My (admittedly Methuselah-tastic) computer is now living up to Dell's recent reputation as manufacturing expensive, highly technical, state-of-the-art doorstops.
Damn thing won't turn on. Lights sort of blink but it never works for more than a few seconds.
Anyone got any ideas? I really can't afford to replace it. My options seem to be:
a.) hit it with something
b.) take it to a Versailles-in-the-early-1600s sort of Black Mass
c.) use it to press flowers and call it a day
channamasala
2
channamasala
by whom? No repairperson (even the under-the-table ones) in Taipei will touch a Dell, because spare parts for a Dell are nonexistent. Got any leads?
3
bobtrips
I took a quick look on the Dell site. You can order parts from the US and their seems to be a repair facility on the Mainland.
I had a computer behave the same several years back. It was the power supply, if I remember correctly.
5
lan
I'm voting power supply too, although there's an outside chance it's the motherboard.
Almost all electronics manufacturers "benefitted" from the dodgy Taiwanese electrolyte that went into the capacitors a while back - which meant that PSU and CRT monitor failure rates went ballistic, from the fact that your machine is old, it would fit the profile, and on the basis it doesn't power up, it doubly fits.
If you're happy opening the case, don't touch anything, but look at the capacitors on the motherboard - they're the shiny barrel like gizmos on the circuit board. Any of them bulging, or crusty on top? If not, it's almost certainly the power supply.
If I were there I could kludge a standard PSU to fit - and I'm sure someone there should be able to, it should just be a matter of rewiring the power connector and using an off the shelf PSU, you might need a small one as sometimes Dell used non-standard sized PSUs.
6
bobtrips
Certainly someone could test the power supply.
Even I could do that. ;o)
Option e) is to buy a cheap used machine if all you are doing is word processing/email-type stuff.
7
zoltan
Hi Channa,
When you turn the unit on, does the screen show up anything (at all) ?
Can you pls. try removing the battery and attempt to power up the unit using AC connection only. Does this allow the machine to operate ?
If it does, then it's most likely a battery /connection problem.
If it won't work on AC power, you may find it necessary to ship it home to get it looked at.
Cheers
Zoltan
8
lan
I assumed it's a desktop, is it? I also assumed that from what you'd said, it was a no lights, no sounds situation - again, is it?
If it's a laptop, then a spare power supply may well do the trick - and there should be some out there, even if they're not Dell original. Personally I'd check the power supply by sticking a multimeter into the output of the adapter, but if you're not electronically capable, then that would be a bad plan - risk of electrocution and all that...
Bob, as for testing power supplies it's not always as easy as you'd think - most modern PC supplies won't operate without certain lines being correctly connected, and I've heard of ones that won't operate unless there's a suitable load applied...
9
channamasala
OK....I"ll open the thing up myself first.
Bob - I am not on the mainland nor can I go to the mainland. I can't afford even a cheap used machine and anyway, I do use my computer for photography and photographic enhancements which requires a decent monitor and lots of space. I'd order parts from the USA, IF I KNEW WHAT TO BUY. And nobody in Taipei is willing to open it up, look at it and tell me. EVen to test the power supply. Seems they really care about only looking at computers they are 'licensed' to look at. NObody here does Dell.
It's a laptop not a desktop.
I have tried powering up with the plug-in power adapter in (the light in the square thingie on the adapter goes on, the second I turn on the machine it blinks off, and the computer lights up for a second and then dies.
Without plug-in thing, it won't even light up for a second. Nothing. Dead.
Lan - thanks for the great info. Will crack it open tomorrow and see what I find. I like the physical description of the motherboard - thats what I need to hear, as I am techno-retarded.
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