Hi all, you guys should make short work of this!

I have just "acquired" a Dell XPS 420 (C.2007!) at a VERY advantageous price, (ie free!).

Trouble is the previous owner has removed all the ram and drives and I am left with a bare box to start from scratch. Not a problem in itself 'cos I've got assorted bits and pieces to get started with and in the first instance have installed 500 mb and connected screen and keyboard to try and get the bios to respond. There is an issue with the power switch which flashes rapidly when a power cable is attached. After removing the front bezel (amid much fluff!) I discovered a completely unused DVD drive so I'm already ahead on the deal.

The problem is there is very little sign of life. A yellow LED comes on on the motherboard but apart from this, - absolutely zilch, nothing comes up on the screen at all. It seems to be a power supply issue in the first instance, but I could do with some guidance from you wiser heads to point me in the right direction.

Many thanks again in advance.

M

My first thought is the RAM. Are you sure you have the right kind of RAM in there? Every time I have ever had an issue with POST, it's been a RAM issue (well, except that one time I seated the CPU incorrectly....)

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Exactly my thought. Crucial.com is my go-to site for any kind of specific RAM.

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Thanks for the input guys, - I would be inclined to follow your sage advice were it not for the input I've now had from the box supplier. It seems he had the same problem which is why he abandoned the machine!

I'm possibly a bit more persistent than that in that I'm currently trying to replace the power button
PC board fitted behind the bezel on the front of the unit. Getting hold of the dirct replacement
(Part No. GG766 or HX062) is an almighty (and expensive) task however.

A further question for anybody who knows is, - In view of the multiplicity of Dell on/off switch boards on the market for other machines (Inspiron, Studio etc), is there any reason why I could not simply susbstitute a different on/off switch assembly? The physical fitting need not be too elegant (Blu Tack/DuckTape etc), so long as it functions and my new box can power up.

Could some kind person who knows the answer help me out here?

Ta, as ever

MArtin

The yellow LED on the motherboard indicates the 5 VDC standby power is on.

A flashing amber power light could be due to a bad PSU or motherboard. Read some threads where replacing the CMOS battery fixed the problem and some found bent USB pins that were shorting out.

How have you determine that the power button assembly is at fault?

Spot on that man! After much searching I finally found a reference in the user manual to the flashing yellow power on switch/light. You are of course absolutely right and it does indicate a power problem, and nothing wrong with the switch (phew!). Next stop is testing the PSU and will bear in mind yr advice about
the battery and others about the ram. It seems ther system was fine until this problem inexplicably started so the battery option looks most promising. Many thanks for your kind input, - it might have saved me a whole lot of aggravation and some money!