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Inspiron 3650 won't power on (solid orange light)
I have an Inspiron 3650 that worked fine for years, but now won't power on. When the power cord is plugged in a solid yellow / orange light appears, but nothing I've tried (including a "reset") has worked.
I've researched this quite a bit and as best I can tell this is almost always due to either a problem with the motherboard or power supply, and I'm trying to figure out which it's likely to be because a power supply problem is easier and cheaper to fix. To that end, I bought a PC power supply tester and tried plugging in both the 4- and 8-pin connectors from the power supply, but neither one activated the tester. That led me to believe it's a power supply problem, but then I also noticed that the orange light on the power button only comes on when the 8-pin connector is plugged in to the motherboard, which made me suspect maybe it's the not the power supply but the motherboard.
Based on the information here or something else I can easily try, can anyone suggest a way to narrow the problem down? I realize that I could just buy a replacement power supply and see if that fixes the problem, but I don't want to waste the money if that's not likely to help, and I don't like returning things I've bought unless they're completely new / unused or defective out of the box.
Thanks in advance.
RoHe
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March 6th, 2023 17:00
"If the BIST LED does not turn on or the PSU fan does not spin correctly, the power supply is not delivering power to the computer...."
If none of that helps, you may need a new PSU...
RoHe
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March 6th, 2023 11:00
When was last time you replaced the motherboard battery? if it's old, I'd start there.
If that doesn't help, run the BIST test on the PSU, using the instructions for PCs with a PSU test button. It's down near the bottom on back of PC, next to the PSU LED.
Justin Playfair
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March 6th, 2023 13:00
I've never replaced the motherboard or any other part of the desktop, at least not yet. What I'm asking is whether there's a way to know which component (i.e., motherboard or power supply) has failed before I replace anything; my apologies if that wasn't clear from my original post. I don't have spare motherboards or power supply and would like to avoid buying a replacement motherboard or power supply if the one I already have is functioning properly. It appears that one of the two is likely the problem, so I'm trying to find out which is to blame before I pay for a replacement.
I did replace the motherboard battery, but unfortunately that hasn't made any difference. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
RoHe
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March 6th, 2023 16:00
Did you clear BIOS the way I posted when you replaced the motherboard battery?
Did you run the BIST test on the PSU?
Justin Playfair
4 Posts
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March 6th, 2023 17:00
Yes, I cleared the BIOS. The BIST test does nothing: the light on the power supply never comes on.
Justin Playfair
4 Posts
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March 7th, 2023 14:00
It was indeed the power supply. I just replaced it and everything's fine now. Thanks for your help.
RoHe
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March 7th, 2023 16:00
Glad to hear a new PSU solved the problem, and it was probably a lot cheaper than a new motherboard!