Member Avatar for TTO

Hi everyone. ;)

Got a problem that I am hoping someone can help me with.

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop that I really like. It is great machine. But last June it died on me. Long story short, I thought it had been the victim of a power surge. It refuses to boot up, or even come on . All i t will do when you press the power button, is the power light will light up, and the CAPS LOCK light will blink 9 times, then both lights will go out. That's it. Period.

Or so I thought. A few months ago, a friend of mine was looking at the machine. He removed the hard drive, visually inspected it, and re-installed it. He also re-seated the memory chips. Much to my amazement, after he finished, he tried turning it on, and it powered up, as pretty as you please. It ran perfectly, until it was turned off. Then it refused to start again. And all further attempts have failed. :sad:

Another friend of mine who is an IT tech, told me that the blinking caps lock light was a beep code. But I have been unable to find anything further on this. If anyone knows where or how I can find out what this code is telling me, so that I have some idea of what is wrong with my machine, or has an idea of what the problem is, I would be most appreciative. :)

Thanks!

Dennis (TTO)

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This short, practical addendum fills gaps in the thread and gives a safe, ordered way to diagnose the Caps‑Lock blink / no‑POST symptom and to protect important data.

The Caps‑Lock LED blinking on many Dell Inspiron models is an EC/BIOS diagnostic indicator; Dell documents LED/beep patterns and maps them to likely faults (memory, BIOS, board, video, etc.). Given the intermittent boot behavior reported here and the later note that the machine powered only with one DIMM removed, memory vs. motherboard faults are the prime suspects. Dell diagnostic LED table. (dell.com)

A concise memory-isolation workflow (safe, repeatable):

  • Work on a static-free surface; remove AC and batteries before opening the case. Photograph module positions first.
  • Remove both SoDIMMs. Test each module alone in each slot (Module A in Slot 1, then Slot 2; Module B in Slot 1, then Slot 2). Note whether the fault follows a module or stays with a slot.
  • If the fault follows one module, replace that module. If it stays with a single slot, suspect the mainboard and plan board repair/replacement.
  • For thorough validation, boot a MemTest86 USB and run multiple passes (several hours or overnight for confidence). Dell’s troubleshooting article outlines the same substitution/isolation approach. Dell memory troubleshooting. MemTest86 . (dell.com)

Safe data‑recovery guidance (for the failed drive mentioned by and the anecdote from ):

  • If the drive is mechanically noisy (clicking/grinding), power it down immediately and stop DIY fixes — further attempts risk permanent platter/head damage. Professional clean‑room recovery is the right path for clicking drives.
  • If the drive is quiet and is detected, remove it, connect via a USB‑SATA/IDE adapter or dock to another computer, create a sector image, then run recovery tools against the image (for logical corruption use TestDisk/PhotoRec or ddrescue workflows). PhotoRec/TestDisk documentation. Why clicking drives need pros. (cgsecurity.org)

Summary: follow the documented memory isolation steps first (cheap to test/replace), use MemTest86 to confirm failing modules, and, before any repair that risks writing to the old drive, prioritize a safe image or a pro recovery consult for important data. Backups will prevent this exact stress in future.

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Member Avatar for DenisOxon

Hi everyone. ;)

Got a problem that I am hoping someone can help me with.

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop that I really like. It is great machine. But last June it died on me. Long story short, I thought it had been the victim of a power surge. It refuses to boot up, or even come on . All i t will do when you press the power button, is the power light will light up, and the CAPS LOCK light will blink 9 times, then both lights will go out. That's it. Period.

Or so I thought. A few months ago, a friend of mine was looking at the machine. He removed the hard drive, visually inspected it, and re-installed it. He also re-seated the memory chips. Much to my amazement, after he finished, he tried turning it on, and it powered up, as pretty as you please. It ran perfectly, until it was turned off. Then it refused to start again. And all further attempts have failed. :sad:

Another friend of mine who is an IT tech, told me that the blinking caps lock light was a beep code. But I have been unable to find anything further on this. If anyone knows where or how I can find out what this code is telling me, so that I have some idea of what is wrong with my machine, or has an idea of what the problem is, I would be most appreciative. :)

Thanks!

Dennis (TTO)

Hi

It sounds like a faulty power supply to me with internal battery now flat.

You need to get a voltmeter and check voltage at end of power lead that plugs into laptop.

Best of luck

Denis

Member Avatar for TTO

Hi

It sounds like a faulty power supply to me with internal battery now >flat.

You need to get a voltmeter and check voltage at end of power lead >that plugs into laptop.

Best of luck

Denis

Thanks for the reply.

The possibility of a power problem has been suggestted to me before. I have two extra batteries for this machine. I have tried turning it on in every possible combination with all three batteries. With each battery alone, with the battery and the power supply, and with just the power supply alone (no battery installed at all). The result was always the same, as described in my original post.

Just to double check, I did measure the output of the power supply with a voltmeter. The power supply is supposed to output 19.4 vdc. It measued 19.52 vdc. So the power supply appears to be fully functional. I appreciate the suggestion though. :)

Anyone else have any thoughts?

Dennis (TTO)

Edited by Dani because: Fixed formatting
Member Avatar for DenisOxon

Hi Dennis

Next I would remove any peripherals you can like cdrom drive, pmcia cards, usb devices, etc

Then try rebooting

If that fails take out hard disk and try rebooting.

It is possible that some connected is taking down system and stopping it booting. I have seen a usb hub stop a system booting.

If this all fails then I think you need to contact Dell.

Best wishes

Denis

Member Avatar for Chi Baker

Hi everyone. ;)

Got a problem that I am hoping someone can help me with.

I have a Dell Inspiron 8500 laptop that I really like. It is great machine. But last June it died on me. Long story short, I thought it had been the victim of a power surge. It refuses to boot up, or even come on . All i t will do when you press the power button, is the power light will light up, and the CAPS LOCK light will blink 9 times, then both lights will go out. That's it. Period.

Or so I thought. A few months ago, a friend of mine was looking at the machine. He removed the hard drive, visually inspected it, and re-installed it. He also re-seated the memory chips. Much to my amazement, after he finished, he tried turning it on, and it powered up, as pretty as you please. It ran perfectly, until it was turned off. Then it refused to start again. And all further attempts have failed. :sad:

Another friend of mine who is an IT tech, told me that the blinking caps lock light was a beep code. But I have been unable to find anything further on this. If anyone knows where or how I can find out what this code is telling me, so that I have some idea of what is wrong with my machine, or has an idea of what the problem is, I would be most appreciative. :)

Thanks!

Dennis (TTO)

Dennis,

I'm having the same problem and wondered if you found a solution?

Thanks,
Chi Baker

Member Avatar for TTO

Well, sort off. :| I removed the memory card from the `DIMM B' slot, and it powered right up. Re-installed the card, no power-up. Took it out again, it powered up. Go figure. Must have a problem on the motherboard. But now, the hard drive has totally failed. So I still have not gotten the machine to where I can use it. I'll be replacing the drive, and hopefully I'll be good to go after that. But what I *really* want and need help with now, is recovery of the data on the bad drive. Anyone have any ideas? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller? :icon_question:

Dennis

Dennis,

I'm having the same problem and wondered if you found a solution?

Thanks,
Chi Baker

Member Avatar for Chi Baker

This is going to sound amateur -- but, my hard drive went caput a month ago and my brother-in-law, who is in IT, told me to take it out and slap it a few times against my hand. He said the hard drive is made up of moving parts and that it may get it working again in order to back up data. It worked for me. I backed up data and then ordered a new hard drive. The low-key fix also worked for my dad's Dell computer.

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