Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot

alison_duryea · 09-21-2009, 07:45 PM

Hello....I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 (2 years old). I had a new hard drive installed 2 months ago and it worked fine until now. When I turn it on the caps light flashes and after a few minutes it turns off....the cmputer will not boot. I had it looked at and the hard drive is fine and the memory tested ok...do you think it is the motherboard?

Madcatz · 09-22-2009, 07:42 AM

how many times does the caps light flash? do you get any video at all on the screen?

something like you described could be alot of things, but it can be narrowed down.

alison_duryea · 09-22-2009, 02:25 PM

thank you for your reply.

the caps light flashes 45 tmes and then turns off. No, there is nothing on the sceen at all.

Madcatz · 09-22-2009, 03:21 PM

ok, is the light on the ac adapter on?

try removing the battery and power it on with only the ac adapter plugged in.

also while the battery is out, unplug the ac adapter, hold the power button for 30 seconds, plug in ac adapter only and power on.

other than the caps lock light, are there any other lights on? power light, anything else other than the caps lock, and what color is the power light?

If the power light is on, then try this...hold down the Fn Button, push the power button, and release both. and note down if the lights do anything different and what they are doing. Like one solid, two blinking, how many blinks?

alison_duryea · 09-22-2009, 04:17 PM

ok...here is what I tried:

1. Battery IN/no ac adapter
power light on (blue)
bluetooth light comes on (blue) but goe right out
only caps light comes on (blue) flashes then powers off

2. Battery IN/ac adapter IN
battery status light lit (blue)
everyhing else as above

3. Battery OUT/ac adapter IN
power light on (blue)
bluetooth lighton briefly (blue)
caps lock light flashes (blue)
powers itself off

4. AC adapter out / hold power button for 30 sec then plug in ac adapter
all three keyboard status light are lit (blue)
the caps lock light flashes and the other light go out
blue tooth light goes on briefly
powers itself off

5. Hold down FN / push power / release both
same as number 4

alison_duryea · 09-22-2009, 04:22 PM

I also noticed that when i tried to ower on...the DVD drive light blinks briefly green) and the drive makd a little noise

Madcatz · 09-23-2009, 06:41 AM

ok, basically all the same thing then, no lights but the power light and caps lock light flashing.

have you had the ac adapter tested? to make sure its putting out the proper voltage? it can be tested with a volt meter and should be a nice steady voltage comming out of it. If that tests ok, then test the voltage comming out of the dc-in jack (if its connected by wires to the motherboard) if both are fine, then its fun time...

next thing is to remove everything possible. take out the hard drive, dvd drive, wireless card, modem card, unhook the touchpad cable and any hotkey button cables, remove the memory, unhook lcd cable. basically leave only the processor, fan, dc-in jack/ac adapter, the caps lock light and power switch hooked up. power it on and see if you get the same thing.

If you still get the same problem, then it really can only be a motherboard or processor problem.

09-21-2009, 07:45 PM	#1 (permalink)
alison_duryea Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista 32 bit	Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot Hello....I have a Dell Inspiron 1521 (2 years old). I had a new hard drive installed 2 months ago and it worked fine until now. When I turn it on the caps light flashes and after a few minutes it turns off....the cmputer will not boot. I had it looked at and the hard drive is fine and the memory tested ok...do you think it is the motherboard? Last edited by alison_duryea; 09-21-2009 at 07:46 PM.

09-22-2009, 07:42 AM	#2 (permalink)
Madcatz Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 1,389 OS: XP/7/Server 2008 My System	Re: Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot how many times does the caps light flash? do you get any video at all on the screen? something like you described could be alot of things, but it can be narrowed down. __________________ memtest86+ \| Hard Drive Diags \| Speed Fan \| Unknown Device Identifier

09-22-2009, 02:25 PM	#3 (permalink)
alison_duryea Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista 32 bit	Re: Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot thank you for your reply. the caps light flashes 45 tmes and then turns off. No, there is nothing on the sceen at all.

09-22-2009, 03:21 PM	#4 (permalink)
Madcatz Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 1,389 OS: XP/7/Server 2008 My System	Re: Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot ok, is the light on the ac adapter on? try removing the battery and power it on with only the ac adapter plugged in. also while the battery is out, unplug the ac adapter, hold the power button for 30 seconds, plug in ac adapter only and power on. other than the caps lock light, are there any other lights on? power light, anything else other than the caps lock, and what color is the power light? If the power light is on, then try this...hold down the Fn Button, push the power button, and release both. and note down if the lights do anything different and what they are doing. Like one solid, two blinking, how many blinks? __________________ memtest86+ \| Hard Drive Diags \| Speed Fan \| Unknown Device Identifier

09-22-2009, 04:17 PM	#5 (permalink)
alison_duryea Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista 32 bit	Re: Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot ok...here is what I tried: 1. Battery IN/no ac adapter power light on (blue) bluetooth light comes on (blue) but goe right out only caps light comes on (blue) flashes then powers off 2. Battery IN/ac adapter IN battery status light lit (blue) everyhing else as above 3. Battery OUT/ac adapter IN power light on (blue) bluetooth lighton briefly (blue) caps lock light flashes (blue) powers itself off 4. AC adapter out / hold power button for 30 sec then plug in ac adapter all three keyboard status light are lit (blue) the caps lock light flashes and the other light go out blue tooth light goes on briefly powers itself off 5. Hold down FN / push power / release both same as number 4

09-22-2009, 04:22 PM	#6 (permalink)
alison_duryea Registered User Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 4 OS: vista 32 bit	Re: Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot I also noticed that when i tried to ower on...the DVD drive light blinks briefly green) and the drive makd a little noise

09-23-2009, 06:41 AM	#7 (permalink)
Madcatz Tech Hardware Team Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Ann Arbor, MI Posts: 1,389 OS: XP/7/Server 2008 My System	Re: Dell Inspiron 1521 caps light flashes will not boot ok, basically all the same thing then, no lights but the power light and caps lock light flashing. have you had the ac adapter tested? to make sure its putting out the proper voltage? it can be tested with a volt meter and should be a nice steady voltage comming out of it. If that tests ok, then test the voltage comming out of the dc-in jack (if its connected by wires to the motherboard) if both are fine, then its fun time... next thing is to remove everything possible. take out the hard drive, dvd drive, wireless card, modem card, unhook the touchpad cable and any hotkey button cables, remove the memory, unhook lcd cable. basically leave only the processor, fan, dc-in jack/ac adapter, the caps lock light and power switch hooked up. power it on and see if you get the same thing. If you still get the same problem, then it really can only be a motherboard or processor problem. __________________ memtest86+ \| Hard Drive Diags \| Speed Fan \| Unknown Device Identifier