I have a Dell Dimension 2400 that will not power up when the power switch is pressed. No POST, no PS Fan, no video, no response at all! The only thing that lights up is the "flea" (as Dell's automated troubleshooter calls it) LED on the motherboard.
Thinking the motherboard had "locked up" (as has happened with some Gateway PCs), I removed all memory, cables, etc from
the motherboard. My thinking was that if I heard POST beeps, then I could methodically add back a piece of hardware at a time until the offending piece was located. However, I still get no POST beeps, and, only the motherboard LED is lit when the PC is connected to the AC power outlet. My best guess is that either the Motherboard is toast (but, if it were, why does the motherboard LED still light?) Or, maybe it's the cable that runs from the power switch to the motherboard that's malfunctioning.
Or, maybe the CMOS battery (but that shouldn't prevent at least the fans from running, should it?) I'm bringing home a power supply tester from work tonight to test the power supply. However, I'm all ears for any suggestions from you experts out there!
Thanks,
MAJ346BWAY
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Check for leaky capacitors. Your LED on the board only tells that the board has power going to it and really doesn't say much as far as functioning. I would bet your board is shot if you took everything out and u still can't get it to power up.. I've had 1 rare occasion that the CPU caused it. But other than that it's been the board or power supply (which u are testing)..
Don't be sorry. You're trying to help out. After I thought about it more, you are helping out and for that I would think you also should be rewarded with some points, but it's up to the person who asks the question.. I am going to ask a moderator to look at this. I havn't been on much lately and honestly I forget what happens in this situation.. Don't let it discourage you from posting in the future though.
i would just have to say this since i was on the dell forums for about a month or so but that was this jan. feb. and wel TONS of people are having this problem and well if this is a PAQ and it is it should have thuis in it too. Dell has been sort of lying if you would call it that about the motherbaord. since over 100 people all with dell dimensions bought in sept oct nov of 2003 are all going bad and even with a motherboard replacement it still didn't boot and every one has fixed this problem buy buying a bigger(by watts not size) and better than the orginal 250 watt ones that they put in and it boot right up
you can determain if you have a bad PSU without going through dell is easy
first when the power cord is dissconnected and reconnected DOES it boot up right away on the first push of the button if not wait about 15 minutes and try if still bot working try waitng for a few hours opr so and if then it works then your motherboard is good but your PSU is trash and dell no offense or anything but they have been trying to cover this up since the have been deleting all our threads about this issue and still not taking care of it
Dell support is diagnosing that the PSU is good if the light on the motherboard is on when connected THAT IS NOT ACCURATE the light ONLY means it is receiving some power
doesn't mean it is receiving enough to boot up
HTH
compfixer101
P.S. yes my dad was one of those victims of those bad PSU's works great with a 300 watt PSU MUCH quieter too
compfixer101
A friend at work has a Dell 2400 that is experiencing this same problem. From his research on the Dell forums he thinks his motherboard is bad. From your experience it sounds like it could be the power supply instead.
Does the Dell 2400 use a standard ATX power supply? Or, is it Dell proprietary?
Thanks
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by: rindiPosted on 2005-06-29 at 10:25:12ID: 14330873
The CMOS battery can cause all sorts of illogical behaviour, and this doesn't cost much to change, so replace it. Remove the CPU and make sure it is properly seated. Clean the top of it and the bottom of the Heatsink, then add just an idea of thermal paste. Make sure it fits properly to the CPU to ensure proper cooling. If there is a fan, also make sure it runs smoothly. If all that won't help, try another PSU.