[SOLVED] Computer is on, but not on. Help.

[California Roll]

I think my trusty old Dell SC400 is close to dying?

The computer powers on (hd light and power light on) but no display. No post, bios scroll or anything. The monitor acts like the computer is still off, monitor led blinks in standby mode instead of turning on.

Also, the usb keyboard status lights don't turn on. The computer is on, but nothing connected to it (monitor, keyboard, etc.) thinks it is.

My initial guess is a bad power supply? I haven't changed the mobo battery at all but I don't think this is the problem.

I'd appreciate any help, thanks.

 

[gsaldivar]

I would reseat any PCI cards and RAM. Also, make sure the power cable on all internal drives is good (unplug & replug). If you moved anything around recently, check to make sure the monitor is plugged in, etc. If no change, replace the power supply.

Good luck!

 

[ElenaP]

I would like to add:
1. Check that the Reset button isn't stuck.
2. Try to boot without internal drives (disconnect both power and data cables).
If it does not work, try replacing the power supply.

 

[California Roll]

Thanks for the tips, I'll give them a shot when I get home from work tonight.

Just a couple of notes:

This computer doesn't have a reset button, just one power button.

I guess Dell uses a proprietary power supply for this box. The PS doesn't have a power switch so the case opening is only big enough for the power plug. Ugh. I have several spare psu's but they all have switches. I'll have to dremel out the case or something.

When I pull the usb keyboard out and plug it into another port, the status lights flash for a split second and then go black. The computer is on the whole time. So it looks like it's getting power when it plugs in, but not maintaining it?

I'll try reseating the video and sound card and checking all the connections. I'll leave the optical drives unplugged for now. If that doesn't work, I'll reconnect a new psu "loose".

Thanks again!

 

[gsaldivar]

I'll try reseating the video and sound card and checking all the connections. I'll leave the optical drives unplugged for now. If that doesn't work, I'll reconnect a new psu "loose".

Keep us posted. Good luck!

 

[Davidh373]

I think my trusty old Dell SC400 is close to dying?

The computer powers on (hd light and power light on) but no display. No post, bios scroll or anything. The monitor acts like the computer is still off, monitor led blinks in standby mode instead of turning on.

Also, the usb keyboard status lights don't turn on. The computer is on, but nothing connected to it (monitor, keyboard, etc.) thinks it is.

My initial guess is a bad power supply? I haven't changed the mobo battery at all but I don't think this is the problem.

I'd appreciate any help, thanks.

I would say if none of that works it is the graphics card or chip (if it's onboard) is fried. According to the technical specs it was an ATI "RAGE" PCI card with 8 MB video memory? You could do much better, even on a tight budget. Let me know how much pocket change you have if you can't manage to fix it and I will scout out a PCI card for you

 

[California Roll]

So I've reseated everything, replaced psu with a working spare, and still the same prob.

Regarding the video card question, I have a Radeon 9800 AGP installed. This computer does not have onboard video.

I don't have another AGP video card to test with, but a bad video card doesn't explain keyboard status lights not turning on?

At this point, do I figure that the mobo or cpu is dead? Again, it powers on and off fine via the power button on the case, but no boot, no post, nothing.

Thanks again for any help.

 

[California Roll]

Just to update my thread, I finally figured it out. PSU was fine. My AGP video card is loose or something. With the case open, if I jam the card in tight into the slot or wiggle it a bit, it will boot and operate fine. If I close the case tho, it's hit or miss on whether it boots up. The slot doesn't feel loose at all but I need to wiggle the card a bit to get the computer working. Not sure if it's the slot or the card is going bad.

At this point I decided to just replace the computer. Don't feel like buying a used AGP card.