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General discussion

XPS 400 won't power on - sort of - will never boot

Dec 25, 2009 3:58AM PST

If the jumper plug on the Clear CMOS (RTCRST) Jumper pins is in normal operating mode (pins 2 & 3) the power button does not work. I get nothing. I know power is getting to the mother board, because the green led (auxiliary power led) lights up.

If I remove the jumper entirely or set the jumper plug over pins 1 & 2 the system goes through it's power up process and the power button works but, of course, the system will not boot. I just get the cursor blinking in the upper left corner of the monitior - which was my original problem.

This is coming at the end of some trouble I've been having with the system since I put an old game (Civilization III) on it. The system would power down fine, but wouldn't boot - I'd get the blinking cursor in the upper left hand corner. Nothing I tried would fix the problem so in desperation I cleared the CMOS. It worked but the problem is back, worse than ever. I don't see how the game can be causing this, but the problem arose a few days after it was installed and the first question I always ask is - what's changed. That's the only thing I know of thats changed. My Norton Internet Security is up to date and always on. Up until the game install the system was running fine.

Any ideas?

Thanks
David Morris

DELL XPS 400
Windows XP SP3

PS. I've tried joining the DELL forums, but evidently they don't like me.

Discussion is locked

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Hi, David:
Dec 25, 2009 4:32AM PST

Take a look at this page for the proper jumper configurations:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/xps420/en/OM/HTML/appendix.htm#wp1061158

Now, after the jumpers are properly set, you'll need to go into system setup and configure your drives and other options. If after you've got everything configured, your system still won't boot, then it's time to run the Dell diagnostics and figure out what's wrong with your system.

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Thanks - but I know all that
Dec 25, 2009 8:08AM PST

As I said, when the jumpers are in the proper configuration the system won't power up. It's only when they are in an improper configuration that the power button works.

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Ah - I see what I said wrong
Dec 25, 2009 8:35AM PST

The proper postion for jumper plug is across 1 and 2, that is the postion I have it when I don't get power. I misspoke in the op. my apologies.

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i wish you could edit these messages
Dec 25, 2009 8:41AM PST

now I'm even more confused.

How do the pin assignments run '3 2 1' or '1 2 3'?

and

How can you run diagnostics if your system won't boot.

thanks
and Merry Christmas

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no power on
Dec 26, 2009 12:24AM PST

Hey David, my xps400 started doing the same thing...i was convinced that the power supply had gone bad and replaced it. But it did not work either. It would power on for about a few seconds then shut back down.After going over the computer with a fine tooth comb i found that one of the usb ports in the front of the case was mangled inside...someone had probably tried to force a usb connector in the wrong way resulting in the contact pins touching which causes a short hence the immediate shutdown! I bent back the pins and covered up the bad port and presto! good to go! Also had another episode of not booting up again and found that the on/off button after being used about a zillion times was not working right. The supports behind it got bowed in from finger pressure from all the years of use...i had to take case apart...remove and reinstall the button..it has to sit just right or it wont let computer boot up! Hope this helps!

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xps shutting down
Dec 26, 2009 12:32AM PST

David, If you had fooled around with the cooling fan ie. cleaned it... take it back off and see if the thermal paste from the cpu to the heat sink has not lost its hold... if it has it could be a thermal shutdown...youll have to clean both off and reapply new paste...i would do this anyway just as a precaution...it wouldnt hurt.