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Dell 5150 LED questions

post #1 of 25
3/22/10 at 12:38am
Thread Starter 
I thought my motherboard went bad (my own testing and also took it to a friend that owns a repair shop). Ordered a new one, installed it, now I only have the charge LED and power LED on solid regardless of AC power or battery. I have my S-I-L's 5150 and tried her battery and AC brick, all with the same result. I removed the optical drive, hard drive, wireless card, modem, memory modules, and to no avail. I pulled apart the motherboard again just to make sure I had the CPU seated properly and it is. Thanks in advance...
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post #2 of 25
3/22/10 at 12:25pm
so it does not boot at all ?
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post #3 of 25
3/22/10 at 8:31pm
Thread Starter 
Nope, nothing. When I plug in the power supply (no battery inserted) the two lights stay on solid, no response from any buttons. When I plug in the battery (no AC brick), the two lights come on solid when I push the power button.
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post #4 of 25
3/22/10 at 9:28pm
it really only leaves the CPU IMO

Is the GPU built into the motherboard ?
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post #5 of 25
3/22/10 at 9:45pm
did you try testing your memory in the other laptop and from the other laptop ?
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post #6 of 25
3/22/10 at 9:59pm
Thread Starter 
I believe the GPU is built in. I'll check on that. I have two sticks of memory in there, I swapped positions, inserted one at a time, and none at all (thinking it might boot and give me a "no memory" error or something). I havent tried the other laptops memory, only the battery and AC brick. The other laptop has some issues too (no power, thinking bad DC jack), but I could try the CPU. There is no beep, no fan noise, etc. so its not getting to POST. Only the two lights are happening. I tried Dell's troubleshooter last night, its good for a beginner, but I had most of their tests done before going there.
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post #7 of 25
3/22/10 at 10:02pm
Sorry I can't help but comment is wasn't there a class action lawsuit involving the 5150? If so it is a bad horse to back I would think.
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post #8 of 25
3/22/10 at 10:07pm
Thread Starter 
From reading a few posts here and other forums, Dell fixed a bunch of them back about 3 years ago out of warranty, but one post here said they quit in '07.
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post #9 of 25
3/22/10 at 10:12pm
Yea they settled a class action, link. I do not find "repairing out of warranty" to be the same as "settled class action". The latter indicates it is a "dog".
Quote:

On August 16, 2006, the parties entered into a settlement agreement granting relief to a class consisting of all individuals and entities in the United States who own or have owned a Dell Inspiron 5150 notebook computer.
Within the next month, members of the class should receive an official notice explaining the exact terms of the settlement. These terms are subject to final approval by the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. In general terms, the settlement includes an extended one-year limited warranty for the following “Qualifying Repairs”:

  1. Repairs to resolve messaging code M1004, which is a message that the 5150 is programmed to display if it shuts down to prevent system damage;
  2. Heat sink replacements;
  3. AC adapter replacements necessary to resolve “insufficient power” and “cannot identify power source” messages; and
  4. Motherboard replacements that are necessary to resolve “no power” or “shutdown” situations.
The settlement also entitles individuals or entities who have spent for repairs of the 5150 to reimbursement, inclusive of shipping and actual repair costs, whether from Dell or third parties.

I just think this could be a real issue and could cause you great frustration.

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post #10 of 25
3/22/10 at 10:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by da_bull View Post
I believe the GPU is built in. I'll check on that. I have two sticks of memory in there, I swapped positions, inserted one at a time, and none at all (thinking it might boot and give me a "no memory" error or something). I havent tried the other laptops memory, only the battery and AC brick. The other laptop has some issues too (no power, thinking bad DC jack), but I could try the CPU. There is no beep, no fan noise, etc. so its not getting to POST. Only the two lights are happening. I tried Dell's troubleshooter last night, its good for a beginner, but I had most of their tests done before going there.

non Boot issues are usually

1. memory
2. Main Board
3. CPU < rare

so definitely try the memory from the other laptop and test yours in it as well

If it turns out the memory or the CPU are the issues you have a spare mobo ..maybe for the other 5150
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post #11 of 25
3/22/10 at 10:30pm
Thread Starter 
This mobo is "supposed" to be new, but who knows from the ebay crowd. I am wondering about the CMOS battery. Any effect on booting with it? Been too long for me to remember. I'll try the others CPU and mem.
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post #12 of 25
3/22/10 at 11:06pm
usually it will stil boot with a bad CMOS battery it just takes some time while it detects everything.

and yeah Ebay is not always the best for parts.

There a warranty on the part ?
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post #13 of 25
3/23/10 at 1:28am
Thread Starter 
Yeah they said 30 days, that's the main reason I ordered from them. Just need to get it figured out in the next 26 days or so I'll have to check it out tomorrow, wife sent me to Walmart, I dislike that place, all they want is your money

Thanks for the help guys, I'll post the findings tomorrow...
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post #14 of 25
3/24/10 at 11:29pm
Are you sure it isn't ram? I spent a long while on a sony a week ago and it was totally a loose ram connection. The thing would do crap all except have 2 lights turn on in both situations. make sure everything REALLY is together cable wise, sometimes the bios is retarded and won't do shit unless everything is perfect.
Like dave said I agree, its more than likely the ram, or in my case kinda a wifi card problem too.
Selective booting might help without the ram, without hard disk etc. Hope I'm helping, just throwing out what I would do to isolate smth.
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post #15 of 25
3/25/10 at 9:53am
Thread Starter 
I got a chance to swap out memory (the other computer had two sticks also. I tried every combination there. So unless I have 4 bad sticks of memory, its not that. I also swapped video cards (I found last night they are a plug in type, Dave). Still nothing. I did fire up the other computer without the memory cards and no hard drive (preparing to take the other apart to get to the CPU) and it boots to a screen that says System Memory has changed, F1 to boot, F2 to setup. Her AC brick is bad too (or it has the same DC jack issues). The friend of mine that owns the laptop shop forgot to give me back my new AC brick (I brought him in two, he probably forgot). I have to return his 2.5" HD enclosure to him Saturday that I borrowed. I'll get my new AC brick back then and continue with the troubleshooting. It is nice knowing that hers boots up, so I can swap parts until I find out whats wrong with mine and in the process, should be able to figure out whats wrong with hers too.
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post #16 of 25
3/25/10 at 11:10am
well it's either your CPU or you got a bad Mobo from what i see from your tests so far
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post #17 of 25
3/25/10 at 8:12pm
Ummm one last thing, I know it sounds wierd but I'm having a similar problem with a friends laptop and it turned out to be the wifi, still unsure why, but so long as its off the computer boots, mind you I had to heat up the mobo to get it to get semi into booting too. Pretty sure mine's still a ram issue though myself.
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post #18 of 25
3/25/10 at 8:16pm
Is this a stock wifi card or is it a replacement?

cheers ...
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post #19 of 25
3/26/10 at 12:06am
stock
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post #20 of 25
3/26/10 at 7:30am
Did you try a clean (re)install? See if one can eliminate some issues with drivers?

cheers ...
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