My Black Screen of death.

[sgmkbc]

I have a Dell XPS M1210. I have been reading the forums trying to gather ideas that I could use to fix my computer.

The problem: When I start the computer the screen stays black, the Power LED stays lit showing that it is indeed turned on, and the LED that shows that the hard drive is being accessed turns on for only a short period of time. The computer stays at this screen and does not boot anything.

I've taken out the CMOS batter and let it sit for 10 minutes to see if resetting the BIOS would work, but it didn't. I've tried the holding down the power button for 30 seconds too. I have even taken out the hard drive and other components to see if it would boot without; doing my best to narrow down what is wrong. It still does not work. Any ideas?

-Step.

[sittas87]

Hey There
first make sure that your video card is firmly connected with the signal cable intact with connector.if you have more than one RAM stick swap it around in the slots.also test your hard drive in another machine.
???????

[TurtleVideo]

I have a Dell XPS M1210. I have been reading the forums trying to gather ideas that I could use to fix my computer.

The problem: When I start the computer the screen stays black, the Power LED stays lit showing that it is indeed turned on, and the LED that shows that the hard drive is being accessed turns on for only a short period of time. The computer stays at this screen and does not boot anything.

I've taken out the CMOS batter and let it sit for 10 minutes to see if resetting the BIOS would work, but it didn't. I've tried the holding down the power button for 30 seconds too. I have even taken out the hard drive and other components to see if it would boot without; doing my best to narrow down what is wrong. It still does not work. Any ideas?

-Step.

Hey sgmkbc,

I have the EXACT SAME problem... I have been pulling my hair out for the past two days trying to get this machine working. I tried a brand new harddrive, nothing, all boot CDs...Nothing.... do you have ny new info about a solution to this problem? I know that it is a driver conflict with the GeForce 7400 GO and something else. Does anyone have any new ideas on how to fix this? I have done so much to get this working, even called Dell...They were clueless, wanted me to get a new graphic card I know that the card is not the problem its the driver locked in a feedback loop....sigh.......HELP!!!!!

[TurtleVideo]

Well,

It seems that I have fried my BIOS, and I am ordering a new chip from dell. The new BIOS chip is only $3.00 (US). I think that I can afford that..I am not afraid to open up the notebook and give it a try. All I have is a light up door stop anyway. Best of luck with your PC

[sgmkbc]

TurtleVideo, how did you come to the conclusion that your have fried your BIOS? Also, can you give me a link to where you can purchase a BIOS Chip.

[TurtleVideo]

Well, I think that the Bios is fried because I cannot get anything to happen with my computer. The power button just makes the fan cycle on and the CD-ROM spin for a few seconds, and the lights turn on...but nothing happens. I don't get the Dell splash screen or anything. Dell tech says that I need to replace my motherboard. Its going to be around $299.00 for a new motherboard. The "chip" that Dell sent me was actually a "kit". A CD that is a BIOS upgrade kit not a piece of hardware. This is a testament to the outsourcing going on in our tech society....I'll get off my soapbox.....I would reccomend trying the fn+power button trick to see if your hardware diagnostics will work, and i would take the thing apart and disconnect the round battery (CMOS) overnight. You can get new BIOS chips from these guys http://www.biosman.com/

good luck

[sgmkbc]

I tried the fn+power button trick to see if your hardware diagnostics will work. What I get is the number lock and cap lock blinking simultaniously and the scroll lock is steady on. The power led remains constant and the battery low led came on orange after being on a while and remains on green after plugging in to wall outlet. Are these symptoms helpful in further determining my next steps. I am reluctant to spend money on parts when I'm uncertain that the problem will be adequately remedied.

I also saw several comment about updating the BIOS from a boot disk. Is this something available to be downloaded?

Thanks for the help,

SGMKBC

[TurtleVideo]

Do you remember when this happened, or how it happened. Did your PC lose power when loading the BOIS? Did you take the hinge cover off and the keyboard to unplug the coin cell battery over night? Unplug everything (AC and both batteries) and hold the power button down for 10 seconds to drain all power and then wait overnight. Use these instructions at dell: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xpsM1210/en/SM/index.htm

That definetly resets the motherboard

[sgmkbc]

I am not sure what actually happened, my son's computer. After it was no longer working, he did indicate that the screen had done some strange things several time over the course of several weeks prior to no longer functioning (while it was still under warranty) but because he was able to restart and things were fine didn't seem to think much of it.

In order to follow the instructions at dell: "http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...n/SM/index.htm" do I have to buy a special bootable BIOS cd from Dell or can this be downloaded from the web. I did download a file from the web (MXC62A08) to a cd and tried to boot , but does not seem to do anything. The cooling fan does run, the cd reader makes several noises, and the power led remains lit. Nothing on the screen, nothing at all (no runs, no blips, no errors) nothing.

When booting from the CD, should the BIOS battery be connected or disconnected? When pressing F12 prior to booting, how long should F12 be pressed during the boot process, my assumption (although I've been wrong more than once in my lifetime) is that pressing F12 has to be done while the computer in in the on mode in order to have power going to the key?

Is there like a majic button combination that I can push and this will all have been a bad dream?

Thanks for the help.

[TurtleVideo]

I wish that there was a magic key combo that you could push to make it bootable. You have to puch F12 when you see the Dell splash screen to enter the BIOS or setup screens. If you don't see that blue dell logo then you can't even do that. Since he did notice the screen going funny, it might actually be the video card that is doing it. Does the PC have the Nvidia Geforce GO 7400? Or does it have the built in graphics. Those cards are both very hardy cards, but if the computer got really hot (ie: sat on a bedspread) than it might have melted the graphic card, or the tiny parts inside it. The BIOS could actually be doing its job protecting the computer. Again, this could be a costly repair. If you are still under warranty, I would extend it NOW. You could avoid an expensive repair. Sorry for bad news...

[zulfarudianey]

I have the EXACT SAME problem...
Mine XPSM1210, what I did to enable to view the screen is to connect to external monitor. Then I can see nv_4 disp infinate loop error.
I need help if some can resolved this problem. Actually I did put the original harddisk (didnt use, original from dell) to boot still blank unless with external lcd monitor....

[armajojo]

well i think this problem has to do with a faulty ram or maybe some sorting in the motherboard. sometimes a faulty ram won't make a beep sound . generally in this cases at startup power connections to all i/o devices are correct but booting is not performed pherhaps OS cannot be loaded onto ram or a bios unable to load the booting instructions thus corresponding to a motherboard problem.
i insist u check ur ram nd motherboard.
cause of ur problem maybe nonconstant o/p of ups .

[sgmkbc]

So I got around to calling Dell today. Although my warrenty is up, a guy decided to help me troubleshoot it anyways. He said that the diagnostics (Fn+power button) shows you what is wrong. The flashing Num lock and Caps lock while the scroll lock was constantly lit means that the motherboard is bad. I will probably call the number he gave to me to have them install another one or try to do so myself.

-SGMKBC

[TurtleVideo]

I have the EXACT SAME problem...
Mine XPSM1210, what I did to enable to view the screen is to connect to external monitor. Then I can see nv_4 disp infinate loop error.
I need help if some can resolved this problem. Actually I did put the original harddisk (didnt use, original from dell) to boot still blank unless with external lcd monitor....

When you connected your external display, how did you get it to show up? I hit the fn+crt/lcd button and nothing happens...I am so freaking upset about this. I need my computer, and it is a light up door stop right now!!! Ahhh!

[TurtleVideo]

So I got around to calling Dell today. Although my warrenty is up, a guy decided to help me troubleshoot it anyways. He said that the diagnostics (Fn+power button) shows you what is wrong. The flashing Num lock and Caps lock while the scroll lock was constantly lit means that the motherboard is bad. I will probably call the number he gave to me to have them install another one or try to do so myself.

-SGMKBC

I kinda dissagree with that diagnosis. My computer has randomly turned on a few times since the beginning of this horrible process. That makes it even more frustrating, because I can't do anything about the situation. I am a pretty advanced user, and I have taken my computer apart several times. I don't think that the motherboard is bad, and my lights do the same flashing thing as yours. Interestingly enough, the Dell tech that helped me did not say anything about those buttons flashing and if it was indicating something specific. I think that this is a version of the nv_4 disp infinite loop error situation. I just don't know what to do. Yeah, I can send it to Dell for them to tell me what I already know and put in a new motherboard, but why do that when I sincerely think that this is a graphic card driver error? I guess I can try and get my hands on a motherboard and put it in myself.....seriously.....

[TurtleVideo]

well i think this problem has to do with a faulty ram or maybe some sorting in the motherboard. sometimes a faulty ram won't make a beep sound . generally in this cases at startup power connections to all i/o devices are correct but booting is not performed pherhaps OS cannot be loaded onto ram or a bios unable to load the booting instructions thus corresponding to a motherboard problem.
i insist u check ur ram nd motherboard.
cause of ur problem maybe nonconstant o/p of ups .

I get two beeps from the BIOS. I think that indicates an error with the graphic card

[TurtleVideo]

http://www.bioscentral.com/postcodes/dellbios.htm

Dell Bios Beep Error Codes

[TurtleVideo]

I was able to attach an external LCD and get PICTURE!!!!! I am able to now boot into safe mode and actually into windows. I can't get picture on my M1210 yet, but I am on my way to recovery. I did eventually see a BSOD and got the nvlddmkm.sys problem. There are many forums on the web on this subject. I now have a renewed sense of hope that I will not have to pay for a new motherboard!!! Try this fix all, and see what you can come up with!!!

[dkman610]

Hello, I have same computer with same problem, I did take drive out, connected to other computer and was able to move everything (copy) to external drive so I don't lose my files. However I did connnect to external monitor and got nothing. I will try to reset the bios by taking the battery on the motherboard off and unplug and pull lithium ion battery off of the machine any more advice would be greatly appreciated, I took the monitor off thinking it was fried but it seems to not even be getting any power.