Optiplex 780 - diagnostic lights problem.

[joeychizzel]

hi all - i hope someone will assist me in a problem:
here are my 780 comp stats -

OptiPlex 780 Minitower Base Standard PSU
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8500 with VT (3.16GHz, 6M, 1333MHz FSB)
8GB DDR3 Non-ECC SDRAM, 1066MHz, (4 DIMM)
Integrated Video, Intel® GMA 4500
250GB SATA 3.0Gb/s and 8MB DataBurst Cache™
No Out-of-Band Systems Management
No RAID
16X DVD+/-RW SATA, Roxio Creator™ CyberlinkPowerDVD™
Heat Sink, Mainstream, Minitower
No Speaker, OptiPlex
OptiPlex 780 Minitower Standard Power Supply
Opti 780 Documentation English
No Dell Energy Smart Power Management Settings
Resource DVD contains Diagnostics and Driver for Dell OptiPlex Systems

this is exactly what i did. without turning the computer on at all, i wanted to replace the power supply and a new graphics card before turning it on. so i replaced their generic 305 w power supply with a 550w corsair power supply. i also put in a low profile 9800gt card. everything is plugged in correctly and i plug the power plug into a ups battery i have. first time i turn it on, the diagnostic lights are blinking - 1 and 3. according to the dell manual, this means that "Memory modules are detected, but a memory configuration or compatibility error has occurred", the suggestions are "# Ensure that no special requirements for memory module/connector placement exist. # Ensure that the memory you are using is supported by your computer (see the "Specifications" section for your computer)." i didn't touch the memory at all, it stays the same. so fearing the worst, i took out the graphics card and put back the old 305w factory power supply in the dell and plugged the computer directly to the wall. when i turn it on again, the same lights come on...the memory problem light. i called dell and they said it's probably a faulty power supply. i am curious if someone else has ever had this problem with the new optiplex or have any suggestions as to what to do. i want to try and fix this myself...i do have a service contract with dell and they can have a tech guy over..but due to time and other circumstances, i don't want to wait for the tech guy to come fix it...if maybe there is something i can do myself or if anybody have any suggestions? i removed all the memory, same lights, i put in 1 memory at a time in dimm1 and the same lights pop up. i'm at an absolute lost. i hope nothign is fried or no chips or anything failed since the computer is brand new. it was my fault that i didn't turn on the computer when it came in factory. hopefully someone can help. thank you very much!

 

[jamesmaseobrown]

I feel your pain. I inherited an Optilex 780 and put in a new PS and memory and got the same thing. Dell has a discussion forum where I left inquiries with no results. Looks like to me they're strictly an inside club. Was this issue ever resolved?

 

[joeychizzel]

if i remember correctly, it ended up being the power supply. something wasn't jiving with the power supply.

 

[joeychizzel]

since i was the original poster, i will tell you what was wrong with mine. before i opened the brand new dell, i switched the powersupply to a 500watt powersupply. so when i turned it on, there was the orange lights and it wouldn't work. so what i did was, i switched it back to the original 300w powersupply, called dell and told them there was something wrong with my brand new dell and they sent me a new 300w powersupply and the computer ran perfectly. after that, i switched it out with a 500 watt power supply and everything worked fine and it is still working wonderful up til now. i hope that helped somewhat.

 

[joeychizzel]

actually, my ram was fine, i took them all out, put them back in, they are fine now...running 8 gigs. but the powersupply switch fixed it. oh well

 

[chaybird]

Just a thought. I have a GX270 that had diagnositc lights 1 and 3 on and it was also the Power supply. The pins on the micro connector are very easy to bend causing a loose connection. A little re-shaping and good as new. Just a note if you come across this thread and are having similar issues.

Thanks

Chay Chauncey