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**loninappleton** · 01-14-2007, 07:12 PM

I hope I can get some help repairing a Dell here.

The story:

The owner got the box, keyboard, mouse and screen free.

The machine was pronounced dead because no hard drive was in it.

The box was given to me to look for problems.

I prepared an old 5G hard drive to do a simple clone job if possible.

I cracked the case and looked it over. The Dell assembly of this unit is really
nice. :-)

I hooked up one of my screens and an old mouse. The non Dell keyboard I used
was giving problems being recognized so I don't know what's up with that.

The GX150 is desktop model and has a flip up case--- really slick.

There is a hard drive in it but it may be dead. Rest of the interior looks clean,
the cd rom drive fires up as does the floppy.

The problem seems to be with the hard drive. The drive is in a special
cage with Dell designed tension clips.

The cable to the motherboard looks like a normal one and on this
micro form factor board there is only one hard drive connection that
I can see.

The drive itself (without having removed it) has 2 jumpers on it.

I've never seen a drive with 2 jumpers on it especially since it is an
'only' in the system.

What kind of problems are involved with a simple drive replacement?
Are there any leads you have on Dell drive replacement for an out
of warranty computer? Are there proprietary things to worry about
as there were with Compaq in the early days (special twisted cables,
weird jumper configs etc.)

The goal is to get the box operational for simple internet use with email
and so forth on a dsl connection. There is an ethernet connection on the
motherboard which I should be able to test.

Since the OS was Win98 (and the case remarked with a WinXP sticker
for some reason) I would not feel too bent out of shape in putting on
Win OS. Is there any proprietary stuff with that?

Checking for motherboard markings.....

It just says Dell on it.

In this regard is it necessary to clear CMOS or anything to reinstall an OS?

What I found is the indicated setup keys of F2 or F12 don't do anything.
I also tried the DEL key to enter setup but the only result is an Invalid Disk, Replace Disk message.

So the BIOS must be set to A: then C: and can't get to a setup CD.

Well that's everything I can think of.

01-14-2007, 07:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
loninappleton TSF Enthusiast Join Date: Apr 2005 Posts: 722 OS: Win2k, XP	Dell GX150 Pentium III extreme makeover I hope I can get some help repairing a Dell here. The story: The owner got the box, keyboard, mouse and screen free. The machine was pronounced dead because no hard drive was in it. The box was given to me to look for problems. I prepared an old 5G hard drive to do a simple clone job if possible. I cracked the case and looked it over. The Dell assembly of this unit is really nice. :-) I hooked up one of my screens and an old mouse. The non Dell keyboard I used was giving problems being recognized so I don't know what's up with that. The GX150 is desktop model and has a flip up case--- really slick. There is a hard drive in it but it may be dead. Rest of the interior looks clean, the cd rom drive fires up as does the floppy. The problem seems to be with the hard drive. The drive is in a special cage with Dell designed tension clips. The cable to the motherboard looks like a normal one and on this micro form factor board there is only one hard drive connection that I can see. The drive itself (without having removed it) has 2 jumpers on it. I've never seen a drive with 2 jumpers on it especially since it is an 'only' in the system. What kind of problems are involved with a simple drive replacement? Are there any leads you have on Dell drive replacement for an out of warranty computer? Are there proprietary things to worry about as there were with Compaq in the early days (special twisted cables, weird jumper configs etc.) The goal is to get the box operational for simple internet use with email and so forth on a dsl connection. There is an ethernet connection on the motherboard which I should be able to test. Since the OS was Win98 (and the case remarked with a WinXP sticker for some reason) I would not feel too bent out of shape in putting on Win OS. Is there any proprietary stuff with that? Checking for motherboard markings..... It just says Dell on it. In this regard is it necessary to clear CMOS or anything to reinstall an OS? What I found is the indicated setup keys of F2 or F12 don't do anything. I also tried the DEL key to enter setup but the only result is an Invalid Disk, Replace Disk message. So the BIOS must be set to A: then C: and can't get to a setup CD. Well that's everything I can think of.