Power Supply or motherboard or something else?

Bladdou

Check the reading of the power button LED, is it Steady Blue, Blinking Blue, Steady Amber, Blinking Amber or is it Off?

The Inspiron 530 Troubleshooter is HERE.

You could also, try the following:

Remove all PCI cards from the system, take out the video card, disconnect power & data cables from all drives. 

Try to power system on, see if you get any power indication on the power button,

If not, Remove the RAM from the system  & try again. 

If it still shows no signs of life then you are looking at a motherboard & maybe a processor.

If the system is showing signs of life, re-install the RAM, if you are still getting power indications, the next item is to install the video card.

If you get video, then you can start adding devices one at a time, starting with the Hard Drive, then DVD-ROM & the PCI cards last.

 If the damage is bad enough to require a motherboard, then you might consider just cutting your losses on this system, it may be cheaper to buy a new PC.

Bev.

Bev.

I should have noted that the power button LED was off.

I had followed the troubleshooter and it basically steps through your suggestions about removing video cards, etc.  Still no response.  Troubleshooter ends up at trying to replace the power supply, but I was trying to see if anyone had any experience on what the blinking/steady light combinations meant before I purchase a power supply.  Rather apply that to a new system if its just going to be the motherboard.

Bladdou

Try installing a different power supply.

You can use most generic standard ATX power supply units, with either a 24-pin or 20+4-pin main motherboard power connector, with or without the on/off switch.

You should be able to buy a compatible power supply from either a local or online computer store.

Note: You require a power supply with four SATA power connectors.

Just being curious, does the power supply fan run?

Bev.

Power supply fan does not run.  Unit is totally quiet - no sign of life other than the green light on the power supply and the yellow light on the motherboard.

Power supply fan does not run.  Unit is totally quiet - no sign of life other than the green light on the power supply and the yellow light on the motherboard.

Bladdou

Yep, then it looks like a failed power supply.

Usually a lighting strike can damage, in this order, power supply, modem, motherboard, memory and maybe the processor.

Bev.

Replaced the power supply.  Unfortunately, the only change noted is that the yellow light on the motherboard is no on steady instead of flashing.  Not even the fan on the new power supply moves.

Update.  Went through the tech assistance wizard again, basically disconnecting components.  At one point, realized that I had one connection misaligned.  When I corrected that, the yellow LED on the motherboard went out completely.  Still nothing.

Put all the components and connections back together.  Double-checked connectors.  Tried it one last time.  And it started, or at least tried to briefly.  Shut itself down, now the power button is blinking amber.  My journey continues.

Lightning tends to fry everything even the controller on the hard drive.

Bladdou

As you have replaced the power supply, for a 'Know' working unit, try the following:

Remove the power cord, hold power button in for several seconds to discharge the residue power.

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 the fans spin up and there is no change in the diagnostic lights, or beep sequence, then it would appear that the motherboard has died and will need to be replaced.

If the motherboard is fried, then you should consider replacing the PC.

Bev.