Need help with strange Dell problem.

[BrooksyX]

Okay so my dads friend brought me his Dell Deminsion E510 and said the thing wouldn't power on. So ofcourse I was thinking a faulty psu, I tried a good psu and it still wouldn't turn on. Then I reset the cmos jumper and it turned on just fine (with the original psu). I turned it off and on a few times and everything seemed fine.

Now today he gave it to me again and says that it won't power on, so the first thing I do is reset the cmos and guess what it is working fine again.

Anybody have any idea what the problem could be? :banghead:

[KBD]

Ok, i had the same problem with my custom built socket A system, but for the life of me can't remember exactly how i fixed it. I remember that i was playing with the hard and optical drives when that problem started, so i'm gonna go out on limb here and say check your mobo/psu and drive connections make sure everything is plugged in properly and make sure all the drive setting is BIOS are correct, slave/master, etc.

I'm sorry i can't be more specific, i had this issue a while ago, and just can't seem to remeber how i solved this.

[BrooksyX]

Yeah its really weird, once I can get it to turn on it is fine. If I leave the power cord unplugged for a couple of minutes it won't turn on and the power button flashes orange. Then if I reset the cmos it starts up fine.

[WarEagleAU]

faulty battery?

[BrooksyX]

faulty battery?

I was thinking that too. But I switched it the cmos battery in my pc and I still had the same problem.

[KBD]

Finally remembered what happened, my mobo battery was missing, so i just has to get a new one, that solved it, but seeing how you tried another battery and its still not working then it must be something else.

[BrooksyX]

I think the mobo is just faulty, Im just gonna tell the guy he needs to send it in too dell. It might still even be under warranty.

[Namslas90]

I think the mobo is just faulty, Im just gonna tell the guy he needs to send it in too dell. It might still even be under warranty.

Could be Mobo or Overheating or HDD. IF it's a couple years old it could need the thermal paste needs to be redone on CPU, cleaning. Dell has a recovery system that can be accessed by calling them, you just need the buyers account info, and they talk you through it over the phone. I would try calling before taking it in, saves money/time.