Re: Dimension XPS D266 Front panel power switch has no effect.

NeoPhyte_Rep wrote:
On Jul 5, 9:52 am, Cmplx80 <Cmpl...@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
NeoPhyte_Rep wrote:
On Jun 29, 10:41 am, "William R. Walsh" <wm_wa...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hi!
Is the CR2032 the silver disk towards the back of the
motherboard?
Most likely yes. It should be in a kind of rounded holder, and will
have printing on it to identify both the maker and the battery type.
You may need a flashlight to see it clearly.
What does it have to do with power up?
There is a very small portion of the motherboard that is powered up at
all times. This circuit is typically part of a component known as the
LPCIO. The battery usually keeps the time and date running while the
computer is shut down (and in later models, only when the computer is
unplugged).
However, the LPCIO may also control power on. If it's not getting any
power from the battery, it may not be able to deliver the startup
command to get the system running.
The battery is about $3, so it's well worth giving it a try.
William
Well, the battery was only $1.99 for four at Big Lots!, but it wasn't
the solution. I sure wish I could understand what could fail while a
cpu is sitting unplugged. I moved it a couple of times to arrange the
furniture, but didn't plug it in until I wanted to try restoring the
boot record on the original drive. I was so hoping to make this my
first Linux installation.
I guess I'll have to get another machine, because I'm really not into
getting all the test equipment I might need to find the failure. Just
in case, though, does anyone know of a group, website(s), book(s) or
magazine(s) that show how to set up a bench for hardware trouble
shooting.
I'm not familiar with this (PC) case, but frequently, the "real" power
switch is mounted behind the front panel and is actuated by a lever on
the power button. Sometimes the lever bends or breaks off. Have you
tried removing the front panel and pressing this switch?

Frank

As previously noted by Ben Myers, the XPS D266 has a "teeny-tiny
circuit board with on-off momentary switch" behind the front panel.
I've had the front panel off and tried that switch directly and
nothing happened. I would think something like that would not fail
from lying idle.

To eliminate the switch, the small pc board, mb traces, wiring, etc., as a possible problem, you could do the following simple test:

On the 20-pin Power Supply connector, momentarily short pins 11 & 12 together with a piece of jumper wire. You should be able to do this from the back of the connector (wire side). You can view these pin positions on page 1-10 of the manual, available at the following link:

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dalex/Docs.htm

If the system starts, then it's something in the switch circuit. If not, then it's most likely a faulty power supply.

Frank
.

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