ePSA error 2000-0142 and melody/tone

Question

Inspiron 15-5547 (out of warranty), Error Code: 2000-0142, Validation: 71332

Melody/ tone: when the hard drive error window pops up, there is a melody played and the Caps Lock key flashes 3 times, then there is a tone that beeps/pops once, then four times, then three times while the Caps Lock key flashes in time with the beeps. This repeats until I choose to Continue Testing or not, basically until I close the window.

Back story:

My laptop did a Windows 10 update a couple months ago. Afterward, it would not boot past the Dell logo except when a window popped up that contained what looked like boxes as font.

I let it sit until recently when I decided to try fixing it again. This is when I first ran the diagnostics mentioned above and found the error code provided. I left the laptop on, closed the lid, opened the case and unplugged the battery, held the power button for 20 seconds, removed the HDD, then reinstalled the HDD and battery, just to make sure there was not a connection issue. I booted into repair mode, ran chkdsk /r through the Cmd prompt and restarted. It turned on and the dots spun at the bottom of the screen for a while. Then the screen went blank. I restarted and ran diagnostics again and came up with the same results as the first time.

So, just want to confirm I have exhausted all my troubleshooting efforts that I can and the hard drive needs to be replaced.

I have a Crucial MX500 SSD that I can use. Assuming it is compatible, can I simply clone the HDD to the SSD with a docking station I have that is designed to clone drives or because the drive is like faulty, will it not clone properly?

And what is up with the beeping? Nothing I have read says anything about this tone occurring at any time. And it played the same tone at the same time both times I ran diagnostics.

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,

Tim

ejn63 · Answer

2000-0142 means you have a failing hard drive. Whether or not you can clone the existing drive depends on how far into its failure spiral the drive is. Before you try doing that, remove the drive, mount it in an external USB case or attach to a working system by a USB to SATA cable, and copy the data files you can't afford to lose. Even if the drive is too far gone to clone entirely, you may be able to rescue your data.

The significance of each beep code is described in the manual here:

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000130200/how-to-use-and-troubleshoot-the-inspiron-15-5547

TimmyJM · Answer

Thanks for the reply!

I am able to see the hard drive and its contents when attached to another computer. I copied it to a new SSD and see the same files on the SSD as I do on the original hard drive. So I installed the SSD into the laptop, start it up, the computer says "Checking Media" then it says "Failed" and then the same window pops up as before except now it is in plain text and reads C:\WINDOWS\system32\LogonUI.exe across the top and within the window it reads "We couldn't complete the updates Undoing changes Don't turn off your computer" and then it reads "Cleaning up 0% complete Don't turn off your computer" and continues increasing in percentage until it reads "Press Ctrl-Alt-Del to unlock" as if it were at the sign in screen without the screen graphics. I can press Ctrl-Alt-Del and it asks me to enter my password, again as if I were at the sign in screen. I enter my password and it says "The System Event Notification Service service failed the sign-in. Function could not be executed" I can't get past this place.

I shut down and replace the SSD with the hard drive and it goes through the same process as the SSD except after it says "Failed" when "Checking Media" a blue screen pops up with a frown face and says "Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart. We're just collecting some error info, and then we'll restart for you" and continues until 100%. It restarts and now it it has been showing the spinning dots at the bottom of a black screen for a bit.

I will try the steps in the link provided.

Thanks again

ejn63 · Answer

The drive is failing - it needs to be replaced.  This might be a good time to consider upgrading the system to a solid state drive.

TimmyJM · Answer

Thanks for the advice on upgrading to a solid state drive! Is that what SSD stands for? If so, that is what I have been trying to do by copying files that I see on the HDD to the SSD. See, the problem I am having is that I see the files, I copy the files, and the SSD does not work in the computer. Please reference the previous posts I have made.

What am I missing? I assume I am not the only person in history to be experiencing this problem. I am not that conceited. If I am the only person, please put a good word in for me to Billy that I found a way to crash his system.

ejn63 · Answer

You can't simply copy the files to the SSD -- the result will not be bootable. It may be possible to clone the existing drive to the new one -- but that error you're seeing means the drive is on its way to duty as a paperweight. If Windows won't boot on the existing drive, even if you do manage to clone it, the result won't be bootable, either.

I suspect you're in for a manual reload of Windows onto the new drive. To do that, see

https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000176966/reset-or-reinstall-windows-10-on-your-dell-computer

Inspiron

ePSA error 2000-0142 and melody/tone

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