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The great mistery.. the Dell

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 5:26 am
by Koo Koo Mouse
Hi All!
Sorry for being away so long!

This has me puzzled to death right now.
The Machine is a Dell 580 bought in 2010 or 11. Mobo is a Skywalker DH57Mo2 if that helps.
Came home from work and found it dead. No reboot wouldn't even spin any fan or attempt to start.. Just plain dead.
1st try.. A new power supply for $58 Nope no go.. Even next I installed a unopened new mother board for $62.. Guess what, nope!
To add while doing all this:
1. Pulled all sticks of ram out
No change.
2. no drives, all pulled..
3. Tried to start it with and without the I3 processor in / and without it in. no change.
4. Shorted the start pins on the mobo start switch. Nothing.. The fans don't even twitch.
I have the amber lite on the mobo "flea light" and that's it..
must be missing something! Why would a new PS and MB refuse to even post or beep or give a clue?
I Admit my sorting of the start pins with a flat screwdriver ant so good. LOL! I'll Grab a real jumper tomorrow.. Keep wanting to blame the START momentary switch!
Any Ideas would be great as I'm at a loss and have never seen anything like this.. Hate to scrap it or worse yet.. Bring it in! Ouch!!!

Thanks!

Cory and Max (the new cat) RIP Sammy.. :(

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 7:08 am
by FlyingPenguin
Same CPU? Bad CPU is rare, but still possible.

Was that a Dell PSU u replaced it with? Dell went back to custom PSU connectors on some models.

You check the CMOS battery?

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 8:16 am
by Koo Koo Mouse
Thanks FP!
Yes It is a New PSU. It was replaced with a LOGiSTYS 450 WATT. Has a split connector for 8 pin or pin 4. I needed the 4.

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:10 am
by Koo Koo Mouse
Check CMOS, battery no I haven't.. The new board and old board act the same, I cant see both having the same problem, Even a dead CMOS tries to learn and boots. I have nothing,, no click no fans just dead..

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:27 am
by FlyingPenguin
Actually when a CMOS gets down below one volt, I've seen mobos that refuse to power up.

It just seems unlikely they'd both be dead, but if that replacement mobo was sitting on the shelf a long time maybe it is too. Simple enough to test.

Other than the power switch and the CPU (assuming you're using the same one) I can't see any other common denominator. It's extremely rare for a CPU to fail, but you never know.

A shorted reset switch can do it too, but if you pulled the front panel connector and shorted the power pins, that would eliminate that possibility.

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 9:50 am
by wvjohn
Possible glitch in getting the house power to the computer? Bad wiring somewhere along the line? I was having fits with my house LAN last year until I eventually discovered chewed wires (rats, not mice :) )

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 10:35 am
by Executioner
I remember having similar issues with one of my old rigs. On mine, it turned out to be the cpu. I had replaced it years ago and kept the old one. Put the old one in and it fired right up. I then pulled it and tried again with the one that was bad, and no go.

Posted: Sat Sep 27, 2014 1:24 pm
by Koo Koo Mouse
UPDATE:
I checked the battery. 3.34 volts and popped it back in. Shorted the mobo pin and it Lite up. :) BRB!

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 2:05 pm
by Koo Koo Mouse
I'll be dipped in Sh@t and hug to dry.. Checking and popping the battery back in seems to haven given it an attitude adjustment!! It's back up and running!
My only guess is the cmos batt wasn't seated right. Thanks FP and all!

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 2:22 pm
by FlyingPenguin
That or popping out the battery reset the CMOS settings.

Posted: Sun Sep 28, 2014 4:34 pm
by wvjohn
Glad that worked - I think I remember doing that once a long time ago.

Posted: Mon Sep 29, 2014 12:37 am
by normalicy
I've had luck with that before. Sometimes, you just have to take all the power from the thing.