Severe Dell Problems

  • Thread starter Thread starter KV
  • Start date Start date
K

KV

The problem child is a Dell Dimension 4400. When the power button is
pressed, the PC powers up but never displays anything. The HDD activity
light stays solid for 30 seconds before turning off.

This is a list of what I tried in order (I put the parts back the way they
were after each step):

1. Tried a different monitor

2. Moved hard drive to a different computer

3. Installed a PCI video card

4. Removed memory

5. Swapped 1 GHz CPU with 533MHz CPU

6. Swapped power supply with identical model

7. Swapped motherboard with an identical model (ordered about a week ago,
just came in today)

7. Unplugged power from all devices except motherboard

Both monitors work with every other computer I have. The monitors are
different models. The hard drive is recognized in another computer.
Another video card doesn't make a difference - the screen still doesn't come
on. Removing the memory doesn't cause beep codes. Swapping the CPU seems
to make no difference. Swapping the motherboard didn't do anything.
Swapping the power supply seems to make no difference. Unplugging all the
devices seems to make no difference.

I'm wondering if the big problem is not a combination of smaller problems.
I guess I can try combinations of the above steps. Any ideas? I sure could
use some help if you have time.

-Kevin
 
The problem child is a Dell Dimension 4400. When the power button is
pressed, the PC powers up but never displays anything. The HDD activity
light stays solid for 30 seconds before turning off.

This is a list of what I tried in order (I put the parts back the way they
were after each step):

1. Tried a different monitor

2. Moved hard drive to a different computer

3. Installed a PCI video card

4. Removed memory

5. Swapped 1 GHz CPU with 533MHz CPU

6. Swapped power supply with identical model

7. Swapped motherboard with an identical model (ordered about a week ago,
just came in today)

7. Unplugged power from all devices except motherboard

Both monitors work with every other computer I have. The monitors are
different models. The hard drive is recognized in another computer.
Another video card doesn't make a difference - the screen still doesn't come
on. Removing the memory doesn't cause beep codes. Swapping the CPU seems
to make no difference. Swapping the motherboard didn't do anything.
Swapping the power supply seems to make no difference. Unplugging all the
devices seems to make no difference.

I'm wondering if the big problem is not a combination of smaller problems.
I guess I can try combinations of the above steps. Any ideas? I sure could
use some help if you have time.

-Kevin
Click to expand...

What O/S ?



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If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided
that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell.
 
John R. Sellers said:
If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided
that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell.
Click to expand...

I don't know much about the US-built Dells, but the European ones are
*usually* OK - the university I go to probably has about a thousand
Dell PCs! I've rarely seen ones actually break properly, outside of
stupid things like cables getting broken, floppy disks getting stuck,
and some of the crappy monitors going bad (there's a certain model of
17" ones made around 1999 - about 99% of them have gone out of focus!
Most painful to use). I'm using a crappy old Pentium II OptiPlex right
now!

Though saying this, more recently I've heard of people getting screwed
by Dell doing retarded things like giving them the wrong specs, and
stupidly fitted cases. For example, my friend asked for a Zip drive -
when she got the PC, at first she thought she didn't get one, though
Windows recognised one - it turned out the drive was there, but it was
under one of those blanking covers! There was no proper bezel for the
Zip drive under it though, and she kept getting electric shocks from
pressing the bare eject button...
 
John R. Sellers said:
If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided
that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell.
Click to expand...

The quality HAS gone down a notch or two, but I can't blame this one on
Dell. We had a terrible storm, which I'm pretty sure is the culprit. The
real thing that bugs me is the price of replacement parts. I talked to Dell
about ordering a new motherboard and they quoted me $250!!! They pulled
that number straight out of their ass.

The problem actually turned out to be two-fold. The reason I wasn't getting
beep codes when I removed the memory was the NIC was bad. As soon as I
removed the NIC, the system would beep without the memory. As soon as I
replaced the memory, the screen came back on.

That was a tough one to figure out. Trial and error pays off sometimes...

-Kevin
 
John R. Sellers said:
If you went thru what I went thru with mine, you'd know why I've decided
that my next desktop PC will definitely NOT be a Dell.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I'd never buy another Dell.

I bought two, both had problems. One was eventually resolved after 3
months, the other never was.

Besides being no more reliable than your average emachines, Dell's
prices are not that great either. You can get just as good a deal if
you buy direct from the manufacturer.
 
"KV" typed:
Never mind... it was the RAM!
Click to expand...


Kevin, does the LED indicating hard-disk activity stay solid for,
say, ten to fifteen seconds the moment you power-on the system and
during the initial stages of POST? With my Segate hard-disk connected
as a primary slave, it does, for some reason I have no knowledge of.
Is it uncommon for the LED to stay solid during POST?
 
Besides being no more reliable than your average emachines, Dell's
prices are not that great either. You can get just as good a deal if
you buy direct from the manufacturer.
Click to expand...

I just bought three basic work machines for my office @$399 each,
including shipping and 17" monitors. I couldn't find anybody close to
that. I just added a little after market ram and they seem just fine.
Maybe I'll be lucky for a change.

bb
 
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