Dell Inspiron 545 Power Issues

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Pat131

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Jan 29, 2014
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Hello, I've been having some trouble with my almost 5 year old desktop, an inspiron 545 (mini tower version).

Essentially about 3 weeks ago it started taking a while to turn on, or would only turn on every now and then. No big deal, I figured, I mostly just use it for casual gaming anyways and I've got my laptop. About a week after that, it pretty much wouldn't turn on at all.
I did a little reading suggesting to pull out the power cable, hold the power button, and re-plug. This worked for about another week, though by the end of it I had to wait about 20 mins after doing that for it to power on. Soon after it just wouldn't turn on at all.
I did some more googling and found stuff regarding the cmos, pulled it out, and though the power button would flash amber when pressed, if you held it it would keep flashing on its on for a few minutes then the pc would start. In the manual it says that this is a sign that there's a component that isn't installed right. I had upgraded the disk drive and video card, so I tried it with the stock ones instead and it made no difference. I tried cleaning the RAM as suggested in the manual, no difference.
After a while of fussing around, the pc just wouldn't turn on at all, no matter what I tried. I googled around and this sort of thing sounded like a PSU problem. So I replaced the 300w PSU with a 450w PSU with similar amperages. This does seem to have helped, as the pc will start if the cmos is removed, but the way it starts is a little messed up. I still have to have the CMOS removed, hold the power button, wait for the flashing, and then eventually it starts up. I'm about to replace the CMOS battery too to see if it makes a difference, but does anyone know what is going on? Is my mobo dying or something?
 
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Pat131

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Jan 29, 2014
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Okay, so there's no dead giveaway like leaking capacitors.

Replacing the CMOS doesn't seem to have done anything. I also ran a memory test and all my memory is detected and there's no errors apparently. I'm going to try updating the bios and see if it's an issue with that. To eliminate a variable I've also started it without the disk drive and HDD, but the same process is required. So I know it's not the PSU, the GPU is also pretty new, it's not the RAM, it's not the drives, it's not the cmos, and I've also tried other power bars, power cables & outlets. There's no external hardware that should be consuming lots of power so it can't be that either.

Also the way I have to start it up has changed a bit - I have to pull out the cmos, unplug the system, hold the power button, replug the system, the power light flashes 4-5 times, then it starts on its own with no POST beep. Once this is done there's obviously a cmos error on startup, but it can run for hours regardless of application, I can do photoshop or play skyrim or watch an HD movie, it all works fine til I shut it down.

However given this thread: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19440584.aspx I'm going to try and test my memory 1 stick at a time, and with better stuff that windows' on board thing. However I'll start with the dell diagnostic thing just in case, I figure it probably checks out the mobo or cpu at least in some way, which would at least give me some peace of mind. I really don't want to be stuck with those dead.
 
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Pat131

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Jan 29, 2014
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Could really use someone pointing me in the right direction. I've run 3 different memory checks (windows, memtest86, dell), all of them came up perfectly clear, the diagnostics utility from dell says the cpu and mobo are fine as well. I tried testing every single stick of memory 1 at a time, and the pc will not start with any single one as long as the cmos is in there. Should I assume my ram is in "safe mode" like that link suggested and is working but has undetected problems, or maybe the PSU I had before really did fail and took something with it on the mobo to do with ram and now I've got this issue, or is it somehow the CPU?

I really don't know what to do anymore.
 
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Pat131

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Jan 29, 2014
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Unfortunately I don't really have access to one. I just removed the ram, gpu, cmos, disc drive and hdd and it still won't boot without the bios reset method. When I do plug it back in and it starts I get the no gpu beep code, which makes sense. Is there any way to rule out cpu problems without an alternate board?
 
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Dwarfskinner

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Apr 5, 2014
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Did you ever figure out what your issue was with the 545? I seem to have the exact same issues you describe here. I replaced the pus and the power switch but computer will not start. Thx for any insight you can give.
 
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chrisccs

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May 22, 2014
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I, like others, switched the power supply to a brand new unit, to no avail. But then I found a new 545 motherboard on Amazon and got it for $75, installed it, and machine booted great. Three times. Now it's just as dead as with the previous motherboard. Not sure if Dell got hit with a batch of bad components that caused the 545 motherboards to melt down in a very short period of time, but I don't have any other ideas other than some kind of Dell motherboard defect. All I have now is an amber light on the motherboard that glows when the PSU is plugged into power (regardless if computer is running or not).
 
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matross

matross

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Aug 2, 2011
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I own a Dell Insipron 545, and have experienced the same technical difficulty, the light on the tower front turns amber instead of a white light, also the Inspiron would turn on with the fan spinning then turn off then on in a repeated cycle, problem is I had research on the hard drive and could not access. trouble shoted every thing PCU, ram, took out video card replaced, unusual because I took out the HDD and the on off repeated boot cycle continued, after 3 days of fustration I switched the power off for a complete day. By the way I run dual monitors and when I plugged back the monitor cables I plugged 1 of the cables into the VGA socket, the wrong socket, when I booted up the Insprion, the monitor issued a notice monitor cable connected to the wrong VGA outlet (switch of plug into video card with an adapter and restart), Hoo ray finally the Inspiron came to life and maybe I could access my precious research and print out. I think it took a set of wrong commands ie cables plugged into the wrong VGA part for the Inspiron to create a window into the PC, because that's all it ever takes is access into a system via display white tower light, but ever so cautiously I took great care and attention,and created a strategy all I needed was to enter the Inspiron system to tweek . In the meanwhile I bought an identical Inspiron on Ebay great price, so now I have 2 of the same model.
I would'nt hold my breath that this technical difficulty may still exist and show up again later, but at least I now have access and copied my research.

 
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MissTyler

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Jun 5, 2015
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** Idk if y'all solved your power problem, (I realise this thread was started over a yr ago) but the same thing was happening to me. I found a bizarre solution that absolutely worked and continues to- still.
You have to heat up the power source to the computer, i.e. heat the cord where it goes into the back of the tower. It's kind of a pain so I leave my computer on all the time to avoid having to do it but if the power goes out this is what I've been doing (ever since I read this online somewhere a couple yrs ago):
** Get a blow dryer, turn it on high/hot setting, and aim it at the back of your computer tower where the power cord plugs into it. Hold the blow dryer ~3 inches away, or however far u need to so the blow dryer doesn't overheat from hot air blowing back at it (which, if this happens, u hafta let the dryer cool off for a while- I speed things up by blowing hard into the mouth of it 5 or 6 times till it comes back on).
- Sometimes it takes 1 minute of heating the power source b4 my computer will power on and sometimes it takes 4 min. Since I hate having to stand there holding the blow dryer and pressing the power button every 20 secs to see if it will turn on, I turn on the blow dryer and set it on a pillow I put behind the tower. I arrange the pillow so that when I set the blow dryer on it, it's is at the right height, positioned so that the hot air is blowing out a few inches from where the power cord goes into the back of the tower, and then I leave it alone for a few minutes. When I come back in and press the power button, it lights up and my computer starts every time. Yes, it sounds retarded, I know.
So that's it. When I read this solution I was 99% doubtful myself, but since nothing else worked to get the dang thing to power up, I figured I had nothing to lose. It was crazy great when I pressed the power button and it stayed lit, and I said "Thank-you Lord!" when my monitor lit up a second later. :-D
 
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MissTyler

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Jun 5, 2015
4
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4,510


** Idk if y'all solved your power problem, (I realise this thread was started over a yr ago) but the same thing was happening to me. I found a bizarre solution that absolutely worked and continues to- still.
You have to heat up the power source to the computer, i.e. heat the cord where it goes into the back of the tower. It's kind of a pain so I leave my computer on all the time to avoid having to do it but if the power goes out this is what I've been doing (ever since I read this online somewhere a couple yrs ago):
** Get a blow dryer, turn it on high/hot setting, and aim it at the back of your computer tower where the power cord plugs into it. Hold the blow dryer ~3 inches away, or however far u need to so the blow dryer doesn't overheat from hot air blowing back at it (which, if this happens, u hafta let the dryer cool off for a while- I speed things up by blowing hard into the mouth of it 5 or 6 times till it comes back on).
- Sometimes it takes 1 minute of heating the power source b4 my computer will power on and sometimes it takes 4 min. Since I hate having to stand there holding the blow dryer and pressing the power button every 20 secs to see if it will turn on, I turn on the blow dryer and set it on a pillow I put behind the tower. I arrange the pillow so that when I set the blow dryer on it, it's is at the right height, positioned so that the hot air is blowing out a few inches from where the power cord goes into the back of the tower, and then I leave it alone for a few minutes. When I come back in and press the power button, it lights up and my computer starts every time. Yes, it sounds retarded, I know.
So that's it. When I read this solution I was 99% doubtful myself, but since nothing else worked to get the dang thing to power up, I figured I had nothing to lose. It was crazy great when I pressed the power button and it stayed lit, and I said "Thank-you Lord!" when my monitor lit up a second later. :-D
 
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Elizabeth McClain

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Jun 2, 2015
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4,510
MissTyler the hair dryer totally worked for me, although I used it on both the fan and where the power cord plugs in. I put it at the bottom right of the fan and aimed it up a little facing the cord, so that it would blow the fan faster and it worked. Thank you so much, I can't afford a new PC or PSU. This 2009 computer is still holding on... barely.
 
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