Inspiron 8100 will not post

blackpsypher · 10-10-2005, 08:40 PM

Greetings all.

I have a Dell Inspiron 8100 that will not post.

The hard drive that was in the machine died a horrible death.

When the power button is pressed; the power light, the hard drive light, the caps lock light and the scroll lock light all come on and stay on. The screen stays black and the DVD-rom will click while the hdd spins up and then the machine will power down.

All components have been removed and reseated. I have tried to boot with each stick of memory seperately and together with the same result.

Anyone here have the same problem, or any advise?

Thanks for your time.

Tumbleweed36 · 10-10-2005, 09:29 PM

Hi,

What kind (brand, type, size) was your old hard drive and what is the new one? Also, when you take the new drive out and don't have any connected, what happens. Are you ever able to get to the BIOS setup menu? What video card are you dealing with?

blackpsypher · 10-11-2005, 04:47 PM

It was a 30gig ibm travelstar, I put in a (known) working fujitsu 6gig. The machine does the same thing with or without the hard drive in.

I'm never able to get to the bios screen.

The maching came with the 32meg nvidia video card

traveller96 · 10-24-2005, 10:04 PM

Hi,

I have exacly the same problem with my inspiron 8100. Did you find a permanent solution?? This problem seems to be quite common and it seems as if reseating everything works for a while.

Thanks

ronsena · 10-25-2005, 04:12 AM

Try reseating the memory sticks. If it continues to do it, try just one stick at a time.

If the unit is under warranty, call Dell tech support.

Watch how the light come on. They are the equal to beep codes on Desktop/Tower computers. They will be in a sequence of 3 sets. For instance 3 flashes, pause, 1 flash, pause, 2 flashes.

You can see what the flash codes mean by going into Dell support area and entering the service tag number for you laptop. Then you would go to the documentaion area for your particular unit.

10-10-2005, 08:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
blackpsypher Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2 OS: Win2kpro	Inspiron 8100 will not post Greetings all. I have a Dell Inspiron 8100 that will not post. The hard drive that was in the machine died a horrible death. When the power button is pressed; the power light, the hard drive light, the caps lock light and the scroll lock light all come on and stay on. The screen stays black and the DVD-rom will click while the hdd spins up and then the machine will power down. All components have been removed and reseated. I have tried to boot with each stick of memory seperately and together with the same result. Anyone here have the same problem, or any advise? Thanks for your time.

10-10-2005, 09:29 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tumbleweed36 Asst Manager Hardware Join Date: May 2005 Location: USA Posts: 19,465 OS: XP Professional	Hi, What kind (brand, type, size) was your old hard drive and what is the new one? Also, when you take the new drive out and don't have any connected, what happens. Are you ever able to get to the BIOS setup menu? What video card are you dealing with? __________________ ---------- I don't receive email notifications of replies to subscribed threads. (Internet provider policy) Therefore, if I don't respond to your post within 24 hours, please send me a reminder PM and include the link to your thread.

10-11-2005, 04:47 PM	#3 (permalink)
blackpsypher Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2 OS: Win2kpro	spec It was a 30gig ibm travelstar, I put in a (known) working fujitsu 6gig. The machine does the same thing with or without the hard drive in. I'm never able to get to the bios screen. The maching came with the 32meg nvidia video card Last edited by blackpsypher; 10-11-2005 at 04:49 PM.

10-25-2005, 04:12 AM	#5 (permalink)
ronsena Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 96 OS: Windows XP	Try reseating the memory sticks. If it continues to do it, try just one stick at a time. If the unit is under warranty, call Dell tech support. Watch how the light come on. They are the equal to beep codes on Desktop/Tower computers. They will be in a sequence of 3 sets. For instance 3 flashes, pause, 1 flash, pause, 2 flashes. You can see what the flash codes mean by going into Dell support area and entering the service tag number for you laptop. Then you would go to the documentaion area for your particular unit. __________________ Ron Sena

10-24-2005, 10:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
traveller96 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1 OS: win2k	Hi, I have exacly the same problem with my inspiron 8100. Did you find a permanent solution?? This problem seems to be quite common and it seems as if reseating everything works for a while. Thanks