dell xps 400

[crmsonknight]

so i bought my dell xps 400 back in 2005, havent had to many problems i couldnt fix my self. installed a new video card back in 2008, and new harddrive in 2009. well as of two days ago my desktop will power up, you can hear the fans kick on and work, the harddrive comes alive too. but nothing else .. just a black screen, and no beeps. also on the front of the desktop the numbers 2 & 3 are showing. need some help.. also the power supply is brand new went from 375w to 500w, the ram is good too i have a total of 3gb in it. just dont know what to do , i live in leesville la and the nearest computer shop is about a hour away. thanks for your time in advance and hope to get some helpfull advice.

 

[-RockMan-]

Had this problem once with ny dell deminsion 8000 once before 7 years ago.
When you were working inside your casem did you check to make sure your IDE,floppy drive cables and sata connectors are seated properly ?

Also take out all of the ram and put in one module and boot it to make sure it comes on.
I'm suspecting that old ram, maybe a problem also doesn't hurt to check and be sure it's not the case.

 

[crmsonknight]

ok so update, i checked all the connections and they were good. once i started to put the ram in one module at a time the comp would turn on and i would get a 123 on the front and a beep beep.

 

[-RockMan-]

Documentation

A possible expansion card failure has occurred.

Determine if a conflict exists by removing a card (not a video card) and restarting the computer.
If the problem persists, reinstall the card that you removed, remove a different card, and then restart the computer.
Repeat this process for each card. If the computer starts normally, troubleshoot the last card removed from the computer for resource conflicts.
If the problem persists, contact Dell.

Another failure has occurred.

Ensure that the cables are properly connected to the system board from the hard drive, CD drive, and DVD drive.
If the problem persists, contact Dell.

Note:if your computer is out of serivce with dell, forget them it might be time to replace that mobo yourself.

Or you can start looking into building your own computer, only problem is that nice case can't be used not unless you find a computer shop to cut out the back panel for you to use other MicroATX mobos.

That will do for now, until you respond, if it were any other pc with 2 short beep codes usually it's relating a video utilization error.

 

[crmsonknight]

thanks for the advice, how hard would it be to once i get a new case mobo, cpu and heatsink, to transplant the dvd drives and other parts that are in the original dell case to the new case?

 

[-RockMan-]

Lucky you, you just caught me walking back inside from mowing down three back yards.
It's quite simple and not hard to do at all, if you look at the general upgrage and building sub-forum.
We can set you up for something within your budget and your current spare parts.

I recommend you save the DVD drive, HDD and possibly your recent PSU not unless the other guys think you need something better.

You can AMD way if your budget is under 500.00 or go the intel route if your willing to spend under 800.00
But like I said it will depend on your needs and how much your willing to spend.

 

[MindoverMaster]

Dell's PSU's are normally crap for anything you want to update to. But I agree, look in the General Upgrade and Building forum.

 

[Trotter]

Humor me in this. Get a live Linux distro (any will do... just have someone download Knoppix and burn it as an image) and try booting from it. A live distro will run solely in memory and will not touch your Windows installation. If it fires up and has a display you will know it is a Windows/driver problem and not a failed graphics card. It is also possible that your new PSU is a POS, though. Trial and error is about the only way to go, eliminating one thing at a time.

 

[crmsonknight]

update.. replaced the vid card and put some more ram in it, and its back up and workin like a charm.. thx for the help guys , much appreciated