Dell 8400 won't boot & rear fan goes FULL BLAST!

[buxbud2]

Hello. I hope that I can get some consensus on this issue. I have read similar posts on this forum with many solutions given. Unfortunately I'm not finding many good, solid fixes to run with. I'm not getting that "warm all over" feeling if you know what I mean, so here goes: Dell 8400.

• Windows XP Pro SP2
• Intel P4 CPU 3.4 GHz
• (2) 1GB DDR2 PC4300 266MHz RAM
• GeForce 6800 256MB Video
• SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Audio
• Dell #OJ3496 MoBo
• BIOS Ver# A03

Got me some BIG problems here with my 8400, 40 months old and well out of warranty. For the most part, she has run flawlessly, with the exception of a bad stick of RAM about 6 months ago. I replaced all (4) sticks of DDR2 512mb with (2) new 1gb sticks. All was well until 6 days ago when I got home from work. I hit the power button and got a solid amber power button light and a "rocket ship" for a fan. LoL. I thought the thing was about to fly to the moon. I've never heard a computer fan so loud in my life, it was akin to a vacuum cleaner. I couldn't power off via front button, so I had to pull the AC cord. Upon replacing the cord, the unit "took-off" again w/o my pushing the power button, so I unplugged it. I did noticed during these attemps to start-up that the DVD-ROM & DVD/RW drives flashed green lights as they normally do and the HDD light flashed once, as if it tries to go. All this is happening within 1 second. Also my monitor never lights up. It was a combination of pulling the cord and pushing the button simultaneously, before I could get the tower to stay off and be plugged in. When I attempted to start-up again, same rocket ship fan issue. I did get the thing to boot eventually by, again, some funky combination of pulling the AC cord and pushing the power button as well as some "jostling" of the tower. I honestly don't know if these things really did anything or if it was coincidence. When it did finally start, I kept it running for (6) days while I removed data from it, saving music, pics etc. to an external drive. During the (6) day period it was on, I did re-start on (2) occasions, via Windows, and not by turning off and on via front power. It re-started with no problem. Finally this morning, I turned it off and let it sit while I showered. Upon my return I attempted to turn it on and you know it....amber power light and rocket ship fan. Once again I was able to get it to boot with the funkiness of pulling, jostling, and punching the front button. I have searched online for similar issues and have found many with the same problem. It seems that all the others with the same problem have had 87 different ways to fix this. Most say Dell is no help either. Has anyone heard of this or dealt with it firsthand? Does anyone have a sure-fire way to remedy this?? I've read about PSU, MoBo, CPU/Heatsink, RAM issues as possible culprits, just to name a few. Any help is greatly appriciated and thank you!

Jim

[Steve R Jones]

Welcome to TechIMO

I would start by trying a new/different power supply.

[Detritus]

I would also inspect the motherboard for swollen capacitors. I've seen that sort of behavior in Dells before with swollen caps.

[osprey4]

Jim:

There are four diagnostic lights on the back. You need to start there.

[buxbud2]

Thanks for the quick replies. Let me just add some more information. I have checked the LED's on the back of the tower. They do not light up at all.

I have NOT checked the MoBo for funky caps as of yet. When I get home this evening I'm going to crack open the case and have a look. Some of the information I'm getting is that the heat-sink on the CPU is failing, although I fail to see a correlation between the two as this event happens on start-up and the MoBo and CPU are room temp, tops. Also, I do get the thing to boot eventually and when it does, it runs w/o issue. Only if I turn it off fully, then turn on again, does this happen. It doesn't seem to matter if I wait 5 minutes or 5 hours before I attemt a re-start, I get the same end result. I'm certainly no expert, this is why I am posting here to get some solid info to run with. I understand that with time, the caps start to expand and bulge and this may be notorious on these mobo's. Also have read that the cooling system can leak and damage the mobo, heat-sink, or CPU. Does this sound plausable? Wouldn't a bulging/failing cap render this machine useless until it is replaced, as opposed to being intermittent, which it appears to be currently? I honestly do not know, I am just floating ideas, thinking out loud, so to speak.

I have a buddy who is going thru his "pile o' junk" to see if he has a compatible PSU so I can try that. I hope to have one later today and if I do, I will try it. Once again, I'm no expert but, if the PSU is bad and is surging, would I be able to run the machine eventually, as I do now? I'd think that a spike in voltage would do permanent damage that would render this a soon-to-be paperweight.

Is there anything else I can add for information to help out?


Thank you Steve, detritus and ospry4, I look forward to your responses!

[osprey4]

The D-8400 uses a BTX 24pin power supply, without the power on/off switch.

[Nude_Lewd_Man]

The reason that it keeps going off on one when you plug the power back in, IMHO, is prolly that the BIOS is setting after power is either "On" (or something akin to "Previous state").

What this means is that when you're pulling the cable out it thinks that there has been a power failure, so when you replace the cable it goes back on.

The way to resolve this part of the issue would be to go into the BIOS settings and change it. From what I understand the computer has issues when powering up, so try doing this on a restart (as/when you get it running).

Unfortunately, I can't assist with the rest of the problems at the moment.....

[chef70]

Originally Posted by buxbud2

Hello. I hope that I can get some consensus on this issue. I have read similar posts on this forum with many solutions given. Unfortunately I'm not finding many good, solid fixes to run with. I'm not getting that "warm all over" feeling if you know what I mean, so here goes: Dell 8400.

• Windows XP Pro SP2
• Intel P4 CPU 3.4 GHz
• (2) 1GB DDR2 PC4300 266MHz RAM
• GeForce 6800 256MB Video
• SoundBlaster Audigy2 ZS Audio
• Dell #OJ3496 MoBo
• BIOS Ver# A03

Got me some BIG problems here with my 8400, 40 months old and well out of warranty. For the most part, she has run flawlessly, with the exception of a bad stick of RAM about 6 months ago. I replaced all (4) sticks of DDR2 512mb with (2) new 1gb sticks. All was well until 6 days ago when I got home from work. I hit the power button and got a solid amber power button light and a "rocket ship" for a fan. LoL. I thought the thing was about to fly to the moon. I've never heard a computer fan so loud in my life, it was akin to a vacuum cleaner. I couldn't power off via front button, so I had to pull the AC cord. Upon replacing the cord, the unit "took-off" again w/o my pushing the power button, so I unplugged it. I did noticed during these attemps to start-up that the DVD-ROM & DVD/RW drives flashed green lights as they normally do and the HDD light flashed once, as if it tries to go. All this is happening within 1 second. Also my monitor never lights up. It was a combination of pulling the cord and pushing the button simultaneously, before I could get the tower to stay off and be plugged in. When I attempted to start-up again, same rocket ship fan issue. I did get the thing to boot eventually by, again, some funky combination of pulling the AC cord and pushing the power button as well as some "jostling" of the tower. I honestly don't know if these things really did anything or if it was coincidence. When it did finally start, I kept it running for (6) days while I removed data from it, saving music, pics etc. to an external drive. During the (6) day period it was on, I did re-start on (2) occasions, via Windows, and not by turning off and on via front power. It re-started with no problem. Finally this morning, I turned it off and let it sit while I showered. Upon my return I attempted to turn it on and you know it....amber power light and rocket ship fan. Once again I was able to get it to boot with the funkiness of pulling, jostling, and punching the front button. I have searched online for similar issues and have found many with the same problem. It seems that all the others with the same problem have had 87 different ways to fix this. Most say Dell is no help either. Has anyone heard of this or dealt with it firsthand? Does anyone have a sure-fire way to remedy this?? I've read about PSU, MoBo, CPU/Heatsink, RAM issues as possible culprits, just to name a few. Any help is greatly appriciated and thank you!

Jim

Hi Jim,
Had a friend with the same 8400 issue. I could see a popped film cap next to the RAM slots which means a new mother board - I will also replace the power supply just to be sure. I know the motherboard is damaged for sure.. there could be a RAM issue too.. DUDE you got a dell what else can I say here.

[hhglnd]

I have the exact same problem with what sound like the exact same computer settings.

My computer was still a couple days shy of the end of the warranty when I called tech support. They had me open up the case and take out the ram, unplug thing wires and take out cards one at a time and powering on. It worked the first time, but then the next day, same problem. I called them three times and they had me do the exact same things. Gave me some excuse about static build up. On the last try, nothing made the computer work. They said they will send a replacement tower. Here is where the story turns into a tragedy. The deliver will be after the warranty expires. I asked if the expiration will affect the replacement, they said no. A week after the delivery I called them back and they said my warranty has expires so they can't send a replacement. Well I went off, I said that was exactly what I asked and the support supervisor said it was not a problem. They kept bumping me up to other people who said they have no record of anyone sayin a replace is supposed be delivered. WTF!!!! They finally said someone from a higher level will contact me in 24 hours. 48 hours later, still nothing. I used to think Dell was a company I can trust, but no freakin more.

Does anyone know what other company I can buy my new computer from? Preferably a company that doesn't have tech support in India, that's where the Dell tech support was and I want to avoid having that experience again, if such a company exists these days. I don't know how to build one myself.

[dunbar]

I'm still using 3 older Dells, maybe the Dells in question were from when Michael Dell was not there? In any event, I'd try reseating every connector, even fan connectors. Especially try the CPU fan connector and all of the RAM. Next, maybe check that the CPU fan itself is still fully latched down onto the CPU. Those are free to try, need no phone calls, and have a high chance of being the cause.