Power light is blinking yellow

I have just received my new Dell P4-3.0 GHz PC and was excited to get
my recording studio up and running again with my good old Layla 20
sound card. But it has not been easy.

When ever I try to start my Dell computer with the Layla 20 breakout
box connected to the PCI card, the computer will not start at all. The
power light blinks yellow to indicate a power problem. When the break
out boxes is disconnected the PC starts up fine!

It does not matter if the Layla break out box is turned on or off. The
computer will not start as long as their are connected to the PCI card.


The PCI cards installed perfectly in Windows XP Pro amd I used the new
XP drivers from Echo's website.

It seems to be a hardware problem. Any ideas on how to solve this?

I will greatly appriciate any help as I quite clueless right now

Thanks in advance!

Kind regards,

Kim,
Copenhagen, Denmark

You don't say which model it is but, in general, Dell power supplies
are of a fairly low power rating so it may be that the breakout box is
too much for the PSU. Some Dell's use standard ATX power supplies so it
may be worth trying a higher rated supply.

Thanks for your reply.

The model is a Precision WorkStation 380.

The breakout box has its own power supply, and the PC won't start
eventhough the breakout box is turned off and just connected via the
DB-25 parallel cable.

Is the Dell power supply still an issue then?

Probably not. The breakout box has some sort of circuit inside causing the
Precision 380 to not want to boot. Probably the box is creating a short
circuit. Does the breakout box work correctly with other older Intel personal
computers? ... Ben Myers

On 23 Jan 2006 09:55:43 -0800, "Kim" wrote:

Thanks for your reply.

The model is a Precision WorkStation 380.

The breakout box has its own power supply, and the PC won't start
eventhough the breakout box is turned off and just connected via the
DB-25 parallel cable.

Is the Dell power supply still an issue then?

Again; thanks for your feedback. It has been about 2 years since I last
used my soundcard and breakout box. At that time it worked fine with a
older Intel computer. This computer is now broken

Could the cable be an issue? The manual specifies that the cable should
be a IEEE-1284 parallel cable (DB-25). I have purchased a DB-25 cable,
but I do not know whether or not it is a IEEE-1284 cable.

"Kim" wrote in message
oups.com...
Again; thanks for your feedback. It has been about 2 years since I last
used my soundcard and breakout box. At that time it worked fine with a
older Intel computer. This computer is now broken

Could the cable be an issue? The manual specifies that the cable should
be a IEEE-1284 parallel cable (DB-25). I have purchased a DB-25 cable,
but I do not know whether or not it is a IEEE-1284 cable.


DB25 is the connector, not the cable. You can get a Parallel cable
(IEEE-1284) or a Serial cable. Using the wrong one could easily kill the
computer.

Tom

Thanks for your explaination, Tom.

I am using a parallel cable (not serial) as defined in the manual. But
I am uncertain whether or not all parallel cables today follows the
IEEE-1284 standard. If not; what is the difference between a "standard"
parallel cable and an IEEE-1284 parallel cable?

"Kim" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks for your explaination, Tom.

I am using a parallel cable (not serial) as defined in the manual. But
I am uncertain whether or not all parallel cables today follows the
IEEE-1284 standard. If not; what is the difference between a "standard"
parallel cable and an IEEE-1284 parallel cable?



Kim,

Since this seems to be a possible short/purely power related issue, have you
attempted to unplug the system and reset the power supply? (Red switch on
the back of the supply - move it to 220v for a minute, then bring it back to
115v before plugging and attempting again...)

I know of no distinction in parallel cables myself, fwiw. I tend to agree
with the poster who suggested a short somewhere in the external device.....


Stew

I know of no distinction in parallel cables myself, fwiw. I tend to agree
with the poster who suggested a short somewhere in the external device.....

Several years back there was a distinction between parallel cables
with all conductors wired through, or just those necessary for printer
operation. The former were often called switch box cables, but there
was no standardisation at the retail level. I've checked more than on
cable out with an ohm meter. And we mustn't forget the "transfer
cables" that had crossed pairs used for connecting two computers in
the dark days before newtorking. Some of these were "Laplink" cables
and had mutiple connectors on each end, the best ones were designed
for both PC's and Mac products.

"Kim" wrote in message
ups.com...
Thanks for your explaination, Tom.

I am using a parallel cable (not serial) as defined in the
manual. But
I am uncertain whether or not all parallel cables today
follows the
IEEE-1284 standard. If not; what is the difference between
a "standard"
parallel cable and an IEEE-1284 parallel cable?

Here is more than you ever wanted to know about 1284 cables.
There are NO wiring differences between types, just price.