Hello my Dell desktop's DVD stopped working several months ago. Then in the last three months I started having trouble with the power on switch. It would take a while before it came on. I'd have to press the switch several times. Then I'd see an amber light and it would come on a little after. I noticed also that if I kept pushing the power button for some time and then paused for a few minutes, when I got back to pressing it, the PC would immediately power up. It gradually started taking a longer time for the white light to appear, so I started leaving the power strip on even though I had shut down the PC. That worked for some time then I started, in the last week, getting the amber light again. So with two jabs of the power switch, I'd get the pc up and running. Last night I tried the same technique of the double jab, but to no avail -- all I got was amber light clicking on and off. So I tried to drain the power supply by removing all external connections and I kept my hand on the on switch for 15 seconds. When I reattached and tried to turn it back on, there was nothing -- not even an amber light. It's just dead at this point. Would appreciate your suggestions and thank you.
Dell Desktop will not turn on.
- Thread starter linkylu
- Start date
Solution
Hi, have you figured out the problem? I have almost the same issue here:
Since I turned on the PC 2 months ago, I have kept it on. At night I put it into sleep mode (with blue light flashing, not hibernation). For the first 2 weeks, I can wake up the PC by clicking the mouse. Then clicking on the mouse didn't work any more, so I had to press and hold the power button for a few seconds to shut down the PC, then in a few seconds press the power button again to power on. However, if I only put the PC to sleep for a short time, say 30 minutes or so, then I can wake it up by a mouse click.
Weird thing is, shortly after I turn off the PC, when I press the power button, after about 2 seconds delay, amber light will flash once, then blue light came on then the PC starts.
When the PC is on, it works fine without any problem. So I used this trick to keep it alive.
Unfortunately, today my nephew came over and he shut down the PC when he left. By the time I found out, the PC was left in the "cold" for a few hours, and I haven't been able to turn it back on again. Same as in my last post, it will flash amber once when I press power button, then nothing.
Most strange isn't it? I am considering the following 3 problems:
1. CMOS battery failure: not sure if CMOS battery issue would prevent power on at all though?
2. PSU failure: not sure because the PC works fine when it's on.
3. Motherboard failure: could it be some capacitor issue? since If I keep the PC on, or just in sleep mode for a short time the PC seems to boot up or wake up no problem.
Please Help!
Thanks!
Since I turned on the PC 2 months ago, I have kept it on. At night I put it into sleep mode (with blue light flashing, not hibernation). For the first 2 weeks, I can wake up the PC by clicking the mouse. Then clicking on the mouse didn't work any more, so I had to press and hold the power button for a few seconds to shut down the PC, then in a few seconds press the power button again to power on. However, if I only put the PC to sleep for a short time, say 30 minutes or so, then I can wake it up by a mouse click.
Weird thing is, shortly after I turn off the PC, when I press the power button, after about 2 seconds delay, amber light will flash once, then blue light came on then the PC starts.
When the PC is on, it works fine without any problem. So I used this trick to keep it alive.
Unfortunately, today my nephew came over and he shut down the PC when he left. By the time I found out, the PC was left in the "cold" for a few hours, and I haven't been able to turn it back on again. Same as in my last post, it will flash amber once when I press power button, then nothing.
Most strange isn't it? I am considering the following 3 problems:
1. CMOS battery failure: not sure if CMOS battery issue would prevent power on at all though?
2. PSU failure: not sure because the PC works fine when it's on.
3. Motherboard failure: could it be some capacitor issue? since If I keep the PC on, or just in sleep mode for a short time the PC seems to boot up or wake up no problem.
Please Help!
Thanks!
Kisianik
Splendid
- Jan 24, 2013
- 3,462
- 3
- 22,515
I am afraid that it is motherboard - amber light flushing.
Since you have nothing to loose, turn off PC, wait 15 minutes, disconnect power cable and other cables, next press and hold power button for 20 seconds, next remove cover and remove CMOS battery, leave it off for overnight at least, if you don't mind wasting $5, get new from RadioShack or similar, replace after overnight, connect cables and attempt to start, if amber light still there flashing - motherboard failure for sure, nothing you can do to fix it.
Since you have nothing to loose, turn off PC, wait 15 minutes, disconnect power cable and other cables, next press and hold power button for 20 seconds, next remove cover and remove CMOS battery, leave it off for overnight at least, if you don't mind wasting $5, get new from RadioShack or similar, replace after overnight, connect cables and attempt to start, if amber light still there flashing - motherboard failure for sure, nothing you can do to fix it.
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