Member Avatar for kendallbea183

I plug the power cord into the computer, and the power buttons light up, i press it, and nothing... not the slightest sound. On the inside, there is one LED light that lights up, and other than that there is no sign of life. The computer doesnt do anything. No beeps, no sound no nothing, just the power light and the LED light in the computer, its a dell. What do I do to get this thing to atleast boot? please help me, I got told if i fix it i can have it... an id like to fix it if i could
the powersupply uses a foxconn ribon, the computer is an dell optiplex 260... if that helps.... theres is a foxconn ribon connecting the motherboard to a chip that has a headphone jack, two usb ports, then from that chip there is another foxconn ribon that connect to the the chip that contains the 2 LED lights, and the power button

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Master_Vos

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Good starting points from and . Building on those initial directions, here are a few additional, non-redundant checks that help isolate whether the fault is the power supply, the main board, or a short/failed component. They are ordered from least invasive to more technical and include safety notes.

  • Verify the power supply independently: use a dedicated PSU tester or (carefully) start the supply on the bench by momentarily connecting the PS_ON line to ground and measuring the 3.3V, 5V and 12V rails with a multimeter. If rails are missing or wildly out of spec, swap in a known-good PSU before touching the motherboard.
  • Inspect the board visually under good light and magnification for bulging, leaking, or crusty electrolytic capacitors and any scorch marks around voltage regulators. Physical damage here commonly causes dead systems and is visible.
  • Try a minimal "bench" boot: remove drives, optical, add-in cards and all but one RAM stick, place the board on a non-conductive surface and power it. If it boots, add components back one at a time to find the offender.
  • Add a small internal speaker or speaker-pod to capture POST beep codes (many boards will report memory/CPU faults this way). Also watch for LED blink patterns and write them down.
  • Note the 5V standby behaviour: if standby is present but the supply never starts when the power switch is pressed, the motherboard power-control circuit is likely the problem; if standby is absent, the PSU is the primary suspect.

If these steps are inconclusive, swapping the PSU with a verified unit or having a shop measure regulated rails and power-on control signals is the fastest way to a definite diagnosis. Work with mains power removed when probing and take ESD precautions.

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Member Avatar for hungry_for_info

if someone was working on the computer before you had it ,it's possible they might of shocked the system. or even a minor power surge. some systems are a little forgiving. if this is to be true you can try resetting the cmos. this is a 50/50 shot in the dark. good luck.

Member Avatar for Master_Vos

Check the ATX power connector on your motherboard ( unplug and plug it ).

Also check the small cables in the lower right side of the mobo ( below the southbridge and next to the PCI slots). Normally those cables should be the ones that operate the powerbutton and resetbutton. Make sure that they're not loose and that they're installed right.

Have you installed new parts recently ? Or did it just die all of the sudden?
It could be a dead motherboard....

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