Power problems on Dell thing

[Zilog Jones]

My friend's Dell (yes, I know) Dimension 4300 (P4 1.6GHz) has been acting a
bit strange recently. When it boots it keeps saying the battery voltage is
low (despite having even replaced the battery), and it has to search for the
drives each time it's switched on now (along with the clock being reset).
Sometimes it takes several seconds to actually switch on after pressing the
power button too (the power light doesn't even go on until then). Strange...

The annoying thing about it is that I can't find any voltage (or
temperature) readings from the motherboard, not on the BIOS or Sandra or
anything else, so I dunno what they're like. It also has a proprietry PSU
which probably ain't cheap, and what *appears* to be a proprietry
motherboard as well - it's got these weird clips instead of screws and has
'Dell' printed on it - and God knows what m/b it is! I think it's got some
sort of Intel chipset - that's about all I know about it.

I was thinking it's a PSU problem - would this be right? Any way of finding
out what's going wrong?

This, along with many other incidents has definately convinced me never to
buy a Dell, even if they are built locally (mostly by immigrants and
scumbags anyway) and all that crap.

 

[Alceryes]

bit strange recently. When it boots it keeps saying the battery voltage is

low (despite having even replaced the battery),

You replaced the CMOS battery already (looks like a watch battery)? Are you
sure the battery you put in was good? If so make sure you put it in right
side up and make sure that you didn't bend the contacts out of place.
--


"I don't cheat to survive. I cheat to LIVE!!"
- Alceryes

(check out my modded/OC'd system at http://mywebpages.comcast.net/alceryes)

 

[w_tom]

All laptops use proprietary designs - including motherboard
and power supplies. Furthermore most laptops from Gateway,
Dell, IBM, etc are built by same company in Taiwan.
Individual specs from each company defines how each separate
assembly line in same plant creates a different laptop
product. Your gripes are inconsistent with knowledge of the
computer industry and with why laptops use proprietary parts.

 

[Vanguard]

All laptops use proprietary designs - including motherboard
and power supplies. Furthermore most laptops from Gateway,
Dell, IBM, etc are built by same company in Taiwan.
Individual specs from each company defines how each separate
assembly line in same plant creates a different laptop
product. Your gripes are inconsistent with knowledge of the
computer industry and with why laptops use proprietary parts.

I haven't familiarized myself with the Dell line (most customers want a
stable platform with the same exact hardware in them and you never know
what you'll get inside a Dell, even within the same model). If this is
a laptop model, might not the low battery warning be something other
than the CMOS battery? Like the batteries used to actually power the
laptop? How old are the laptop batteries? Maybe they aren't taking a
charge anymore. I could recommend using the AC adapter to see if the
low-battery error still appears, but then some power supplies are built
to use the batteries as capacitors and so if the batteries are bad then
so, too, would be the power from the AC adapter using through those
batteries.

 

[Zilog Jones]

I haven't familiarized myself with the Dell line (most customers want a
stable platform with the same exact hardware in them and you never know
what you'll get inside a Dell, even within the same model). If this is
a laptop model, might not the low battery warning be something other
than the CMOS battery? Like the batteries used to actually power the
laptop? How old are the laptop batteries? Maybe they aren't taking a
charge anymore. I could recommend using the AC adapter to see if the
low-battery error still appears, but then some power supplies are built
to use the batteries as capacitors and so if the batteries are bad then
so, too, would be the power from the AC adapter using through those
batteries.

It's NOT a LAPTOP, so it MUST be the CMOS battery! Dell laptops are
"Inspiration"s or some crap like that. The PC was bought 2 years ago - not
the type of lifetime I expect from one of those batteries (I think it was a
Sony or Maxell one - nothing cheap), and the exact same thing happened with
a brand new battery.

 

[Zilog Jones]

All laptops use proprietary designs - including motherboard
and power supplies. Furthermore most laptops from Gateway,
Dell, IBM, etc are built by same company in Taiwan.
Individual specs from each company defines how each separate
assembly line in same plant creates a different laptop
product. Your gripes are inconsistent with knowledge of the
computer industry and with why laptops use proprietary parts.

Eh? Dell Dimensions are not laptops! And they are certainly not made in
Taiwan, as they are built in Raheen, Co. Limerick, Ireland! I wasn't talking
about THAT kind of battery!

 

[Vanguard °°°]

It's NOT a LAPTOP, so it MUST be the CMOS battery! Dell laptops are
"Inspiration"s or some crap like that. The PC was bought 2 years ago - not
the type of lifetime I expect from one of those batteries (I think it was a
Sony or Maxell one - nothing cheap), and the exact same thing happened with
a brand new battery.

It's a lithium wafer battery. These have a shelf life of 5 years.
Between when the battery was manufactured, sat in inventory, got shipped
to Dell (actually to whomever fabs their machines), sat in their
inventory, eventually got used in making a computer, sat in inventory,
shipped to whomever you bought it from (even if a Dell outlet), sat in
inventory, until you ordered it, and been in use for 2 years, or more,
it easily could be the 5-year lifespan of the lithium wafer battery has
expired or is too weak to keep a decent charge.

 

[Pen]

The Dell 4300 does NOT use a proprietary power
supply. It uses a standard ATX12V supply.
http://docs.us.dell.com/docs/systems/dim4300/techov.htm#1101668