Dell desktop starts,shuts down, starts, does not reach POST

[alasdair]

Hi I have a Dell inspiron, sorry don't k now the model, it was given to me so no papers, and no labels outside to indicate the model, but it is about 4 - 5 yrs old.

Closing the box down as per usual, and the turning off at the power point (which I don't usually do), when switching on the power point next day, the computer started without me pressing the on/off switch. It then immediately shut down and then powered up again. It cycles like this as long as the power is supplied to it.

There is a slight hesitation between the 1st and 2nd cycles, then closer together and regular.

The Dell diagnosis lights go as follows:
1st cycle A: Green B: Yellow (flashes slightly later) C: Yellow D: Green
Subsequent cycles: same as above except all lights flash together.

It does not get to POST (no beeps). Seems like a hardware issue. But what?

Power Supply fan comes on and stays on, sounds like the HD just starts to spin up and stops, CPU fan, same.

I have had a much older Dell that did the same thing, but that wasn't worth rescuing. I would like to save this one if pos.

Any help or test suggestions most welcome.

Thanks,

Alasdair

 

[Baez]

First try removing all extra peripherals. Only thing that stays attached to the motherboard is the CPU, 1 stick of RAM and your video card. See if anything changes.

 

[alasdair]

cvb724

Removed: optical drive, kbd, mouse, hard drive, printer. It has only one stick of RAM (512mb)
Switched power on at the wall, this time I needed to use the on off switch to start the computer. Started ran POST 2 beeps, screen gave messages about missing drives.
Tried with kbd connected : as above .
Mouse : as above .
Mouse & Kbd: as above .

With just optical drive: problem returned. Same for hard drive.
Disconnected all : problem remains.

I remembered that I had this problem about a month ago and it just fixed itself, but looks like this time it is here to stay.

The machine is a Dimension 2300 built in 2003

Regards,

Alasdair