right-side of the laptop as shown below:
These laptops rely on the power button LED blinking an amber or white pattern to determine failures listed in the following table:
The blinking patterns consist of two sets of numbers represented by (First Group: Amber blinks, Second Group: White blinks).
The following table depicts the amber and white blinking patterns with possible troubleshooting steps:
LED Flash Sequence | Fault Description | Faults |
---|---|---|
2,1 | CPU | Possible CPU Failure |
2,2 | Motherboard BIOS | Motherboard, Covers BIOS Corruption, or ROM Error |
2,3 | Memory | No memory/RAM detected |
2,4 | Memory | Memory/RAM failure |
2,5 | Memory | Invalid Memory Installed |
2,6 | Motherboard Chipset | Motherboard/Chipset Error |
2,7 | LCD | LCD Failure |
3,1 | RTC Power Failure | CMOS Battery Failure |
3,2 | PCI/Video | PCI or Video Card/Chip Failure |
3,3 | BIOS Recovery 1 | Recovery Image Not Found |
3,4 | BIOS Recovery 2 | Recovery Image Found But Invalid |
The power or battery LED light turns white or amber to indicate the power status and remaining battery charge. See the tables below.
LED Light Description | |
---|---|
1 | Power Light |
2 | Hard drive light |
3 | Battery status light |
4 | WiFi light |
Battery State | LED Behavior | Next Steps |
---|---|---|
An unauthenticated or unsupported non-Dell AC adapter is attached to your laptop. |
Alternately blinking amber light and white light |
Try reseating the AC adapter or try a 'known good' adapter - if the fault persists, consider replacing the AC adapter. |
Temporary battery failure with AC adapter present |
Alternately blinking amber light with steady white light |
Try reseating the battery. If the issue persists, try swapping the battery with another laptop. If the issue persists, the battery may require replacement. For more information about battery warranty, see our Dell Laptop Battery Warranty Support. |
Fatal battery failure with AC adapter present |
Constantly blinking amber light |
Try two-way swapping the battery with a 'known good' one and see if the fault follows the battery. If the issue persists, the battery may require replacement. For more info on battery warranty, see our Dell Laptop Battery Warranty Support. |
Battery in full charge mode with AC adapter present |
Light off. |
No further action required |
Battery in charge mode with AC adapter present |
White light on |
No further action required |
If the laptop is connected to an electrical outlet, the power or battery light operates as follows:
Power State | Charging status | LED Behavior |
---|---|---|
On |
Any (0-100%) |
Solid white |
Standby |
Any (0-100%) |
Breathe white (slow increase/decrease in illumination). |
Off, hibernate. |
>90% charge |
Off |
Off, hibernate. |
= 90% charge |
Solid white |
If the laptop is running on a battery, the power or battery light operates as follows:
Power State | Remaining battery power | LED Behavior |
---|---|---|
On |
= 10% charge |
Solid white |
On |
10% charge |
Solid amber |
Standby |
= 10% charge |
Breathe white (slow increase/decrease in illumination). |
Standby |
10% charge |
Solid amber |
Off, hibernate. |
Any (0-100%) |
Off |
The three LED indicator lights are located near the front, right-side of the laptop as shown in the image below.
These laptops rely on the battery LED light blinking in an amber or white pattern to determine failures listed in the following table:
The blinking patterns consist of two sets of numbers that represent: (First Group: Amber blinks, Second Group: White blinks).
The following table depicts the amber and white blinking patterns with possible troubleshooting steps.
LED Flash Sequence | Fault Description | Faults |
---|---|---|
2,1 | CPU | Possible CPU Failure |
2,2 | Motherboard BIOS | Motherboard, Covers BIOS Corruption, or ROM Error |
2,3 | Memory | No memory/RAM detected |
2,4 | Memory | Memory/RAM failure |
2,5 | Memory | Invalid Memory Installed |
2,6 | Motherboard Chipset | Motherboard/Chipset Error |
2,7 | LCD | LCD Failure |
3,1 | RTC Power Failure | CMOS Battery Failure |
3,2 | PCI/Video | PCI or Video Card/Chip Failure |
3,3 | BIOS Recovery 1 | Recovery Image Not Found |
3,4 | BIOS Recovery 2 | Recovery Image Found But Invalid |
3,5 | Power Rail Failure | EC ran into power sequencing failure. |
3,6 | SBIOS Flash Corruption | Flash corruption detected by SBIOS |
3,7 | ME Error | Timeout waiting on ME to reply to HECI message |
LED Light Description | |
---|---|
1 | Power Light |
2 | Hard drive light |
3 | Battery status light |
4 | WiFi light |
Here is how to read the laptop LED codes when a possible error occurs.
Storage LED |
Battery LED |
Wireless LED |
Fault Description | Next Steps |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blinking | Solid | Solid | A possible processor failure has occurred. | Contact Dell Support |
Solid | Blinking | Solid | The memory modules are detected but has encountered an error. | Troubleshoot Memory |
Blinking | Blinking | Blinking | A system board failure has occurred. | Contact Dell Support |
Blinking | Blinking | Solid | A possible graphics card/video failure has occurred. | Troubleshoot Video |
Blinking | Blinking | Off | System failed on hard drive initialization OR System failed in Option ROM initialization. | Troubleshoot Hard Drive |
Blinking | Off | Blinking | The USB controller encountered a problem during initialization. | Check ports for damage and remove any USB devices. Troubleshoot Ports |
Solid | Blinking | Blinking | No memory modules are installed/detected. | Troubleshoot Memory |
Blinking | Solid | Blinking | The LCD encountered a problem during initialization. | Troubleshoot Video |
Off | Blinking | Blinking | The modem is preventing the laptop from completing POST. | Try reseating or removing any Modem cards. |
Off | Blinking | Off | Memory failed to initialize, or memory is unsupported. | Troubleshoot Memory |
If the computer is connected to an electrical outlet, the battery light operates as follows:
If the computer is running on a battery, the battery light operates as follows:
For more information about battery warranty, see our Dell Laptop Battery Warranty Support.
The following table shows the possible LED codes that may display in a no-POST situation.
Flash Code | Description | Next Step |
---|---|---|
The microcontroller is handing control of the laptop to the processor. This code persists if no processor is detected. | 1. Reseat the processor. 2. Replace the system board. 3. Replace the processor. |
|
The memory has encountered an error. | 1. Reseat the memory modules. 2. Replace the memory modules. 3. Replace the system board. |
|
A system board component is faulty. | Replace the system board. | |
The video card is preventing the laptop from completing POST. | 1. Replace the video card. 2. Replace the system board. |
|
The keyboard is preventing the laptop from completing POST. | 1. Reseat the keyboard cable. 2. Replace the keyboard. 3. Replace the system board. |
|
The USB controller encountered a problem during initialization. | 1. Remove any USB devices. 2. Replace the system board. |
|
No SODIMMs are installed. | 1. Install the memory modules. 2. Reseat the memory modules. 3. Replace the memory modules. 4. Replace the system board. |
|
The LCD encountered a problem during initialization. | 1. Reseat the LCD cable. 2. Replace the LCD panel. 3. Replace the video card. |
|
The modem is preventing the laptop from completing POST. | 1. Reseat the modem. 2. Replace the modem. 3. Replace the system board. |
The computer may emit a series of beeps during start-up if the display cannot show errors or problems. These series of beeps, called beep codes, identify various problems.
Beep Code (repetitive short beeps) |
Fault Description | Suggested Remedy |
---|---|---|
1 | BIOS ROM checksum in progress or failure | System board failure, covers BIOS corruption, or ROM error. |
2 | Memory | No memory/RAM detected |
3 |
|
System board failure |
4 | RAM Read/Write failure | Memory/RAM failure |
5 | Real-time clock power fails |
|
6 | Video BIOS Test Failure | Video card/chip failure |
7 | CPU-cache test failure | Processor failure |
8 | LCD | LCD failure |
Diagnostic LED code communicated using the Power Button LED or agreed upon alternate LED. The Power Button LED shall blink the corresponding LED codes for the corresponding fault condition.
LED Code | Fault Description | Suggested Remedy |
---|---|---|
1 | System Board: BIOS ROM failure | System board, covers BIOS corruption or ROM error. |
2 | Memory | No memory/RAM detected |
3 |
|
System board failure |
4 | Memory | Memory/RAM failure |
5 | Real-time clock failure |
|
6 | Video BIOS | Video card/chip failure |
7 | CPU | Processor failure |
8 | LCD | LCD failure |
What to do next? - If the status lights described in this article indicates possible failure of the battery, learn How to Troubleshoot Dell Laptop Battery Issues.
If the error code is different than those listed in this article, contact Dell Technical Support.
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