Reconnect the fan & take out BIOS battery & reinsert it.
it may solve your problem.
thnx
Main Topics
Browse All TopicsAfter the Dell Optiplex GX280 was opened and closed an "Alert CPU fan failure" began to appear at startup. However, the CPU fan is working. Don't know why this message shows up.
Since the fan is working, I would like to turn this message off. How would I do this? Thanks
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.

Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
If you can bootup and get into your BIOS, you should be able to find all the settings for fans etc and make changes to how the BIOS reports them. You don't want to shut down or disable any fans, just turn off the notifications or warnings. Be careful, because a case fan is one thing, but a cpu fan, if it fails, can cause your cpu to burn out. Monitor your cpu's temperature. Good luck.
To reset the BIOS to original settings you not only have to remove the cmos battery (and replace it with a new one if it has been a long while since the last replacement) but also some motherboards require changing the shunt on a set of pins for a minute or two. Check your motherboard manual for instructions. The cd's that came with the computer may have the owner's manual or you may be able to download it online. Check the wires coming out of the fan. There should be three. One positive, one ground, and one sensor. It is the sensor wire that the BIOS reads for information about the fan. Be sure all wires are properly connected.
The issue is probably not that the fan is not working rather it could be that:
1. Remember that most modern computers have at least two fans. A case fan and a CPU fan. make sure you are checking the CPU fan.
2. The fan may just be is turning too slowly (for example the fan is turning at 5,000 rpm instead of the required 7,000 rpm).
In which case, replacing the fan usually clears up this issue.
;-)
JeffCoachman
During bootup get into the BIOS and find Hardware Monitor or something like that. It should give you the values for the cpu fan speed and the cpu's temperature. The cpu fan and heat sink are not supplied as part of a motherboard so you may want to upgrade to a new one. Make sure to use the right connecter for the cpu fan wires on the motherboard. If you use one for a case fan, then the BIOS won't see it.
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: dbruntonPosted on 2009-08-31 at 17:56:25ID: 25227758
You've had it open, so open it up again. Remove and reseat the fan connection to the motherboard and any other connection(s) to the fan that there may be. It is quite possible that the connections have been bumped and are not joined together properly.