Member Avatar for Ann Kirsty

Hi! Can anyone please help me? I have a dell 500m laptop, and it just won't start. There's a green lamp on the power supply and when I put it into the computer, the lamp goes dark. I've also tried starting it with the battery, however no luck :( There is no sound comming when I try to start it either (no fans or anything..)

Please help me!!

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reported a Dell 500m that will not power on: the adapter LED dims when plugged into the laptop, the battery did not bring it to life, and there are no fans or beeps. and already covered the quick battery/reset angle; those are fine first steps but do not rule out a hardware fault. The behavior you describe most commonly means the adapter or the laptop is seeing a short or a failed power rail rather than a simple BIOS/hibernation issue.

Try these targeted checks before spending on a repair:

  • Inspect and test the AC adapter. Read its output rating and measure the barrel with a multimeter on DC volts. If the adapter LED goes out as soon as it is connected, the adapter is likely entering overcurrent protection or seeing a short in the laptop.
  • If possible, try a known-good Dell adapter with the same voltage/current. That isolates adapter vs. laptop.
  • Look at the DC jack and the plug for damage, looseness, or a bent center pin. A short at the jack will kill an otherwise good adapter.
  • Do a minimal power-on: remove battery, HDD, optical drive and any cards; try one RAM stick in the primary slot. No fan/beep after that points toward the DC-in board or mainboard.

If the adapter fails or the LED repeatedly dies when connected, stop testing to avoid further damage and remove the hard drive to recover data with an external enclosure. For an older 500m, replacing the adapter or DC-in board is often the cheapest fix; full motherboard replacement can be more costly than the laptop is worth. If unsure about multimeter use or internal inspection, have a technician diagnose the DC jack and power rails.

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Member Avatar for Chaky

Try removing the battery while A/C is unplugged. That way you'll clear the CMOS. After that you can try to boot it normally.

Member Avatar for jbennet

that doesnt clear the cmos due to the bios battery

Member Avatar for Chaky

Not necessarily so. Some laptops don't have CMOS battery. + it might be hibernating and unable to wake up. That tends to happen. Only way to shut it down is to remove the battery and cable.

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