Member Avatar for dmcswine01

When I attempt to power up my Gateway ELP 500C all I get is an orange light [it used to be green]. My screen power button stays orange too and the screen stays black. Sometimes when I unplug my PC for a few hours it will start up as usual. My keyboard has no lights on [it usually has lights]. What can I do to fix this? Why the ORANGE light?

I am running Windows XP Professional.

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Following the ideas already posted by , and , here is a focused, practical checklist to follow if a replacement PSU does not cure the steady orange/amber LED. The goal is to narrow the fault quickly (PSU vs. motherboard vs. front-panel/wake circuitry) with safe, low-cost tests.

Start by verifying the PSU rails (don’t rely on fan spin alone). Use a dedicated PSU tester or a multimeter to check +12V, +5V, +3.3V and the standby +5VSB (the +5VSB rail is the always-on standby line — the purple wire on the ATX connector, pin 9). The paperclip/jumper test only proves the supply will power up; a tester or voltmeter confirms whether rails are in spec and whether the power-good timing is present. Take normal safety precautions (unplug, ground yourself) when probing. (help.corsair.com)

If the PSU checks out electrically or you want to eliminate other parts first, perform a minimal "bench" boot: disconnect all drives and nonessential cards, leave only CPU, one known-good RAM stick and whichever video output is required. Fit a small motherboard speaker or speaker jumper and listen for POST beep codes — no beeps is itself diagnostic. Also clear or replace the CMOS battery (CR2032); a weak battery can cause weird, intermittent boot/no-POST symptoms. (lifewire.com)

Do a careful visual inspection of the motherboard (especially around the VRMs and RAM sockets) for bulging, cracked or leaking electrolytic capacitors — those failures cause exactly the kind of intermittent power/POST problems you describe and usually require board repair or replacement. To rule out a faulty case power switch, momentarily short the two front-panel power pins on the mobo; if the system then starts reliably the switch/cabling is the likely culprit. (tomshardware.com)

If none of the above isolates the fault, swap in a known-good PSU (or have a shop load-test the unit) and consider professional repair if the board shows capacitor damage or other visible faults. Always avoid opening or probing the inside of a PSU itself and ask for help if you are not comfortable with live-voltage testing. (lifewire.com)

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Member Avatar for HoustonIT

The orange light is telling you that there is something wrong. It could be a lot of things, but the first guess should be power supply. Does the power supply fan turn on when the system is powered?

Member Avatar for dmcswine01

Yes it does. I've already switched a power supply cord a few days ago and it began to work just fine. It wouldn't power up at all then. Now I get that steady yellow light. I'm going to buy a new power supply and see if that makes any change. The one I used to replace the other was just as old. I also pushed the Reset button inside the tower and no change was noted. I then unplugged the unit and held down the power key for 15 seconds and rebooted the machine with no change. What should I look at next, provided the new power supply makes no improvement?

Member Avatar for sittas87

HI
you say when you uplug it and plug/ leave it powered down for a long time and restart than it powers up fine. that sounds like its the psu.now that you at it id recommend a higher wattage psu

Member Avatar for dmcswine01

HI
you say when you uplug it and plug/ leave it powered down for a long time and restart than it powers up fine. that sounds like its the psu.now that you at it id recommend a higher wattage psu

I will look up the compatible types of PSU’s for my unit and purchase a higher wattage one. Thanks. I hope it works...

Member Avatar for zeroth

Try thoroughly cleaning the inside of the case and power supply, blow them if necessary, and reseat all the connectors in the case. Make sure you make solid connections when you plug them back. Then restart.

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