If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Severe Dell Problems
The problem child is a Dell Dimension 4400. When the power button is
pressed, the PC powers up but never displays anything. The HDD activity light stays solid for 30 seconds before turning off. This is a list of what I tried in order (I put the parts back the way they were after each step): 1. Tried a different monitor 2. Moved hard drive to a different computer 3. Installed a PCI video card 4. Removed memory 5. Swapped 1 GHz CPU with 533MHz CPU 6. Swapped power supply with identical model 7. Swapped motherboard with an identical model (ordered about a week ago, just came in today) 7. Unplugged power from all devices except motherboard Both monitors work with every other computer I have. The monitors are different models. The hard drive is recognized in another computer. Another video card doesn't make a difference - the screen still doesn't come on. Removing the memory doesn't cause beep codes. Swapping the CPU seems to make no difference. Swapping the motherboard didn't do anything. Swapping the power supply seems to make no difference. Unplugging all the devices seems to make no difference. I'm wondering if the big problem is not a combination of smaller problems. I guess I can try combinations of the above steps. Any ideas? I sure could use some help if you have time. -Kevin |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Never mind... it was the RAM!
-Kevin "KV" wrote in message ... The problem child is a Dell Dimension 4400. When the power button is pressed, the PC powers up but never displays anything. The HDD activity light stays solid for 30 seconds before turning off. This is a list of what I tried in order (I put the parts back the way they were after each step): 1. Tried a different monitor 2. Moved hard drive to a different computer 3. Installed a PCI video card 4. Removed memory 5. Swapped 1 GHz CPU with 533MHz CPU 6. Swapped power supply with identical model 7. Swapped motherboard with an identical model (ordered about a week ago, just came in today) 7. Unplugged power from all devices except motherboard Both monitors work with every other computer I have. The monitors are different models. The hard drive is recognized in another computer. Another video card doesn't make a difference - the screen still doesn't come on. Removing the memory doesn't cause beep codes. Swapping the CPU seems to make no difference. Swapping the motherboard didn't do anything. Swapping the power supply seems to make no difference. Unplugging all the devices seems to make no difference. I'm wondering if the big problem is not a combination of smaller problems. I guess I can try combinations of the above steps. Any ideas? I sure could use some help if you have time. -Kevin |
#3
|
|||
|
|||
On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 14:46:11 -0500 Letting slip the dogs of war "KV"
wrote : The problem child is a Dell Dimension 4400. When the power button is pressed, the PC powers up but never displays anything. The HDD activity light stays solid for 30 seconds before turning off. This is a list of what I tried in order (I put the parts back the way they were after each step): 1. Tried a different monitor 2. Moved hard drive to a different computer 3. Installed a PCI video card 4. Removed memory 5. Swapped 1 GHz CPU with 533MHz CPU 6. Swapped power supply with identical model 7. Swapped motherboard with an identical model (ordered about a week ago, just came in today) 7. Unplugged power from all devices except motherboard Both monitors work with every other computer I have. The monitors are different models. The hard drive is recognized in another computer. Another video card doesn't make a difference - the screen still doesn't come on. Removing the memory doesn't cause beep codes. Swapping the CPU seems to make no difference. Swapping the motherboard didn't do anything. Swapping the power supply seems to make no difference. Unplugging all the devices seems to make no difference. I'm wondering if the big problem is not a combination of smaller problems. I guess I can try combinations of the above steps. Any ideas? I sure could use some help if you have time. -Kevin What O/S ? -- Free Windows/PC help, http://www.geocities.com/sheppola/trouble.html email shepATpartyheld.de Free songs to download and,"BURN" :O) http://www.soundclick.com/bands/8/nomessiahsmusic.htm |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided
that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell. |
#5
|
|||
|
|||
"John R. Sellers" wrote in message ...
If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell. I don't know much about the US-built Dells, but the European ones are *usually* OK - the university I go to probably has about a thousand Dell PCs! I've rarely seen ones actually break properly, outside of stupid things like cables getting broken, floppy disks getting stuck, and some of the crappy monitors going bad (there's a certain model of 17" ones made around 1999 - about 99% of them have gone out of focus! Most painful to use). I'm using a crappy old Pentium II OptiPlex right now! Though saying this, more recently I've heard of people getting screwed by Dell doing retarded things like giving them the wrong specs, and stupidly fitted cases. For example, my friend asked for a Zip drive - when she got the PC, at first she thought she didn't get one, though Windows recognised one - it turned out the drive was there, but it was under one of those blanking covers! There was no proper bezel for the Zip drive under it though, and she kept getting electric shocks from pressing the bare eject button... |
#6
|
|||
|
|||
"John R. Sellers" wrote in message ... If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell. The quality HAS gone down a notch or two, but I can't blame this one on Dell. We had a terrible storm, which I'm pretty sure is the culprit. The real thing that bugs me is the price of replacement parts. I talked to Dell about ordering a new motherboard and they quoted me $250!!! They pulled that number straight out of their ass. The problem actually turned out to be two-fold. The reason I wasn't getting beep codes when I removed the memory was the NIC was bad. As soon as I removed the NIC, the system would beep without the memory. As soon as I replaced the memory, the screen came back on. That was a tough one to figure out. Trial and error pays off sometimes... -Kevin |
#7
|
|||
|
|||
"John R. Sellers" wrote in message ...
If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell. Agreed. I'd never buy another Dell. I bought two, both had problems. One was eventually resolved after 3 months, the other never was. Besides being no more reliable than your average emachines, Dell's prices are not that great either. You can get just as good a deal if you buy direct from the manufacturer. |
#8
|
|||
|
|||
"KV" typed:
Never mind... it was the RAM! Kevin, does the LED indicating hard-disk activity stay solid for, say, ten to fifteen seconds the moment you power-on the system and during the initial stages of POST? With my Segate hard-disk connected as a primary slave, it does, for some reason I have no knowledge of. Is it uncommon for the LED to stay solid during POST? -- Ayaz Ahmed Khan |
#9
|
|||
|
|||
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
Problems with Dell P780 Trinitron monitor | Luke | General | 0 | January 15th 04 03:21 AM |
(CROSSPOST): Stability problems | Frodo | General | 2 | December 20th 03 11:59 PM |
Major Computer Problems | Toronto Garage Door Company | General | 20 | November 13th 03 09:41 PM |
HD problems in an old DELL | hiphop | General | 2 | November 4th 03 10:00 PM |
Power problems on Dell thing | Zilog Jones | General | 8 | July 23rd 03 06:16 PM |