Problems with rebuild

[kennon]

Hi all,

I've recently had a string of annoying problems with my Dell XPS. The most recent was that I wanted a new case but when I took my computer apart I found out that I could not use my Dell motherboard in my new non-Dell case. Upon putting it back together and connecting all the power chords I've had these problems:

1 - The power light is orange rather than green and I can't find anything on Dell's website about this

2 - When I plug in a flash drive into my USB ports it responds for a second but no interface devices (mouse, keyboard, etc) through these ports

3 - If I plug only the power cable into my dvd-rom drive it will open and close, but if I plug the interface ribbon in it will not respond

I know this is a very specific problem, but if anyone has had similar experiences or could help me out I'd greatly appreciate it.

[Micro Bean]

Just curious why Didnt the Dell Mobo fit in your case? Was it because the Mobo is a ATX Board and your new non dell case is a Micro ATX case? Kinda confused here.

[nemowolf]

Which dell did you have to start with?

1.If the lights are not displaying correctly, you plugged something in wrong.
2.Again, you may have plugged the USB portion in wrong which is causing it to fail.
3.Not sure on this one ...

Since its an XPS, you should have bought a warranty and it is not the same as regular support. Look through your documentation and for that support number and get help from them. They have an entire department that specializes in only the XPS series of computers.


PS: I have a XPS 600 and understand where your coming from for wanting a new case but its a really well designed case and you shouldnt need a new one other then for aesthetics. Once your done fixing this system and it works ... Build a whole new system because as you can tell its more of a pain then transplanting.

[kennon]

First off thanks for both of your posts. I actually took it back down to pieces and rebuilt and realized there was a small 4-pronged cable i missed on the first time and this caused each of the above problems.

Now:
Micro Bean - My Dell case opens on the right side, and similarly all the inputs on the board (USB, ethernet, video cards, etc.) are all on the right side of the mobo. The new case requires that the mobo inputs and card inputs are on the left, and if I flip my mobo it does not line up with the back of the new case because of its unique structure, namely the power supply being on the bottom.

nemowolf - I did actually call Dell at one point and all they told me was that my phone support warranty had run out and didn't mention any further XPS warranty but I will look back just to make sure. The reason I was getting a new case was because I recently upgraded to a Geforce 8800 GTS card that gets pretty warm. This things huge so it leaves almost no room for any new fan or heatsink. But I definetely agree, once I've got this all settled I will definetely look into building a new system.