XPS 8500 Desktop booting fails

Also I have tried various power supplies and taken 90% of the things on the back including USB devices. The problem persists. I gathered that might be your first guess at the problem, other sources say take things back out and back in but it would seem dell has bolted stuff down. I don't want to void the warranty accidentally

Hi WoMDRS,

True, does not look like we would be able to reinstall Windows with the disk and we might have to work inside the computer.

Reseating components like Memory, Hard drive might help. If that also does not work we will have to look at replacing the components. I would request you to please wait for the call back. It sometimes can get delayed because the concerned technician could get stuck on a different call.

I am sure, they would follow up and do the needful in this case. Your description does point to a hardware failure only.

Regards

Amrinder D

Social Outreach Professional

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I believe the problem is much earlier than windows startup. It doesn't manage to reach any dell logo's or other start-up screens, so non of the F keys have any effect.

It literally powers up for about 2 seconds before the lights and fans go off and it tries again a couple of seconds later. The fans don't even manage to get to full speed if that gives you a good indication of how it is before it fails.

I have called customer service for home next day service, they said they would call back within an hour to arrage something but it has been 2 hours and i haven't had a call. He mentioned something about re-installing windows with the disk (wasn't provided with desktop), but i have no idea how that would be possible in this situation.

Thanks,

Michael.

Hi WoMDRS,

Welcome to Dell Community.

I am sorry to know the concern with the computer. As you mentioned, it is constantly trying to reboot, I believe it is stuck on the Windows booting screen, if that is what is happening, I would recommend that you disconnect all external peripherals and should have only the power cord, monitor, Keyboard and Mouse connected to the computer.

Once done, try restarting the computer and suggest further functionality. I would also be interested to know if you have tried going into the safe mode with networking by tapping the F8 key on the Dell logo upon restart.

If none of these work, we may then have to start looking at running the diagnostics on the computer, for which you will have restart the computer and tap F12 on the Dell logo. From the One time Boot device menu, select the option for diagnostics and let it run through the whole computer.

Any reported error code in the diagnostics would give us a good enough lead to troubleshoot further.

Please post your findings here.

Regards

Amrinder D

Social Outreach Professional

Hi just received the call from the support team. Took me through some resetting like you suggested with the graphics card and RAM. Didn't solve the problem so we're assuming it's a motherboard issue. Someone is being sent out on friday to fix it.

Thanks for your help :)

You guys have a good support system!

Michael.

Hi Michael,

I have the identical problem and they are sending someone to replace the motherboard. Did you receive any advice on preventing it from happening again?

Thanks,

Kevin

I have the identical problem on a 3 week old XPS 8500 desktop machine.  It seems to go into this "perpetual reboot every 2 seconds" mode sometimes, I think, after it tries unsuccessfully to go to sleep. One time (only) it came out of sleep mode after removing and re-applying power, but the other (4 or so) times, it needs to be disconnected from power from a short while (20 seconds?) and then it usually boots properly, but just now it instead went back into the perpetual reboot mode.  The problem is intermittent and inconsistent, and it sure seems like it would be hard on the computer.  Time for a new motherboard?  I will call service and let them know my problem and refer them to this forum topic.  Thanks. 

I'd like to reply here on this entry. I first put together my system out of the box, and booted up. From the first boot in my possession, I got the very same manifestations. For 4 months I've been dealing with this problem. I've had advice to reinstall this and that, which I have done, to no avail. At this point, my 8500 is dead in the water. I am sure it is some hardware problem, and something Dell is fully aware of but will not divulge to it's owner public. I bought a GM car where GM denied all kinds of problems, and this FI/ts that same thing, Dell won't do anything but defllect the obvious.

I'd like for someone to prove me wrong.

Ed in Chattanooga

My Dell XPS 8500 is just over a year old (warrenty expired 12/19/13) and has been working great up until today. I had to shutdown & on restart I get the Dell splash screen with the progress bar not moving & the F12 Boot Options on top right of screen, but hitting F12, F2, F10, DEL doesn't do anything. I've reseated RAM, disconnected hard drive but nothing works. It's not getting into the BIOS to even begin the boot process. Fans work fine, Power Supply fine.

My question to Eazy Remix: did you replace the mother board? If so, did that fix the problem. I suspect it is the MB, but other posts indicate it could possibly be the CPU. Thanks for any help or hints before I order a new MB. BTW: I'm working now on my 10 year old Dell Dim 2400 that just never dies... They don't make them like that anymore.

Fans work fine, Power Supply fine.

How do you know the power supply is fine? For example, last night someone brought me a non-booting homebuilt that displayed no video on bootup but did power up the fans. Replacing the power supply restored normal operation.

I did the 7 steps and still get the same results.

I'll try replacing the PS with one of the spare ones I have and see if that helps. I do get video, however, it just stops at the Dell splash screen.

Thanks for the responses, I appreciate the help.

What happens if you boot from a bootable CD or DVD (eg, your Dell Windows Reinstallation disk or Dell Utilities and Drivers disk)?

What color is the power button and is it steady or blinking?

Sorry for the delay in responding - it's been one of those weeks (frozen pipes in house, dead car battery...)

I did try a different (almost new) power supply & got the same results. I was not able to boot using my recovery disks or UBD4WIN. Power button is a steady white. I attached the Hard Drive via USB to my other laptop & there were some sectors that were repaired via chkdsk, but I was able to get my data off it to an external backup. Then I bought a new hard drive to see if the recovery disks would work, as if my hard drive had crashed & I was replacing it, but I got the same boot to Dell splash screen with no response. Next, I took off the heatsink and reappied the thermal goo to the CPU because there was very little & it was dry. That didn't help. Next I removed the MOBO to get the specs off it on the other side and I ordered a replacement from the UK Ebay. It took forever to find one...

I'll post again when I replace the MOBO to let you know if that fixed the PC. Thanks again for your responses and suggestions.