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My computer won't start.
My old computer which I haven't used since 2011 won't start when I try to turn it on now.
It's a Dell Dimension 4600.
Nothing appears on the screen when I press the power button. The right light becomes green, without blinking. And the left light becomes orange. I'm afraid I can't recall if it was blinking or not, because I felt scared to keep the PC powered on. (I'll explain why in a bit.)
I do NOT get any beeping sound, so it's probably not a RAM issue.
The sound I do get however, is what made me scared to keep the PC turned on, and shut it off after a few seconds.
When I press the power button I get this faint crackling sound that goes on constantly. It's hard to describe, and it's not loud, but the impression it gives me is as if I've connected a power cable that gives it more voltage than the Power Supply Unit can handle.
The power supply is fairly "new". I switched my standard one to a new one about one year before I stopped using the PC. And it worked fine. So it malfunctioning wouldn't be my primary suspect, but you never know. Perhaps dust ruined it.
On its back it says 230 volts on a red sticker. (I live in Sweden.)
And the power cable I use says 250v~. The cable for my current PC is like this, and a second one I found (which I assume is from my old PC) said this as well, so I went ahead and used it.
Does anyone know if using such a cable is ok on a Power Supply Unit that says 230 volts on its sticker?
I assumed the cable provides up to 250v, and the PSU converts it to 230v.
And does anyone know what else this could be, if not the power cable?
Oh and before I tried turning it on today, I used a can of compressed air to clean out some dust first. It makes me wonder if maybe that caused this issue.
Thanks in advance.
shesagordie
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November 16th, 2014 11:00
BaloonFight
As the four Diagnostic lights are not lite and there are no 'Beeps', this could indicate a motherboard issue.
First check that all the power and data cables are properly connected to the motherboard and drives, by removing and reconnecting them, to see if this makes a difference. Are the P1 and P2 power connectors plugged into the motherboard [see page 41 of the manual]?
No difference, you could try the following troubleshooting procedures, if you are comfortable working around computers:
Note: The only 100% method of testing a PSU, is to install a known working power supply.
Unplug the cord from the power supply, hold the power button in for about 15/20 seconds, open the case, unplug the 20-pin power connector from the motherboard and jump the Green wire to one of the Black wires, reconnect the power cord and power the system on, if power supply, case fans and the hard drive run, then the PSU should be good.
Note: Do not remove any wires from the plug, use a small piece of wire or a paper clip as a jumper.
Power supply checks out and the system still does not work, again remove the power cord, hold the power button in for several seconds to discharge the residue power, reconnect the 20-pin connector to the motherboard.
Remove all the PCI cards, the video card [if applicable], memory, all peripherals, disconnect the data and power cables to all the drives, check that the front panel cable is connected to motherboard, with nothing else connected to the system, reconnect the power cable and power the system on.
If there is no difference in the diagnostic lights, 'Beep' codes and/or the LED indication of the power button, then it would appear that the motherboard has died and/or maybe the processor.
Note: The good news is, processors rarely fail, as the only method I know of checking a processor, is to install it a compatible working PC, or use a known working processor.
Bev.
Edited for content.
shesagordie
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November 15th, 2014 18:00
BaloonFight
Is the power switch LED, solid green, blinking green, solid amber, blinking amber?
Check the Sequence of the 1-2-3-4 Diagnostic Lights on the back panel, you can find the Diagnostic Guide and Service Manual here:
http://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-products/esuprt_desktop/esuprt_dimension_desktops/dimension-4600_service%20manual_en-us.pdf
Yes, the power cord should be fine.
Bev.
BaloonFight
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November 15th, 2014 20:00
Hi Shesagordie. Thanks for the reply.
The power switch LED is solid green.
I didn't know there were other lights on the back panel though.
If the power cord is ok, then I'll attempt to turn it on again and check according to the manual you provided.
I'll check tomorrow, and post an update here again. Thank you. ^^
shesagordie
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November 16th, 2014 09:00
BaloonFight
The four lights are located just above the Mouse and Keyboard PS2 [purple and green] ports.
Edit: The Dimension 4600 the four lights are labeled A-B-C-D and not 1-2-3-4 as listed in my post, see page 2 of the link I posted
Bev.
BaloonFight
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November 16th, 2014 09:00
Hi again.
I'm looking at the back of my PC now and can't find those four lights.
This is what I'm seeing:
BaloonFight
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November 16th, 2014 10:00
Ok, so I just tested it, and here are my results.
First of all, the front has a solid green ligth and a solid orange light.
However, when I tried to turn it on just now, these lights only appeared for a fraction of a second, then vanished, and the whole computer shut off. I tried again, and same result. Basically, the computer won't power on.
So I tried a third time, and this time I held the power button down for a bit, and this time it turned on in the same way it did yesterday. These front lights stayed this way. And the faint crackling noise started. I looked at the back, and sadly those four lights didn't display anything. I also noticed that the fan at the back wasn't spinning. I tried once more, and looked at the four backlights as soon as I pressed the button (just in case they display something really quick and then turn off) but nope, they didn't turn on.
It definitely seems to me like it's not getting the power to run for some reason.
I opened it and used a can of compressed air inside the power supply unit, and looked inside it with a flashlight, and it looks super clean now. Not sure how it looked before I used the can though. I haven't tried to turn it on again. I'll wait a few hours just in case.
Do you have any thoughts of suggestions on what it might be?
Again, last time I used it in 2011, it was working fine. No one has touched it since.
BaloonFight
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November 16th, 2014 10:00
Ohhh, I see them now. Thanks. ^^
I'll test it out and update you on the situation.
shesagordie
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November 16th, 2014 10:00
BaloonFight
You are welcome.
Bev.
BaloonFight
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November 16th, 2014 10:00
Ok, so I just tested it, and here are my results.
First of all, the front looks like this:
A solid green ligth and a solid orange light.
However, when I tried to turn it on just now, these lights only appeared for a fraction of a second, then vanished, and the whole computer shut off. I tried again, and same result. Basically, the computer won't power on.
So I tried a third time, and this time I held the power button down for a bit, and this time it turned on in the same way it did yesterday. These front lights stayed this way. And the faint crackling noise started. I looked at the back, and sadly those four lights didn't display anything. I also noticed that the fan at the back wasn't spinning. I tried once more, and looked at the four backlights as soon as I pressed the button (just in case they display something really quick and then turn off) but nope, they didn't turn on.
It definitely seems to me like it's not getting the power to run for some reason.
I opened it and used a can of compressed air inside the power supply unit, and looked inside it with a flashlight, and it looks super clean now. Not sure how it looked before I used the can though. I haven't tried to turn it on again. I'll wait a few hours just in case.
Do you have any thoughts of suggestions on what it might be?
Again, last time I used it in 2011, it was working fine. No one has touched it since.
Robmorehouse
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November 16th, 2014 19:00
Frist off I want to let you know that I'm not working for Dell or any other company. I have been working on laptops and towers for over ten years. I started off working mostly on Dells but now I work on all brands. I have found that when I have a problem like this the fist thing to check is the pci video card remove this the on board video is under the black cap. If this does not work then try replacing the power supply. Even though the lights are coming on does not mean a whole lot it may not be getting the correct amount of power to the motherboard
BaloonFight
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November 16th, 2014 20:00
@shesagordie
Thanks Bev! I will look into that tomorrow and see how much of it I can do, and what results I get.
@Robmorehouse
Thanks for the suggestion. Very interesting. I will definitely try that.
By black cap, do you mean the one that's shown in my picture, below the green connector and to the left of the pink one?
I can try another power supply tomorrow, I just hope that there's nothing that will fry it if I try.
If I can locate what the problem is, I'll replace that part (unless it's the motherboard I guess) and then give this computer to my mom. She's using a super slow one atm, where it can take minutes between each click. >.<
Robmorehouse
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November 16th, 2014 21:00
Yes. The black cap is inside the blue square on the back above the keyboard psi port. But you have to remove the pci video card because the computer will default to the pci video card as long as it is plugged in.
BaloonFight
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November 28th, 2014 15:00
Hi guys, and sorry for the late reply.
Some things came up and I couldn't test for a while. Then I did test the things you guys suggested, and it turns out that it was my power supply that was the culprit here. A bit unexpected since I bought it new like a year before I stopped using the PC, and also because it broke from NOT using the computer, which is odd.
But when I replaced it, the computer worked fine. So thanks a lot for the help. Much appreciated. ^^
shesagordie
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November 28th, 2014 16:00
BaloonFight
Please to hear the issue is resolved.
Bev.