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Dell Inspiron 545 Power Issues

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  • Motherboards
  • Components
Last response: in Components
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January 29, 2014 1:45:52 PM

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 fucked 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 the hell is going on? Is my mobo dying or something?

More about : dell inspiron 545 power issues

a c 224 V Motherboard
January 29, 2014 2:48:20 PM

Are any of the conventional electrolytic capacitors on the motherboard bulging or leaking electrolyte?
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January 30, 2014 6:24:31 AM

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/3... 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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January 30, 2014 1:04:29 PM

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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a c 224 V Motherboard
January 30, 2014 1:09:33 PM

Borrow and troubleshoot using a better quality power supply unit.

Sometimes you may encounter a new PSU that isn't fully compatible with the OEM motherboard.
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January 30, 2014 1:12:36 PM

I'll give it a shot.
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January 30, 2014 1:59:49 PM

A different PSU doesn't seem to make a difference.
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a c 224 V Motherboard
January 30, 2014 2:07:44 PM

The only thing left would be to try a different motherboard.
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January 30, 2014 2:24:53 PM

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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April 5, 2014 9:50:25 AM

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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May 22, 2014 2:00:48 PM

Dwarfskinner said:
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.


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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