PC turns on but it isnt

Dempsey

My fathers Dell has just died. The power light is orange when on and the four diagnostic lights on the back are off. Has the motherboard just died or what?

duridian

I presume since tis yourself that you have tried all the usual stuff like reseating graphics/memory etc.
Orange often is used to indicate energy saving/hibernation, was the normal power on light green? Could it be the psu that has somehow got stuck. I know Dell's power supplies can be a pain since they aren't all regular atx type but isn't there a condition that the psu has to produce a certain amperage on something like the -5v to start the pc.

jessy

to hard to say from description. first things first, check all connections are inplace, can you hear any fans or the psu starting up?

Dempsey

Everything seems fine connection wise, I just looked inside and no beeps on power up. It boots as normal but the monitor stays off and the HDD activity led is on constantly. I thought it was hibernating myself becasue of the light colour but it doesnt look like it. The thing that worries me is the four green diagnostic lights on the back of the tower are off.

duridian

Yeah, I guess if the hdd is spinning up and leds are absent at the back it is less likely the psu. Looks like mobo problem alright. Is it under warranty or an older model?

Lydesia

Have you phoned Dell about it?

dell sux tbh

Dempsey

Its automated for the night. I'll be ringing them tomorrow. Its a Dimension 8200. It has 3 years onsite and it isnt up so im glad of that anyways:)

I think the father change the printer on the PC while it was still on

jessy

you might want to just check the VGA cable and your Graphics Card, just to be sure.

Dempsey

The diagnostic leds were referenced to under the Video and Monitor Toubleshooting on the website but just said to ring them. The cable seems ok and i check if the card was seated properly and it is.

Power up Default is my problem

Dempsey

After seeing the Power up default thing I immediately suspected the SCSI card. Its blown and the computer is booting fine now. Thanks for the help people.

duridian

You're lucky you kept onto the 3 year onsite then as many people deselect this when buying a Dell to get it cheaper. Hard to see how changing a printer could have done this to the pc, esp. if it was a usb printer, but even so it would be very unlucky that changing a parallel printer would do it either.

Dempsey

Yeah, luckily I have never had to ring Dell over the PC yet. It was a parallel cable. It was the only thing that was out of the ordinary. It has left me wondering how the SCSI card got damaged.