Dell All in One PC won't turn on

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Adam
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Hi,

I have a Dell Inspiron 2310 AIO pc, it's running windows 10 and I have swapped the standard HDD out for a solid state drive. it was working fine until last week, when one day it wouldn't turn on. a few presses of the button and it came on.. I thought nothing of it. But yesterday it wouldn't come on again.. got it going by pulling out the power lead and seemed to go again.. I left it on last night, but got up this morning and nothing. It is getting power as the power supply has a blue light on the plug that plugs into the back of the machine. also the USB sockets have a led in them and it's glowing. now this morning when pressing the power button I'm getting a low audible click from the speakers.. Does it sound like a button issue or motherboard? or anything else.. is there a way to fault find it?

Thanks

Adam
 
does it have the option for an external monitor?
 
Nope, but I'm not getting any sound from fans etc.. normally when it turns on the fans are loud for the 1st 5 secs then turn off, but it's doing nothing.
 
I had a not too dissimilar problem on my tower. I changed the PSU and everything is now fine.
To be correct I found someone who knew how to change my PSU.....
 
Yes, has external brick.. opened it up tonight.. it was still lighting a small led on the motherboard, but then the power supply seemed to stop working (no blue led on the plug) so maybe it's just given up after 5 years of use..
 
If that doesn't fix it then it looks like you will need another motherboard (evidence elsewhere suggests that this model has issues).
Good luck with your repair resolution.
 
yeah, is the motherboard specific to that computer model? or can I get something similar? still waiting on power supply, but the old one stared to light up again, so the motherboard is lighting a small orange LED, so it must still be getting power..
 
This puts me off getting an all-in-one PC. Which might be irrational on my part, as most people probably haven't had any problem.
 
yeah, I suppose it's no worse than a laptop, but I know what you mean, it must be nearly 6 years old and has never missed a beat until this point.. I have a SSD and 8gb ram in it so it's still ok for lightroom.. I found mainboards for £100 on ebay new, so that's probably the worse case.. although I do wonder if it's worth spending that on it..
 
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Might sound daft, but have you plugged into a different socket or 2? I'm guessing it's in an extension.
 
yeah, I suppose it's no worse than a laptop, but I know what you mean, it must be nearly 6 years old and has never missed a beat until this point.. I have a SSD and *gb ram in it so it's still ok for lightroom.. I found mainboards for £100 on ebay new, so that's probably the worse case.. although I do wonder if it's worth spending that on it..
6 years is not bad. These days you can get cute little mini PC's and a separate monitor. Can you use the all-in-one as a standalone monitor?
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I'd go with knackered psu too, just because the led lights up it doesn't necessarily mean it's any good. I fix computers for a living and it's not unusual for a psu to give up after 5 years.
 
I'd go with knackered psu too, just because the led lights up it doesn't necessarily mean it's any good. I fix computers for a living and it's not unusual for a psu to give up after 5 years.
Must agree. As mentioned my tower gave every indication of being live and working. But it didn't. A new PSU sorted it. I too thought of all sorts of possible problems. That's inexperience for you!
 
I have tried a different socket, but still no joy. Waiting on a new PSU to arrive.. will try that first.. then prob onto motherboard, they are £100.. also, it can't be used as a separate display..
 
did it fall on to the floor really badly and get broken, if so you could claim on the house insurance?
 
Got the power supply today and still nothing? What's the next step? Do I just order a motherboard and swap it out? Anyway of testing the existing one?
 
Have a look on the board around the main processor for some little components like tin cans. They will have 3 lines stamped into them like a Mercedes badge. Look for any that look like they have leaked onto the board or the tops are bulging up. Look especially for ones that are marked 10uf 16v the 16v might vary a bit but the 10uf is the important bit. Look for any that are sitting in a dark patch on the board or are bulging.
Let me know if there are any. It could be they have dried up and the circuit that fires up the processor could be dead.
 
Have a look on the board around the main processor for some little components like tin cans. They will have 3 lines stamped into them like a Mercedes badge. Look for any that look like they have leaked onto the board or the tops are bulging up. Look especially for ones that are marked 10uf 16v the 16v might vary a bit but the 10uf is the important bit. Look for any that are sitting in a dark patch on the board or are bulging.
Let me know if there are any. It could be they have dried up and the circuit that fires up the processor could be dead.

This is a good call - electrolytic caps in modern kit can sometimes fail without warning. Had that happen in a screen (power smoothing caps) and it seems to be a common fault, but fortunately I had some spares sat around that I could solder straight in & it's been working fine ever since.
 
Just opened it back up and removed the coolers for the graphics card and processor.. can't see anything obvious.. any thoughts?
 
New board ordered, anything special I need to do while swapping it over? or is it a case of stripping and replacing? DO I need some thermal paste stuff for the processor and graphics?
 
Just swapped out the motherboard and still nothing.. it's dead.. there is a small orange light on the motherboard, but when i press the power button the light goes out and I can hear an audible click from the speakers.. can i unplug anything to rule things out? Ram, HDD, graphics..
 
Unplugged HDD, WiFi card, TV card.. still nothing.. just as above, audible click when i hit the power button..
 
Daft thought but are you sure you have plugged all the power leads into the mobo?
 
OK this will sound stupid but unplug the memory. When you attempt to boot you should still get post beeps. Sad to say it's looking like the main processor has died though.
 
Thanks guys.. the power supply plug directly into the motherboard and the motherboard has a small LED which lights up.. As the power supply and motherboard has been changed surely the fans or something should come on? I tried it without the ram last night, but nothing..

Would a failed processor stop it from turning on at all? PS.. it's a i3-370m processor, they are only about £5 from ebay, so will maybe try that if you think it would work.. Current spend is now £100, so getting to a point of spending too much on an old machine.. although will obviously cost a lot more to replace it!!
 
PS.. it's a i3-370m processor, they are only about £5 from ebay, so will maybe try that if you think it would work.. Current spend is now £100, so getting to a point of spending too much on an old machine.. although will obviously cost a lot more to replace it!!
With your new CPU, power supply and mobo, all you need is a mini case, and hey presto! You have a neat little spare PC.
 
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