Dell Optiplex GX280 shuts down randomly after moving...

[Ant]

Hi all.

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by me
-- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no problems
before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and started using
it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself off(?) [DVI video
signal loss too] without any errors (even checked event logs in Windows
XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing weird). Back of the case
showed yellow B and all other letters green. Manual doesn't have this
one listed so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow -- whatever).
This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30 minutes to
three hours). According to the manual, this means a system/hardware
issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't using the machine
agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling out forms in XP Pro.
SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose
hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then blue
screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case, put it
back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD
connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut off again for its third
time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't
boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I even
tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode ONCE, but
my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold down power
button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a
video issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense
but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a bootable
CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again! Remember,
this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my old datas to
another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine doesn't
boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system board
failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?
--
"Caution is not cowardice; even the ants march armed." --Ugandan Proverb
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Paul]

Hi all.

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by me
-- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no problems
before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and started using
it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself off(?) [DVI video
signal loss too] without any errors (even checked event logs in Windows
XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing weird). Back of the case
showed yellow B and all other letters green. Manual doesn't have this
one listed so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow -- whatever).
This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30 minutes to
three hours). According to the manual, this means a system/hardware
issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't using the machine
agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling out forms in XP Pro.
SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose
hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then blue
screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case, put it
back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD
connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut off again for its third
time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't
boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I even
tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode ONCE, but
my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold down power
button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a
video issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense
but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a bootable
CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again! Remember,
this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my old datas to
another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine doesn't
boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system board
failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?

A yellow LED on "B" and all other LEDs green, isn't shown in the table
of diagnostic LED values here. It isn't likely these LEDs are tied to
actual hardware events, and this is probably just a register that
gets written by software.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx280/en/ug/tools02.htm#wp1114558

One reason for a computer to shut off, is CPU overheat. There won't be any
Event Log entry as such, because if THERMTRIP on the processor is triggered,
shutoff is immediate and not software mediated. So the software doesn't have
time to do much. While the software could attempt to queue something for
write out to disk, as the power is dying, the disk may not be in a position
to finish the write to the Event log.

Check the heatsink assembly and see if it is loose. In a move, if a computer
is bumped, that can be enough to break a plastic fastener. Movers vary in
how careful they are with computers.

Paul

 

[sdlomi2]

Hi all.

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by
me -- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no problems
before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and started using
it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself off(?) [DVI video
signal loss too] without any errors (even checked event logs in Windows XP
Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing weird). Back of the case showed
yellow B and all other letters green. Manual doesn't have this one listed
so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow -- whatever).
This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30 minutes to three
hours). According to the manual, this means a system/hardware issue. I
doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't using the machine agressively
(e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling out forms in XP Pro. SP2's IE6.0
SP2, idled with a light 2D screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found nothing
odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose hardwares,
etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then blue screens
during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case, put it back, etc.
SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD connection, then it
is fine. But my machine shut off again for its third time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't boot
up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I even tried
safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode ONCE, but my USB
keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold down power button for
five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a video
issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense but
whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a bootable CD.
It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again! Remember, this is
a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my old datas to another
HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine doesn't
boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system board
failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?
--
"Caution is not cowardice; even the ants march armed." --Ugandan Proverb
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

In my experience, one of the easiest problems to create when physically
moving a computer is to dislodge slightly the video card, usually due to the
flexing of the case. Not that it comes completely out of slot, but slides
out just enough to cause (sometimes only intermittent) problems. Best to
completely remove card from slot and then re-install snugly.
HOWEVER! Your mention of the following "Checked again in the case, put
it back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD
connection, then it is fine" indicates either a bad connection OR a bad
connector. That may be on hd or on mobo; and gut-feel, I'd suspect hd
connector. Also, it could be you were working with a flakey cable and it was
shuffled around to NOT show and then to DOES show sata hd. *Your hd
refusing to cooperate in a different computer should not be surprising
UNLESS it was just hung on as a slave to new computer's hd merely to copy
data files!* HTH, s

 

[Ant]

Hi all.

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by
me -- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no
problems before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and
started using it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself
off(?) [DVI video signal loss too] without any errors (even checked
event logs in Windows XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing
weird). Back of the case showed yellow B and all other letters green.
Manual doesn't have this one listed so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow --
whatever). This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30
minutes to three hours). According to the manual, this means a
system/hardware issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't
using the machine agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling
out forms in XP Pro. SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D screen
saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose
hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then
blue screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case,
put it back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the
HDD connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut off again for its
third time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't
boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I
even tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode
ONCE, but my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold
down power button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a
video issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense
but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a
bootable CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again!
Remember, this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my
old datas to another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine
doesn't boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system
board failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter
lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?

A yellow LED on "B" and all other LEDs green, isn't shown in the table
of diagnostic LED values here. It isn't likely these LEDs are tied to
actual hardware events, and this is probably just a register that
gets written by software.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx280/en/ug/tools02.htm#wp1114558

OK, I e-mailed Dell about this light pattern. I wonder why I have an
blinking yellow/amber/orange (geez, get the color right, Dell!) light
now. Manual say, "A power supply or system board failure has occurred."
Is that still maybe a CPU? I will check later when I go to office.

One reason for a computer to shut off, is CPU overheat. There won't be any
Event Log entry as such, because if THERMTRIP on the processor is
triggered,
shutoff is immediate and not software mediated. So the software doesn't
have
time to do much. While the software could attempt to queue something for
write out to disk, as the power is dying, the disk may not be in a position
to finish the write to the Event log.

Check the heatsink assembly and see if it is loose. In a move, if a
computer
is bumped, that can be enough to break a plastic fastener. Movers vary in
how careful they are with computers.

Ah good idea. I will check.
--
"For me, the smartest animal's a pigeon." "Huh?" "1,000 cars on the
turnpike, they find mine." "My vote goes to the ants." "How do you
figure that?" "Know those farms they build? They build those things
without plans. To ants! For all you do, this one's for you." --Cheers
(unknown episode)
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Ant]

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by
me -- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no problems
before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and started using
it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself off(?) [DVI video
signal loss too] without any errors (even checked event logs in Windows XP
Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing weird). Back of the case showed
yellow B and all other letters green. Manual doesn't have this one listed
so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow -- whatever).
This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30 minutes to three
hours). According to the manual, this means a system/hardware issue. I
doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't using the machine agressively
(e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling out forms in XP Pro. SP2's IE6.0
SP2, idled with a light 2D screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found nothing
odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose hardwares,
etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then blue screens
during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case, put it back, etc.
SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD connection, then it
is fine. But my machine shut off again for its third time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't boot
up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I even tried
safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode ONCE, but my USB
keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold down power button for
five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a video
issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense but
whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a bootable CD.
It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again! Remember, this is
a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my old datas to another
HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine doesn't
boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system board
failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?

In my experience, one of the easiest problems to create when physically
moving a computer is to dislodge slightly the video card, usually due to the
flexing of the case. Not that it comes completely out of slot, but slides
out just enough to cause (sometimes only intermittent) problems. Best to
completely remove card from slot and then re-install snugly.

I will check again. We didn't pull anything out. We just looked and
wiggled the stuff to see if anything were lose.

HOWEVER! Your mention of the following "Checked again in the case, put
it back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD
connection, then it is fine" indicates either a bad connection OR a bad
connector. That may be on hd or on mobo; and gut-feel, I'd suspect hd
connector. Also, it could be you were working with a flakey cable and it was
shuffled around to NOT show and then to DOES show sata hd. *Your hd
refusing to cooperate in a different computer should not be surprising
UNLESS it was just hung on as a slave to new computer's hd merely to copy
data files!*

Well in the other machine, we tried both primary and secondary. Still
odd that Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) crashes from a bootable CD and my
video signal goes lost. Booting Windows XP's safe mode does the same
(video signal lost) on two LCD monitors (DVI).
--
"Ants are so much like human beings as to be an embarrassment. They farm
fungi, raise aphids as livestock, launch armies into wars, use chemical
sprays to alarm and confuse enemies, capture slaves. The families of
weaver ants engage in child labor, holding their larvae like shuttles to
spin out the thread that sews the leaves together for their fungus
gardens. They exchange information ceaselessly. They do everything but
watch television." --Lewis Thomas
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Ant]

Hi all.

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by
me -- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no
problems before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and
started using it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself
off(?) [DVI video signal loss too] without any errors (even checked
event logs in Windows XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing
weird). Back of the case showed yellow B and all other letters green.
Manual doesn't have this one listed so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow --
whatever). This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30
minutes to three hours). According to the manual, this means a
system/hardware issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't
using the machine agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling
out forms in XP Pro. SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D screen
saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose
hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then
blue screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case,
put it back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the
HDD connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut off again for
its third time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the
same exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2
wouldn't boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss
again! I even tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe
mode ONCE, but my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to
hold down power button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a
video issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense
but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a
bootable CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again!
Remember, this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my
old datas to another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine
doesn't boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is
system board failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no
letter lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?

A yellow LED on "B" and all other LEDs green, isn't shown in the table
of diagnostic LED values here. It isn't likely these LEDs are tied to
actual hardware events, and this is probably just a register that
gets written by software.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx280/en/ug/tools02.htm#wp1114558

OK, I e-mailed Dell about this light pattern. I wonder why I have an
blinking yellow/amber/orange (geez, get the color right, Dell!) light
now. Manual say, "A power supply or system board failure has occurred."
Is that still maybe a CPU? I will check later when I go to office.

Dang, (e-mail address removed) didn't work:

" (e-mail address removed)
SMTP error from remote mailer after RCPT TO:<[email protected]>:
host smtp.ins.dell.com [143.166.224.193]: 550 #5.1.0 Address rejected."


Grr.
--
"When the ant grows wings it is about to die." --Arabic
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[sdlomi2]

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by
me -- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no problems
before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and started using
it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself off(?) [DVI video
signal loss too] without any errors (even checked event logs in Windows
XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing weird). Back of the case
showed yellow B and all other letters green. Manual doesn't have this
one listed so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow -- whatever).
This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30 minutes to
three hours). According to the manual, this means a system/hardware
issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't using the machine
agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling out forms in XP Pro.
SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose
hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then blue
screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case, put it
back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD
connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut off again for its third
time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't
boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I even
tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode ONCE, but
my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold down power
button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a
video issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense
but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a bootable
CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again! Remember,
this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my old datas to
another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine doesn't
boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system board
failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter lighted
up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?

In my experience, one of the easiest problems to create when
physically moving a computer is to dislodge slightly the video card,
usually due to the flexing of the case. Not that it comes completely out
of slot, but slides out just enough to cause (sometimes only
intermittent) problems. Best to completely remove card from slot and
then re-install snugly.

I will check again. We didn't pull anything out. We just looked and
wiggled the stuff to see if anything were lose.

snip<<

...and apparently you lucked out & wiggled something that was loose.
(BTW: are you using like an ide-to-sata adapter to connect hd to mobo??? )
Possibly just as Paul suggested: to do with cpu-heatsink/cooler. Also
possibly other wiggle-susceptible stuff. If all else fails--or maybe you'd
prefer to do it first--unplug each cable and re-attach, unseat and reseat
each card, remove and replace each ram stick, remove and clean and re-paste
cpu-and-heatsink/fan, etc. May solve the problem & you never know which did
it. Good luck and pls. let us know what you did, whether you id'd it or
'shotgunned' it, that got it going. I get curious. s

 

[Ant]

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by
me -- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no problems
before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and started using
it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself off(?) [DVI video
signal loss too] without any errors (even checked event logs in Windows
XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing weird). Back of the case
showed yellow B and all other letters green. Manual doesn't have this
one listed so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow -- whatever).
This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30 minutes to
three hours). According to the manual, this means a system/hardware
issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't using the machine
agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling out forms in XP Pro.
SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose
hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then blue
screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case, put it
back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD
connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut off again for its third
time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't
boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I even
tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode ONCE, but
my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold down power
button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a
video issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense
but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a bootable
CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again! Remember,
this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my old datas to
another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine doesn't
boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system board
failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter lighted
up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?
In my experience, one of the easiest problems to create when
physically moving a computer is to dislodge slightly the video card,
usually due to the flexing of the case. Not that it comes completely out
of slot, but slides out just enough to cause (sometimes only
intermittent) problems. Best to completely remove card from slot and
then re-install snugly.

I will check again. We didn't pull anything out. We just looked and
wiggled the stuff to see if anything were lose.

snip<<

...and apparently you lucked out & wiggled something that was loose.
(BTW: are you using like an ide-to-sata adapter to connect hd to mobo??? )

You know. I think it was directly to motherboard. I will have to look again.

Possibly just as Paul suggested: to do with cpu-heatsink/cooler. Also
possibly other wiggle-susceptible stuff. If all else fails--or maybe you'd
prefer to do it first--unplug each cable and re-attach, unseat and reseat
each card, remove and replace each ram stick, remove and clean and re-paste
cpu-and-heatsink/fan, etc. May solve the problem & you never know which did
it. Good luck and pls. let us know what you did, whether you id'd it or
'shotgunned' it, that got it going. I get curious. s

Yeah, I am going to pull everything out and reinsert.
--
"Ah. Those club kids did eat those ants up like popcorn." --CSI: Miami
(Wannabe episode; #218)
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[sdlomi2]

SNIP<<

Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

Maybe if Ant would merely adjust his antennae.........
sdlomi2

 

[Guest]

Call Dell and see if your Dell is part of a motherboard recall, read more by
Google Recall GX280, for example:

http://www.news.com/Bulging-capacitors-haunt-Dell/2100-1003_3-5924742.html

Hi all.

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not by me
-- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no problems
before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and started using
it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself off(?) [DVI video
signal loss too] without any errors (even checked event logs in Windows
XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing weird). Back of the case
showed yellow B and all other letters green. Manual doesn't have this
one listed so I don't know what it means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because I
noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow -- whatever).
This happened like three times and randomly (can be 15/30 minutes to
three hours). According to the manual, this means a system/hardware
issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I wasn't using the machine
agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003, filling out forms in XP Pro.
SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose loose
hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the sytem, then blue
screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again in the case, put it
back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again, especially the HDD
connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut off again for its third
time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the same
exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2 wouldn't
boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss again! I even
tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in safe mode ONCE, but
my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I had to hold down power
button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another LCD
monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it is a
video issue (note different computer with another video card in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no sense
but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from a bootable
CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss again! Remember,
this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted to copy my old datas to
another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine doesn't
boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is system board
failure or something in the manual. Back lights show no letter lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?
--
"Caution is not cowardice; even the ants march armed." --Ugandan Proverb
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.

 

[Ant]

Resolved. It was a dying PSU. Yesterday, the Dell "dude" came to swap
the PSU and everything seems to be working. No random shutdowns so far!

I have a Dell Optiplex GX280 machine that was moved last week, not
by me -- movers, to another building. It was working just fine (no
problems before the move). Today, I rehooked it up, powered on, and
started using it and left it idled. The system was shutting itself
off(?) [DVI video signal loss too] without any errors (even checked
event logs in Windows XP Pro. SP2 (all updates) and CMOS (nothing
weird). Back of the case showed yellow B and all other letters
green. Manual doesn't have this one listed so I don't know what it
means.

At first, I thought it was the APC UPS and power management because
I noticed my front case light is orange (manual says yellow --
whatever). This happened like three times and randomly (can be
15/30 minutes to three hours). According to the manual, this means
a system/hardware issue. I doubt it is a heat issue because I
wasn't using the machine agressively (e.g., typing in Outlook 2003,
filling out forms in XP Pro. SP2's IE6.0 SP2, idled with a light 2D
screen saver).

A coworker and I tried looking inside the computer case, and found
nothing odd. No weird burning odor, no blown capticators, nose
loose hardwares, etc. that we could see. Then, turning on the
sytem, then blue screens during Windows XP's boot up. Checked again
in the case, put it back, etc. SATA HDD not found. Checked again,
especially the HDD connection, then it is fine. But my machine shut
off again for its third time!

Then, coworker and I decided to try another Dell machine (not the
same exact model -- GX270). For some reason, Windows XP Pro. SP2
wouldn't boot up (saw BIOS and CMOS) and showed a video signal loss
again! I even tried safe mode, and same thing. I actually got in
safe mode ONCE, but my USB keyboard and mouse didn't respond and I
had to hold down power button for five seconds to shutdown manually.

I was wondering if my monitor and cable were bad. I tried another
LCD monitor with another DVI cable, and same thing. So, I doubt it
is a video issue (note different computer with another video card
in it).

For kicks, I thought maybe the HDD was going bad, which made no
sense but whatever. I couldn't run Ghost 2003 (DOS; ghost.exe) from
a bootable CD. It kept crashing(?) and showing video signal loss
again! Remember, this is a GX270 machine not GX280. I just wanted
to copy my old datas to another HDD.

So, I put my HDD back into the GX280 machine and now my machine
doesn't boot up anymore. I get a blinking orange light which is
system board failure or something in the manual. Back lights show
no letter lighted up.

Any ideas on what the problem is and what to try tomorrow?
In my experience, one of the easiest problems to create when
physically moving a computer is to dislodge slightly the video card,
usually due to the flexing of the case. Not that it comes
completely out of slot, but slides out just enough to cause
(sometimes only intermittent) problems. Best to completely remove
card from slot and then re-install snugly.

--
"The ants are back Ted!" --Dougal from Father Ted TV show.
/\___/\
/ /\ /\ \ Phil/Ant @ http://antfarm.home.dhs.org (Personal Web Site)
| |o o| | Ant's Quality Foraged Links (AQFL): http://aqfl.net
\ _ / Remove ANT from e-mail address: (e-mail address removed)
( ) or (e-mail address removed)
Ant is currently not listening to any songs on his home computer.