Trying to Start Up a potential good machine.

F

foolygoofy26

New Member
I got a Dell Dimesion 4600 as a gift away from a company a week ago. I try to get it to run but it doesn't turn on. I open it up and saw that a green light on the moderboard is on, but when I push the power button, nothing happens. I researched online and learned that the power supply box usually gets bad, so I replace that part, but still, it doesn't start up the machine.

After a two day break I open it up and again and noticed that the rams are not the right kind. The machines uses DIMM, the 2700 DDR and it had some DDR, but not the right ones. The machine has 4 slots that go like this. Two next to each other, a little space and then two more next to each other. I heard that this type of RAM works in pairs.

Before I go for the 80.00 USD purchace of that kind of RAMs I wonder, is it normal for the machine to at least try to run even if no RAMs chip are present or even if the wrong type of RAM is install?

Any tips or advices that you can give me.

Thanks.
 
Hi!

Yes DDR RAM works in pairs. They will also work singularly, though in Single Channel as opposed to Dual Channel. For Dual Channel use the DIMM slot closest to the CPU, then skip the adjacent one and use the next slot.

How comfortable are you with electronics and dismantling electronic components. It sounds as though the PC is used. You could use this as a project and completely break-down the PC, then re-assemble it.

See if you can borrow a Power Supply. There may be enough power to light the MoBo LED, but not enough to power the system (bad PSU).

Yes. As StrangleHold stated, does your PC POST - Power On Self Test (Single beep)?

You will have to use Scientific Theory and the process of elimination.
This requires time, patience, some know-how, and lots of reading.

Post your log of what you are doing and we will try to help.

Good Luck!
 
foolygoofy26 said:
I got a Dell Dimesion 4600 as a gift away from a company a week ago. I try to get it to run but it doesn't turn on. I open it up and saw that a green light on the moderboard is on, but when I push the power button, nothing happens. I researched online and learned that the power supply box usually gets bad, so I replace that part, but still, it doesn't start up the machine.

After a two day break I open it up and again and noticed that the rams are not the right kind. The machines uses DIMM, the 2700 DDR and it had some DDR, but not the right ones. The machine has 4 slots that go like this. Two next to each other, a little space and then two more next to each other. I heard that this type of RAM works in pairs.

Before I go for the 80.00 USD purchace of that kind of RAMs I wonder, is it normal for the machine to at least try to run even if no RAMs chip are present or even if the wrong type of RAM is install?

Any tips or advices that you can give me.

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Syrillian said:
Hi!

Yes DDR RAM works in pairs. They will also work singularly, though in Single Channel as opposed to Dual Channel. For Dual Channel use the DIMM slot closest to the CPU, then skip the adjacent one and use the next slot.

How comfortable are you with electronics and dismantling electronic components. It sounds as though the PC is used. You could use this as a project and completely break-down the PC, then re-assemble it.

See if you can borrow a Power Supply. There may be enough power to light the MoBo LED, but not enough to power the system (bad PSU).

Yes. As StrangleHold stated, does your PC POST - Power On Self Test (Single beep)?

You will have to use Scientific Theory and the process of elimination.
This requires time, patience, some know-how, and lots of reading.

Post your log of what you are doing and we will try to help.

Good Luck!
Click to expand...
He already said he replaced the psu.
 
Updates

I'm not an expert, but I have build several machines for friends and companies and they never had a problem, so I feel confortable taking parts in and out of a PC. I put it all out on a table and then put it all back up making sure that everything was well connected...no results.

The PSU:
I had a P4 machine sitting around which I used to take parts out and the PSU was good so I put it to the Dell. Still, I got the same results...I push power and nothing happens. I did noticed that a green light is on in the motherboard...same thing that happened with the previous PSU.

The RAMs:
The RAMs that came with the machine after typing some of the serials,models on google and doing the math on the chips in the RAMs one is a PC2700 DDR of 128MB and the other is a PC2700 DDR of 256MB . I have placed now in like it came originally...256MB in slot one, slot 2 empty, slot 3 the 128 and slot 4 empty.

Another Posibility?
When you connect it to the power and turn the switch on the back and the light comes on the motherboard, I press power and there is no sound of something starting or a fan running, if connected to a monitor there is nothing that comes on either. I hold it down for a while and still nothing. Could it be that the power button broke? If so any ideas how to by pass it.

Tomorrow I'll get some pictures of the RAMs and of the motherboard and post them, maybe you all can see something that I don't and can have a better understanding.

Thanks everyone for your time.
 
Make sure the 4 pin power connector is pluged in, look and make sure the power button on the case is pluged onto the board!
 
Narrowing down to the Motherboard

Well, just about to give up...I spent to much time on this machine and I think that the best thing will be to get the parts and put up a new machine using the case.

My last research was to unplug the HDD, CD, DVD and floppy drives, disconnect the power button from the Dell Motherboard connector and bring a non Dell P4 motherboard with the old PSU that it had before I changed to an ATX PSU and connect the power to the another non Dell P4 motherboard and press power on the case and everything came to live. Then I connected everything back to the Dell motherboard and end up in the same old dead system.
 
Problem Fix!!!

Well I finally got it to run...I had taken it down before part by part, but when it came to the procesor since the shield was there and the fan cover were connected I never when deep to the point of seeing the processor, I always assumed it was there. After I had it all out I saw that there was no processor. I put a spare I had laying around and now the machine turns on, but there still problems...I'll post them in a new thread.

Thanks everybody for your help.

The new post can be found at:
http://www.computerforum.com/56687-freeze-up-since-power.html#post421455
 
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