Desktop Power Supply Died

How about trying a BIOS update? Probably needs a newer version.

Have you tried a meter on the battery?

Blow out the battery holder in case dirt is there.

Check conditions of contacts.
 
Yes, check the battery socket, is the battery secure and not loose. Voltmeter the batteries to make sure they are good.

Seems like people on the Dell forums have tried all of these things and never got a resolution. And seems to come and go for many. All of the ones I have dealt with, changing the battery worked. Sounding more like a mobo defect. Look around the board at the capacitors, any look swollen or leak a little. Dell has been known in the past mobo issues. Surprised the refurber sold it with that issue without clearly stating it in the description. Ask for a replacement/refund.
 
target2019 said:
How about trying a BIOS update? Probably needs a newer version.

Have you tried a meter on the battery?

Blow out the battery holder in case dirt is there.

Check conditions of contacts.
Click to expand...

rbmrtn said:
Yes, check the battery socket, is the battery secure and not loose. Voltmeter the batteries to make sure they are good.

Seems like people on the Dell forums have tried all of these things and never got a resolution. And seems to come and go for many. All of the ones I have dealt with, changing the battery worked. Sounding more like a mobo defect. Look around the board at the capacitors, any look swollen or leak a little. Dell has been known in the past mobo issues. Surprised the refurber sold it with that issue without clearly stating it in the description. Ask for a replacement/refund.
Click to expand...

I don't have a voltmeter (probably should get one), did examine the battery socket and reseated the battery a few times, with no luck.

I'm leaning towards the replacement/refund too as come to think about it. With the mobo that had the problematic memory slots, upon initial setting up, when I first got that mobo to post, I got the low voltage error, when I switched put in a different battery, that message quickly went away.
 
My new plan A and B and C if the others don't work).

Plan A - return recent Mobo and get a replacement. Then reinstalling components again.

Plan B - Use the mobo with the RAM slots that don't hold all the RAM sticks. (I just did a sanity check, and this mobo definitely doesn't have the battery voltage issue as put in a bad battery, saw the message, then put in a new battery and my working HD and the system booted fine).

Plan C - Swear I'll never get another Dell desktop and look for a new system.
 
A-Okay!

target2019 said:
Plan F #Flash the BIOS.

Did you remove that jumper thingy I think I saw in a video?
Click to expand...


Well, I'm back up and running. :D

I made the cardinal sin of not flashing the BIOS as the very first thing to do. A lesson learned.

I flashed the BIOS for the board with the low battery voltage message, but that didn't work. I'm gonna RMA that board to get some money back.

Then I figured, back to the board with the RAM slots. So, I flashed that board also, and that fixed the RAM slot issue. So, then I did the transplant of the various components the that box.

I just finished reactivating my copy Windows, so, all is good :dance:

It's a good thing I don't charge myself by the hour :LOL:
 
target2019 said:
I call this "just keep changing stuff until it works."

Glad it worked out.

Don't bother backing up, it will never happen again.
:angel:
Click to expand...

Well, I don't feel so bad now about buying the extra unit from ebay as I did need that MB.

I actually like the Dell Optiplex case and am wondering if the case could be used for a computer build.

But not now as I'll be seeing computer cables in my sleep from over the past few days. :(
 
You can of course fit Dell parts a lot easier than other manufacturers. For instance, another motherboard will not line up with the cutouts for various ports.
 
I guess I lost track of what you were doing to what part....:LOL:

I thought the ram issue and the battery issue were on the same mobo.

Reusing the OEM cases can be a pain, mainly getting the front panel ports to match the mobo connectors since most that is unique to specific model. And sometimes the i/o panel on the back can't be matched up. Both Dell and HP have some nice cases in their business line of PC/workstations.
 
Bummer about the difficulty in reusing the OEM cases. I like the big honking heatsink and CPU fan of the tower I have. But do see how where the screws for the plastic heat sink guard screws into the mobo can be a think just for that case.

What's interesting is with my computer repair, now the "sleep' function works. Previously, I try to put the computer to sleep, but it would put up a fit and just stay awake. I'd either have to put the PC on hibernate or shut down.
 
I admire your determination in solving this problem. I nominate a secondary superhero username: Silver Surfer. :)
 
Last edited:
steelyman said:
I admire your determination in solving this problem. I nominate a secondary superhero username: Silver Surfer. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks. I"m glad to have the desktop back.

If necessity is the mother of invention. Then desperation is the sister of determination :)
 
Your comment about problems related to sleep mode reminded me of what eventually made me think the power supply on my PC (a Dell, but the more consumer-oriented Dimension line) has seen better days.

It started getting errors, unresponsive and nothing but the blinking amber light on the front panel. Looking at the event logs consistently pointed to failure in the sleep-wake transition. I'd first wondered if the hard drive was the problem but it seemed fine. For now, I just shut it down when I'm done with the PC for the day. I need it up and running a lot less since my working days. I'll see about a more permanent solution in the future but for now it was an additional motivation to make sure I have continual backups to an external drive.
 
This is esoteric info I'm sure, but I am consistently surprised when I find a solution accidentally, and I feel so brilliant.

We're discussing Dell here, so all the model and such don't matter IMO. I have a Dell monitor with USB ports. I used it for my last three systems over a 5-year period. With my newer XPS8700 I had a few scares, where the system wouldn't wake from sleep. Even scarier it wouldn't do anything after a reboot.

Eventually I had a moment of Zen and decided to unplug the monitor USB cable from the system. The monitor hub is failing, or whatever. Once unplugged from the system, I could boot fine and have no problems waking the system.
 
I had someone bring me a laptop that was not booting. After fiddling with it for for a bit I finally noticed a tiny USB something plugged in ( forget what it was ) removed that and it booted fine. I have taken non booting PCs apart, then reassembled to barebones and magically start working...

The sleep/hibernate function seems to be less than expected. I see a lot of systems than never seen to come out of hibernate fully functional. End up powering down and reboot.
 
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