tlb77

OK where to start- firstly thank you for your assistance

Symptom -
My unwell machine hangs at a stage BIOS startup with USB items in ports
but after successful boot up without anything in USB ports and only an older keyboard in place it boots up past the BIOS fine then when windows starts I can connect all my usb devices and successfully use machine as normal

my machine boots up fine with an older style [ps2 purple] keyboard connected to it however if I connect any USB device it hangs on the BIOS boot up screen. At about 15% through the progress bar - under the dell logo

I scuttle off the Internet to see if I can resolve this myself

so I had a look into the BIOS and looked to see if the machine was looking to the USB drives for an operating system, and this is why it hangs ? I thought..
I was able to prioritize the Internal drive first and foremost. Then I would thought this could have resolved the problem. But after saving and exiting & rebooting I popped in a usb to give it a test but to no avail :(. however my method above worked perfectly once again to 'get going'


Things I have not yet tried
-'removing the battery from the motherboard' – as mentioned somewhere on my troll through technical support forums .
-Turning off Legacy PS2 keyboard support in my BIOS settings

History
To give you some background into the problem I was updating a PVR which connected to the PC via a USB cable this seemed to work sucessfully - but as you can understand less of a happy person now

Sources-SIW - System Information for Windows [gtopala.com]
System information
Dell XPS 600

BIOS information-
BIOS Vendor Dell Inc.
BIOS Version A11
Firmware Version 108.108
BIOS Date 09/27/2006


Please let me know if there is anything worthwhile I should post to assist you with your advice.

I look forward to hearing from you

Im not sure if this is the best fit forum wise please move it if better placed elsewhere

wrench97

When it hangs on boot with a USB device plugged in what are the 4 Diagnostic lights inside the front door telling you?> http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1053861
Does it only hang with the PVR hooked or with any USB media devices or any USB device such as Keyboards and Mice will also make it hang?

tlb77

Q1>Ok on startup the '123' - Another failure has occurred.
lights are on which the documentation points to - are all my cables hooked up dorrectly so I guess its worthwhile checking them within the box itself, any pointers as to a offending department.

Q2> It hangs with any of my prevously connected USB devices [having sucessfully put the updated the offending PVR] i have tried a a wired logitech mouse[USB], i use a G15 keyboard[USB], either of these connected in any manner (thru multiple combinations) in any of the ports continue to display the orginal fault condition, but as mentioned if they are disconnected then popped in after windows startup has compled the bootup procedure - they all work fine

wrench97

Enter the system setup by pressing F2 om boot. Look for Boot Sequence make sure the hard drive is listed first and USB drive last.

The XPS600/700 did have issues with the G15 keyboard that I don't think were ever resolved Dell's answer at the time was to use the supplied keyboard. Great answer/

They also did not like having a heavy usb power draw during the bios stage.

tlb77

Ok made sure the boot sequence is the way you mentioned, but still my difficulty remains.

I have been within the casework and removed and reseated all the cables I could see (I did this earlier on today and again) no 'happy machine' as yet.

I tried a orginal Dell keyboard and which usb based, and the same problem occured, so it seems anything in the USB drives seems to un-nerve this 'unhappy machine'

Is it worthwhile me heading into the 'recovery partition' or displaying some system information to assist you in your help

thanks again

editied for spellinz

wrench97

The problem is Bios level so the windows recovery partition will not help.

I would normally try a different Power Supply but with the nonstandard supply in this system another route is to test with a volt meter while booting with and without USB devices attached to look for voltage differences, Do you have access to a digital volt meter?

tlb77

Sure can obtain a Multimeter, and with some guidence be able to let you know how I get on.

Am I to follow this guide ? (Test your power supply with a multi meter)

wrench97

No you PSU has different connectors. and different color wires.
The 12v and the 5v are the most important followed by the 3.3v> http://support.dell.com/support/edoc....htm#wp1060771

tlb77

Ok after a bit of time here is the figures

(dell ref DC Power Connector P1)
Pin number [usb in] {usb out}
1 [3.34] {3.35}
2 [3.34] {3.35}
4 [5.05] {5.06}
6 [5.04] {5.06}
8 [5.06] {5.08}
9 [5.25] {5.25}
10 [12.04] {12.05}
11 [12.04] {12.05}
12 [3.34] {3.35}
13 [3.34] {oh dear didn't write that down on my notepad}
14 [-12.23] {-12.22}
16 [140.5mv] {139.2mv}
21 [5.04] {5.05}
22 [5.04] {5.04}
23 [5.04] {5.04}

(dell ref DC Power Connector P2)
6 [12.08] {11.96}
7 [12.08] {11.95}
8 [12.08] {11.99}
9 [12.08] {12.02}
10 [12.08] {12.02}

wrench97

That's quite a drop on #6,7,8 but still in specs, considering the USB port uses the 5v rail and that number didn't drop much if at all I think somethings going on with the MB.

Have a quick look around the board at the capacitors for signs of bulging swelling or leakage if they all look good then even though you have the latest Bios I would try reflashing it to see if it makes a difference.

http://www.badcaps.net/pages.php?vid=5