pc wont turn on? power supply or other hardware failure?

Idbatterim

hey lads, came into work today, think I left the pc running last night. Get in to find it dead. Wont turn on. Its a dell. the power supply has a green light illuminating at the back, when the power cord goes into it. does that mean that its ok? could it be be hard drive or motherboard?

The Diddakoi

What have you tried so far ?

I gather you have done the obvious...disconnected power supply, plugged back in press power button etc. ?

Have you checked if the motherboard light is on ?

degsie

Could have overheated and shut down. Take covers off and have a look around, blow out dust, check cables etc and have another try to turn it on.

Idbatterim

yeah exactly. I did what you said below...

What have you tried so far ?

I gather you have done the obvious...disconnected power supply, plugged back in press power button etc. ?

where is the motherboard light typically? I just took a quick look and couldnt see any. The power button you press has a light that normally comes on when the pc is working, I just checked and the power from that appears to be drawn from motherboard...

degsie

You have an IT person you could ask to have a look?

Esel

Is the PC connected to modem/router via Ethernet cable? If so, that could be the light you see.

Have you tried a different power lead? Is it possible that the mains circuit breaker/fuse may have tripped?

Idbatterim

You have an IT person you could ask to have a look?

tiny office, Im it if I cant get it sorted myself quickly, will just bring it to local pc repair up the road tomorrow!

Have you tried a different power lead? Is it possible that the mains circuit breaker/fuse may have tripped?

yeah tried a different lead. thaks for fuse suggestion, but monitor etc working...

Esel

Check the connections into and out of the PSU.

cfuserkildare

What model of Dell?
Optiplex 790 by any chance?

Gazzmonkey

A few Dell Precisions we have in the office sometimes fail to power on if there is a USB device connected .... weird

ressem

Green light on the power supply probably means that the power supply is receiving power.

If the case was open, and the motherboard was working and connected to power; then there usually be one or more LEDs on the circuit board that would remain lit.

So.
1)
Try holding down the power Button for 5-6 seconds and see if any lights on the front of the desktop change.

2)
Removing the mains plug connection for 10 minutes from the PSU, removing all external devices. Plug in again, retrying the power on button.

If it was hard drive or memory, then you'd usually get a series of audible beeps from a motherboard speaker.

Idbatterim

ok guys, i took a power supply out of old pc, hooked it up, its the power suppy! now the socket isnt as long on the older one, but the lights started coming on, on the power button and motherboard, so it appears its the power supply. Will just have to buy the correct one. Thanks for all the help

mordeith

Idbatterim wrote: »

ok guys, i took a power supply out of old pc, hooked it up, its the power suppy! now the socket isnt as long on the older one, but the lights started coming on, on the power button and motherboard, so it appears its the power supply. Will just have to buy the correct one. Thanks for all the help

Is the lead from the PSU to the mobo the one that's too short? If so I'm sure you can get extensions (if you are not using the old PC that is)

cfuserkildare

Hi,
Some of the Dell Optiplexes were released with a known issue regarding power supply failures.
Should not have gone into production when a 60% failure rate was known!!