[dalani]

I have a Dell Optiplex gx1 that has motherboard problems before which was replaced. Now my Dell doesn'r even show the bios splash screen. Peripherals such as CDroms and HardDisks light up (the HD even shows some disk activity from a hard boot). However keyboard lights don't switch ie. boot up never gets to the plug n play part of the boot up sequence. Of course I tried booting from a cdrom and that's a no go.

How could that happen? I did not install new hardware or recongure the box in any way. Can anything in the OS affect the BIOS? How do I diagnose the motherboard?

Any help would be appreciated..

[Lurker1]

Hi dalani

You arn't booting at all, just getting power to the hard drive and cdrom.

You need to get a bios screen first. Unplug all your drives, keyboard and mouse and any other cards you have plugged in. Reseat your memory, power connector and processor. A good cleaning with a can of air could help too. If that doesnt give you a display try removing the motherboard battery overnight. BOL

[dalani]

I tried rebooting after disconnecting all drives and peripherals. Still no go. Now you mention the battery. Ill have to find where that is located. Could it be the battery went dead? BTW if I were to replace the motherbo. What happens when I reboot? Will the OS recognize the new bios?

This the second time this happened on my Optiplex so after two such moth.bo, I want another brand. What should I look for to know what motherbos will fit?

[norton850]

This is a rough diagram of your MB. The battery is in the lower right corner.
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...1/jumpers1.htm

After the motherboard was replaced did things work?
Is the problem that you aren't getting anything at all up on your screen?

[dalani]

Last time the motherboard was replaced, the computer worked fine until this happened. Now like I said, the computer bios splash screen doesn't show up and nothing on my screen. Hard disk shows some activity at cold boot and CD drives light up (power supply is fine). But no go..

[~Candy~]

Is the system connected to a surge protector or backup power supply?

[Lurker1]

Did you try the reseating and cleaning as I suggested? Usually GX1 systems are built good. About all I have seen go bad in them are hard drives. Of course they arn't being made anymore and any boards you get from Dell are probably refurbrished. Like AcaCandy said maybe you need a good surge protector.
If you have reseated everything, then you probably need a motherboard or new Dell power supply. Just because the hard drive and cdrom light up don't assume the power supply is good. BOL

[dalani]

I spoke to a Dell tech again who tells me to remove a memory stick then reboot. If that doe'snt work remove the other mem stick and reseat the first then reboot...
I had a Dimension MMX Dell before this one and had no problems.ever.without even a surge protector. The power supply wattage is something I have to check.but how would I know if the PS output is correct? (I don't have an oscilloscope or anything like that- other than basic multimeter). the way I see it, a power supply is very robust unless lightning struck my computer, it shouldn't be defective. When the motherbo. was replaced last time it fixed the problem (so it wasn't the PS).

[~Candy~]

I think the basic multimeter will test the output of the power supply, although I'm not an electrical guru

Trust me, lightning DOES NOT need to strike the computer to blow a motherboard, powersupply, modem, etc. A nice power surge will do that just fine

Been there done that, all items