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Inspiron 9400 Wont start

post #1 of 32
11/1/10 at 9:17pm
Thread Starter 
Hey all,

Have run into a problem with my long standing Inspiron 9400, we have been through alot over the years, but just yesterday, it refused to start for me.

I press the power button and the power and the hard drive light comes on for less than a second and then cuts out.

At first I though it could be the power, But have since ruled that out. The adapter power light is on, also when you press the power button on the battery, it states it is full. I then checked if it was the memory modules by taking them out one at a time and rotating them. But this proved unhelpful.

What I’m thinking is that the motherboard is screwed or that the cpu has come loose. I don’t have my pc tool kit with me, must head to town tomorrow before I crack the laptop open.

I would be glad to hear what anyone thinks of my problem, as i wouldn't be anyway confident in my diagnoses. I uploaded small video showing the problem. Thanks in advance

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ar7fPh0QojY

Regards,
Steve
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post #2 of 32
11/2/10 at 6:16am
My broken-record guess on Dell machine - a dead GPU

cheers ...
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post #3 of 32
11/2/10 at 9:10am
My guess is either a dead CPU or Mobo - if the GPU had died you should still post, and seeing as your not then it seems one of these two is more likely.
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post #4 of 32
11/2/10 at 11:31am
you can try reseating the CPU, and check for any loose connections etc, but likley as other have said it is a bad board.

One thing to try is to remove the drives, and use one memory stick at a time to see if you can boot. and try each DIMM slot at a time with one stick of ram.

Remove the wirelss card as well and test
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post #5 of 32
11/2/10 at 12:03pm
Thread Starter 
Ya, I'm just hoping it is anything other than the mobo as that costs a fortune to replace. Might as well get new machine at that stage. Just heading down town to get a tool kit to open it up. I'll take everything out of the machine then and hopefully something will show up.

I'll keep ye posted.
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post #6 of 32
11/2/10 at 5:15pm
Thread Starter 
Well after opening it up and taking everything out and re-attaching & making sure everything is connected right, The blasted thing still wont start....

Surprised by how dirty it was, with both fans pretty choked up with dirt. Also the cpu looked a bit burnt, not wure if that is the way cpu look after a while or is it a sign that it is burnt out?? the termal gell that lays over it was all burnt out as well. It was the only thing that looked wrong to me in the laptop. But then again i am new enough to this.

Any ideas on this. I've attached pic's of dirt n cpu if anyone can read it better than me.

Regards,
Steve
LL
LL
LL
LL
LL
LL
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post #7 of 32
11/2/10 at 5:21pm
It's not burn, well yes, but not the CPU. The thermal paste needs to be replaced. Take a look in the guide section, we have many tips and pics as how to clean up the CPU and applying new thermal paste. It might start up afterward

cheers ...
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post #8 of 32
11/2/10 at 5:31pm
Thread Starter 
Ok i will have a look for that tread now, must get some thermal gel tomorrow. I wouldn't think that the gel is what is stoping it from starting doh. Not sure what to do with my laptop now, I have no way of testing the board/cpu/gpu to see exactly what is throwing the computer & couldn't afford to send it off to get repaired. That would cost a fortune i would say. Grrr
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post #9 of 32
11/2/10 at 5:55pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by TooMuchFreeTime View Post
Ok i will have a look for that tread now, must get some thermal gel tomorrow. I wouldn't think that the gel is what is stoping it from starting doh. Not sure what to do with my laptop now, I have no way of testing the board/cpu/gpu to see exactly what is throwing the computer & couldn't afford to send it off to get repaired. That would cost a fortune i would say. Grrr
When you really have nothing to lose, there is always the baking (and yes, we do have tips for that as well )

cheers ...
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post #10 of 32
11/3/10 at 11:24pm
Thread Starter 
Noticed a funny thing with the laptop today when messing with it, not sure if it will shed any new light on the problem.

first off, a quick press of power button results in light coming on for second. then pressing the media centre button, no light comes on.

But wait. few seconds press of power button results in light coming on for second. then pressing the media centre button, the light comes on then as well for a second. but only when power button was held for few seconds. Also i should add that pressing power button with fn makes all 3 locks flash briefly. When hard drive is attached the hard-drive light next to power flashes.

Does this give any insight into what might be wrong with iit? video attached.

Also 'qhn' do you have link to the baking instructions. might have look at that see what happens. If all else fails

Regards,
Stephen.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1g694-ty9qU
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post #11 of 32
11/4/10 at 4:32am
Just go to the top of the section and search for "bake baking" - you'll get loads of hits

cheers ...
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post #12 of 32
11/4/10 at 5:52am
One last suggestion, if you have not done this already, unplug the bios battery leave the unit for 30 sec and then replug & reassemble.

If your video card is a Nvidia 7900 go then you should be able to sell this for a few bucks, as suggested you can try baking the mobo (the problem is you don't know if this is whats broken - baking it may stuff a perfectly good mobo). I assume you have reseated the CPU and reset the ram as suggested. To get to post (the bios splash screen) you need a working CPU, Mobo & ram.

A replacement mobo will cost $170.00 (refer link)

http://www.parts-people.com/index.ph...n=item&id=3676

A CPU around $100.00 (T2400 or T2600 more for T7200 or T7400) - the expensive part is the video card 7900go.

I loved my 9400 - yep was a great unit good luck

PS - yea the photo's only show the cooling paste, used to allow heat transfer from the CPU onto the heatsink. If the CPU is OK then this needs to be cleaned off from both the heatsink and CPU cleaned with IPA and a small amount of replacement paste applied.
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post #13 of 32
11/4/10 at 11:05am
FWIV, I have similar problem, but my laptop eventually starts after 3 to 5 retries. I have traced (IMO) the problem to dead battery, because my symptoms started, when both battery check and laptop software said my battery is fine, and just after couple of minutes after startup the laptop would shut itself down, because of low charge level on battery. When i get my 9400 to boot up, it's rock solid, until I shut it down again. Charge level of battery won't nowadays raise above 10% under any circumstances, so that's how I know the battery's dead. If you have a spare battery, or have a chance to try out with one, I'd check this option too.
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post #14 of 32
11/4/10 at 10:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quick question, seen this motherboard on ebay for sale, says unit boots bios. but was just wondering if it can boot to bios does that mean the motherboard is alright and the problem is else where in the unit or could in fact the motherboard still be defective? Its at a real good price, I could even manage that expense.
http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-INSPIRON-E1...ht_1882wt_1139

Or will i just go with this one. $30 difference in price once post is included

http://cgi.ebay.com/DELL-MOTHERBOARD...9#ht_500wt_922


Also thanks for all the great feedback, very useful when you not entirely sure. Pilby it would be very hard to give up on my inspiron 9400. she has been some beauty of a machine over the years and is still very competent to work wit. your right she has the 256mb 7900 go graphics card, which was unreal few years ago, but aging now. But still able to play a good bit of the newer games, just not the high end ones.

Valtsu71 - thanks for the tip but i dont think it the battery from what testing i have done on it. I had a problem like that about 6 months ago. Turned out that the battery was just dead. I had to replace it.


Just to let ye know i went for this one after. It came to $109 delivered, couldn't buy the previous 2 as they only ship in USA and i am in Toronto. but i will be a very happy man if this sorts out my problem. if not i'll burst
http://cgi.ebay.com/Dell-9400-E1705-...item519610532c
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post #15 of 32
11/5/10 at 12:51am
Both should be OK - but you need to confirm they do not have the integrated graphics chip,or you will not be able to plug in the 7900go.

If a computer can get to the bios it means the mobo, CPU and ram are good - the second one assuming the graphics are not integrated would be the better buy as this comes with a CPU so you will have a working platform to put your laptop back together again.

But before you spend any money - check the ram, remove both ram chips and one at a time reinsert and attempt to start with only the one chip fitted, make sure you have re-seated the CPU. If these still bring no joy then buy the mobo with the CPU and ram.

Arrh yes I remember when the 9400 was the killer beast and we all flashed the 7900go to higher clock speeds fond memories, mine had the 7800go which I swapped out for a friends 7900go, then decided I wanted a 7950GTX which I found, then coveted it into a XPS1710!!!
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post #16 of 32
11/7/10 at 2:51am
I just have a similar problem so i thought that instead of starting a new tread i use this one.

A few days ago my Dell 9400 with 7900 go card had some graphic artifacts and then shut down, i mange to restart it a couple of times but then same thing happen.
Now when i hit power button the screen starts but no graphic, also the DVD makes a sound similar to when it reads a disc.
HDD also seems to be active.

I resembled the CPU and GPU but no difference. Also tried the memory thing.

Perhaps the problem is related to the GPU since i had artifacts, well it was infact no regular artifacts but more like some green horizontal lines.
GPU never been overclocked.

Someone also suggested it can be the power supply.

Grateful for help.
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post #17 of 32
11/7/10 at 4:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by swejock View Post
I just have a similar problem so i thought that instead of starting a new tread i use this one.

A few days ago my Dell 9400 with 7900 go card had some graphic artifacts and then shut down, i mange to restart it a couple of times but then same thing happen.
Now when i hit power button the screen starts but no graphic, also the DVD makes a sound similar to when it reads a disc.
HDD also seems to be active.

I resembled the CPU and GPU but no difference. Also tried the memory thing.

Perhaps the problem is related to the GPU since i had artifacts, well it was infact no regular artifacts but more like some green horizontal lines.
GPU never been overclocked.

Someone also suggested it can be the power supply.

Grateful for help.
Any differences (artifacts) with an external monitor?

cheers ...
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post #18 of 32
11/7/10 at 5:06am
Unfortunately i didn't have the chance to try that.
Once the artifacts hit the screen the computer shut down immediately.
Now when i try to start, the screen lights up but it's just black and the HDD and DVD makes a sound and then nothing.
If it heard that it boot i should connect it to and external monitor.
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post #19 of 32
11/7/10 at 5:15am
Try connecting an external before you start. This will help us eliminating (hopefully) issue with the graphic card.

cheers ...
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post #20 of 32
11/7/10 at 5:24am
Tried that but no contact.

thanks.
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