Is she dead Jim? Dell laptop not booting.

Sonics2k

Hi guys,

Right here I have a bit of a tricky one, would really appreciate your help.

I have a Dell Inspiron Laptop (Model: 5010-3409), unused since 2014, that simply won't boot up fully. It's getting past the Dell Logo to a blank screen where the display seems to turn on and off.

I've tried to do the recovery mode, but sadly I can't remember the password for the life of me. When I tried to do a reinstall it's asking for the recovery media, long since gone over the course of a few house moves. I tried to download the recovery stuff from Dell, but it will no longer recognise the service tag.

Right now I've gotten into onto the Boot Menu and it's running the full diagnostic, but it's found no faults so far. It tries to do a disk check after the boot screen, but the screen simply turns on and off.

My next step is try and do a fresh install of Windows 10 on it and see if I can get it working that way.

But in the meantime, does anyone have any advice on how to get it up and running if the diagnostic comes up with nothing?

edit:
No beeps happening at all. But it does make a few ticking sounds (about 20 or so)

jhud

Is it more of a clicking noise maybe hard drive do a test on that also make sure hard drive is detected in BIOS and it's passing diagnostic test.

Hal1

I would unplug the drive and see if it can get past the post screen. I'd be curious to see if the display is still cycling on / off at that stage.

Sonics2k

Hal1 wrote: »

I would unplug the drive and see if it can get past the post screen. I'd be curious to see if the display is still cycling on / off at that stage.

I'll be putting the HDD into my PC and seeing if I can boot it from that, will hopefully get it done tonight.

Now done the full diagnostic and no luck. Wasn't even able to install Windows 10 as it's asking for a product key, it's not giving an option for a clean install.

Johnboy1951

Try booting with a Linux LiveCD/USB and see what you can access.

Its dead Jim

I got a fright when I read the title...

Try booting Ubuntu from a USB drive. Clicking suggests hard drive.

Sonics2k

Tried booting up with both Windows 10 and Linux, it's simply not going through. Taking the whole thing apart to access the HDD is a pain in the ass too.

demanufactured

HDD should be accessible from one of the the panels underneath

Sonics2k

Typically yes it would be, but apparently not on this model. Bottom panel only gives access to the RAM, have to actually separate the whole thing, including keyboard, to access the HDD.

ItHurtsWhenIP

Sonics2k wrote: »

Tried booting up with both Windows 10 and Linux, it's simply not going through. Taking the whole thing apart to access the HDD is a pain in the ass too.

Maybe a dumb question, but did you make sure the boot order tried the DVD/USB drive first before going to HDD?

Sonics2k

MMFITWGDV wrote: »

Maybe a dumb question, but did you make sure the boot order tried the DVD/USB drive first before going to HDD?

Yup. Had a moment where I thought I'd forgotten, but did double check.

To be honest, the main reason I wanted to get it fixed was to give my kids a laptop to play Minecraft on and get the W10 upgrade before the deadline.

FobleAsNuck

looks like a damaged hdd to me
have a look how to replace it: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/taking-apart-dell-inspiron-n5010-inspiron-15r-laptop/

Skerries

did you try and change the SATA operation in the BIOS from UEFI to Legacy?

Sonics2k

Sorry folks, didn't get a chance to really update this between starting a new job and moving house. I know some people who work in iElectron in Cork who will check it out for me. Looks like the HDD itself is the main problem though.

@Skerries, yeah I tried that out too, no luck sadly.

Calibos

Doesn't help you but a relevant story.

Had a 2008 era 17" Dell Vostro laptop die on us in 2010. Not a peep out of it when trying to turn on. Light going out on powerbrick when plugged into laptop indicated a blown motherboard according to my research. Had a look at the cost of replacement mobo's but it was uneconomical to replace. Stripped laptop right down to its constituent parts, even the screen. No obvious blown or failed solder points on the mobo etc etc. Tried it with a replacement powerbrick. Nada.

Mothballed it to the bottom of a wardrobe. For 3 years, every now and again I'd pull it out and try and boot up. Still dead. Finally in 2013 I was doing a spring clean, saw the laptop at the bottom of the wardrobe again and decided to add it to the pile of electronic devices going to the recycling centre. Pressed the Powerbutton one last time for old times sake.....

It booted up like nothing was ever wrong!!!

Wiped XP and installed Windows 7 and gave it to my brother who's been using it for the last 3 years without issue!!

Dell Vostro: Born 2008. Died 2010. Reborn 2013. Still Alive 2016.