Dell XPS One System failing to boot

[jfox4445]

Have a Dell XPS One system. Immediately after powering up the DVD Drive and front lights come on, after they go off the Display is completely White followed by 2 high short...1 lower short....then 1 high short beep. The display then momentarily goes black....then comes back on completely White. It then makes the normal sounding beep similar to after a successful POST. The screen stays White. The DELL splash screen or BIOS is never displayed...screen is always white. Wireless Keyboard responds to CTL ALT DEL for reboot.

Have a feeling the problem is video...but don't want to start trying to throw parts at the thing without being confident that is indeed the problem.

Any insight would be helpful.



Thank you,


Jeff

 

[aford10]

Try 1 stick of RAM at a time.

Pull out the video card, blow out any dust that may be in the fan (if it has one). Then reseat the card.

 

[arnbergd]

Have a Dell XPS One system. Immediately after powering up the DVD Drive and front lights come on, after they go off the Display is completely White followed by 2 high short...1 lower short....then 1 high short beep. The display then momentarily goes black....then comes back on completely White. It then makes the normal sounding beep similar to after a successful POST. The screen stays White. The DELL splash screen or BIOS is never displayed...screen is always white. Wireless Keyboard responds to CTL ALT DEL for reboot.

Have a feeling the problem is video...but don't want to start trying to throw parts at the thing without being confident that is indeed the problem.

Any insight would be helpful.



Thank you,


Jeff

I have recently had the same problem with a friend of mine and walked her through the process to figure out the beep codes. Hers ended up to be memory faults. Yours sounds like it is the same as well. Turn the computer off, unplug it, open the casing, touch something metal outside of the case before you touch something on the inside, remove all of the ram, the slot closest to the cpu is no. 1 slot. Install ONLY ONE stick of ram for each test cycle. Start by installing one stick of ram in the no.1 slot, plug in the power cord, turn on the computer. If the computer starts up normally, shut it down and test another stick of ram. do this for each stick of ram memory that you have. If one fails to boot up the computer, set it aside as a bad one, then go to the next.. Bottom line is.. You probably had a power surge from a storm or power outage that fried some of your memory, and you will no doubt, need to replace some of the ram modules. Good Luck!! It really is a relief to find out for sure, even though it may cost a little to replace your damaged goods. Also, here is a dell link for your owners manual in case you don't have it. Read thoroughly and understand your beep codes to be sure. http://supportapj.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps2420/en/setgde/SG_EN.pdf

 

[jfox4445]

I have recently had the same problem with a friend of mine and walked her through the process to figure out the beep codes. Hers ended up to be memory faults. Yours sounds like it is the same as well. Turn the computer off, unplug it, open the casing, touch something metal outside of the case before you touch something on the inside, remove all of the ram, the slot closest to the cpu is no. 1 slot. Install ONLY ONE stick of ram for each test cycle. Start by installing one stick of ram in the no.1 slot, plug in the power cord, turn on the computer. If the computer starts up normally, shut it down and test another stick of ram. do this for each stick of ram memory that you have. If one fails to boot up the computer, set it aside as a bad one, then go to the next.. Bottom line is.. You probably had a power surge from a storm or power outage that fried some of your memory, and you will no doubt, need to replace some of the ram modules. Good Luck!! It really is a relief to find out for sure, even though it may cost a little to replace your damaged goods. Also, here is a dell link for your owners manual in case you don't have it. Read thoroughly and understand your beep codes to be sure. http://supportapj.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps2420/en/setgde/SG_EN.pdf

Swapped the memory as suggested and no luck. When I remove the memory and turn it on....the beep code is different than what I'm getting. I have a bad feeling it is either Video or Chipset or Motherboard/Chipset related. Unfortunately since it is an All-In-One computer the Video is on board. Looks like it is time to part it out and junk it. Too bad....the built in LCD can't be used for anything.....

 

[aford10]

Check your manual for the beep codes and meanings.

 

[aford10]

I would suggest looking up the beep code first. It may be something as simple as faulty RAM. That, you can easily fix yourself, at a lot less cost.

 

[cavetroll]

Check this out:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3515/p/19244102/19759729.aspx#19759729
Then check this out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5450riDktCs&feature=related
Then check this out.
http://www.discountelectronics.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=7308&gdftrk=gdfV21935_a_7c309_a_7c810_a_7c7308

Anyone let me know how it goes. I have the same problem and am broke and paying 150 is tough.
I would love to know if the links I post lead to a solution OR IF YOU THINK IT WILL.