Dell desktop won't power up - blinking orange light - power supply?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Yep, i dealt with dells for over 3 years at my last job. 99% of the time, a blinking amber light = dead mobo.
 
I'll look for the two contacts to jump when I get home tonight. If I can find those, then I should be able to test the system without the I/O panel.

I was hoping that it wasn't the MB, but an leaning that way at the moment.
 
Well, I think I figured it out. My supervisor at work lent me an spare ATX power supply. I hooked it up when I got home and the computer booted right up. It looks like the original Dell power supply checked out on the bench with no loads, but couldn't cut the mustard when loads were applied. Time for a new power supply.

Thanks for everyone's help.
 
I'm going to throw an Antec EarthWatts 380 in there, which should take care of that for a while (that's what my supervisor lent me). That just leaves the motherboard to fail in the likely not too distant future. :(
 
Well, things turned out even better. I brought the power supply back to work this morning so that I could return it to my supervisor. When I did, he said "Why did you take it back out if it worked. It was a gift. What the **** am I going to do with an extra power supply?"
 
Well, things turned out even better. I brought the power supply back to work this morning so that I could return it to my supervisor. When I did, he said "Why did you take it back out if it worked. It was a gift. What the **** am I going to do with an extra power supply?"

lol dont you love it when people do that! :D
 
Yes, it's quite a pleasant surprise. But it happens once in a while.

Thanks for the info posted. It helps. I'm still getting ready to replace some of my MB capacitors, which have bulging ends. I think that's the cause of my occasional boot up hangs. I've replaced the power supply and no difference. Also have replaced some of the fans. All those are working ok, and the temps are ok.

If compatible MB's were available for my 8 yr old PC, I'd go that route. $100 or so is no prob. But much of the data I have on my hard drives depends on a lot of added apps to run. And my apps and even OS settings depend on the components, peripherals and drivers installed. Most new MB's don't have enough of the right type of slots for my cards, etc.

Rather than a new MB, I'll just get a new PC, probably when they get the dust to settle down enough on Vista. I like apple pc's ease of use and reliability, but I don't like their proprietary (and expensive) hardware any more than I like being forced to upgrade my OS by Microsoft every 3-4 yrs.
 
I did some searching on the internet and found that this seems to be a common issue on these Dells, sort of a long term infant mortality issue. The most common causes seem to be a bad PSU, MOBO or a shorted USB input.
I can name at least 15 different reasons for your failure. Many only know of one or two. Therefore every reply is "it could be this or might be that". Useless.

Either you keep replacing parts on wild speculation (ie those 'could bes'). Or you get numbers so that the few who actually know this stuff will replace with "this is definitively good - not a problem" or "that is definitively bad". See the difference? One word. Definitely. No 'could bes'.

That means you must buy or borrow a multimeter. A tool so ubiqutious as to be sold in K-amrt, Wal-mart, Radio Shack, and most stores that sell hammers. Costs maybe $18 in Wal-mart.

Without numbers from the meter, those who can say - without doubt - what has failed must remain silent. IOW your replies will only be as good as the information you provide. No numbers from a meter? Then start replacing parts until something works. Those are your only two options. The meter typically means 1) solving the problem multiple times faster, 2) spending less money, and 3) actually learning something. Your choice.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom