However, when I gave the tech the numbers on this computer I was working on, he seemed to be reading from a script and when I asked him what does code 2 and 4 mean he said the SATA cable is not connected – he was wrong.
Let me give you a little background into this computer. I’m working on it for a client. The main symptoms is that as soon as the unit receives power, the indicator light on the power button immediately starts to flash orange. I was unable to turn the computer on. I replaced the power supply and the orange light flashed constantly, again. I then disconnected everything except for the power supply, and CPU. I was hoping to at least get the unit to turn in then I could go from there by plugging each component back in one by one. I eventually came to the conclusion that the motherboard was bad.
I spoke to the client and she still had warranty with Dell. She called Dell and then the Dell tech called me. We spoke like I mentioned earlier, and eventually I was able to convince him that it was a motherboard problem.
Dell shipped the motherboard out next day air and I received it just before lunch.
As I was tearing down the Dimension what do I find?
You see that nasty corrosion? I don’t know what the hell that is but it isn’t dust. I tried blowing it off with a compressed can of air but was unsuccessful.
For reasons beyond me that was the only area of the motherboard that had that build up. Everywhere else was spotless.
So in conclusion, if you experience the dreaded blinking orange power light, make sure to check your motherboard for blown capacitors as well as something like the above pictures show.
I found this very helpful, thanks! I will check to see if this is our issue.
i have experienced the dreaded flasking light syndrome.. and have just replaced the power supply with no change …. upon searching the tinternet, i came across your site…. and yes…. my mobo looks exactly the same as the picture…. looks like some sort of design fault.. dust moisture ? = crap of some sort!!!!.. so i am now in the process of ordering a new mobo board..
thanks for the info and help…………..
Okay I have the same problem….how much is a motherboard roughly and where can i get one from?? and what is it?? and once it is replaced will my computer work the same?? thanks…
I took off mymotherboard and saw the area were the dirt or dust was on that part and cleaned it off. Then I put it back together and still doesn’t work. Please help!!!
I had the orange flashing light, and the problem was my CPU. Somehow, a tiny flake of skin had fallen between two pins. I used compressed air to blow it out and my computer is running fine now.
ello, yes i have the same problem the flashing orange light its one of three things, its not getting enought power so it could be the PSU power supply unit or its the motherboard or some of the USB ports shorting the computer out! i still havnt got my computer going yet i also rang dell and they didnt help much as!
Right well I have the orange flashing light problem but only when I close the case fully over otherwise it works fine so I have no idea what’s wrong. Everything inside looks ok and I cleaned out all of the dust.
i have the same problem. my warranty with dell is expired
how much is a mother board?
mine looks perfectly fine
no signs of corrosion
livewire, Thank you so much of mentioning the USB port shorting causing the power button blinking. I have replaced PSU which it didn’t solve my problem. I was ready to replace the motherboard then I saw your post. I suddenly remembered that I had a bad UBS port in the front. So I looked closely into that bad port and I saw the shorting. Once I fixed that problem, my Dell 9100 came back alive!
Glad to hear that Kc, i send my computer too dell and when i got it back they said it was the systemboard aka the motherboard i opened my computer b4 i had send it too dell and as far as i could see there was noting worng with the systemboard.I allso asked dell to repalce the front and back usb ports which they did not.so it wasnt the usb ports.There has bn a lot of ppl with the same problem so hope this helps~ peace livewire!
LEAKY CAPACITORS!!!
I got an orange light on my Dell 9100 but it was steady and didn’t blink, the hard drive or fans were on overdrive since I heard a lound “whirr”. I turned of the computer, and lightly slapped the side of it and when I tried turnining it back on, it was fine
I had the same problem with a Dimension 5150, only a flashing, orange light. I read about the USB ports and as I found out, this computer had a damaged port in the front. I checked it - and to no surprise - it had some of the pins bent inside. I fixed them and the computer powered back on!!
So before replacing the MOBO or Power Supply, check those ports!!!
Having tried replacing the power supply,motherboard and the processor I had all but given up and was about to throw my Dell Dimension 5150 into the bin and get something else. However after reading about damaged USB ports I checked mine and found the one of the front ones was damaged, all I did was straighten the pins and the pc powered up without any further problems.
May I say a BIG thank you for the advice.
David
Some very good ideas. I have a Dim 5150 that is doing the same thing, orange light blinking. Before ripping apart the power supply and testing with another one, I swapped the CMOS battery with one I knew worked (same model and everything) It worked as good as new. Thought it would be worth a shot as it is easier and cheaper to replace. Unless your MOBO does indeed look like the one above!
Hope this helps!
Is this the same for the Dell Inspiron E1505 Laptop…the power light blinks constantly - even when fully charged…help! Thanks.
This type of corrosion is almost certainly caused by a manufacturing issue! in recent years environmentally friendly soldering processes have been introduced and in some cases the “no clean” flux can react with the solder/components - as a design engineer in the electronics industry i am seeing this sort of damage more and more frequently!…I would contact DEll as this is obviously down to the PCB’s manufacturer/assembly process and should not be put down to usual “wear and tear”
I have a Dell Dimension 5150 with flashing Orange Light. I’ve already tried a replacement power supply and just bought a refurbished system board for £70. Still no joy!!!! I will now try recommendation regarding USB ports. I know the kids have bent at least one.
When I checked the USB ports I found that one of the front ones was damaged, all I did was straightened out the pins and made sure that they were not touching each other.
Hope this is of assistance
Thanks, David.
Yes, in my case, the orange blinking light was also the result of bad contact (short circuit) caused by the damaged left USB port on the front panel of my Dell Dimension E510. After I straightened out one pin to avoid the bad contact, my PC was turned on OK.
Dimension 8400 all of a sudden wouldn’t power up. Not even the fan would blow. I grabbed a spare power supply, hooked everything up and it powered/booted right up.
You might want to try another power supply if the amber light on the front of the box is flashing. Oh, the OEM power supply is a 24 pin 350 watt max.
I’ve got an interesting variation on this problem. When i press the power button on my wife’s 18-month-old Dell 5150, the amber light blinks for a while (30 seconds or so), then it tries to power up (green lights go on, fans start) and it dies. Once it dies, I press the button again and it starts right up. Everytime
Nothing new on the computer (i added a firewire card a year ago). I blew it out (it was very clean), checked connections (all seated), looked at USB ports (no problem i can see), disconnected the surge protection (no change).
Anyone have any ideas? Very frustrating — and I’ve bought a lot of Dells and never had a problem before
Just experiened the blinking orange on my Dell E510 today. Disconnected USB for my Lacie and computer starts up fine. Can’t imagine it is a bent pin as it had been working for the last several months without any changes.
Thanks for all the insights!
This orange blinking light has just appeared on my Inspiron 6000 tonight. Ok, it’s 3 years old, but I hope it’s nothing too serious.
Annoying thing is, I’ve just had to order a replacement keyboard today as the keys are beginning to fall off the original.
FYI, when I remove the battery and run it on AC only, it stops blinking, so I’m assuming my battery is dying.
I had this problem after having added a second hard-disk and associated controller (which I had to do because the 2400 IDE controller does not support HD above 172 GB)
So one night when I left my cellphone in the USB port for it to charge up overnight, I find the PC dark the next morning, with only the blinking yellow light as a sign of life.
First I thought the PC had gone into hybernation but when I turned it on again (which worked only after I kept the ON/OFF switch depressed for a while), the PC had to go through hard-disk check at reboot so I had to assume it had been an abnormal termionation, in plain English: a sudden crash.
Apparently it had happened soon after me plugging in the cellphone that past night because the phone had not charged much.
After reboot, all worked fine for a while. (phone was still plugged in) but then an hour later (when I was not at the PC) it had happened again.
After reading the posts here, I come to the conclusion the Dimension 2400 PSU is “running on it’s toes” as it is. Me adding the second hard-disk, AND plugging in the phone to charge the battery apparently was enough to bring the PC power supply to its knees.
I checked for the other problems mentioned here (the corrosion and the USB shorts) but could not find any.
Without the phone charging, the PC runs stable again. Needless to say I won’t be charging my phone any more from this PC….
Thanks Livewire checked my system and it was a fault on the usb’s. Saved me money and time your LEGEND!!
I have a Dell E310 that is still giving me the blinking yellow light. I first replaced the power supply with no results. Then I ordered a mother board from dell and installed it. Still nothing. I found this site and tried everything that was suggested here. In particular I investigated the USB’s in the front, since my wife uses them often to import pictures from her camera. Everything still checks out fine. When this whole mess started, there was a good sized dust bunny in front of the screen in front of the CPU fan. Does anyone know if the cooling fan fails, will this prevent a power up? On the E310’s there are 4 wires that go from the motherboard to the cooling fan, not just 2. I have metered the power supply. The 4 pin connector (2 yellow/2 black) near the processor reaches about 5 volts when I try and power up, then it goes back to zero volts. Anyone else have any issues like this?
MJP46356
I’m so glad that I found this site. A friend of mine had the orange flashing light and green light on motherboard.
After careful investigation found that the black tab on one of the USB ports at the front of the machine was missing and one of the pins was bent.
Friend is now happy that they dont have to fork out for a motherboard and power supply.
Thank you Livewire.
Want to thank everyone who posted useful info here. After searching this page and many others trying to fix the “amber light of death” on my Dell I’ve come to this conclusion.
It’s a hardware problem with the possibility of infinite causes. If you get the “amber light of death” you should start with the simplest solutions then work towards the harder solutions.
plug you PC directly into a different outlet than it’s current outlet.
flip the orange switch located on the back of the PC near where the power plug attaches.
examine all your USB ports (front & back) for pins that are bent or pushed in and fix any that are bent.
open up your PC and remove and reconnect any plugs & devices you feel comfortable removing. (ie. ram, video/network cards, power cords to cd drives & hard drives)
Swap the power supply in from another PC. (Dell claims the power supply is the #1 solution to this problem.)
Replace the 3v battery on the motherboard.
If the problem isn’t fixed after trying these, chances are some bit of hardware on the motherboard are loose or touching something it shouldn’t; and this could be a bitch to figure out where the problem is. (ie. heatsink, PCU, BIOS, CPU/Processor) Not sure if it would be worth having a tech look at your PC at this point since it is not guaranteed that the tech would find a solution.
And lastly it could be your Motherboard that needs to be replaced.
In the end, my “amber light of death” was caused by a dead power supply. Again, Dell says this the the most common solution to the problem. Please copy the list above and add to it or rearrange it since I am no expert and just trying to give my opinion on how to fix this damned problem.
Had the dreaded flashing power lights.
Noticed the Ethernet port on the back of my 5150 was flashing on and off like the power light on the front.
Unplugged my printer, mouse / keyboard USB port (in back) and the flashing stopped. Hit the power button and viola!
Good to go. Replugged in the other components and things seem to be working.
Thanks for all the input
So, Ryan - I take it replacing the motherboard did the trick? Don’t want to assume anything here.
tsboy - Ethernet ports do flash normally depending on connection and web traffic.
I had the same problem with blinking yellow power light, I replaced the front switch with the front usb attach to it and it works great now.
Jamie,
I know the Ethernet port flashes with activity. What I was trying to describe was the same even pattern of off and on (the same as my power button on the front).
My house lost power last night, when I got my power back, the same issue. Unplugged the three USB plugs and the Ethernet plug in the back and it booted right back up.
I never changed or moved the three plugs in the back since I bought the computer. I have backed up my files, but am wondering to you all….is my ‘fix’ always going to work?
Maybe it’s time for another desktop.
What do you think?
My Dimension 5150 has the same problem. And a quick search on the internet tells me that many people with the same model have the same prob. I wonder why …
Found a bent USB pin on a client’s Dimension E510. Fixed that but still flashing orange. Saw the post on the CMOS battery. Replaced the battery and all is well. Could the shorted USB pin drain the CMOS battery?
Correction to my post.
It was not the CMOS battery. After I straightened the USB pins, the computer wouldn’t start with everything plugged into the back of the computer (power/usb kbd/usb mouse/video). I unplugged everything and replaced the CMOS battery (with a used one)and started the computer with only the power plug in, then plugged in video, usb mouse/kbd and nic.
Before taking the computer back to the customer, I thought I better put a new CMOS battery in. Replaced the battery with a new one….orange power light. Unplugged the usb mouse/keyboard…IT STARTS! After the initial restart with the USB devices unplugged until the machine is running, all seems okay. Weird.
The really wierd thing is if you disconnect the power cord, you have to pop the CMOS batt and reinstall and start with the USB disconnected.
Any thoughts???
i have a simular problem i have a dell e310 i have checked the power supply with a voltmeter and i checked all my usb ports i put the processor in another computer and it worked as well my problem is when i plug it up every thing is fine it is when i push the power botton it blinks green for a sec and goes to organge and dosent blink it stays orange and i can hear my hard drive spinning up but nothing ealse works screen dosent come on or cd rom drive any ideas dell said it was my power supply but i also put it in another computer and it works fine and all my voltages with my voltmeter are also good i checked the 12v rail with was 11.92v my 5v rail with was 5.6v and my 3.3v rail with was acually 3.6 this thing has blown my mind and dell refuses to send me a new motherboard they said “it cant be the motherboard because they dont go out like that in the e310″
Hey, so i came here after reading the posts of the flashing orange power light of death =/ and i tried most everything, but i figured to try holding in the power cord while pressing the power button. and sure enough… So, if your power cord is normally at some weird angle behind your computer it would be wise to straighten it out. i got a new power cord from dell and it works fine 100% now.
Hi, I had the dreaded flashing light as well and went through the following:
Cleaned the inside for dust (It was everywhere)
Reseated everything that could be and cleaned all the contacts
Cleaned the USB connections and checked for shorts
Found when I took the motherboard off its mounting plate, there was a large ball off dust under where the USB connections were (Cleaned some more!)
Replaced the Battery on the Motherboard
Eventually after none of this worked and I replaced the power supply with the same type that was in there and it powered up with no problems (after having to set the SATA setting in the BIOS to combination, as it did not see the hard drive, just in case that happens to you).
Not sure if it was all caused by the amount of dust that was in the USB connections pulling down the power rails over time, or that I recently started to recharge my IRiver MP3 player off the USB and not the power supply, and have other bits and pieces connected by USB.
Since the change out of the PSU I have reduced the amount of items using the USB’s just in case this is loading the power supply.
Just posting this in case it helps someone else out, as I found this post very helpful in getting my machine back up and running
Good luck
I have a flashing light, it will not fix any help??
im trying to plant a bomb!
i have a dell inspiron 1100 laptop and when i try to turn on my laptop it only blinks a ornage light…and does not power on any suggestion…where is the usb port i see no pins outside damage???please help
Dave P,
What was the REV on the new power supply? It seems like people who have the REV A00 are having issues. I heard of someone who replaced it with a REV A09 and it worked.
I had the orange flashing light and found a bent pin on the front left (facing computer)USB port. I straightened out the pin with a paper clip. System powered right up !!
Thanks Ian .
Can someone explain how you go about checking your USB pins?
I’m looking at the front of the USB slots, and I don’t really see any pins…
Thanks.
My Dimension 5150 had the blinking orange light for a while, and I would just pop the 3V battery out of the motherboard, and the computer would start up by itself. It has been like this for a few months now.
Over the weekend this stopped working. Now I have no lights whatsoever, blinking or otherwise. And removing the 3V battery has no effect. Does this mean I have a bad power supply?
I just fixed a dell 5150 with the dreaded amber flashing light. I’ve had this problem before. I got it to boot by pushing on the CMOS battery while pushing on the power button. I don’t think there was enough of a connection on the battery to boot. The plan is to replace it when I get a new battery.
Ok so I figured out how to fix the problem…My E510 went out last week and I started searching the internet for a soltion. It turns out that Dell recognizes that their sodering is faulty and they now have given in to the people complaining about this issue. It’s not easy to get Dell to admit it, but with the help of the information gained by many blog enteries on this website, I just received a brand new motherboard in the mail. The beautiful part of this is that my computer is almost 3 years out of warranty. It took me 6 emails and 6 phone calls to get the right guy on the phone…but I got him. He’s in India but I found him. This is what I did, and I know it may sound extreme but these guys don’t like giving stuff away. I found that the final call from management was in response to my emails, but my phone calls. I contacted the replacement parts deptmant and basically told the guy on the phone that I knew that the USB ports were faulty, and that the Influx sodering was defective. I went on to express my concern for safey in regards to the chance that these shorts in the ports could cause harm, fire or damage. I had threatened the guy saying that I had contacted the Better Business Bureau. The guy on in the replacement parts division, said that he would speak to his manager. I did not get a response for 24 hours so I wrote another email, which contained my BBB claim #, that got them going. The next day, a manager in the claims department apologized for the problems and said that they were working on coming up with a solution for the design flaw, and that he would be sending me a new motherboard which would arrive in two or three days. And that’s it, all you have to do is be forceful, emphasize the safety issue, and mention that you are in communications with the better business bureau and they will send you a new motherboard. Good luck with your issues and problems with these units. And be PROACTIVE, tell corportations and the government that we should not be subject to such consumer abuse and neglect. As Ralph Nader said,”Turn on to politics, or politics will turn on you. “
Yep the usb port pin on the back of my DELL Dimension 5100 computer was bent. I also initially replaced the power supply only to get the dredded flashing amber light. I am pretty sure the bent usb port shorted out my power supply but it only cost me $54.40 to get a new one. My system had the flashing light periodically until it eventually did not respond to my attempts to power up. Thanks for posting the link about the USB ports. It saved me another grand for a while.
Okay, I have the same problem, 1 month before my dell dimension 5100 went out of warranty I called they had me take everything apart, finally they replaced the mother board and power supply. It was about 2 to 3 months later and the same problem is happening again. I do not understand why such an expensive computer could have so many problems. Any other solutions please let me know.
I had the same issue with my E510 . I removed the powercord, took out the internal CMOS battery, reseeded the Ram and tried a restart and nothing. I repeated the steps and in addition unpugged all USB devices from the PC and that did the trick. My PC is up and runningm from all I have read on the message boards I don’t think I will turn it off until Dell addresses this issue with a permanent fix.
C
Best of Luck to U, and try not to pull your hair out (I know I felt Like it)
Well, it is going to be 2 of things the Motherboard or the Power Supply Unit. If you have a warrenty for Dell use it talk to them to come in and check it if you don’t know what your doing. In most cases it has been the Motherboard, but it can still be the Power Supply. If you don’t have a Dell warrenty good luck is all i have to say.i hope this helps.
I meant to type warranty sorry for the spelling.
dimension 5100 - just about to replace motherboard after trying everything else and checked USB front panel pins after reading above advice. sure enough pins bent in one of the two. straitened out pins so they were touching nothing and taped it over so no-one would use it again. reloaded system and has worked just fine.
thanks for the help from several people (livewire, david and others)
steve j
Have similar issue with 5150 which often spends weeks on or on standby, so not often switched off completely.
First symptom was that it wouldn’t turn on. Pressing the on botton caused the amber light to flash twice and then nothing. Have stripped PC down disconnected and reconnected everything, checked USB pins etc. The only way I can get to the PC to boot is to remove the CMOS battery and all attached USB devices. In this state the PC reboots from an unplugged state (after the Motherboard light has extinguished), the amber light flashes quickly for about 10 secs or so and then boots ok. As soon as the CMOS battery (new or old) is added it will not start like this. The PC is then fine until switched off again.
Motherboard and Power Supply seem ok once started and I wonder if it’s anything to do with the IO board at the front of the PC, with on/off switch, usb x 2, headphone, microphone sockets. Anyone replaced this with these symptoms?
Just got one in my shop (flashing amber power button)
problem: stick of ram not fully inserted in slot
I just worked on this computer and it was the Power Supply Unit.It wasn’t getting enough power so it short circited.
Yup. USB ports. Just went to fix one for a friend, Dimension 5150, and the first few things i came upon in a search were it being a dead supply, and didn’t mention anything else. so i ordered one ahead of time, only to find this site and notice it was indeed the left front usb port.
i noticed the gunky buildup on the mobo as stated a few times here, but that wasn’t a problem in my case, and for her sake i hope its not in the future.
Well at least the supply was cheap, and might come in handy. But this further cements my hatred for Dell.
I removed the battery and it boots..
OK now what
Flashing orange on a Dimension 9100.
Problem was a bent pin on one of the back USB ports. It was shorted out against the outside of the usb tin.
I have never seen a USB bend like that before.
hi
my dell dimension 5150 starts up with green light ok but 1 or 2 minutes later it shuts down and yellow blinking light comes on.The fan doesnt seem to be making as much noise as before but it is still spinning.Should I try replacing the fan first.?
I have read everything on here and tried about everything to no avail. As a last ditch effort, I removed the battery (the little quarter sized silver battery) and when that was removed, I plugged back in the power cord (to the wall) and the PC booted (after some initial flashing lights on the front display.
Either way, it worked. I guess I’ll have to go buy a new battery, but hey, at least I got it to work!
Well the first thing i just came upon was the dead power supply it burnt itself out being a power shortage was why it messed up. It short curcited.
I would try that WIKID and then if it keeps shutting down buy a new power supply, and i think i know for sure now that the orange or yellow whatever color you want to call it is a dead or bad power supply.
And yeah i mean it can be a series of things not just one because my computer that i have now was having problems and switching to onboard video and BSOD (blue screen of death)but now its fine and the reason why it was doing that was because the nvidiad driver was messed up.
The first time it shut down was after about 30 minutes.The next few times this got shorter and shorter until now it shuts down almost straight away.Has a computer got a built in safety device that protects itself in this way if one of the fans are not working properly ?.
no i don’t think it has a safety thing like that in a computer i have ever seen. But i think it might be the power supply not giving enough power. Also maybe something isn’t plugged in right. Maybe the board is dead in a certain part im not sure. But i hope that helps wikid.
livewire you’re the man.sure enough it was a bent usb port in the front of my deminsion 5100c that was causing the flashing orange light and not allowing the cpu to start up. Thank a million dude you saved me a couple a bucks. For anyone that has a similar problem, try this first you’ll be glad you did.
doh it seems the flashing amber light problem is so common on the dell e5100..sigh
anyway the problem first occurred to me weeks ago,(mine now is about 2 yrs old), i found the PC wont reboot after i turn it off, i have to unplug the power cord then replug it, and it worked, or after the pc has been shut down i have to quickly turn it on again. So i just kept my pc on all the time, and put it on hyper-nation if i dont use it, k no drama.
Then 2 nights ago i was too sleepy and forgot about it, so I turned it off, and when i realized it next morning it ’s too late, now i got the deadly flashing amber lights…. -_-
oh well i will try follow all he methods ppl have been addressed…if not working..time to get a new pc i guess.
Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU livewire!
We had the flashing light problem, and were so worried that we would need to spend a lot of money, but we checked our usb port and found that we had lost a piece and one of the metal prongs was bent. We bent it back and IT WORKS!!!!
I have a Dell E510 and experienced the “flashing amber of death”. My box was in a hibernate/standby mode and while in this state, we lost power in our neighborhood.
Clicking the power button had no effect however, after I removed the USB cables at the front of the box, it fired up?! I was prompted to select a hardware profile, I had only one option, and the system recovered.
i have a very similar problem… however, ive torn everything out, put it back in piece by piece trying to get the bastard to work… finally got hacked off and pulled out the (i hope this is right… says pentium on it) processor… and it turned on first time. put it back in, and its back to the all too familiar flashing orange light. WHY !!!????!!!?????
john
I had this blinking amber light issue except it only blinked when I held down the power button. I was getting ready to replace the power supply and reset the cmos when I took another once over and saw that some usb pins were bent in the front. I straightened them out and it booted right up. Thankfully I found this site.
Cheers!
David
Thanks to the poster that mentioned the battery potential for problems. I had a coworker’s computer w/ this problem and after trying several of the more obvious failure points- the battery turned out to be the problem.
Cheers!
I’m a computer tech at a small company and in our entrance we have a touch screen kiosk and it runs 24/7. The kiosk runs with a Dell Optiplex GX620. Over the last week, the computer seems to be hibernating or sleeping. I open up the Kiosk (which contains the computer) and find the orange light. The wierd part is, it the computer starts up and I can watch it working. So far I haven’t caught it shutting down or powering off.
It’s like a sleep or hibernation that you cannot get out of by any button presses, except for the holding down of the flashing power button for 10 seconds, then pressing again for a boot up.
I’ve read most of the posts on this forum and it looks like everyone is have problems with powering up. This computer powers up just fine, then at some point it powers down, giving the flashing light.
Any ideas?
Check all devices that are pulling power from the MOBO. In my instance, the failure was a short on my combo media drive. unplugged it from the MOBO and bingo…. my E510 booted right back up
I was getting the blinking yellow light on my Dell Dimension 5150. Would not start! I looked and looked for a solution and then read this site. Just so happens that my young kids evidently bent the usb pins in the front of the computer by frequently plugging in their IPOD connectors. Took a screwdriver and unjammed the pins. Voila! It will now start. USB is still mangled, so I covered it up to prevent it from recurring. It would seem that Dell’s USB’s are poorly designed and poorly constructed and very suceptible to bending and shorting out. I was on the brink of tossing the computer. Your information just saved me hundreds of dollars. Thanks
Dell Dimension E510, Also front left USP port damaged. Straightend out the pins and she fired right up.
valleywidecomputerrepair.com
I have two of these that have the flashing amber light. It happens every time we shut them down so we leave tham running whenever possible. On one of them we have to pull the plug from the wall and remove the cmos battery and then it will boot up after the battery is reinstalled and the cord is plugged in. On the other one we have to remove both the usb keyboard and mouse and then the flashing stops (it also stops when I remove the power connector from the motherboard)once the mouse and keyboard are unplugged the computer will boot up and then we can reconnect them. I would be inclined to blame the power supply in the latter case perhaps the former too but since I know how to get them to boot I am leaving them alone. As far as I am concerned it is a defect in the power supply.
I had the same problem and tried all the solutions above. Luckily, mine was still under warranty and I called dell, they shipped me out a PSU and a MOBO. They said it’s usually one or the other so they just sent both. Best support I’ve ever gotten from them.
i have a flashing amber light on a dell dimension 3100 i found this forum and i have tried almost eveything that is listed here from usb to cmos batterys and i reseated everything on mobo and still i have the flashing light the pc has been running fine and the usb ports are fine anyone any ideas i think its the psu
You guys are scaring me with all this talk of bad mobo and such. I’m gonna keep my fingers crossed that it is simply a bad ps causing my blinking amber light. I already have an extra one of those.
I have tried all the above quick fixes, now it’s onto Psupply and then check out mobo to see if that’s where the issue lies. Disappointing to see so many users with this same problem, makes me question my faith in Dell.
Don’t think I’ll bother with a Dell after all. Great site to warn us about the dangers that lie ahead.
Thanks again.
J
I had the amber daggers too. I took the quick an dirty route. Disconnected the cable that ran from my faulty USB ports at the front to the motherboard. Wouldnt say my system is running like clockwork but its running….
Hi All. Had exactly the same problem with our 5150. Checked the motherboard, usb sockets, etc, ect, as suggested. Then, as a last resort, I air blasted the vent on the PSU . . . Presto! The orange light stopped blinking and it booted up!
Hell-Hello! OK!
First…Thanks for starting me on the right path. Nice site!
I work for a printing company in Minnesota and one of my
Coworkers needed help with her Dell E510. So I put it on my
bench and sure enough “THE BLINKING ORANGE POWER LIGHT” and no thanks to Dells Web site I may add! Long story Short…I ended up unplugging the front panel from the controller
and plugging it back in; you guessed it! Started right up!
I have a similar problem on a Dell optiplex: it takes about 10 reboots before it becomes stable. It’ll boot up alright then for no apparent reason it´ll sort of go into sleep mode and the green light will flash. Tried changing cables, plugs etc but no joy. Once it get´s going it´s ok but it sometimes takes ages. Any takers?
Thanks for the info. I had a similar problem the USB pins were bent. I checked the pins and re-bent them into shape and gave the mother board a good clean and hey presto it was working. Thanks for the tips guys really good tips and advice.
Does anyone know how to see the bent pine in the front two USB drives? My computer will not stay powered on for more than about 2 seconds, then it shuts off and tries to reboot. The tech support has been horrible, since my Dell 5100 is about 3 years out of warranty.
I need to know how to check the pins in the USB drives. Also, can you tell me about the quarter size battery on the motherboard. Will it run with a new one of those batteries? Please, please help if you can. Thanks in advance@
My Dimension E510 has had the orange light several times. It eventually turns green by itself…until today. No pins seem bent. So I did an easy fix suggested on this site: pulled out all the USB device cords as well as the Ethernet cord. The computer clicked and whirred and the green light came on. Thank you to everyone on this great site!
my orange flashing light was fixed by removing the CMOS, wait till the motherboard light turns off by shutting down the power, then unplug mouse and keyboard from usb port.
Same story… the dreaded orange flash fixed by pulling all usb devices from the rear ports. Thanks everybody for your feedback and ideas.
Have a E510. Had to do the part where I unplugges all usb ports and the power cord AND take out the battery. Then I plugged in the power cord and the computer started. Then I plugged in USB ports and re installed battery. Works now. thanks everyone.
I had the same blinking amber problem with a dimension 5150.
I checked the usb ports-all good.
swapped the power cable.
reset the surge protector.
tried booting it with nothing but the monitor.
but nothing worked.
I didnt want to swap the battery.
decided to unplug the SPU and plug it back in again. wallah!
all good now.
maybe its not that you need a new SPU, just need to reinstall it.
I was the 2nd person to look at this PC.
They had a bad powersupply but didnt replace it with the EXACT same one. Everything was fine until you put the side cover on. The SATA plug to the HD was not like the original one and it stuck out too far. Therefore, when the side was put on, it was putting an awful bend on that plug and causing a short, thus producing the “orange flashing light syndrome.”
Hope this helps someone.
i had the same problem at my 3100. once i pushed the power button, only get amber blinking light. no power response from CD-ROM or any sounds of things starting up or moving. Not yet started troubleshooting after reading this, most probably power supply problem coz my CPU was clean of dusts.
Many thanks to everyone for leaving their info here. I too have a Dimension 5150 and had the dreaded blinking amber light…
My fix: replace the CMOS battery…
Funny thing is, it fired up first time no worries, I turned it off and the dreaded amber light returned! So I’ve taken it back to where it lives under a co-workers desk, cracked it open manipulated the CMOS battery and voila!
I’ve got a feeling that my front USB ports are shorting and draining my CMOS battery, but alas no bent front pins in my USB ports…
If I have issues again, someone shuts the PC down, I’ll try to disconnect the front USB port cable.
Many thanks again, it’s posts like these that save people a lot of time!
Hey guys. This page helped.. I took the Dell recommendation of replacing the power supply (can’t remember if I tested the old or not..) Anyways.. This did not fix the problem– I discovered this page and proceeded to check the USB. Sure enough, one of the frontal ports was bent. I fixed that and BANG- it works..
Just had the amber light today. Turns out it was bent pins in the USB port. Fixed the pins and my computer was back up and running. Thanks for the help!
I have figured out how to fix this problem. Just take out the jp 2-3 jumper, reset it to 1-2, then back to 2-3, and it is fixed. Warning, you must do this every time to make it work from now on. Best of luck to you all!
George, Thank you SOOO much for your “fix”. I have not been able to get mine up and working because none of my USB pins look bent…or, to be honest, I’m not sure how to tell. When I look at both of the front ones and the back ones, it all looks normal. So, my question is:
What is a jp 2-3 jumper and can you give me a little more detail about how to do this? I want to try this as soon as I get your response. I will let everyone know if it works for me, as I haven’t had mine working for months. Thanks, Sharon
When you open up your tower, you’ll see a blue colored jumper next to the 24 pin power connector. There is where the 1-2 2-3 jp jumper is located, follow the instructions in my comment above and all your problems will be solved.. until you turn your computer off. Best of luck!
I had the same issue this morning. I’d had a problem with my Dimension 5100 previously and had replaced the power supply with positive results. I left the computer on last night, and when I came in this morning, there was a blinking orange light. Powering on was no good. Switching the back power button on and off didn’t work. But then I tried unplugging the power cord from the back of the unit and plugging it back in. That worked. But I’m backing everything up just in case.
NEVER, EVER, EVER BUY A DELL. I know I never will again. I’ve had more problems with this piece of garbage than with any other computer I’ve had - including the one I built from scratch. Tech support is horrible, they don’t back up their products and the workmanship is shoddy.
Thank you very much for the information.
My computer came alive again.
I turned my wife’s Dimension 5150 off before we left for a trip - MISTAKE !! I checked the motherboard battery with a voltmeter (it was fine) and replaced it, but no luck booting. I removed USB devices (didn’t see any bent pins), no luck. I removed the battery and was able to boot ! I replaced the battery with the power on (don’t generally like to do that) and had to reset the motherboard clock, but that did the trick.
Dimension 5100, power supply was bad for sure. It stunk to high heavens. Besides, the green led on the motherboard would not come on when I turned on the power supply. Replaced it, and the green led would come on, but the unit would not power up. Removed ram and cards and drive, and tried to force boot block, but nothing happened still. Replaced everything, and noticed the blinking amber light. Searched for a long time and found this site. Looked at the front usb ports, and viola. One severely damaged (ripped inside out from the looks of it) port with 4 tabs, two of which resembled a conga line on lsd. Straightened them out, and the machine booted right up.
Thank you for having this on the intardnet for retardeds like me!!!
Well, I have been trying to get mine up and running forever. I have tried everything on this site, but still no luck. One thing I don’t understand is how to tell if the usb ports are bent. I used a flashlight to look inside both the front and back ports, but I really don’t see anything bent. Did you take something apart to look inside? I have the 5100, as well…been just fine until the amber light appeared on the start button. Thanks in advance.
Success!!!! Here’s what I did… while I was unplugging everything for the hundredth time, I was unplugging the keyboard connection last and must have laid the metal part of the plug on the outside metal plate of both USB port plugs in the back. The fan turned, so I plugged the monitor back in and the power supply cord, then I places the metal part of the keyboard connection across the outside metal of the connection to the computer.” “BINGO”!!!!!! It booted up so I plugged the keyboard and mouse in and its working fine. Wtf, go figure.
What problem I may have if, once I get the green light back, I just leave the PC in “standby mode”? I mean, apart from some extra “pennys” for electricity.
Same yellow light problem no start on dell dimension 5150 - it was the USB at front - 1 pin bent. Used a paperclip with very end bent to pull it straight it- now fine! Thanks! Taped up USBs to stop kids getting at them again. Low tech solution to hi tech prob!
FIXED - Power supply was bad (Optiplex 320)
I had the same blinker with no power up on a Dem. E510. I unplugged everything but the front panel and power supply. Nothing, I pulled the batter as to instructions earlier and it would boot until I turned it off, then nothing again,untill battery pull. I testes the PSU with a PSU tester and all voltages showed good, but I went ahead and replaced with atermarket and viola !!! I boot perfect now.
Hope this helps anyone.
Next time I’ll spell check before I submit..;-((
I want to thank all of you guys for all the feedback, Me aswell had the same thing everyone was having as far as the Orange Blinking Light of Death (OBLD) and in my situation, I Did have a Bad Power Supply, But I tested it it with a good Dell Power supply and had the same issue, then I turned to the forums for help and came across this site. Sure enough I checked all the USB ports and one USB port in the back was about to break off the little black piece, and sure enough one of the pins was slightly bent. Not making contact with the other but just bent, I got a screw driver and bent it back. Wondering if it would work I plugged it up and it powered On just fine. I want thank you guys again, without you I would have replaced the Motherboard. Sincerely, Carlos El Paso, Texas
I am having same issue with orange light, I fixed pins that were broken and it still dont work. The I take this Green connector piece next to the battery and swith it to the other connecto and the light stops but nothing. I used to do this to get the light to stop and then I would be able to power up, but now it doesnt work???????
I have a Dell E510, got the dreaded flashing orange light on the front. I took out the battery and it booted fine. I eplaced the battery and it worked fine for 1 day and now it won’t power on again. I pulled the battery back out again and it power on?
Any suggestions as to what would be the problem with the battery?
I also have the blinking amber light problem. The E510 manual says its a problem with the power supply or the mother board. I just bought a 450W power supply from Best Buy and replace the old one. It has fixed the problem.
You’ll see alot of theories on the web concerning this problem. From my experience and all the sites and blogs I have read, 90% of the time it will be the power supply. A power supply can fail slowly so you may be getting intermittent failures, and if you’re dinking around with removing batteries, etc., you may think its something else. Power supplies are relatively inexpensive, I would try that first if you’re having the same problem.
Today i just removed my hard drive from my Dimension 9100 to make a backup of my information into an other PC.
Once i place the HDD back, the Dimesion 9100 dosnt want to power up
i get the flashing led. What could be the problem, already
checked and remplaced the PSU, CMOS Battery, evey SATA cable,
and nothing. this is so weird since i just removed the HDD without touching nothing else.
Any help will be greatfull.
Had the same issue with the blinking amber light on my Dimension 5150. PC would start sporadically, casuing endless frustration and tried all the advice on various sites. Nothing worked and as a last resort I replaced the battery on the motherboard and haven’t had an issue since. I not very techie so don’t know why this worked but it did. Battery used was a Maxell CR2032 (3V). Worth a shot if nothing else works and battery is only a few quid.
Hello,
last week, I got the same problem with my dell dimension 5100.
I was trying to plug my USB external harddrive when suddenly my computer turned off (while i was forcing the usb to get into the port). When I restarted it, I had the Steady orange light.
After reading different websites (before this one) I thought it would be a PSU problem since all the fans (front and graphic card’s) were working therefore it couldn’t be the motherboard (at least I thought).
However, last night, after insalling my new PSU, It still didn’t work and I realized that one of the CD drive wouldn’t open when connected to the motherboard but it would when only connected to the power supply(could it be the motherboard then?)
I will try check if the problem lies in the fron usb ports, but even after disconecting everything (except the PSU and motherboard) it still showed the steady orange light,
any recomendations? should I change the motherboard?
Our Dell Dimension E510 is a few years old, and we’ve had only a few problems. We leave it on most of the time. Recently however, we’ve had several, including the yellow-flashies.
We had two USB keyboards hooked up and two mice, as my wife likes one and I prefer the other. One of the mice became non-responsive and I just unplugged it for a while and it worked again.
We lost power during a storm about a month ago. We were not home or we would have unplugged the computer, but we do have a surge protector. It’s an old one which probably should be replaced. When the power came back, the computer couldn’t find the hard drives (one is a backup drive for Norton Ghost, which has never worked and turned out to be a TRIAL version Dell duped us into paying for.) I tried unplugging the backup drive, and the computer started up fine, aside from the ‘Press F1′ message at startup and constant ‘RAID volume degraded’ mumbo jumbo.
Then one of the keyboards became unusable; one keypress resulted in several characters displayed. I opened the keyboard, which had two extra USB ports built-in, and the USB ports looked burned around the edges. Couldn’t get it to work, so I just threw it away.
A few days after that, another bad storm took down several power lines, and again we were not home. I’ve turned the computer off and on many times since the first storm with no problems, but this time, when the power came back, we got the yellow-flashies. Unplugging all USB connections and waiting a minute for the light to stop blinking seemed to work. I just plugged the USB cables back in after startup. However, restarting the computer results in yellow flashes again, and I have to unplug everything. I’ve even tried each USB cord by themselves in each port individually to try to narrow things down, but it doesn’t seem to matter. If ANYTHING is plugged in to ANY port, it flashes.
Thank you for this page. At least it gives me a better idea of what to look for, and if I should just start looking for my next (non-Dell?) computer.
thank GOD in my case it was the usb! Over time prongs had become squashed down. Fixed! Thanks for the advice <3
I’ve also had the blinking orange light problem. When I opened it, I was messing around and decided “Hm, maybe if I take out this 3V battery..” and what do you know? It works! I have no idea what it’s for though
Fixing shoted UPS port pins fixed the blinking power light issue
hey everyone,
Yup i also have the same problem but mine is a bit different. You see if i leave mine off for a day i can go on it for just enough time to load into windows and then BAM! it shuts off and i get the light and it seems that it gets less and less resiliant the more i try until it doesint boot at all, and then i have to wait for the next day to try to fix again.
I did everything here and i did have 2 shorts, one in the memory card reader slot (bent pin touching the other) and one on my PATA male port behind my second dvd, unbent everything and still the same. Also checked around the board for capacitor spills and nothing, no error codes from the front lights, tryed with video, hdd, pci devices and all fans unplugged (except cpu of course) but still the same, changed video card, battery and wires, nothing so now i am down to the mobo or psu.
Im leaning towards the psu since the mobo’s light is green and looks really clean, also when the pc shuts off i hear a ‘tok’ from the psu and then if i listen closely i hear a faint whiseling sound but did not detect a burning smell.
What do you guys think?, new mobo?, psu?
Just thought i’d post since this helped me too. I was getting the blinking orange light of doom after getting an error on the unit saying something about USB device corrupt failed and then the machine freezing. When I shut off and tried to turn back on, only the blinking light. After opening it up to look for corrosion on the motherboard, took an air can and blew out all the dust. Plugged back in and booted up fine with no errors… for now.
My E510 had the blinking amber light problem. It was intermittent but progessively getting worse. This is almost always a power supply issue. As the power supply fails it doesn’t provide consistent power to the mother board. The blinking amber light indicates a power supply or motherboard issue according to Dell’s manual.
I dinked around with fixes for weeks, batteries, USB, cleaning. It would work for a while but the problem would return.
I put in a power supply about a month ago. My E510 has been working like a champ since, no reoccurences. Cost $65 at Best Buy and took me 30 minutes to install.
For anyone experiencing this problem I suggest trying a new power supply.
I have Dimension 5150 and one day i come home from work and I see my computer flashing at me with this orange light. Aparently this light is signifying hardware problem. But removing and placing back 3v Bios battery fixed the problem. My theory is that even bios crashes once in a while(Could be caused by a lightning storm night before). Any way reseting this battery, brought BIOS back. And computer booted right up.
I just had the same problem yesterday. My 5100c wouldn’t power up, and every time I hit the power button, the orange light flashed once and nothing else happened (no drive spin-up).
Thanks to this thread, I looked at the front USB ports, and one of them had the pin/finger smashed into the connector. Yep, it was the 5V, which was shorting to the shield. I straightened out the pin, and the system booted right back up.
Needless to say, I put some electrical tape over the connector so hopefully the issue doesn’t happen again.
Thanks everyone for posting their findings. I don’t think I would’ve found this on my own.
Hey,
Same problem. How do i straighten the pins?
Rob,
Basically you need a hook tool (I created one out of a safety pin), and then you need to hook the USB pin inside the connector and pull it outward. When I did this to mine, it straightened itself out when I pulled on it.
If the orientation of your pin is different (mine was flipped up into the shield which facilitated a straight pullout), then the technique you use may be a bit different… but the overall result should be that you have all of the pins/fingers sitting flat on the plastic guide.
Thanks. But the thing i don’t really get. Is basiclly. doesn’t look burnt out at all or anything.
To be honest i don’t really know what i am doing.
Are these pins inside the usb input?
Still no luck on it working though, cleaned it all out.
Don’t flame me because i don’t really know what to do..
Any advice/help?
I checked all the usb ports for bent tabs…there are none.
Checked for corrosion on all boards…there is none.
I took out the cmos battery…and it booted up.
I replaced the battery with a cr2032…and it booted up.
if i start the computer backup right after i power down it will start back up…..but….if i let it sit severy minutes (still pluged in) it will not boot back up….i get the amber light of death.
Why is this doing this? power supply? power drain?
Ideas?
Hi. Its nice to know I`m not the only person with the flashing Amber
light syndrome. Being a bit of a twat as regards to computers, I followed quite a few of your remedies and finally, removing and replacing the battery has done the job, the only thing now is, I`m frightened to switch the bloody thing off
Be Lucky
Charlie
charlie if yours is like mine (E510)when you shut it off for a short time….like under a minute…it will restart.
….BUT…
anything longer it will flash the amber light and not restart
….BUT…
If you take the battery out again and put it back in ….it will start up again.
Anybody smarter than me think they know a reason for this …or…has corrected this?
What is a good power supply it put in…another Dell…if so anybody have a part# for that?
or an aftermarket? are they direct plug-ins…the aftermarket power supplies that is. Anybody have a good manufacturer and part # ?
Another question….will it damage the computer to run without the CMOS battery?
What would it do if the CMOS battery is not there…just not keep time?
Wow am I glad to find this site. Basically been having this problem for the last few months.
About 2 months ago my computer crashed suddenly and without warning. When I went to turn it back on it would just do the blinking light thing and not come on.
Weirdly (and no one else has mentioned this on here as far as i can tell) when i left it for a day it would come back on for like an hour, then shut down again at random. i then left it for a month because i didn’t have the money to get it looked at, and when i did eventually get it to pc world they said it was fine! they kept it on all day and there wasn’t a problem.
so anyway, got it back two weeks ago, it’s been fine since then, and now yesterday it did it again.
i’m seeing some sort of corrolation between the amount of time it’s not in use and how bad this is. has anyone else noticed it?
thinking maybe it’s an overheating thing?
So I have a Dimension E510 with the amber light problem. I take it is a shot in the dark on what I should do to fix the problem? Clean the computer, check USB ports, replace CMOS batter, electrical supply, or motherboard.
Sounds fun…
Think I spoke too soon on my post yesterday. To-day, having not touched the computer after yesterday, getting it to boot. I went out, bought a new 3v battery, replaced it and now, guess what. Hooray, the amber light is back. My next trip out is to buy a hammer.
charlie
does it start up if you remove and replace the battery?
Hello johnnyc, After taking out the battery It would not start. In frustration last night I thought I would give it one more go, plugged in the power cable, nothing else connected, and it started. Have tried it this morning, ZILCH. If I was`nt already bald, I would pull my hair out.
I’m having the same problem as Johnnyc, no corrosion, no bend usb ports, and it will boot and run, but when I shut it off for more than 30 seconds :/ amber light returns. I would dearly appriciate an answer my e-mail is jeffereymeowmeowpuffs@live.com if anyone can help
Hi guys please help if u can i have a dell dimension 5150 its 2 years old and have a flashing green light on the start button and thats it and it will not turn on at all not sound nothing, i’ve unplugged it and still no change.
before it totally wouldnt turn on, it would flash green then stop flashing, then once i pressed the start button it would work but doesnt do this now.
Any ideas please and thanks!
Josh,
As the power supply degrades you will get intermittent failures. I struggled with the same symptoms your experiencing for weeks. Sometimes it would start, sometimes it wouldn’t. I pulled my hair out trying to find the cause. From my research it is almost always a power supply problem. Try replacing the power supply. It appears to me that Dell included a bad power supply component in the E510’s. I got a replacement at Best Buy for $65.
Had the same probmem, Dimension 5150 desktop, power button flashing orange, turned out to be shorted out usb ports on back of pc. Thanks guys!
how do you find out if it’s the usbs?
if you look at the prongs of the usb’s some people have seen the prongs bent….if you have on prongs bent that are touching each other…then its probably something else
Hello…
I just wanted to add something to this post. I had a Dell Dimension 2400 come in yesterday, the client said the PC was on when he went to bed and got up to find it off. He suspected the P/S and replaced it. After doing so it had the Blinking Amber Light.
When he brought it in I checked all the connections all looked to be good, removed the CMOS battery as well as a host of other things posted here.
I thought he didn’t have this before replacement of the P/S, when I tested the new P/S with a tester it looked as if it were dead too.
But what had happened was he actually was able to push the 4pin connector into the connection wrong and had managed to flip the floppy connector upside down and plug it in. Once i removed the P/S out of the PC and rechecked it worked. I knew then what had happened, just wish I would have checked that first, would have saved 90minutes!
But the cause of all this was a BAD P/S! Same on Dell for using cheap parts for BIG $$$!!
SHAME…even !
I also had this problem. I unplugged the processor fan and it boots right up. Plug the fan in again, no boot. I’m not sure if it’s the fan or the mboard but I’m ordering a new fan and should find out soon.
It sounds like the amber light of death can be caused by many issues!
For the record, I just had a bout of the Blinking Orange Menace and I found that it was tied to the blinking on my Ethernet connection on the back of the case. Unplugged it and Presto! Put it back and the machine booted up just fine.
I have Dell 5150 out of warranty. Have Amber light that flickers. I replaced power supply due to clicking sound coming from Fan. Amber light still persisted. Finally after multiple tries once Desktop started by fluke by playing with power button. You need to make circular motion on the button to turn it ON versus straight upright press. I shutdown computer after backingup file. Tried to turn ON PC, would not start again. Once again massaging power button restarted the PC. Dell won’t admit until some Attorney gets on their back, but power button sometimes is the culprit (Cheap parts !). Do not waste money on MBO, unless you see visible corrosion.
I am currently experiencing this problem, except my computer does turn on, you just have to wait a few minutes after the light flashes orange. I will take it apart tomorrow to see if I have the same problem as you guys, but I guess we’ll see ,l thanks for the suggestion I have been getting frustrated with this dumb computer taking forever to turn on.
All great information. My Dell Dimension 5150 had the orange blinking light issue as of last night. No warning sign, just loss of power and blinkie orange light.
Went through some diagnostics with Dell on the phone (unplug this, see if it works… unplug that, see if it works, etc) and the prognosis was a dead power supply. Although, the Dell support guy mentioned nothing about this issue of bent pins on the front USB ports… we didn’t check that, so I’m curious. *goes back to check* Everything seems to be in order there. I guess it’s a power supply issue. We’ll see.
Hi guys I have a Dell 5150. The other day AVG 8 caused the system to crash and I had to force the system down by holding the power button. I’ve taken all the USB’s off and tried starting it but nothing happens. I can see a green light on the motherboard and the front power LED occasionally flashes amber before 3-4 times and then nothing happens. I’ve had to send it in for repair at a local store as I’m out of warranty and don’t have the time myself. According to them it’s a power supply issue. I’m not so sure now that the PSU is the problem. Looking at this site reminded me that my front usb ports are slightly bent out and generally don’t work at all. They’ve not been used for a year and have never been a problem. Any suggestions? I’ll have to wait till tomorrow to see if the new PSU unit will work.
AMAZING, THANKS FOR THIS I LOVE YOU MWAH X
Wait i hoovered up the corrosion, but the USB port’s im having a problem with. Im only 16 I dunno how to do it and the the Dell dimension cover off. Is there any screw ons?
I came cross your article after I was searching on same problem though the internet and I saw yours. I have same problem for one of my clinets … yes it is the motherboard.
Thanks for the details and wish good luck for everybody
I came across this link and immeditely knew I had enough new friends to form a mob and go drag Frankestein’s house down. I have TWO 2007 Dell 5150 that BOTH have the same problem. I tried many things noted here and had different results. The fact is that even if I get it fixed I feel it will be temp and cannot feature sitting in front of something I paid that much trying to fix the dam thing. I just wanted you all to know I feel your pain X 2. Got new batteries and that seemed to workk. Then no. Then remove USB and boot etc etc. as above team all have done. The conclusion is that Dell builds crap. agggggggggghhhh
I have had the same problem for about 3 months. at first it would work when I took out all the usb cables which I didn’t mind too much as it was still pretty reliable, take out USB’s power on look at the pretty blinking lights and when they stop power on again. Even this tremendously technical excercise stopped working at the weekend.
After reading the above I took out my motherboard battery and it came on! not sure what drawbacks not having a battery in there will do though.
Same problem, replaced CMOS battery with know working battery as per M’s suggestion above. Works fine. Thanks!
I think its really dusty. You need to blow the dust off of the motherboard before taking any close up pictures. I didnt read all the comments so maybe someone said this already. I have worked on 100’s if not 1000’s of dell computers in my 8 years of having a computer shop in southern PA and all I see in those 2 pictures is dust, not corrosion. I read at least 20 comments and have no idea why everyone is not seeing this.
Had a similar problem, which I resolved by holding down on the power button for 60 seconds with the power cable removed from the back of the machine.
Jamie
I had exactly the same problem, with a blinking amber light - It ended up being the power cable, I swapped the power cable and it started working.
So as a first check, change the power cable (kettle cord) !!
Thanks
You should take out the CPU and check for dirt on the pins. This is because the insulation between the heat sink and the CPU is a clay-like compound that can seep in between the CPU and the motherboard’s pins (especially if the computer is old and dusty). This was the case with mine. Just wipe the CPU off (really well) and it should work fine.
I have problem my computer shoe orange signal when I try to turn on computer it still orange with#3 4 on also do not know what is that mean
I can’t do online now I need to type on my iPhone
It show orange light and number 3,4 on my system the monitor is black help
Me please. I need to get online or do I need a new computer
Another flashing amber light of death here, on a Dimension 5150. 2 and half year old. Started week and half ago, with flashing light for few seconds at boot, then stopped flashing, and then starts immediately when i next press the button. Gradually the wait got longer each day - this morning waited maybe 5 mins for flashing light to turn off before booting up.
Just replaced the PSU with the exact same official Dell part number and now starts up immediately.
Hi Andy, Would you have the link where the Dell part is available. Have tried their web site numerous time but cant seem to find it.
Thanks Charlie
I have the same problems with my Dell Dimension 5150. Can anyone tell me what the lenght of time for the waranty is? Rgds…Roberta
i have a dell dimension e510 with a blinking amber light of death. ok i checked all the connections and and usb ports and nothing distorted. removed the cmos battery and replaced. the computer boots normally at this time. i hope that this may help anyone who is the same situation..
Just had this problem. Come to find out one of my kittens had knocked the back usb mouse keyboard connections to where they where half way in/out. Pulled them fully out and checked all the usb pins and they were fine. My surge protector’s breaker was tripped too, so I pushed the little button on it. With everything disconnected from the computer I plugged the power back in and whoop no blinking amber light. Pushed power and it booted up fine. Reconnected everything and has been fine so far.
For convenience, I’ll do a quick list of what I’ve found to cause the blinking amber light of ungoodness:
1.Dust building-up in case/usb ports - use can of compressed air to clean out
2.Bent USB pins/outlets or bad connections with installed usb devices (if needed, disconnect usb ports from motherboard. Also, self-powered usb devices can cause problems as well)
3.Remove/replace CMOS 3v battery
4.Bad power cable, or check the surge protector/power strip or whatever your computer is plugged into for possible cause
5.Ensure that the processor power cable is securely connected to the system board (from power supply I believe)
6.Make sure that the voltage selection switch is set to match the AC power at your location (back of case on power supply)
7.Faulty or bad Power Supply (#1 cause according to Dell)
8.Faulty or bad motherboard (check for leaking capacitors)
9.Stuck CD or DVD Drives.
Also, I had to replace the power supply 8 months ago. It got cold in my room (50 degrees F) and the next morning the green motherboard light was dead. I got an exact part replacement off Ebay for around 45 dollars. Be sure not to let your computer get too cold!
Just had an orange flash of death problem with a couple of GX270 machines. Checked all the above tips which haven’t cured the problem, but I can reproducibly get it to fail and more importantly start by holding the power button down when plugging the power cord in.
I’ll swap out the CMOS batteries in a bit, but as a workaround it certainly seems to help.
I’m trying to remedy a similar problem on a 5150. I’ve found that the only way the machine will boot up is to reset the CMOS memory by using the jumper next to the DIMM sockets. Unfortunately this means resetting the time and date every time you switch on OR not turning the machine off for days on end. Very Strange.
Thanks to all of you that mentioned the USB, I was gonna take the PC to dell on Monday as they told me it could be a lot of things, but all I did is looked at the port and realised it was shorted, once again thanks.
I had a similar problem(blinking amber light and server won’t boot) and here it got resolved in my case.
Tried the following :
1. Tested powersupply by disconnecting the motherboard powersupply cable and jumping (using a paperclip) the greenwire and one of the black wires. I could hear the harddisks starting up.
2. Looked at my usb ports in the front .. one of them looked messy and looked like it was shorted. So I fixed it and the system booted up .
Thanks for the all tips on this site.
I had the same ‘blinking orange light’ problem with my Dimension 5100. Desktop just went dead and wouldn’t power up. I ordered new power supply on Ebay for $30 but in the mean time did research on this website and changed battery on motherboard and guess f….. what?!!! It works!!! Thanks guys.
P.S I will still change power supply when I get it because it has more power. Thanks again.
I’m running a E510 and I too have encountered the dreaded blinking amber light. I can’t be exactly sure when it started, but it’s been a while. It started with the amber light blinking and a few more pushes to the power button would cause it to boot up with no problems. After a while it has failed to boot for up to 10 minutes. Sometimes removing the USB mouse and keyboard seemed to play a role in getting it to boot up although that doesn’t seem to work. Resetting the coin battery in the motherboard does seem to force it to start, but that certainly isn’t a solution and I’ve just replaced it and know that isn’t the problem.
Two of the main problems seem to be power supply and the motherboard. If either of these were the problem, would my computer be able to boot at all? I’ve had dead power supplies on other computers and they would suffer from power downs while working on the computer and I’m not getting that. If the motherboard were fried, my computer shouldn’t be able to start at all right? USB ports look normal as well. Hoping some of you might have some input on what to do.
i have a dimension 5150 and the amber light at the power button was flashing. every now and then i could get the computer to turn on but i would have to remove the cmos and then put it back in and it would turn on.
i checked all usb ports, replaced cmos battery and check to see if there was corrosion on the motherboard but i couldn’t anything wrong with it. luckily i had a spare power supply and i put that in and it worked fine after. so for me, it was a faulty power supply.
thanks for all the references.
^^garv - try replacing the power supply. your situation seems exactly like mine.
I’ll give it a shot……I’m going to try a rig up my old power supply to an old dell. See if its still alive. Worst thing to happen would be to buy a new PSU and find out something else is wrong and then be forced to get a technician to verify whats broken.
Thank you thank you! I just fixed a customer’s Dell Optiplex with this problem. It was indeed a trollied front USB port. It has made me look really good! Fantastic.
Ok…. I TAKE MY PREVIOUS POST BACK. I thought i fixed it but it looks like it’s stiil the same. I did replace MB battery and it did power up. Then I got my new Power Supply, which I ordered before changing the battery and so I installed it and it worked just fine.
I turned it off last night and this morning it wouldn’t power up at all. I get the ‘orange blinking light’ from the power button all over again. WTF!!! I’m so tired DELL’s quality! I have Dell TV too which I spent $900 for about 2 years ago and that sucker went out too. I did research on it online and it turned out to be a common problem that hundreds of other people were having, it was a faulty design in a power suuply unit too. I called them up and had to argue for 30min, talked to 5 different people in India, told them that I would contact NCA / National Consumer Agency and BBB / Better Business Bureau and guess what they finally got back with me after a couple of days and sent me a new TV! It took a lot of arguing and frustration but it worked.
Products like that e.g /tv/computers are supposed to work longer than 2-3 years. Their design/quality is the cause of them failling and IT’S NOT OUR PROBLEM but their even if you are out of warranty.
We are getting riped off here. It’s a COMMON problem and it should have been handeled by them as a RECALL but they obviously don’t want to do it, costing them too much money and reputation.
People you need to start calling them to get your parts replaced for free even if your warranty is expired because they SOLD you bad design/quality and etc. product.
Please refer to National Consumer Agency for more infoon the life expectancy on that type of products.
I’m going to call them tomorrow and have them replace that crapy motherboard and power supply!
I WILL NEVER BUY A DELL PRODUCT AGAIN IN MY LIFE!
I had posted amber light problem sometime ago. Problem has beocme worse and PC won’t start at all. Can someone tell me if the PC would boot if front panel (that has a power switch) is either removed or shorted (always ON, if possible).
Fron panel has USB ports and two ports one for microphone and other for headphone. If you carefully remove the srews and take out the panel next to DVD/CD drives you find amber LED and a gray cable that is soldered on to panel, one end of which connects to MBO.
There is small 2mmx2mm black square (power switch) written under it and has a small black button which get pressed when you presse outside button (aluminum) via small arm/lever.
My question is: Is there is way to by pass power switch ?, i.e., always ON when you turn external power ON.
Dell is out of stock on Front- Panels (part No. x88543. They want $65 for the part and said would call in few days, 5 days have passed but no answer.
I have tried virtually everything except the expensive fixes. This blinking amber light has happened to me since the past two weeks and lucklily for those past weeks i’ve been able to start my computer by: pulling in and out the usbs multiple times and disconnecting my graphics card, wireless card, ethernet card and both times the computer made a whirring sound and booted up. now.. even those tricks won’t even start my comp up.
-I pulled out all usbs,basically everything plugged to the computer.. no luck
-replaced 3v quarter sized battery
-fixed usb pins
-took out psu, graphics, all cards except for mobo.
-reset surge protector and also tried plugging in the comp cord into every different outlet in the house
-cleaned out all dust.yuck
ok so the problem is I need a new psu or mobo? but the weird thing is… how was i able to boot the comp up the past two weeks by unplugging usbs and disconnecting the ethernet card?
also, Krisdm, I called Dell customer’s service and they transferred me to over 5 indian workers. I’ve explained my issue to every person and all they do is “ok, i will transfer you to someone who will help you diagnose this problem , or i will transfer you to someone who will sell you a new power supply” i’ve mentioned notifying the NCA/ BBB over this issue and finally the last indian person transferred me to an apparently failing number asking me to HANG UP… if you succeeded to get your free power supply can you please inform me of how to do it? obviously what i’ve said was insufficient and seemed like they were just trying to ignore me transferring me around .. even to the same indian person multiple times wasting 1hr of my life. please help for those of you who succeeded in receiving their power supply with an expired warranty!
Alright, I’m pretty much out of options here with the blinking light. Tried the paper clip to test out the power supply and the fans spin up. I sure as hell am not getting a dell technician to visit for 50 bucks only to have to buy one of their lame as refurbished parts. I’m going to order a power supply and pray that works.
I tried everything oin here including opulling power supply unit (PSU)from a working 5150. I have 5. Of the 5 3 are not working. So I ordered a new PSU after market that had 100 watt more. It works perfectly “SO FAR”. I plan on doing same thing with others. I have subscribe to this site to keep up with fellow Screwed by Dell Club (SBDC). Oh yeah I have bought Dell servers etc over years. Thanks to ther crappy support, crappy experience with these 5150’s NEVER AGAIN DELL> If you have manned up and admited AND fixed these all would ahve been forgiven.
I came across a computer with his same problem. Gotta say it was the front USB port that was broken.
Ok problem seems to be solved by buying a brand new power supply. Computer booted up fine and I’m crossing my fingers.
I had jumped my old power supply using a paper clip and the power supply seemed alive. My only guess would be that the power supply had some failing part inside(maybe a broken capacitor?).
dell suks we need to put an end to this, theses pcs are design to break down, through this dell will make more money, i would never buy a dell just for this, i got mine as a gift, and still regret, can never advice anyone to buy a dell, if u have an oldskool pc, stick to it it last, more durable, better to build a pc too, wat did i say, dell suxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Have had the flashing Amber light on a Dimension 5150 for sometime. Have gone through several “remedies” given out here but to no avail. Jump started the PSU which made it work, Changed the battery etc. Finally I took the Bull by the horns and chanced a new PSU obtained on E Bay (dont want anything more to do with Dell Tech) Guess what guys, it worked 1st time, so might be worth considering.
Be Lucky
i went to a local auction and picked up a dimension 5100 i put a new sata hdd in and loaded xp no problem when i shut it down everything seemed fine however upon trying to start i just got the flashing orange light so found this site and ok i read your comments on the orange flashing light then i remembered the broken usb port on the back of the machine when i had looked it over at auction i just broke the rest out and low and behold it booted up straight away it started up 1st time on the next twenty starts before i put case back on i tried switching off while halfway through boot and everytime it just worked fine so deffo short problem on the usb for me by the wayit only cost a 10 pound note cheers bye all
I too have experienced the blinking amber light on my DELL E510. The first thing I would do if you experience this problem is WAIT to see if the blinking light eventually stops flashing. Initially when I experienced this problem I’d have to wait about 5 minutes for the amber light to stop flashing but once it did it would boot up fine. It progressively got to be a longer and longer wait to the point I’d have to wait over an hour. After about a month of dealing with this, the amber light would blink once or twice upon pressing the power button but then stop blinking after releasing the power button. At this point, I couldn’t start my computer at all no matter what Mickey Mouse fix I attempted.
A lot of people on here have suggested removing USB’s from the computer or replacing the CMOS battery. Honestly, these seem to be temporary fixes for most. Resetting the CMOS battery does seem to force it to start for whatever reason and removing the USB’s seemed to lessen the amount of time you’d have to wait before the light would stop blinking.
The permanent solution that worked for me was replacing the power supply. I’ve never even opened a case to a computer before but I was able to replace the power supply without too much trouble. The most challenging part for me was determining how to unclip the wires from the motherboard, hard drives, cd-rom drive etc. from the existing power supply. Just make sure you are holding down any release clips before removing (it helped me to look at the new power supply unit cables to see how they clipped on). To remove the old power supply, simply unscrew the 4 metal screws from the back of the computer and then along the back of the power supply, there is a metal release clip that you push in to free the power supply from the computer. I’m not endorsing any power supply by any means, but the one that worked for me for me was the TR2 RX Cable Management 450W. I picked this one simply because it was the last one on the shelf at my local best buy. Probably paid too much for it (about $95) but I just wanted my computer working.
I had two caps that where blown in the PSU. Replaced PSU and machine boots fine.
Panzer
I had previously been able to reboot by removing USB devices and the motherboard battery. The last time the computer shut down, that no longer worked. I replaced the power supply with a 430W one and voila, the computer boots up when you turn it on, no tinkering necessary ! I guess this shows that this issue is related to power supply, there are marginal situations where reducing the power load during turnon helps, but replacing the power supply can help.
I am having the same problem, though not permanently. Let me explain, I’ve had a dell dimension 5150 for about 3 year. About 3 monhs ago got the flashing amber light and it would not turn on. I would get to to turn on eventually by holding power button in for 10 secs approx. However the problem kept returning when computer needed to be started up (if power had been urned of). I read these posts and as the problem was not getting solved by holding in the power button anymore (i think that was not the real solution just a coincidence) I removed the usb devices plugged in the back and it started up fine. For about a month is worked ok by removing the usb devices, however then this would not work either. Today had same problem and removed the usb devices and speaker wire and was checking the usb slots at the back I was just messing about trying to remove some dust from a nearby LAN slot and must have touched something (usb slots) and it fired up. Still not sure what the problem is, though I’m thinking of stripping it down and dusting it and checking all connections etc. If I find exact solution I will let you know, thanks for all your help.
Wasup people ,thanx for the suggestions you posted on this site .Im real glad i found it .Coz ihad a Dell pc GX 520 .Lying at home dead and i had no idea it was a small problem .My front USB port was shorting because the wires had bent .
The flashing amber light strikes again. My daughter found our problem if we remove the ethernet wire before booting everything works fine.
Here is the problem I am having with the computer that our company’s server runs from- the amber light is flashing like everyone elses but the computer itself seems to be working fine. There have been no power interruptions, it powers up and down with no problem, I checked the interior of the tower for dust build up and it was fine, the fans are all running normally- I want to ignore it but dread the day when something goes terribly wrong that the orange light was warning us about. Does anyone have any suggestions?
FYI, I had this problem and I ended up opening up the computer and disconnecting the SATA drive and cleaned it up by using an air comperessed duster. After hooking everything back up again,.. the problem was fixed!!
I had the same issues with 4 machines in our organization. I removed the battery plugged the machine in then hit the power button, crazy lights but it worked, turned it off put the battery back on the motherboard turned it back on and walla! it worked. Thanks for all the help and guess what Dell said buy motherboards.
I had same problem as ImpalaMan or Khalid on my 3 years old 5150. I tried USBs and battery. On the end I replaced PSU (405W instead of 305) and works fine so far.
Just wanted to let you guys know that I had the same problem with not starting up and the orange light would stay on. I found that my wireless card had come loose from the plug and wasn’t allowing it to start.
I realize it’s almost a year later now, but I was experiencing the Flashing Amber Power Button issue on my Dimension 9100, after months of no problems. After basically taking the whole thing apart, I saw this post, and searched for bent USB port pins. Sure enough, one of the front ports had been abused by the previous owner, and one of the pins was crossing over another. I straightened them out, and the PC boots fine now. Thanks to all who pointed me in the right direction!
My son was given a Dell Dimension 5150 from work because it “crashed” and they just wanted it gon- BENT PINS IN A FRONT USB PLUG! Thanks to y’all for the info. For the price if a new USB mouse (didn’t get one with the 5150) we have a new computer.
Had the yellow light issue, it is 100% the tiny little battery inside your Dell! Just take it out and restart your CPU. You can put it back in and you will be fine once again.
I had the same problem blinking amber light as soon as I plugged in the power cord. I then reset the Bios by switching the jumper next to the cmos battery to the reset position, I powered it on nothing, then I put the dip switch back to it’s original position and it worked.
I had this problem with my uncle’s Dimension 5100. After trying all of the smaller fixes listed above to no avail, I picked up a 500 W PSU for $20. After switching it in, the computer booted right up. It’s really disgusting that Dell can get away with selling such sub-par components.
I have a Dell 5150 that is flashing the dreaded yellow light. This happened after I defraged the HD. I was able to log in to Windows yesterday but the computer would shut down and the power light flashes yellow. I came back today and when I tried to log in I received a message that I need to activate windows. Humm….not sure WTF is going on. I removed all but one mem stick and disconnected all unecessary components but having the same prob. During boot up I pressed F12 boot seq and found a diagnostic option. I am running it right now and the system has not shut down and all tests have passed including MB and USB. It is still running the HD test. I believe that defrag has damaged the files and that its a software issue and not a hardware issue. I’ll keep you updated as to what I find.
ok i have a dell 5100C , and it turns on (most times) but it randomly shuts down , so i replaced the power supply had the same problem, (at least the old power supply WAS bad) but it did not resolve anything, ive tried tons of diffrent things being pretty pc savvy and all…… and to no avail i cant seem to get things working !!
NO HELP FROM DELL !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
5150 Update;For all of you that have the amber flashing light issue
Unplug the machine and wait for the mother board green light to go out. This will discharge the capacitors. Plug in the machine and turn it on. If you can get to the black Dell screen press F12 Boot up options, there you will find a hardware diagnostics tool that will run a COMPLETE systems check of ALL components. My computer would boot to windows but shut down shortly afterwords. However if I went into bios set up or diagnostics it did not shut down. I ran the diagnostics and everything passed. I had to re-register windows XP. After the diagnostics I rebooted to the OS and I got a error message that my copy of windows had not been registered. I called windows and was told that anytime you do a major component upgrade that this issue will occur. They gave me a reg key and the unit booted up. I’m not sure that the problem is corrected yet.
Replaced the PSU with one from another 5150
Replaced the battery
No dust in the unit as I clean it regularly
No bent pins
No component upgrades or failure
None of these things worked. It did however get into the 30s one night in my workshop and I read above that someone had this problem after a cold night. I was cold last night so I will check it this afternoon and let you know.
welp still no fixes yet, and it seems that a DRASTIC number of users have this problem with no support from dell, so im assuming its something messed up on there end
Well in the end it seems that after 6 months with a 200gig HD slaved to the DVD ROM caused the system to crash. Hummm…..wish I could have been more help. All working after removing the HD.
Had my PC randomly shutting down, however with the orange light flashing (power button), holding in the power button for 10 secs canceled the flashing then with another press it boots up again and all is ok until it decides to crash with orange light flashing again. I read all the tips here
look at MB no sign of leakage or corrosion
looked ad usb ports all looks fine
so being I have five of these 5150c’s in in my office decided to swap the power supply.
The pc with the fault has a graphics card fitted in addition as on the pc we have two monitors working.
Thought that perhaps additional power was being used and if the power supply were to be faulty the this could be it.
so far so good today it has not gone bad, however after reading the last post regarding cold start, my office is very cold at night 5 deg c at tops, when i come in in the morning it is not much warmer, this fauld only happens within the first hour of switching on and after reboot will work all day with no fault the following morning same fault, also this fault only started in the winter so before i count my chickens i will see what tomorrow morning brings.
My problems for the past 2 weeks with the flashing amber light was solved this morning when I replaced the CR2032 3V
quarter sized battery on the main board. It fires right up now every time.
Forgot to mention I’ve got an E510
I’ve also got a Dell 5150 with the same problem. I removed a Western Digital external USB hard drive that was plugged into the front USB port and everything then worked fine
I have a Dimension 8400 with the orange power light problem and was just wondering how do straighten the usb pins? I dont’want to have to pay for someone else to do it for me but can’t see the pins from the inside.
My mom’s Dimension 2400 (several years old) would not complete post when she tried to set it back up after moving from Alabama to Florida. She called me and I walked her through reseating cables and momory and cards and still got nothing, no lights, no memory beeps with the memory out, no flea power light on the mobo.
My uncle that was there with her was messing around in the case and has since gotten it to complete post. All the lights and fans are running now, but the monitor will not stay on. She says she hears it start to come on, then the light goes orange on the monitor. Known good monitor does the same thing. However, both monitors work fine on another system.
The onboard video on her system is shot, I had to install a PCI graphics card for her back in the summer. She has reseated the card already. She called me just now and I’m having her swap it to another PCI slot. If this doesn’t work, is there anything else anybody can think of? It’s got me stumped.
Laura,
If you are using a PCI graphics card then its possible that the bios defaulted back to the on board video card. Have her boot up and go into set up and check that its set for the correct video card and that on broad video is disabled. She my have to plug her monitor into the on board video card to see the set up screen. good luck.
The onboard is completely shot as well. No video at all, so she can’t access the bios. I’m still waiting for her to let me know if another PCI slot fixes the issue or not.
My Dimension 5150 has the dreaded flashing light on the front and would not power up also. First I would unplug all external wires, and it would power up. Now that no longer works. Now I open it up, remove the shroud over the fan, spin it manually, and hit the power button and it restarts every time. Basic Tip is to leave it on all the time and disable MS updates that force a restart.
Dell Dimension E510 developed the blinking amber light problem with no response at all from the computer. I tried the simple fixes that have worked for some (CMOS battery fine, no damaged USB ports, no obvious motherboard dust or corrosion, power cable fine). Decided to go with what most people have found to be the problem with this generation of computer, that is, replacing the power supply unit. Found an compatible replacement on eBay for about $25 plus shipping. Easy to swap out and the system booted right away with no problems. Has worked just fine over the past 10 days with multiple on/off cycles. Thanks to all the experience and information from others in this blog I approached the problem logically and made the right choices (ie, don’t replace the motherboard unless everything else fails).
Hi,
Had the flashing orange light problem.
Messed around for a while then found this site and another that described the various options to fix.
I messed around checking USB , etc., then pulled the PSU and opened it up; BAD CAPS,jsut like described and exactly like pictures on the other site ( I can’t remember the site).
The flashing orange is an indication of a problem with power.
there are lots of options for power problems in this and any computer. The Dell 5100 seems top have a bad power supply and should be looked at as the first solution.
Opening up the PSU is not difficult and bad CAPS are very obvious. I wouldn’t waste too much time fixing it unless you really want to; I bought a new switching ATX power supply for 40.00 CAD and the computer is running again.
Dell Dimension 5100
Blinking orange power button. I fixed this by checking all the USB ports and found one that was damaged. One of the 4 terminals was touching the metal casing once I pushed it back off of the case the computer started up no probs.
Customer’s Dimension 5150 seems dead. Won’t power up, but has green light on mainboard. Tried new CR2032 CMOS battery, checked all USB ports OK, tried replacing 305W PS with 400W PS - no change, unplugged modem, TV tuner, optical drives, HD, still won’t power up.
Any other ideas to try?
As another victim of the “amber death light” I tried replacing power supply twice with no luck. Per suggestions on this site I unplugged the USB ports although when I looked at the USB ports they looked fine. After that then eveything worked fine. Thanks to all for your advice. Probably saved me from giving my money to the geek squad.
I have had the exact same amber light problem. This one wass a solid amber light with the intermittent flashing yellow light on the front. ASfter reading some of these posts, I checked out the front USB ports. One of the USB ports had the little black piece broken off. I got in there with a knife and tried to straighten them out and after that, the PC booted up fine.
Dell is sending someone out to replace the MB and I will mention to the tech about the front USb connections and that that piece should be replaced also.
I now have an E510 with an amber light problem for the second time.
A few months ago, I could not boot up my PC at all. I had the dreaded blinking amber light as so many people here do. I installed a new power supply and it seemed to fix the problem.
Now I am having a new problem. I could either be playing a game or browsing the web and all of a sudden the monitor goes black and the amber light begins to flash. The PC doesn’t shut down (the power supply still runs, the fan still runs, my video card is still humming, etc.), but I cannot do anything. If I hold the power button down, it will turn off the machine. When I power it back on, the hardware comes back on (fan, vid card, etc), but it doesn’t boot up and the amber light flashes. I can turn it on & off 10-12 times and if I get lucky the amber light will come on for about 1 second and then the green light comes on and the machine boots up. But if I go about my business, same old story: back to flashing amber light sooner or later.
I unplugged all USB devices and checked plugs — all fine.
One time in about 40 attempts, I got the diagnostic lights to come on and stay on (1,2,3). I see what the user guide says about that, but not really sure what my problem is or how to fix it.
Any ideas? I’m stumped. Thanks.
I’m dealing with the blinking amber light as well on my Dimension 9100 paperweight.
I tried the quick fixes mentioned above and in other sites (replacing battery, toggling voltage switch, clearing USB shorts, etc.) with no luck.
Most recently, I tested the power supply outputs with a multimeter and found that the 24 pin output was OK (voltages met levels in Dell manuals). However the 4-pin connector to the motherboard (P2 i think) didn’t read any voltage at all, nor did the others.
Anybody else experience this as well? Are the zero voltage readings simply because the Power On switch hasn’t been triggered yet, or is my power supply bad (which is a lot better than the motherboard i guess).
thanks for any input here.
Tom
Save time and dont buy dell computers
Go with Apple
This post was great, it saved me alot of time trouble shooting other things. Mine was a bad power supply, I replaced it with one from my Dell parts bin and was back up and running. Thanks again!!!
Experienced the blinking orange light on a Dell Dimension 5150. Replaced the POS (piece of s…) 350W power supply with a quality 600W and everything is running as it should. It was a little tricky finding a BTX form-factor power supply locally so I had to order one. Anyways, thank you to everyone who has contributed to this discussion.
Blinking amber light of death on Dimension 5150. Tried everything here (great forum!), but no joy. B4 I throw it out, I’d appreciate any suggestions.
Here’s what I’ve done:
Removed-replaced battery / reset jumper
Checked USBs (over & over & over)
Removed all peripherals, including modem, hard drives, floppy drive, etc.
Checked connection to front panel board
Removed CPU fan, CPU, dusted off everything
Removed motherboard, checked for shorts, burnouts, etc.
Replaced PSU, Memory
Discharged by unplugging, holding down power button for 15 sec, and powering up
No luck - amber light still flashes
Some more info - three months ago the computer would not start and the indicator lights led me to check the memory. One stick came up with errors while the other came up okay. Left the good one in and computer ran okay. Owner did complain that sometimes it would not power on, but I thought it might be a loose connection. Then the flashing amber light started and would not go away.
Saw the buildup of dust shown in the pictures above, right around the cpu. I believe it’s the fan forcing air around those components causing the buildup, BUT it could not be blown off! Had to use a soft brush and electronics cleaner to get rid of it. Some corrosion evident, but not drastic, with no obvious sign of caps bulging/leaking.
If I plug in the motherboard power without the cpu 4-pin supply, I get a solid amber light. Once the 4-pin supply plugs in, the flashing starts.
This is my last ditch effort to save the computer. Any ideas?
JMK
That’s funny JMK - Mine acts the same way (solid amber light when 4-pin 12V power is removed from motherboard). Fan and hard drive will also run. But pull the 4-pin out, and it’s blinking amber and nothing else (other than the motherboard LED).
I’ve seen others post similar experiences… Would be nice if Dell clued you into what this is, although I guess they’d rather charge people $50 for the solution.
For what it’s worth, I replaced the power supply and that didn’t fix mine.
I may replace the motherboard, but am wondering how much $ i want to plow into this (I’m not a PC tech) on my own.
Good luck
I checked my computer again, and when I have the amber light flashing with all the power connectors installed, the power supply is not turned on (as the fan is not running).
When I disconnect the 4-pin cpu power, the power supply does turn on and I get a solid amber light. I checked the 4-pin connectors and there is 12v between the yellow and black wires.
Did you check the 4-pin connectors on your new power supply for voltages? I certainly think if the power supply is running that they should have the 12v.
JMK
After trying everything, I finally orded a
PC Power and Cooling PPCS500D Silencer 500w Dell 12V 80 Certified Power Supply from Amazon, $84 with free shipping to replace the 305w P.S. Everything works fine.
I can now shut down the Dimension E510 and it boots right up.
I was letting it run 24 hrs in fear of it not bootint up. No more.
By the way I have 2 computers here that are both Dimention E510 blinking orange and both of the computers have bent pins in the front USB ports…That front panel part from dell was around $97 shipped FYI
Livewire: I love you! I couldn’t get my Dimension 9100 to work (orange flashing light) but when you mentioned the usb ports shorting I had a look at the front ones which were faulty and it turns out one of the pins was touching the metal and shorting it! It works fine now!
I’ve looked at the 6-7 USB ports on my machine and can’t seem to find any pins out of alignment. Is it painfully obvious when one is tweaked? They all look fine to me.
In my experience it is pretty easy to see when the USBs are knackered.
I had another orange flasher in my workshop yesterday, which was fixed by replacing the PSU.
Cheers,
Helen
Great tip! My problem was a faulty USB port as well. I had disconnected my computer to work on someone else’s. When I reconnected mine, I received the dreaded flashing orange power light. I ended up just switching my mouse and keyboard to different USB ports and it started right up. Thanks!
Hi,I have the Dell Desktop Dimension 2400 since Oct ‘04,however over the past no. of months,the dreaded Hardrive Activity Light is ‘ far ‘ to fond of comin on for my likin,this slows up my internet usage.
How can I fix this ‘ nuisance ‘ please?!
Thanks Chris
pareil pour moi, mon Dell 5150 ne démarrait plus, c’était à cause des 2 ports USB qui avaient été très abimés par les enfants, les pins se touchaient à l’intérieur, j’ai écarté les pins pour qu’elles ne se touches plus et le pc a redemarré correctement !
I purchased four dimension 5150s in march/april of 2006 and to date, one has had this problem.
I opened the PSU and found two bulging capacitors. I considered rebuilding the power supply but time is limited so I chose to replace the PSU with a newer “80 plus” 380 watt version.
So far this has worked.
– other thoughts —
When I bought these I went with 1 year warranty. Had I invested in the 3 year this would have been covered, but economically this would have been a poor choice.
The 3 year warranty would have added about $ 60-80 per system times 4.
The cost of the PSU shipped was $35. I did spend a couple of dollars for a new CMOS battery. Am I happy this died after 2 years 9 months? no, but in the end its only a small pain.
I have a dell dimension 4600 series that had a constant flashing yellow light.. It would shut off and on for months.. I tried everything.. Finally I took it to a gas station and opened it up and did a good air blow in the fan area.. I had major dust bunnies that flew out of the fan area… NOw ,,, i have not had it flash yellow or shut off in 4 weeks… Thats all it was..
I had the flashing amber light Problem on a Dell Dimension 5150
Some of the post’s on this site said it might be a faulty USB socket and so I checked the USB sockets and found one of the front ones damaged, the pins were flatened and shorting of each other, once I straighened them out and made sure they were not in contact each other the PC powered up normally! Well done you guys!
Liam
Thank you for the post. Same symptoms, turned out to be a shorted usb port on the front panel. Working again…
DO NOT BUY DELL!
Enough said.
I have a Dell Dimensia E510 a.k.a. 5150 which is the L.A. County Jail code and L.A.P.D. code for a nutjob.
This thing was beeping strange codes.
Sounded like about three be-leeps followed by one more.
Some sleuthing on Google mentioned loose RAM so I opened the case and removed and reseated the RAM (very dusty! Feeyouuuh!) and it worked but only showed 256. The chips were in slot 1 and 3 so I moved them to 1 and 2 (old school guys remember parity modules).
Then it booted up!
After that I had to figure out why the USB ports were covered in tape. I looked it up and apparently the ports fail in the front but if you unplug all your USB except for the keyboard it will reset and work again.
So I tried a USB flashdrive and it wouldn’t fit.
The pins were mangled. I suspected the owner was frustrated why they weren’t working and tweaked on ‘em.
I fiddled with it and it went in. Then I tried to boot and it would not turn on with the USB drive attached. I got the orange lights everyone here decribes (old news). So even if the pin is not easily noticed, the alignment can also be off enough to short it.
I straightened the pins, not one to give up, and got them to work by wiggling the stick (no puns here please). I decided the pins were too unstable so I covered them from inside the case with a scrap of plastic sheeting. I know I could have leaned the pins over more to make it work but they are so flimsy that they will collapse and short it out eventually. They were giving it to the kids so I had to keep them from tweaking them.
Just use a USB hub to hook up in the back and keep the end with four USB inputs closer to you on the desktop.
Simple solution under $10.
I also discovered the Linksys WRT54G installation disk apparently installed a bunch of trojans and viruses on this machine.
Worst I’ve ever seen in ten years.
Discovered you can completely wipe and restore this machine by holding Cntrl and F11. Now it’s working like a charm.
The family is happy to have spent $40 instead of $400 on a new machine.
Have fun all you hipped out road turkey’s!
Stay smelly!
Keep in mind again that Cntrl is destructive and will wipe out any personal files and programs you have installed.
Just wanted to make that clear.
CR
Had a damaged left front USB port. Straightened out the pins and it started up straightaway.
Cheers, you eliminated a heart attack for me.
Just got my Dell Dimension 5150 going after trying everything simple as suggested by comments posted, turns out the usb ports in the back that the key board plugs into was the problem , I should have tried this first as a couple of weeks ago the keyboard started acting strange with the number keys not working and then one morning the computor wouldnt start. I looked closley ate the usb pins and they are fine but wonder in a build up of dust on the plug/pins could cause them to short or if continued rubbing of the usb plug and the back of desk could cause shorting ??
Thank-you for the help mine was a usb port flattened where the kid plugged his phone all the time.
For all that time you’ve wasted and stressed over your computer, you could have worked overtime at your job and saved enough money to buy a new computer. or, you could do what I did. I had an e510.
Replacing the CMOS battery will NOT work. when you replace the CMOS battery not only do you erase the date and time information, but you also temporarily erase its ability to send warnings (or in this case, the amber light). The light is there to let you know there is something wrong with your computer. Replacing the CMOS battery will make matters worse.
So i skipped that.
Then I checked my USB ports, everything was alright.
I cleaned out my system with a blow dryer.
I checked my motherboard for corrosion or popped capacitors, and the motherboard was alright.
I tried booting up my computer but it didn’t work. I then stumbled upon http://www.aplusperfect.com/articles/fix-dell-cx305n-power-supply#comment-70 . (keep in mind the author intended this fix only for dells with this power supply, which is usually the dell e510).
I learned that my PSU had a bulging capacitor, and so I checked and sure enough I had a bulging capacitor. I followed the instructions on the website and everything went along perfectly.
I could have simpily replaced the PSU, but that would be costly.
As for the rest of you dell users, i’m 90% sure your problem is with the PSU or a bent USB pin. Fix those problems. You might have a problem with your motherboard(it’s unlikely, but check it for corrosions). It’s definitely NOT a CMOS battery or dust problem.
I have an E510, and I upgraded my computer a couple times (8600GT, 3gb RAM). A few days ago I encountered the blinking amber light problem. Now for the two and a half years I’ve owned an E510, I’ve only encountered the blinking amber light problem twice. And in those two times, they were easy fixes. All I had to do was hold down the power button for 10 seconds, the light would disappear, and everything was back to normal, cinderella story. But this time it was a different problem. I held down the power button for more than 10 seconds, no success.
I saw a few comments regarding dust bunnies and flakes getting caught in vital parts. So I got my blow dryer and cleaned my system. No Success in booting up my system. I do recommend cleaning your system because after a year of idleness, your system will become home to a ton of dust.
I opened up my case and checked my USB ports, all looked good.
I read about motherboard problems. Heck what the hell, I’m not gonna replace the motherboard. It has hella stuff on it. And I don’t even know how to replace the mobo.
I read about I/O panels. WTF IS AN I/O PANEL? So I skipped that too.
I just bought a new power supply from a local computer shop, replaced my old cursed power supply, and everything is GOOD.
Conclusion: Permanent fixes are either power supply or damaged USB ports. (Because most people claim that these two solutions work most of the time). Only a few people claim that replacing the motherboard, I/O panel, and CMOS battery are permanent fixes. I beg to differ.
Not only that, I also needed a new power supply. The 305 watt dell power supply makes A LOT of noise. I got a 500 silencer, and it’s so silent. Now my only problem is the damned 8600GT graphics card. That makes much noise whenever I launch a video game. Ah well. I’ll be using this beastlike computer for the next upcoming years ^_^.
I have a Dell XPS 400 and was just heading to the store for a new power supply when I saw the post on the USB port. Sure enough, 5 minutes later up and running! Thanks!
I swapped the battery and got it to boot but only with the usb keyboard and mouse unplugged. Once boot process started I plugged in mouse and keyboard and I’m fine. I don’t think I’m out of the woods but It at least it’ booted up. Thanks for everyone’s suggestions.
Dell 9100, had the flashing orange light issue after having the PC on for a week constantly turned off and it refused to boot with just he flashing orange power button, mainboard had the green power LED lit.
Went to Dell’s support site they suggested faulty power supply, sourced a replacement but still had the issue.
From readers comments above some have mentioned they had this problem and it was due to a broken USB port shorting out. I have two broken USB ports on my machine and in the weekend had tried to plug a device into one of them, just checked and one of the exposed pins was touching part of the case shorting it out, straightened it out and problem solved.
Very strange that the machine had not died when I plugged the device in initially.
Thanks to everyone above for their helpful comments.
Steve
I dont know anything about computers so i dont know what some of the stuff is called but this i what i do it works everytime blow any dust out unplug the computer remove the small battery on the mother board then remove the metal box thats mounted just after the fan p/n cn-ofc820-73304-658-03io let it sit for a min then put it all back together then plug it in it will flash the same for about 10 sec then turn green as soon as it does hit the power then mine allways powers up fine but when the power goes out i have to do it again this is just what i found that works on my E510 hope it helps
Same problem with a 5150, remove the battery and it starts, leave the machine for a period of time and it goes back to the flashing light. will have to try another PSU from a machine i have.
Hi I have a dell 5150 when I went to power the pc on, nothing happened, but I did notice this amber light blinking every few seconds, also when I took the side panel off, I noticed that the green light innside was on, so power is getting through, I also notcied that if you unplug the power cable and leave it for a few mins,then plug it in the is a slight noise like the fan trying to kick in but cuts out, Any ideas? the pc was bought in dec 05 so its only just outside the 3yr warrenty! Is it the motherboard?
It is amazing that so many computers have had the same defect, but the CMOS battery/resetting the CMOS jumper, merely clears the error code being generated by the motherboard. This essentially only lets the computer temporarily forget there was a problem in the first place.
The problem is a ’short’ in the computer. Either through failure of a component, ie PSU, or simply by to circuits crossing. Such as in the case with the PIN’s in the USB port.
A power supply can go in any computer, and for many uncontrollable reasons and is hard to be too upset over. I’ve seen them fail from just a power outage. Not to say that if sub-standard USB ports have been used, who’s to say the PSU’s in these Dells are also of low quality, increasing their failure rate.
You might wonder why these USB ports are so much more problematic than other computers, its due to the cheap materials in the usb port itself. The plastic ‘chunk’ in the port itself that the pins rest on, can be easily cracked with sub par materials. If this ‘plastic chunk’ cracks off inside, or becomes bent, it allows the pins to shift from their original position, allowing them to touch off other things
Also, a common reason for the USB ports malfunctioning is when a USB plug tries to be inserted the wrong way. Normally with sufficient quality ports, it will simply not allow you to insert, and then you just turn the plug and try again like most normal times. However, when the plastic inside the port is weak or softer, it will ‘give’ a little, and allow the plug to slide in the wrong way. Then by completing to push the plug in all the way, unknowing to the user, it further damages the plastic, usually cracking it off or bending out of place. Then the pins are separated from the plastic, allowing them to be bent easily.
There are no other times that pins should be able to bend out of place inside a port unless the plastic does not hold strictly in place, or something other than a USB plug was attempted to be inserted.
This is only an explanation of why the fault happens, and is by no means an excuse for defective materials in what is supposedly a high quality makes. I have experienced this issue with some cheaper makes of computers, but never so consistently over a small number of models.
In response to bucks2hockey: My Dimension XPS 200 (same as a D5150c)has the exact same problem. When I finally get it to boot and run, I can insure reliable turn on and off by the following:
1. To turn off the computer, use shutdown in Win XP, then Turn Off the UPS or unplug from power.
2. Then, to turn it on, simply turn on the UPS or plug the power cord back in.
3. DO NOT touch or push the power button on the front panel. I taped over mine…
I replaced the power supply, no joy. I checked the USB pins, they’re all O.K. No loose connectors or dirt inside. It may be helpful to unplug the power completely and leave it unplugged for a half-hour or more or in order to let capacitors discharge, then try to plug it in to get startup.
Bent USB pins.
THANKS!!!
Hi all,
I found a solution that worked for me.
Before reading, you should know that:
1) I know nothing about computers;
2) it seems to work in MY case;
3) I may have an EXPLANATION for it (but go back to 1)), which is the reason I am posting;
4) my mother tongue is not English, so I apologize in advance.
Also notice that:
5) ploblems with USB pins? I do not see any pins in my USB ports (but, again, see 1), and in any case I wouln’t know what to do about them;
5) exactly because of 1), I do not like the idea of getting a new PSU, and changing it on my own.
So, what worked for me is:
GET a USB Docking Station with ITS OWN ADAPTOR (POWER SUPPLY), and plug everything into it. Then connet the station to your pc - this means that you are going to use ONLY ONE of your Dell’ several USB ports (you may experiment, choosing which one, in case you have the ‘pins’ problem).
Then power the pc. Blinking yellow light is gone.
Explanation:
in my case, I think the problem was the cheap, 300W or so, PSU coming with our Dell, while I had many things connected to my computer, including a wireless adaptor and several other devices. By connecting these things through a docking station with its own power supply, you do not put your Dell’s PSU under stress.
And, of course, you could always get yourself a more powerful PSU and change it. It may be less expensive in your country, I have no idea. However, and as I said before, I do not like the idea of tinKering with private parts of my pc when I do not know what I’m doing.
Best of lucks
zubragbillone
I had loads of problems over quite a long (dragged out) period of time with this effin annoying orange flashing light.
My first supposed fix was when i hoovered out the inside of my pc (fan etc). This lasted approx a couple of months at a time to begin with, then it slowly became weeks, then days, then sadly became minutes :o(
The hoovering sadly lost it’s healing gift…until I removed the heat-sink and discovered that there was approx enough dust in there to knit a car full of goths a jumper each.
I then began ritually hoovering again, cleaned out all signs of depressing dust, put together the heat sink and started up my pc…..
…only to later find out (in my inexperience) that I’d neglected to apply the VERY NECCESSARY thermal paste.
i.e. My computer sounded like it was going to literally take off and explode.
Due to the fact that I know next-to-nothing about building computers I thought to myself that there had to be something wrong with my methods. After consulting a less frantic online computer I discovered my error.
THERMAL PASTE!!!!
After buying some thermal paste (from a little twat in a spooky shop in a town called Melrose who conjures up his prices from his rubiks cube)….all my problems went away.
According to people who know more than me……dust is a BIG problem…..which makes computer repair men LOADS of money!!!
Hope this helps
(And again……THERMAL PASTE!!!) ;o)
Thank you so much for the USB advice! I can’t believe the problem with these Dells! Mine wouldn’t boot today - flashing 2 and 3 with the orange light flashing. I too checked the USBs on the front - one had several prongs flattened and I got in there with tweezers and straightened them out - it booted no problem. Thank goodness!
Can anyone help me? I actually see no pins inside the usb ports.
What do you guys mean by pins inside the usb ports…..
I see green light on the mobo ,so does it mean that the mobo is fine? I’m suere my power supply is fine -bought one like four days ago for just upgrade.
What should I do……….!!!?
I had this same problem with a system brought to me by a friend to work on. What fixed my orange flashing power button light was to unplug the cord from the back of the power supply from 120V,take out the CMOS battery, hold in the power button for about 30 seconds to discharge all circuits, then putting the CMOS battery back in. After I did this and plugged back into 120V, the power light began flashing much faster and after a few seconds of hitting the power button to turn it back on…BOOM…it came back to life! Yes, replacing the motherborad would have fixed this problem but it may not be necessary in some cases! Apparently the CMOS gets jumbled or corrupt and this resets everything in the CMOS to defaults.
Am I lucky or what. I have 2 Dell 5150s 1 had the flashing Amber light which was resolved by changing the PSU. Now the 2nd wont power up at all. If the PSU was finished would I get any signs of life at all, or would nothing work. Theres no little Green light on the mobo. nothing.
Thanks for these blog Thank you so much It was USB advice! I can’t believe the problem with these Dells! Mine was flashing 2 and 4 I was ready to get a replace the graphics card according to DELL!! the I too checked the USBs on the front - the prongs were flattened and I got in there with tweezers and bent them off - it booted no problem. Thank you for your awesome site!!
Hi guys and gals.
Problem was fixed for me by replacing the front panel with the USB and control switches.
Great thread guys.
Thanks for taking the time to post your findings, and saving us all a ton of $$$..
Hello!
And now for something completely different. In my case I had to switch the power supply. Still the computer seemed to have huge cooling issues. Around proccessor and chipset I saw carbon black marks. :O I took everything apart and cleaned the whole MB with cleansing alcohol (just in case). The original psu seemed to be pretty pointless and designed faulty (capacitors were out because of heat). I repalced it with Fortron 300W psu, which has 120mm fan BELOW it, not on the front side of it. So it has much better airflow and keeps the whole computer cooler, because it works also as a good outlet fan. I hope everyone has the answer for their different problems now!
I have a Dell E510 that wouldn’t boot due to the blinking amber light. I checked all the connections and didn’t find anything wrong.
My temporary fix was to shake the machine. Amazingly, that worked!
here is my problem:
I cannot turn my dell 5100c pc on,so sad
1.power cable checked,it is FINE!
2.motherboard LED is on GREEN
3.CMOS battery NEW!!
4.USB checked no bent no broken
5.should not be a POWER supply problem
because i once turn it on BY LUCK when this problem happened before this,but now i CANT do it one more time….
6.strange thing is the 1st time problem (front panel amber light blinking)
but this time no amber light,no blinking,but i disconnect the power,the motherboard LED dim down, and the front amber light flash 2-3 times
O..what s DELL 5100c problem
I had the same blinking orange problem but i tried our luck for a lot of times and switched on :-] Computer Works Fine. But I cannot Shut Down Because if you shut down the same problen will come back however using restart my computer works fine.
So for my dell Din 5150, I think the problem is the front switch.
So I need to change it, But I dont know where to buy it and how to change it PLEASE HELP
OMG it was totally the USB pins in the front of the thing…thanks you saved me some $. cheap!! i use the other port now and tossed that cable in the trash.
E510 Blinking amber (orange) power button – simple workaround described
I am a computer systems engineer and have worked in the industry for over 30 years. Just a couple of weeks ago the blinking amber showed up on my home computer (DELL E510). I was on a business trip and my wife informed me that there were thunderstorms in the area just a day or so before the problem started. Not sure if the blinking amber is really connected to the storms – because she was able to get the computer to start a few times (randomly) after the storms. When I returned I reviewed the DELL manual and found this cryptic statement “Blinking amber indicates a problem with the power
supply inside the computer”. From my experience with computers this statement did coincide with my initial assessment.
I was able to start the computer after waiting and retrying over and over by pressing the power button. I went online and searched the web and found numerous forums that discussed this apparently widespread problem with this model and other DELL computers. I did some further diagnosis based on some of the knowledge gained by reading the forums. My computer does NOT have a shorted USB port. I was able to get it to start by removing all USB connections… and the best tip of all, I was able to get it to start by using a hairdryer to heat up the power supply. Specifically, I aim the hairdryer at the exhaust fan area of the PSU holding it about an inch or two from the PSU enclosure and after about 1 min, the computer starts. Note it is NOT necessary to open the computer case. I have employed this workaround technique and my wife (who has no technical skills) has also used this technique successfully now for the past two weeks. My suspicion is that this workaround may eventually stop working when the marginal PSU components breakdown even further but for now we will continue to enjoy our success. Give it a try!
I have also read the forums which call out leaking capacitors as the culprit – very likely in many cases. I plan to investigate this by removing the PSU and inspecting the caps inside. Note: Based on visual inspection, the caps on the MoBo appear to be normal. As is evident from reading the forums, there are several things that can be the root cause of this problem (shorted USB port, leaking CAPs in PSU or leaking CAPs on Mother board, IO panel (switch?) or just a marginal PSU and maybe more). My theory is that in addition to the actual component failures and shorts, the design is marginal and the power supply has just enough power to work when new. Based on the forums, replacing the PSU with an equivalent (or one with higher wattage) from other manufacturers has resolved the problem numerous times. After normal use, the components breakdown but not completely and lose their ability to provide enough start up power. This is not necessarily just the leaking capacitors (which is the most obvious breakdown) but other components in the PSU. In my years working in the industry, we would routinely find marginal designs and intermittently failing components by using heat, cold, and deliberate voltage variations on computer systems – but this cost $$. DELL needs to spend some $$ to fix their design and provide higher quality power components to eradicate this problem. Until they do, the consumer suffers and we will continue to see more and more DELL owners join the ranks of the dreaded blinking amber power button!
Dan “the Man” (computer engineer)
As said in my previous post, the same problem occurs to my dell 5150.
I checked USBs and motherboard, all seems fine. One of post mentioned battery, so I renewed battery, it seems worked for a few times, but the yellow blinking light comes back on again after a couple of shutdown.
taking out battery again, put it back, dell starts again. Good fun !
I had the blinking amber light on my Dimension 5150.
I fiddled about with the usb ports on front and it came back to life.
Weird. Just another reason to migrate to mac
Grounded USB pin was my problem, thanks for the post
My system finally crashed badly. I brought it in to be fixed and I strongly stated the possibility of a problem with one of the USB ports. He replaced the power supply with a 500watt supply. It’s working… but now I have a loud fan and one of the USB ports doesn’t work!
I have two Dell Dimension 5150s both had the same orange light problem. I replaced the CMOS battery on the mother board and both work like new now.
Dell E510 - orange blinking light…ugh
This had been going on for over a year, loose commercial power to the machine and it wont start again unless you unplug and pull battery.. (and sometimes the USB’s like mentioned). Tonight, none of that worked. Changed the PS with another 305 I had, no good… Took a peek at one of the front USB’s and u guess it… bent lead grounding out the plug.. argh! Thanks to the people who mentioned checking those USB ports! - Rod
hey! URGENTLY need a solution for my dimension C521 there has been no problems or ways how to fix it on here :S for this certain computer. i have cleaned it checked the pins checked what is the solution?
Same blinking amber light. Bought the power supply before I looked to google. Same problem with new power supply. Read post, checked USB. Had 2 pins shorted, straightened pins and works fine. I know better than to order a part without searching. Oh well…
Thanks to all who helped.
Livewire, I ALSO Thank you for mentioning the USB port shorting causing the power button blinking. My Dell wasn’t working for more than two months and because the warranty had expired, I had to wait for a technician to look it up. Well… he didnt found the problem… After I read your comment I remembered that I had a bad UBS port in the back. So I looked closely into that bad port and I saw the shorting. Once I fixed that problem, my Dell 8100 turned on again !!!
Most Likely and Cheapest Fix:
Unplug computer, disconnect all usb/monitor/internet, open it, hold power button until green led on the inside on the motherboard turns off, pop out the BIOS battery (looks like a big watch battery and use a small flathead screwdriver to depress the spring lock on one side), plug in computer, hold power button for about 20 seconds (must reset BIOS or something), let up on power button, wait 10 seconds and push power button. The computer should turn on. Wait for it until activity seems stable (1 min. or so). Push powerbutton to shut off.
If this has worked you have proven that it’s not the power supply (it turned on).
Go buy a new battery (CR2032 3 volt). Unplug computer, open it, hold power button until green led on the inside on the motherboard turns off, pop in new battery, plug in (you should notice the power button blinking amber again), hold power button until it stops blinking (about 20 sec….again must reset BIOS or something), wait 10 sec., push power button. the computer should turn on. Wait for it until activity seems stabe (1 min. or so). Push powerbutton to shut off.
Now, close case, plug in all usb/monitor/internet/etc. Power up computer. You’ll get an internal floppy drive error. Push F2 (maybe F1) to get into the BIOS settings and go to “drives” and turn off the internal floppy. Save and exit. The computer should boot properly now.
This seems to be a big problem with the e510, my theory is that this one small battery is the root of most of these failures (as these computers usually fail after 1-2 years), not the power supply or the motherboard (heck, when you replace the motherboard it comes with a new one of these batteries…a several hundred dollar piece of hardware, with a $5 battery that will actually fix it).
May be to late, but check the USB ports on the front of the pc. I just fixed a Dimension 5100 that had one of the front usb ports broke and one of the connections was grounding on the case.
Bent the pins back, hotglued it shut and the pc works again.
Hope this helps.
Thank you “My Names Johnny”, you made my day. First, I tried ripping my Dell Dimension 5100 apart and cleaning everything. My initial guess was a faulty power switch. After taking it apart from an tightly packed place, I’ve noticed that it works fine. Then I tried solutions from fellow dell users in the internet, which lead me to this site. After reading the first few postings I thought I also have to replace my motherboard. Then, you suggested to pull the wretched battery away and check. I did and it worked as a charm. So I replaced the damm thing for just 8.37 Canadian and my baby works just fine……
Thanks again
Thanks sooo much for all the advice posted here. It saved me from sending my dimension into another dimension.
same problem
one of the comments mentioned a faulty usb
then i remembered that one usb was broken
so i plugged it in and started fiddling inside with a small screwdriver
i was able to hold something back while the computer booted and now that my computer is on i’m not going to turn it off
Thanks a lot guys you really saved my comp
My Dimension 8300 had the same problem.
Turned out to be the CMOS battery. Had a spare one in the drawer and voila! Been having this problem intermittently for ages (It would just start again after awhile) so I am glad to finally have it 100% solved.
Thanks Again.
Dell E510 amber light was caused by front power switch board. T o test board you will have to go into bios set pc to power on after ac power is lost auto power on. once this is done power pc on then unplug power cord DO NOT turn off by windows just unplug pc. then disconnect ribbon cable which connects front power switch board this board also has usb and front audio attached.once front power switch is disconnected reconnect power cord pc will start up if power swtich is bad pc will start up and work perfectly with out any more problems. i installed a power supply with switch in mine to turn by power supply and also it is ok to reboot or hibernate pc. another thing to do is download i8kfangui fan control progam and set to max fan speed dell did very bad job with fan speed in this model power switches are faulty.