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March 21st, 2017 15:00
XPS 710 won't boot up past bios
Hi, I know this is now a very old computer and had its issues but I would be grateful if anyone could help.
After not using my computer for about 2years, I got it out again to use. Last time I used it it was fine it now when I turn it on it won't go past the the bios. The bios loads up as normal but then goes to a black screen with a cursor in the top left and there it stays.
When I turn it on the fans rev up then die back to a gentle hum, the power light stays green. I can hit F2 and get into the setup. The boot sequence is as should be with booting from the hard drive.
The bios is 1.4.1 4gb mem, duel core 2 processor 2.6ghz, 8800 gtx gfx card.
If anyone can help I would really appreciate it,
Cheers,
Stu.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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March 23rd, 2017 11:00
Green power button and all 4 LEDs going out implies it completes the post and hands off to Window.
Version of Windows?
Do you have an add-in video card, and is the monitor correctly configured to work with whatever output you're using on the video card?
Reboot and immediately press F8. If you see the menu, look for the option to boot in Safe Mode and see if it boots...
Since you replaced the battery, BIOS options got set back to their default settings. So it's possible one of the defaults isn't right for your hardware.
If F8 doesn't help, reboot and press F2. If you can open BIOS setup, make sure SATA 0-5 and PATA are Enabled. If you have a RAID setup with 2 HDDs, make sure SATA is set to RAID, not to ON. And check to see if the SATA port(s) are correctly recognizing the HDD(s).
Make sure your boot HDD is first in the boot sequence. Be sure to save any changes before exiting setup.
Do you have a bootable CD, like the Dell Resources disk or Dell Windows Reinstallation disk? Put that in the optical drive, close the tray and reboot. Press F12 and if you can see the menu select the optical drive to boot from.
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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March 21st, 2017 18:00
Start by replacing the motherboard battery which probably died long, long ago.
CR2032, 3-volt lithium ion coin cell battery, ~$2 at discount stores..
Spud Gunn
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March 22nd, 2017 02:00
Hi RoHe, thanks for answering my plea.
I have replaced the battery but to no effect sadly. I have also tried reseating the RAM, Hard Drives and GFX card, also with no effect.
To add another question, is it possible to put the MoBo from a 720 into the 710?
Many thanks.
RoHe
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45.2K Posts
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March 22nd, 2017 11:00
Do you still see only the blinking cursor in upper left corner after changing the battery? Any beeps from the PC or error messages on the screen?
What color is the power button and is it steady or blinking when it won't boot?
Do the 4 diagnostic LEDs on the front panel blink and then all 4 go out or do you have an error code?
Look up power button and LED error codes in the manual.
Dell typically uses custom connectors between front panels and motherboards which makes it difficult to move a Dell board into a different (Dell) case, assuming it even physically fits. Dell doesn't make info about those connectors public. So unless somebody has mapped the connectors in both models, or you can do it yourself...
Spud Gunn
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March 23rd, 2017 06:00
Hi,
The cursor is still there after changing the battery. It beeps once when turned on, always did I think.
The power button is green and never blinks.
All 4 of the diagnostics lights come on at some point and then all 4 go out.
Hope this can shed some light,
Cheers
Spud Gunn
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March 23rd, 2017 16:00
Hi, it is now sorted. The issue was the hard drives. I have now set them to a raid setup and it is now working. All I have to do now is remember my password!
Thanks for your help
RoHe
10 Elder
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45.2K Posts
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March 23rd, 2017 17:00
Glad you got it sorted!
Sorry, can't help with your password. Have enough trouble remembering my own...