Dell Precision Tower 5810 Owner's Manual

Diagnostic LEDs

NOTE: : The diagnostic LEDs only serve as an indicator of the progress through the Power-On Self Test (POST) process. These LEDs do not indicate the problem that caused the POST routine to stop.

The diagnostic LEDs are located on the front of the chassis next to the power button. These diagnostic LEDs are only active and visible during the POST process. Once the operating system starts to load, they turn off and are no longer visible.

Each LED has two possible states of OFF or ON.

NOTE: : The diagnostic lights will blink when the power button is amber or off, and will not blink when it is white.

Table 1. POST Diagnostic LED PatternsThis table gives you POST diagnostic LED pattern information.
Power LED State	System State	Notes
Off	S5/S4	Normal- System is Off/Hibernate
Blinking White	S3	Normal- System is in Standby/Suspend
Blinking Amber	N/A	Abnormal- PSU cannot turn on, recommend PSU BIST. Replace PSU.
Steady White	S0	Normal- System is on functioning
Steady Amber	N/A	Abnormal- System cannot turn on, recommend check motherboard components or replace motherboard.

NOTE: : Amber LED blinking scheme pattern is 2 or 3 blinks followed by a short pause then X number of blinks up to 7. Pattern has a long pause inserted in the middle. For example 2,3 = 2 amber blinks, short pause, 3 amber blinks followed by long pause then repeats.

Table 2. POST Diagnostic LED PatternsThis table gives you POST diagnostic LED pattern information.
Blink Patter	System State	Notes
2,1	A possible system motherboard failure has occurred.	Recommend replace motherboard.
2,2	A possible PSU or cabling issue has occurred.	Run PSU BIST. Check the PSU cabling to Motherboard to make sure that all cables are installed correctly.
2,3	A possible Motherboard, Memory, or CPU failure has occurred	If two or more memory modules are installed, remove the modules, then reinstall one module and restart the computer. If the computer starts normally, continue to install additional memory modules (one at a time) until you have identified a faulty module or reinstalled all modules without error.
2,4	A possible coin cell failure has occurred.
2,5	System is in Recovery Mode	BIOS checksum failure was detected and the system is now in recovery mode.
2,6	A possible processor failure has occurred	Re-seat the processor
2,7	Memory modules are detected, but a memory power failure has occurred.	If two or more memory modules are installed, remove the modules, then reinstall one module and restart the computer. If the computer starts normally, continue to install additional memory modules (one at a time) until you have identified a faulty module or reinstalled all modules without error.
3,1	PCI device configuration activity is in progress or PCI device failure was detected.	Remove all peripheral cards from the PCI and PCI-E slots and reboot the computer. If the computer boots, add the peripheral cards back one by one until you find the bad one.
3,2	A possible HDD or USB failure has occurred.	Re-seat all power and data cables to HDD’s. Reinstall all USB devices and check all cable connections.
3,3	No memory modules installed	If two or more memory modules are installed, remove the modules, then reinstall one module and restart the computer. If the computer starts normally, continue to install additional memory modules (one at a time) until you have identified all modules without error. If available, install working memory of the same type into your computer.
3,4	Power connector not installed properly.	Re-seat the 2x2 power connector from the power supply unit.
3,5	Memory modules are detected, but a memory configuration or compatibility error has occurred.	Ensure that no special requirements for memory module or connector placement exist. Ensure that the memory you are using is supported by your computer.
3,6	A possible system board resource and/or hardware failure has occurred.	Clear CMOS (re-seat the coin-cell battery. See removing and Installing Coin-Cell battery).
3,7	Some other failure has occurred.	Ensure that the display or monitor is plugged into a discrete graphics card. Ensure that all hard drives and optical-drive cables are properly connected to the system board. If there is an error message on the screen identifying a problem with a device (such as the floppy drive or hard drive), check the device to make sure it is functioning properly. If the operating system is attempting to boot from a device (such as the floppy drive or optical drive), check system setup to ensure the boot sequence is correct for the devices installed on your computer.