I have a 3 year old Dell Dimension XPS D233 computer. Yesterday I returned home (there had been storm during the day) to find that the LED power icon on the tower was blinking on and off and the monitor and keyboard were not operating - I had left the computer on from the day before). I removed the power cable to try and restart but all I could hear was power getting to the cd rom and drives (whirring noises) but no beeps and nothing on the monitor and keyboard (the monitor is OK as once the cable is removed the signal failure message comes up on the screen). I opened it up and checked to see if there were any loose connections and I also removed the modem card but still the same problem when re-attaching the power cable. The fan on the PSU is working OK but the fan for the cpu is not. Apologies in advance if this problem has already been dealt with elsewhere in this forum.

Whenever there is no video first reseat the ram. If still no video I always take th mb right out of the case totally and just have ram and video card "if not onboard video" and of course processor and fan and original power supply. I then power it up. If still no video I swap out whatever I can. Ram,video card,cpu and power supply, one at a time. The processor is the hardest to swap out easily cause most people don't have another processor to test with. At least reseat the processor. If still no video and your cpu fan is not spinning I would suspect the MB first and the cpu second. The Cpu is usually tougher than the MB if its under 6 years old. HTH John http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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Peace is in the mind,not the situation. "unless you're in a fire fight"

Does the cpu fan plug directly into the mainboard? If it does, then the mainboard isnt getting any power and there is no way you could get a post up. If the power supply fan is connected to the same kind of connector that the hard drive is......try using another connector with it to see if it is dead. If the cpu fan is dead, then the system overheated (why I tell folks to either turn off system while away or replace cpu fan annually). If it overheated, then it tried to restart several times and probably overheated the cpu. Hopefully, it's just the power supply not providing power to the mainboard.....even though it IS putting power to the peripherals ...so replacing it would hopefully solve the problem.

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Will XP save Me ?

[This message has been edited by Randy_tx (edited 04-26-2001).]

Welcome, mikeyboy! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif Was there any damage to any other electronics at home -- TV, cordless phone, etc? Any alarm clocks need re-setting? That's usually a good indication that you took a power hit. Do you plug your PC into a surge strip? If yes, try plugging directly into a wall outlet. Unfortunately, many Dell systems, especially older desktops, use at least some proprietary components, and the power supply may be one of them. If it is, you probably have to get a replacement from them. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif It's actually easier to take a hit through the phone line in many areas, so if it was connected to your modem, that may have been the path. This can happen even when the system is powered off, unless you run the phone line through a surge suppressor also. It sounds like at least the 12-volt feed from the power supply is working, since your CD and HD are getting power. If you were very lucky, maybe the BIOS/CMOS just got "confused" by a transient. Try removing your CMOS battery for a minute or so, then put it back and power up. If it does start to boot, press Delete or whatever key starts your BIOS setup program. If there is an option like "Load BIOS defaults" or "Fail Safe", choose it, save the change and exit. Good Luck! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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"When I nod my head, hit it with the hammer."
(Moe, holding nail, to Curly, holding hammer)

Thanks everyone for the useful replies. I live in Malaysia so getting effective DELL support is quite difficult when trying to effectively convey the problem. I will try out all the suggestions given during the weekend and will provide an update early next week. Once again thanks for the assistance. In reply to some of the queries, where I live is very prone to electrical storms and during the day in question (just like nearly every day at this time of year) we had an electrical storm but to my knowledge no other electronics were affected. The phone line is always connected to the computer as I have a separate line for the internet. I dont use a surge protector and the fan is directly connected to the motherboard (I think - but will double check!).

It sounds like you really need some kind of power or surge protection. If it is expensive to get one there, you should probably just completely unplug everything -- the power cords from the outlet and the phone line from your modem -- during this kind of weather. I know it's a pain in the a** to do so every time, but you can see the consequences. Hope your system survived, and you get it working again. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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"When I nod my head, hit it with the hammer."
(Moe, holding nail, to Curly, holding hammer)

I have tried all the suggestions given but to no avail - which leads me to suspect either the Power supply (which is a Dell component) or mother board. How can I go about checking whether there is power getting to the motherboard from the psu using a voltage meter?

If the power supply fan works, and the 12-volt side is OK (HD runs), the PS itself is most likely good. I guess it could possibly be only partially damaged. To be absolutely sure, you could try a known good PS. If you can borrow one from a friend, you could hook it up to your system, even if it won't actually fit inside the case. If the system boots up now, your old power supply is no good. If it does not boot, then you have to keeping checking.

If your CPU cooling fan is connected to the motherboard, try to buy/borrow an adapter cable that will let you plug the fan directly into a known good power supply connector. The adapter cable is a fairly common item, either 3-to-4 pin or 2-to-4 pin. If the fan does not run now, you have to find out from the mobo docs if that is enough to prevent start-up. Otherwise, replace it. If the fan does work, then there are still three potential "culprits" -- RAM, CPU, motherboard.

If you know someone who has a system that will accept the same type of RAM module, you could put yours in that machine to see if it works OK. If it does, that is another problem eliminated. If it does not, replace it.

If you know someone whose working motherboard has the same socket and the right specs, you could test yours on it. You may have to re-configure some motherboard jumpers or BIOS setup options if the CPU's have different speeds. If it does not work, you will still not know if your motherboard is good or bad. If it does work, the mobo is the problem.

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"When I nod my head, hit it with the hammer."
-- (Moe, holding nail, to Curly, holding hammer)

If the power supply fan works, and the 12-volt side is OK (HD runs), the PS itself is most likely good. I guess it could possibly be only partially damaged. To be absolutely sure, you could try a known good PS. If you can borrow one from a friend, you could hook it up to your system, even if it won't actually fit inside the case. If the system boots up now, your old power supply is no good. If it does not boot, then you have to keeping checking.

If your CPU cooling fan is connected to the motherboard, try to buy/borrow an adapter cable that will let you plug the fan directly into a known good power supply connector. The adapter cable is a fairly common item, either 3-to-4 pin or 2-to-4 pin. If the fan does not run now, you have to find out from the mobo docs if that is enough to prevent start-up. Otherwise, replace it. If the fan does work, then there are still three potential "culprits" -- RAM, CPU, motherboard.

If you know someone who has a system that will accept the same type of RAM module, you could put yours in that machine to see if it works OK. If it does, that is another problem eliminated. If it does not, replace it.

If you know someone whose working motherboard has the same socket and the right specs, you could test yours on it. You may have to re-configure some motherboard jumpers or BIOS setup options if the CPU's have different speeds. If it does not work, you will still not know if your motherboard is good or bad. If it does work, the mobo is the problem.

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"When I nod my head, hit it with the hammer."
-- (Moe, holding nail, to Curly, holding hammer)

Just an update to my predicament. The Power Supply is a proprietary Dell product and I am now awaiting it being shipped from Singapore (even though it is the country next to Malaysia, DELL say it will takes 2 weeks despite being ex-stock!!!!). My next question is this - if it still doesnt work and the mobo is faulty can I use any Slot 1 mobo (Its a PII cpu) with the correct configuration of ISA and PCI for my pc. Do I also have to ensure that the chipset matches what is in the original mobo or is there some degree of flexibility? I am asking because I intend to buy it from a shop and not from DELL as they had the audacity to quote a price of over 220 US dollars for a replacement mobo. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif

If you buy a board from a source other then Dell, your preconfigured software (restore disk) may not work, I know that is the case with my HP and that there are many other manufacturers that do that, soon to be all....but if you do buy a board make sure that it can handle the chip yoou have and has the slots for your add in cards.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Vive diu prosperaque!

I intend purchasing a mobo which has the same chipset as my own computer (Intel LX440) and also has the same configuration of DIMM, ISA and PCI. If I do this will it avoid the pitfalls of having conflicts with the preconfigured software?

Probably not, most motherboards used by major systems manufacturers are somewhat modified from their commercially available counterparts (if you order a few 100K from let's say ASUS, you can get modifications pretty cheap...) and often there are BIOS differences and usually the "restore" disk is just that, not the complete installation package but the configured version of the software as installed on that model machine and contains a routine to check that the vendor specified machine is the one you are trying to use it on.

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

So basically if I buy an non-proprietary motherboard (i.e not from Dell) then there is a strong likelihood it will not boot up or are the software conflicts only limited to certain events?

If your hard drive is fine and all your software is (was) functioning properly then I see no problems in changing, BUT if you ever have to reinstall your OS or any other software that came with your system then most likely it will not work (there are some configuration issues to work through when cahngin MOBOs and not doing a fresh install..). Any software that you downloaded or installed apart from what you got with the machine will install fine with a new board. If you have a cd burner then you can, with the aid of third party software, produce an 'image' (like a back up but a complete mirror image of what is own your hard drive) and that would work. Also I found that the power connectors for your board are proprietary and can be difficult to reconfigure. All this is not to get you down or discouraged...just make you aware that due to the proprietary nature of off the shelf systems sometimes the only way to repair them is with expensive "dealer" parts....

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

Thanks for the feedback - I intend looking for a mobo that is identical or at least very similar to the one I currently have. I will use the motherboard.org site to pinpoint the manufacturer of my existing board. However it may be that due to the age of the board that it is no longer available - in which case I will have no choice but to source the mobo from Dell http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif
Under normal circumstances I would just buy/build another pc but I intend fixing this one so that I can give it to my 4 year old daughter and then I will have a go at building my first computer http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif

I was checking my mobo yesterday will the power attached and I noticed that the heat sink for the cpu was getting very hot - if the mobo was faulty would this still occur? Or is it more likely that the cpu fan is faulty and in turn the processor has overheated?

Just thought I would provide an update to my woes http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif I have replaced both the power supply and Motherboard - however I can still not get the blasted computer to boot up! The only change is that whereas before the power indicator blinked on and off after power up, the light stays permanently on now. However I still do not go any beeps apart from the initial power up beep and the monitor stays blank and the cpu fan still wont work (I know it is functional as I have tested it in another computer). I guess this just leaves the cpu to replace! Therefore my question is - is there any benefit in upgrading the processor which is or should I say was a 233Mhz Pentium PII (its a slot 1 mobo)?

Mikeyboy, sorry to hear you are still having problems. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/frown.gif

The single beep on startup is at least one good sign.

The fact that the CPU cooling fan isn't working does not necessarily
imply that the CPU is bad. It may in fact be, because of insufficient
cooling, but it really depends on how long it was running hot.

You may be able to salvage the situation by replacing the fan/heatsink
combination. They are usually only $10-$20US.

Check your motherboard manual. If it comes down to replacing the CPU,
the manual should tell you what the board will accept. Probably most
Slot-1 CPU's, but possibly not Coppermine versions unless you can
regulate the voltage separately. Good luck! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif


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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."
-- Homer Simpson

Thanks for the quick feedback - I am even more confused as I tried out my cpu in a Dell computer at my work and the fan ran OK - so maybe it is OK after all! I have snaffled the cpu from this computer as well as the fan http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif and intend trying them on my own computer at home to see what happens.

Just love those words like 'snaffled'. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

If that works for you, then trade your CPU/fan combo for the one at work.
They'll never know. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)
-- (Question: 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?')

"Just because I don't care, doesn't mean I don't understand."
-- Homer Simpson

[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 06-06-2001).]

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/tongue.gif Well I took home the works cpu (its a 300Mhz and fan) but before I tried them I decided to try my existing cpu one last time - and lo and behold the damn thing booted up and is now working hunky dory! The only other problem I have is that it would appear that the internal modem was fried as well as the mobo so will need to replace that as well - but I can get one of those for about 10 US dollars here so no worries http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif Anyway thanks again for everyones help - no doubt I will be back here when I decide to build my own computer for the 1st time. On that subject there is a website called "Tom's Hardware Guide" which provides details on how to build one - has anyone checked this website? - if so what do they think of it. (The computer proposed for construction is a 800Mhz Athlon overclocked to 1000Mhz with a Asus A7V mobo 256Mb of SDRAM and a GeForce2 GTS graphics card)

Well now that it is working and reading back over it, it looks like you may not have had the CPU properly seted on the new MOBO...

As to Tom's Hardware, his site is considered one of the best sources for hardware info, and his How to guides are usually complete and accurate...I often go there. Alot of good stuff...


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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.