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Dead Dell


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#1
Grizz99

Grizz99

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My older dell xps866t p3 seems to be dead. The power was off for 36 hours when what was left of "Rita" came through here. It won't do anything, and I tried the usual things, power cord, etc. It has 4 lights on the back that at least one is allways on(Small Green), but now nothing. I suspected the power supply so I opened it up and there is a small orange led on the motherboard that is on. Unplug it and it goes off. I checked the batt and it is good. I was going to swap power supply with some old ones but connections are different. I have a volt/ohm meter but my leds are too big without some adapters. Any ideas? Thanks Ed
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#2
Rockster2U

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I can understand your predicament having gone 15 days with no power following a direct hit from Katrina. We're still not back to normal.

A couple of comments here. First, caution is advised re: PSU swap as a lot of older Dells used a non-standard ATX power supply header/connector configuration - in other words, they tricked their wiring so a standard ATX PSU will short out some boards. Secondly, I'd suggest you first try a CMOS reset. Open your case and locate the CMOS jumper (3 pin) near the battery. Disconnect the ATX power header from the motherboard and jumper 2-3 for roughly 10 seconds and then rejumper 1-2. Reconnect the power header and try to fire that puppy up. You should head to your BIOS setup and set for default settings on first boot.

Good Luck.
:tazz:
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#3
Grizz99

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Thanks Rockster. The CMOS reset didn't work. I will look around and see if I can find an OEM PSU. I have a bad feeling about this MB. Maybe not. Thanks again. Ed
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#4
Rockster2U

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This is a note I've kept on file:

Dell proprietary (non-standard) ATX Main Power Connector pinout (wire side view)

Color
Signal
Pin
Pin
Signal
Color

Gray
PS_On
11
1
+5V
Red

Black
GND
12
2
GND
Black

Black
GND
13
3
+5V
Red

Black
GND
14
4
GND
Black

White
-5V
15
5
Power_Good
Orange

Red
+5V
16
6
+5VSB (standby)
Purple

Red
+5V
17
7
+12V
Yellow

Red
+5V
18
8
-12V
Blue

KEY (blank)
-
19
9
GND
Black

Red
+5V
20
10
GND
Black




Dell proprietary (non-standard) ATX Auxiliary Power Connector Pinout

Pin
Signal
Color

1
Gnd
Black

2
Gnd
Black

3
Gnd
Black

4
+3.3V
Blue/White

5
+3.3V
Blue/White

6
+3.3V
Blue/White




At first glance, it appears all they did was switch some of the terminals around, then one could use a terminal pick to remove the terminals from the connectors (with the wires attached) and merely reinsert them into the proper connector positions, allowing one to use the Dell power supply with an upgraded ATX motherboard in the future. Unfortunately if you study the Dell main and auxiliary connector pinouts listed here and compare them to the industry standard ATX pinouts, you'll see that not only are the voltage and signal positions changed, but the number of terminals carrying specific voltages and grounds has changed as well. It would be possible to modify a Dell supply to work with a standard ATX board, or to modify a standard ATX supply to work with a Dell board, but you'd have to do some cutting and splicing in addition to swapping some terminals around. Usually it wouldn't be worth the time and effort.

:tazz:

Edited by Rockster2U, 29 September 2005 - 02:00 AM.

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