Dell blinking amber light- No boot

[l_long_island]

When I approached my Dell Dimensions 5150 one morning (it was left on overnight), the on/off LED was blinking (amber) at approximately 2.5 second intervals. The system will not boot (even after unplugging/plugging the system from/to the outlet). In addition, a week prior to this event, ipods, cameras and memory sticks did not work when connected to either front USB port. The fans are not on. When opening up the tower a solid green light on the motherboard is visible. From what I’ve read it, seems to be the power supply. Do you concur? Should I remove the power supply and bring it to Best Buy or some other merchant so they can find the appropriate match?
Thanks,
l_long_island

[elroy]

It might be the power supply. Best thing to do is beg, borrow or steal another one to connect to your pc to see if that solves the problem. Also you can buy an ATX power supply tester online for around $12-15.

Look here for a tester. These are shipped prices.
http://castle.pricewatch.com/s/searc...+supply+tester

[l_long_island]

elroy,
Trying to track down a power supply. Will let you know how it turns out. Thanks again.

[imparanoid]

Before you go out and plop down a bunch of cash on a new PSU what i would do is plug the computer into its own outlet. It has been my experience that When dell's don't have enough power they will blink that amber color. Idk it's worth a try though
Hope you can figure it out and fix it!

[JLK03F150]

Look at the back of the PC. There are four diagnostic lights to help you figure out what failed.
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1114195

[DellCA]

JLK03F150 is correct; the diagnostic LEDs (labeled either A-D or 1-4) will help determine what the actual failure is. The blinking amber power light indicates either a problem with the motherboard or the PSU.

If you have not already gotten this resolved I will be more than happy to provide any help I can.

Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

[JLK03F150]

Hey Larry & Welcome to TechIMO.

Pull up a keyboard and hang around a while. You'll find there are several very skilled Dell guys around here (of which, I'm not one of - haha).

[DellCA]

Thank you for the warm welcome. While the desktops are not my specialty (I've mainly worked notebook support) I've built plenty of them and this looks , from a tech support point of view, to be a relatively easy one to fix.

l_long_island, if you haven't already contacted Dell support on this feel free PM me the service tag and I'll be happy to check to see if the system is still in warranty.

Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

[l_long_island]

Gentlemen,
Thanks again for your responses. I've been without a computer for quite some time. BTW, no code lights appaear, just the blinking amber light. The new power supply did not help. I assume the motherboard is nfg. So I bit the bullet and bought a new low end Dell.
When I bring it up I can finally get to the internet, hence this communication.
However, I had this new brainstorm (which of course is not working). I pulled the new disk drive out, and put the old dell disk drive (from the blinking amber light computer) in. Low and behold all my log-on accounts are present and I have access to all my files. However, I can't connect to the internet. I'm guessing the following, the old disk drive doesn't have the network drivers that the new computer hardware requires. I copied 1 driver (bcm4sbxp.sys) from the new disk to the old disk and still can't connect to the internet. The driver wizard is now telling me the old disk set-up doesn't have a SM bus controller driver.
I fear if I continue to go down this path I will meet one obstacle after another. Do you guys feel it is worth while continuing this path or should I concentrate on using the new disk as my primary disk, re-install all my crap on it and eventually copy all my data files from the old disk to the new system?
It's good to be on line again.
Thanks
l_long_island

[Bizkitkid2001]

You should be able to download all of the necessary drivers and software for the new Dell that you purchased off of the Dell website.

[JPMiller]

Sorry, wrong thread...

[y2kvitual]

Please help me! well am not able to afford a new pc so i need this one fixed. I did the same that the first person did by changing the battery and still nothing worked and this dell 5150 doesn't have no lights at the rear of the system just the light in the front that keeps blinking amber. pleae help

[Bizkitkid2001]

Sorry, wrong thread...

That isn't directed towards me is it?

[JLK03F150]

Long Island, IMO you should get all your data files off the old drive, then configure it as a D: storage drive. Reinstall all your programs to the new computers C: drive. Life will probably be much easier that way. Getting an OS install on a HDD from another computer can be made to work, but there's just too many obstacles to reliably get it going. Sorry you couldn't get the old one going.

Y2kvitual, according to Dell either your power supply or motherboard has failed. Do you have access to a multimeter so you can test the power supply?

Blinking amber:
A power supply or system board failure has occurred.
Check the diagnostic lights to see if the specific problem is identified. Also, see "Power Problems" in your computer Owner's Manual.

Light Pattern:
No lights
Problem Description:
The computer is in a normal "off" condition, has successfully booted to the operating system, or a possible pre-BIOS failure has occurred.
Suggested Resolution:
Plug the computer into a working electrical outlet and press the power button. Also see "Power Problems" in your computer Owner's Manual.

[mowglii]

Thinking for sure that it was the power supply, I put a nice 470W perfectly compatable supply in carefully trying with every effort to assure that each cord I took out matched the new one I put in. NO DICE. Quickly becoming a Dell hater after buying them for family members and friends. My computer is also 1.5 years old, past warranty. Is the motherboard the only solution left? If so, how much to replace and is it worth it?

I also have a DELL Dimension 5150.

[osprey4]

mowglii:

What were your symptoms. Usually the blinking amber power switch light is a failed PSU. But obviously, other problems could also be present.

[DellCA]

Apologies for the delay in replying. I've been on vacation the last two weeks ... but I'm back now and ready to help.

l_long_island: the only other failure I have seen cause a blinking amber power light is a processor failure. The documentation does not indicate the amber light is a CPU failure with this model, however. If you think it is worth it, you can try replacing the CPU before looking at a replacement motherboard, however, there is the risk of wasting money on parts that won't fix the problem. Based on the situation it is not something I feel comfortable recommending.

As for your data, JLK03F150 is correct that the potential problems make using the old drive a less than best solution. It can be done, possibly with no problems at all, but it could also end up being a royal pain. The basic steps are to put the old drive in the new system then install all of the drivers for the new system as if you has just installed Windows. You might need to reinstall some of your programs, but that shouldn't be needed.

Keeping the new system as is, and just adding the old hard drive as a secondary is probably the least painful way to go. It has the benefit of letting you copy your data over as needed (it should be easily accessible just by connecting the hard drive to the system), letting you use it as is or copy your data to the new drive then format the old one for use as extra storage space.

y2kvitual: did you replace the battery or the power supply (PSU)? Dell has a notebook computer (Inspiron 5150) as well, so I want to make sure we're talking about the same model. If it is a desktop and you already replaced the PSU then it is most likely the motherboard that has failed (assuming you have the exact same symptoms l_long_island reported).

mowglii: what symptoms were you seeing on your computer (especially the diagnostic lights)? If you are seeing the same problem as l_long_island and y2kvitual then unfortunately the motherboard is almost sure to be the fix. I do not know the exact price for the replacement board from Dell, but my personal recommendation would be to at least look into getting a replacement system instead. At the least you'd have a computer with an active warranty on it. If you did purchase a replacement motherboard from Dell it would have either a 45 or 90 day hardware warranty (the basic coverage to ensure the part itself does not have any manufacturing defects) but it would not cover any other part of the computer. If the system was in warranty, the motherboard would take on the warranty of the computer or its own 45/90 day coverage, which ever is longer.

I hope this answers everyone's questions. If you have more fire away! I'm ready for ya!

[edit] I checked and the parts would have a 90 day warranty


Larry
Dell Customer Advocate

[Cessnock]

Thanks for the previous posts folks, I just found this forum as I was looking for the identical fault as described which has just started to happen on my Dimension 5150 last week.
Its 2 1/2 years old and no problems until now, last week I tried to switch it on and noticed the tower unit on/off button flashing amber, holding the button in did not start it, I disconnected the main power lead and checked the fuse, all OK,connected the main power cable again and still no boot up.
Left it for about an hour unplugged, tried again and it started no problem, I usually leave it plugged in to the mains wall socket all the time and just turn it off , but have now noticed if its left plugged into the mains it wont boot up, but if I pull plug from wall socket after I'm finished it starts OK next time.

Based on what the previous posts say could it being left plugged in all the time be overheating the power unit, or is the motherboard on the way out. I'm not tech minded asked an IT guy and he says it looks as though it was not not locating the hard disk ? Any help or direction appreciated, as I say I'm a novice with computers so will have to get someone to look at it but this may be educational for me. Thanks Cessnock.

[drchavez]

DELL CA, This is a great forum. I have had a dell dimension 8400 since december 2004 and these spontaneous shutdowns occur every few months leaving an blinking amber light as described in this thread. It occurs especially with powerpoint. I have lost work on several occasion. Thank goodness that i bought a four year warrnanty. I am at a loss to explain why Dell (at least the tech support I have spoken or chatted with) has not been able to fix the problem. In june I googled the problem and found it could be the power supply especially REV A00, but I had to nearly plead with them to send me a new one. This is after almost every component (memory, hard drive, graphics card) was replaced. Why can't they just say here is a new motherboard or powersupply. The power supply did not solve the issue (same rev A00 by the way). I am currently waiting (more than 24 hours) for a response from unresolved issues people via email. This is the same person I pleaded and recieved a replacement power supply. It's three years! Do you have any other suggestions. I just want what I paid for three years ago. Whether another dell is in the future i don't know. I am curently accessing this site on my new macbook.
drchavez

[l_long_island]

Wanted to wish all you guys/gals, who took the time to log in and add your thoughts to these problems, a Happy Thanksgiving. As for me, I'm using my new, low end Dell with the old disk drive and things have been going smoothly. As you guys know I encountered some problems along the way and slowly have resolved most of them. I believe I only have one left. The new CD drive is still inaccessible. I believe its a matter of finding the proper driver to work with this device. I will get to it eventually. This is a low priority issue, especially since my kids spend more time with thier XBOX games than with PC games.
Once again thanks for your help over the last couple of months and happy holidays !!
l_long_island