Inspiron 5150 Not Booting

cython

Hey, just wondering if anyone here can help me out, or point me in the right direction.

I have a Dell Inspiron 5150 (bit over 3 and a half years old at this stage), and just in the last few days it refuses to boot. This is the first time that anything like this has happened. It won't start on either battery or AC or both.

I'll outline the ways in which I've tried to boot it:

1. Booting on battery - put the battery in, and press the power button. I get a brief green flicker out of the power and battery LEDs on the front of it (but no other parts mind), before the battery LED goes to constant orange. The only way to switch off the LED is to remove the battery
2. On AC - Plug in the AC and the power light and battery light come on static, green and orange respectively before I press power. Again, removal of power is the only way to get rid of the lights

I've tried a bit of playing around with the power button and access direct button to get a diagnostic boot, etc, but to no avail. I also trried dismantling it to see if clearing the CMOS might held, but a google search told me that the CMOS seems to be soldered to the mobo on this model.

I'm afraid that this might be some sort of surge damage (though I could have sworn I had used it on battery since I last plugged it in), and I'm just wondering if anyone here has seen a similar problem with any Dell laptops, or heard of a solution?

Has anyone any suggestions on this that you can offer please? This laptop has served me really well since I got it, and until this I really thought it had another couple of years left in it

Ruu_Old

Try removing one the RAM modules, a shot in the dark but worth a go.

cython

cython wrote:

Hey, just wondering if anyone here can help me out, or point me in the right direction.

I have a Dell Inspiron 5150 (bit over 3 and a half years old at this stage), and just in the last few days it refuses to boot. This is the first time that anything like this has happened. It won't start on either battery or AC or both.

I'll outline the ways in which I've tried to boot it:

1. Booting on battery - put the battery in, and press the power button. I get a brief green flicker out of the power and battery LEDs on the front of it (but no other parts mind), before the battery LED goes to constant orange. The only way to switch off the LED is to remove the battery
2. On AC - Plug in the AC and the power light and battery light come on static, green and orange respectively before I press power. Again, removal of power is the only way to get rid of the lights

I've tried a bit of playing around with the power button and access direct button to get a diagnostic boot, etc, but to no avail. I also trried dismantling it to see if clearing the CMOS might held, but a google search told me that the CMOS seems to be soldered to the mobo on this model.

I'm afraid that this might be some sort of surge damage (though I could have sworn I had used it on battery since I last plugged it in), and I'm just wondering if anyone here has seen a similar problem with any Dell laptops, or heard of a solution?

Has anyone any suggestions on this that you can offer please? This laptop has served me really well since I got it, and until this I really thought it had another couple of years left in it

Thanks for the suggestion. I tried booting it with nearly all hardware removed, and only one memory stick in place, and I got past the BIOS this time (further than before!). Got a couple of successful attempts at that, so I decided to start adding HW back in manually. Then it stopped booting as above again, and now will not boot at all, even stripped down to one mem module, so it may have been semi-random that it booted at all.

Anyone else got any ideas towards this?

majiktripp

Use Google again and you'll see Dell are being Sued by a group of angrey Inspiron 5100-5150 owner for the poor build quality of that model.Have had 3-4 of them into work here with dead motherboards due to a design flaw on Dell's part. Have a look into it....

junior_apollo

Had a similar issue in my work and had to rebuild a few computers as a result (at no charge from Dell)... it was down to cheap parts used in the motherboards... If you can have a look at the M/Board and check if any of the diodes are swollen or leaking...

cython

majiktripp wrote:

Use Google again and you'll see Dell are being Sued by a group of angrey Inspiron 5100-5150 owner for the poor build quality of that model.Have had 3-4 of them into work here with dead motherboards due to a design flaw on Dell's part. Have a look into it....

Yeah, I think I've heard of that where the system overheats too often and the connection between the power adapter and the motherboard breaks. I also found that cleaning out the fan and heatsink can go a long way towards preventing that, and I did that for mine recently. Thing is, I'm 95% sure that those affected still run on battery, but they just can't charge them after. I think what I'm experiencing may be a bit different, as I'm at least getting some power, which I don't think the systems affected by that flaw do.

Voipjunkie

cython wrote:

Yeah, I think I've heard of that where the system overheats too often and the connection between the power adapter and the motherboard breaks. I also found that cleaning out the fan and heatsink can go a long way towards preventing that, and I did that for mine recently. Thing is, I'm 95% sure that those affected still run on battery, but they just can't charge them after. I think what I'm experiencing may be a bit different, as I'm at least getting some power, which I don't think the systems affected by that flaw do.

That is just one of the issues with the 5150 another is that the tab on the cover for the wireless card can press against one of the chips on the motherboard with even light pressure applied in the wrong place.

I had one with exactly the same problem would not run off power or battery dell replaced the motherboard about 3 months ago.

Linoge

cython wrote:

Yeah, I think I've heard of that where the system overheats too often and the connection between the power adapter and the motherboard breaks. I also found that cleaning out the fan and heatsink can go a long way towards preventing that, and I did that for mine recently. Thing is, I'm 95% sure that those affected still run on battery, but they just can't charge them after. I think what I'm experiencing may be a bit different, as I'm at least getting some power, which I don't think the systems affected by that flaw do.

Cython is spot on there. Its caused by overheating due to dust on the heatsink. You will have to remove the HS to clean it properly. A blow with a can of compressed air. Then every week afterwards you should give a blast through the vents.

When back working you should do everything to prevent overheating. Take out CD's when not in use, make sure that the vents have sufficient space. Using a seperate monitor when you can would help too.

Not the mega thread that I had to trawl through to get any info, but its a help..
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_general&message.id=184349

cython

Linoge wrote:

Cython is spot on there. Its caused by overheating due to dust on the heatsink. You will have to remove the HS to clean it properly. A blow with a can of compressed air. Then every week afterwards you should give a blast through the vents.

When back working you should do everything to prevent overheating. Take out CD's when not in use, make sure that the vents have sufficient space. Using a seperate monitor when you can would help too.

Not the mega thread that I had to trawl through to get any info, but its a help..
http://www.dellcommunity.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_general&message.id=184349

Actually, I retract my earlier comment. That is one of TWO major design flaws that have been found with this laptop model. The other relates to one of the access panels on the underside, whereby the one labelled C (card access rather than mem) has two plastic tabs that extend up into the case a bit. It has been observed that if even slight pressure in the wrong spot is applied to this panel, certain solder joints on the mobo can be broken, rendering the machine unbootable.

I am willing to concede that this is probably the problem with my machine, as when I jiggle around the wires under this panel now (modem cable and wifi antenna leads), I can get more (albeit very transient) signs of life, e.g. fan noise.

Does anyone know if there is anything I can do to remedy this without paying through the nose for a new mobo, seeing as Dell have settled this elsewhere in the world? (Lundell Settlement I think covers it in the US)

Voipjunkie

cython wrote:

Actually, I retract my earlier comment. That is one of TWO major design flaws that have been found with this laptop model. The other relates to one of the access panels on the underside, whereby the one labelled C (card access rather than mem) has two plastic tabs that extend up into the case a bit. It has been observed that if even slight pressure in the wrong spot is applied to this panel, certain solder joints on the mobo can be broken, rendering the machine unbootable.

I am willing to concede that this is probably the problem with my machine, as when I jiggle around the wires under this panel now (modem cable and wifi antenna leads), I can get more (albeit very transient) signs of life, e.g. fan noise.

Does anyone know if there is anything I can do to remedy this without paying through the nose for a new mobo, seeing as Dell have settled this elsewhere in the world? (Lundell Settlement I think covers it in the US)

did you read my post

cython

Voipjunkie wrote:

did you read my post

Sorry, I missed that one before. Was that machine covered under any warranty or anything do you mind me asking? Or how did you go about getting it fixed?

Thanks

Voipjunkie

cython wrote:

Sorry, I missed that one before. Was that machine covered under any warranty or anything do you mind me asking? Or how did you go about getting it fixed?

Thanks

No warranty rang them went through all the take the ram out take the battery out put one hand on your head crap kept mentioning the lawsuit and the settlement and asking what dell was doing in Ireland.
They came out and replaced the motherboard in the house.

Dell are a lot better than most companies I bought another dell last week.

cython

Voipjunkie wrote:

No warranty rang them went through all the take the ram out take the battery out put one hand on your head crap kept mentioning the lawsuit and the settlement and asking what dell was doing in Ireland.
They came out and replaced the motherboard in the house.

Dell are a lot better than most companies I bought another dell last week.

Cool, cheers for the info. I'll give that a go again when they open again next week, and let ye know how I get on

inode

i am having the same prob with my dell 5160, the connection between the power supply is well messed up. i have 3 power adapters to. i have to kept plugging it in and out to get it going. brother in law has the exact same problem with his 5150.

cython

Well, finally got around to emailing Dell support.

First they send out a standard "no boot" checklist looking for the info I provided with the first email. Then I get a reply saying the mobo is foobar (again, a conclusion already reached!), and I need to purchase a new one from the parts store.

I since replied citing the fact that this is repaired in other countries for free, that it is an acknowleded flaw, and hence the laptop is not "fit for the purpose intended" (condition of consumer law), and that I took issue with the fact that they were looking to charge me under these circumstances.

Currently awaiting a reply to this. Anyone have any further ideas if this is unsuccessful?

majiktripp

It depends how far are you willing to chase this and how much time do you want to spend pleading your case....would you be better off buying a new laptop altogether?

cython

majiktripp wrote:

It depends how far are you willing to chase this and how much time do you want to spend pleading your case....would you be better off buying a new laptop altogether?

Well I'm only finishing up college, and looking to go back as a research postgrad, so I'd really rather avoid having to buy a new one if I can, as I'd imagine money will be tight enough for the forseeable future, and I have other purchases, such as a car, to make with a bit more priority.

I guess I'll try anything that people can suggest really! Sorry if that doesn't really answer your question!

What did you have in mind anyway?

If VOIPJunkie's description is anything to go by, I'm hoping that perseverance might pay off here!

majiktripp

I had a couple into me before with the same laptop make and model,same symptoms and after I found the whole Dell fixing for free in the States, all I Could really do was give them a print out of the petition people had been filling in and the results it had made Dell fix the US models for free. However I dont know whether or not they got Dell Ireland to fix it under the ruling of the courts in the US.
I have a feeling you may have to get a new laptop as even replacing the motherboard yourself will be expensive and a bloody nightmare.

cython

majiktripp wrote:

I had a couple into me before with the same laptop make and model,same symptoms and after I found the whole Dell fixing for free in the States, all I Could really do was give them a print out of the petition people had been filling in and the results it had made Dell fix the US models for free. However I dont know whether or not they got Dell Ireland to fix it under the ruling of the courts in the US.
I have a feeling you may have to get a new laptop as even replacing the motherboard yourself will be expensive and a bloody nightmare.

Yeah, I've been looking at just prices for the mobos, and if I have to pay for a new one, I think I will just be getting a new laptop, purely because they're similar prices, and a new laptop would have guarantee, better performance, etc.

Still hoping they might decide to be halfways decent though and repair it.

Access

I have a 5150...

its the heatsink jammed with dust causing the processor to overheat and the bios to shutdown to prevent damaging the processor.

Buy a can of compressed air (tesco/pc world) and blow out the vents underneath and at the back of the fan.

cython

Access wrote:

I have a 5150...

its the heatsink jammed with dust causing the processor to overheat and the bios to shutdown to prevent damaging the processor.

Buy a can of compressed air (tesco/pc world) and blow out the vents underneath and at the back of the fan.

I can guarantee that this is not the problem here, because I cleaned out the heatsink a few weeks ago, and it is still clear. I think that if you read through the thread you would also see that this has been discounted a couple of times already anyway.

Thanks for the suggestion though

extra-ordinary_

I'm presuming you've tried it on AC without the battery. Also removing battery and AC and holding the power button down for 30 secs, although if you've isolated it to a bad connection on the underside of the mobo....

Check this out - http://cgi.ebay.ie/Dell-5150-motherboard_W0QQitemZ200109413149QQihZ010QQcategoryZ51162QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem - you can ask him - why so cheap?

cython

extra-ordinary_ wrote:

I'm presuming you've tried it on AC without the battery. Also removing battery and AC and holding the power button down for 30 secs, although if you've isolated it to a bad connection on the underside of the mobo....

Check this out - http://cgi.ebay.ie/Dell-5150-motherboard_W0QQitemZ200109413149QQihZ010QQcategoryZ51162QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem - you can ask him - why so cheap?

Yeah, I've tried unbelievable amounts of power configurations to try to boot it, and even left the battery out for a couple of weeks to discharge as much as possible. The only time that I could get any more life out of it was when fiddling about under that panel (got it past the BIOS, but had no other HW in it when I removed the HW initially), so it really looks like there's something funky in that area of the mobo, and especially in light of the existing stories.

I'll keep an eye on that auction anyway, thanks. I have another week before that's up

extra-ordinary_

You'd want to ask that guy on ebay a few questions though as he sold a similar item a little while ago for ten times the price!!

Also, can't remember one I had before - if it was a 5150 (it migfht have been a 5100 or 8100), but do these laptops have spontaneous shut down issues?

cython

extra-ordinary_ wrote:

You'd want to ask that guy on ebay a few questions though as he sold a similar item a little while ago for ten times the price!!

Also, can't remember one I had before - if it was a 5150 (it migfht have been a 5100 or 8100), but do these laptops have spontaneous issues?

Thanks for the heads up. What exactly do you mean "spontaneous issues"? Like that they just start acting up randomly? Not that I have found in my searches to date. Almost everything that I have found points to this one common issue being a likely cause. Wikipedia has a couple of specific mentions about the family of laptops on their Inspiron page

extra-ordinary_

Yeh, it must be a different model I had before, I just can't remember. Anyhoo...good luck!:)