Bizarre hardware problem- Dell Dimension 8200

[James N.]

Hi Guys,

I seem to be having a bizarre hardware problem with one of my Dell Dimension
8200 systems. First let me say that I have been working on computers for
years, I do it for a living, and have personally never seen a problem
exactly like this before.

The system was working fine yesterday until I decided to do a system
restart. I went through the normal process, the machine shutdown then
brought up the Dell splash screen, but instead of re-starting windows XP all
I got was a blinking cursor in the very top left hand corner of the screen.
I did a hard reset on the machine but that didn't do anything to resolve the
problem.

My first thought was that I either have a bad hard drive or a bad hard drive
controller on the motherboard. This is where the problem gets complicated.

I went ahead and removed the hard drive and installed it in my other
Dimension 8200 system. The drive works fine. It boots up properly without
any issues and I'm able to get to the windows log in screen. The drive
passes all manufacture diagnostics. (Seagate)

Since the drive works fine in another system, I figured I must have a bad
hard drive controller/motherboard. I got out a spare drive that I hard
laying around and installed it in the malfunctioning system. Guess what, the
system boots up just fine with my spare drive.

At this point, I've placed the original drive back in the malfunctioning
computer and am still getting the blinking cursor. I can hear the drive
spinning, so I know it's getting power. Another interesting note, I have run
the Dell Diagnostics CD and the hard drive test passes without any errors.
One thing that is strange is that the hard drive makes an unusual
buzzing/clicking noise when it's not being accessed, but when the tests are
running it sounds normal. I don't get any of these unusual noises when the
drive is connected in my other system.

I'm not exactly sure what the problem is, however I believe it is somehow
related with the motherboard or integrated hard drive controller.

Here are some of the things I've tried:
1. Tried new IDE cable.
2. Used external power source for HDD
3. Disconnected CD-ROM drives and used secondary IDE connector
4. Swapped video card just to rule it out
5. Removed all un-necessary PCI cards
6. Replaced bios battery and restored bios to defaults/verified all settings
7. Reseated RAM modules

Any hints would be appreciated at this point. Right now I'm at a loss and
don't know of anything else I can do except to start replacing parts,
starting with the motherboard.

James

 

[Jim]

I suggest the following just to make sure everything is kosher on that HD,
before ripping everything apart.

1) Visit http://www.bootitng.com and download BootIt NG. Unzip the file and
execute BOOTITNG.EXE to create the bootable floppy/CD (accept the defaults).
Now reboot to the floppy/CD.

2) When the Welcome to Setup screen appears, select Cancel, follow the
prompts, and you will be taken to the BootIt NG desktop, where you can
select the Partition Manager.

3) Your HD will be displayed by default (HD0). Hit View MBR, and in the
dialog you will notice four entries in the MBR (Master Boot Record). Each
entry w/ a non-zero address represents one of your partitions. Make sure
the bootable partition (usually the first MBR entry) is marked Active. If
no, hit "Set Active", and the partition will indicate Active status. Now
hit "Std MBR", this will (re)initialize the boot loader in the MBR.
Finally, hit Apply to save the changes.

4) Hit Close, remove the BootIt NG floppy/CD, and hit Reboot.

Jim

 

[Ed Medlin]

Hi Guys,

I seem to be having a bizarre hardware problem with one of my Dell
Dimension
8200 systems. First let me say that I have been working on computers for
years, I do it for a living, and have personally never seen a problem
exactly like this before.

The system was working fine yesterday until I decided to do a system
restart. I went through the normal process, the machine shutdown then
brought up the Dell splash screen, but instead of re-starting windows XP
all
I got was a blinking cursor in the very top left hand corner of the
screen.
I did a hard reset on the machine but that didn't do anything to resolve
the
problem.

My first thought was that I either have a bad hard drive or a bad hard
drive
controller on the motherboard. This is where the problem gets complicated.

I went ahead and removed the hard drive and installed it in my other
Dimension 8200 system. The drive works fine. It boots up properly without
any issues and I'm able to get to the windows log in screen. The drive
passes all manufacture diagnostics. (Seagate)

Since the drive works fine in another system, I figured I must have a bad
hard drive controller/motherboard. I got out a spare drive that I hard
laying around and installed it in the malfunctioning system. Guess what,
the
system boots up just fine with my spare drive.

At this point, I've placed the original drive back in the malfunctioning
computer and am still getting the blinking cursor. I can hear the drive
spinning, so I know it's getting power. Another interesting note, I have
run
the Dell Diagnostics CD and the hard drive test passes without any errors.
One thing that is strange is that the hard drive makes an unusual
buzzing/clicking noise when it's not being accessed, but when the tests
are
running it sounds normal. I don't get any of these unusual noises when the
drive is connected in my other system.

I'm not exactly sure what the problem is, however I believe it is somehow
related with the motherboard or integrated hard drive controller.

Here are some of the things I've tried:
1. Tried new IDE cable.
2. Used external power source for HDD
3. Disconnected CD-ROM drives and used secondary IDE connector
4. Swapped video card just to rule it out
5. Removed all un-necessary PCI cards
6. Replaced bios battery and restored bios to defaults/verified all
settings
7. Reseated RAM modules

Any hints would be appreciated at this point. Right now I'm at a loss and
don't know of anything else I can do except to start replacing parts,
starting with the motherboard.

James

You haven't, by chance, changed the boot order in the bios have you?

Ed

 

[Ken]

Hi Guys,

I seem to be having a bizarre hardware problem with one of my Dell Dimension
8200 systems. First let me say that I have been working on computers for
years, I do it for a living, and have personally never seen a problem
exactly like this before.

The system was working fine yesterday until I decided to do a system
restart. I went through the normal process, the machine shutdown then
brought up the Dell splash screen, but instead of re-starting windows XP all
I got was a blinking cursor in the very top left hand corner of the screen.
I did a hard reset on the machine but that didn't do anything to resolve the
problem.

My first thought was that I either have a bad hard drive or a bad hard drive
controller on the motherboard. This is where the problem gets complicated.

I went ahead and removed the hard drive and installed it in my other
Dimension 8200 system. The drive works fine. It boots up properly without
any issues and I'm able to get to the windows log in screen. The drive
passes all manufacture diagnostics. (Seagate)

Since the drive works fine in another system, I figured I must have a bad
hard drive controller/motherboard. I got out a spare drive that I hard
laying around and installed it in the malfunctioning system. Guess what, the
system boots up just fine with my spare drive.

I am assuming that this HD does not have XP on it, because you used the
words "Laying around." If this is the case, run a test on your RAM.
The OS on the HD you substituted may not be utilizing as much RAM as XP
would, and you might not have reached the bad location.

 

[JAD]

i think its memory or PSU related

 

[Joe]

Bios update?

 

[James N.]

Thanks for all of the excellent responses, everyone. I have reviewed/tried
all of the suggestions made here and have come to the conclusion that the
motherboard has got to be the faulty component. I have purchased a
replacement motherboard and it is on the way; I should have it sometime next
week. I'll be sure to post back here with the results once I get the problem
resolved.

Thanks again for the help.

James
(e-mail address removed)

 

[James N.]

Just wanted to give everyone an update. I replaced the motherboard in my
Dimension 8200 and it resolved the strange start-up/hard drive issue I was
having with it. The machine is working great with the new motherboard.
Thanks for all of the help.

James

 

[Jim]

Just wanted to give everyone an update. I replaced the motherboard in my
Dimension 8200 and it resolved the strange start-up/hard drive issue I was
having with it. The machine is working great with the new motherboard.
Thanks for all of the help.

James

With a Dell supplied replacement or something else?