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Dell 4550 problem


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#1
Setxchris

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I have a Dell 4550 which was working fine for 2 yrs..moved to a new house and turned off the machine, personally moved the PC to the new house, tried to turn it on and nothing....checked the PS and it looked dead (no HD spinup with on button leads shorted)....so got a new PS...and installed it....PC would not boot! It tried to turn on with the powerplug inserted...then shut down after a sec....tried to push front panel button and nothing!! No turn on....so removed CMOS battery and it turned on and booted ok...(Win2000 SP4). No problems with the HD and everything worked though the system did want the clock set....I tried restarting from the START menu and it worked ok....then put the battery back in (it was ok according to voltmeter...even tried a NEW battery) and reboot was ok...BUT let the PC turn OFF and it will NOT start back up!!!! Needless to say, this is a PITA!! I have it on a UPS to keep it running just in case...thought maybe the MB was bad...got a new one off Ebay for $70 still in the bo (there were TWO MBs in the 4550 and the one I have is the more expensive from Dell...about $150)...the new MB does the same thing...so looks like it is NOT the MB...or the PS.....maybe the switch on the front??? What could be causing this? Dell's customer service (If you can call it that) is a joke..........I like the PC though and would like to keep it...but dont want to put any more money into it (I only paid $500 for it)

Thanks!
Chris
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#2
dsenette

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so the only way to start the PC up is with the CMOS battery out? even with the new MOBO?...and a new battery or PS did absolutely nothing?
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#3
Setxchris

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Correct! The old PS was dead.....the new PS works BUT only with the CMOS battery removed(new CMOS battery didnt change anything)...same action on the new MB as well......once up, the Dell works fine...and DOES restart/reboot ok...but once shut OFF, it will not restart with the CMOS battery installed.
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#4
dsenette

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.........seriously?....you can reboot it all you please...but coming from absolute off it won't work till you pull the battery?!?

..do you know any priests who do exorcisms? (just kidding by the way)
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#5
Setxchris

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Totally serious!!! Has me baffled and scratching the head (and the hair is thin enough up there already)

(Yeah I could call my old parish priest but I dont think he could help :whistling:
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#6
dsenette

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Well, one thing might be to try another power supply. It could be that the old mobo was defective and damaged the PS and did the same thing to the next PS.

Another thing is to ensure that once the machine is booted that the CMOS settings are written after the battery is replaced.


also...is the new PS a generic PS or a dell specific PS? sometimes dell will put in some weird proprietary PS...but....usually when you get the wrong kind for a dell...it doesn't boot at all..
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#7
macten

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Dell changed the wiring in the plug that goes into the main board. If you install an ATX power supply you will fry the motherboard. You've got to either use an adapter or buy a Dell ps.

I was working on a Dell Dimension xxx awhile back and when I was done, I rebooted and it stopped on an error message concerning the battery dying. I hit F1( or whatever it was) to continue and it booted up. I rebooted again and it halted again on the same error message. Hit F1 and it booted up. I was thinking that it was a bogus error message and told her if she had any problems to give me a call.

I went home and started researching the error message. The trail led to a Dell support forum thread that was about 35 pages long. What a mess. People were screaming bloody murder and threatening a class action law suit over this battery issue.

Dell support was trying to tell people that it was caused by the pc being plugged into a surge protector and told them to plug it directly into an outlet. Of course that didn't work. People tried everything under the sun, including replacing the battery. I can't remember the resolution on this issue. All I know is....it's been a few months and she hasn't called me back.

edit...while researching the above, I noticed on a Dell tech support page that if you ever shut down and pull the plug on a Dell pc that you should press the power button for a few seconds to ground the motherboard. By not doing this, I don't know if it caused the problem with the bogus message or not. When moving a Dell pc, I always do this now.....

Edited by macten, 08 November 2006 - 05:51 PM.

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