1/ change power supply, not work

2/ take out all connections inside and outside, and power up, not work

3/ jumper on the green and black connections on the atx 24-pin connector, and power on, this time, the fan starts to run but no video output.

4/ I put the connections of hd, dvd, cd back, everything runs, except no video out.

5/ I put back the connections on the front panel module, and power on, the first diagnostic ampber light is brinking, according to the Dell’s diagnostic code, no ram is detected.

6/ I replace with other ddr2 333 ram, same, no video

7/ I realize that the problem is the front panel pwb is bad, and according to many people’s experience on web, I infer the pwb x8683 is bad, and will buy one later.

How this will help others with similar situation

Dell users, after fixing numerous machines and reading multiple reports, here is the obvious in case you didn't find it by now.

Blinking yellow = Power problem.

It dont matter weather it be the board, supply or shorted USB port, or even a fan. It's a power problem of some sort and the machine is protecting itself.

The second issue is with the diagnostic lights. These indicate malfunction of a sort. Mainly with something connected to the board, which could be anything obviously.

The battery situation. As stated, it's a tempory fix unless it happened to be a dead battery. Clearing the CMOS will reset the board until it detects the problem again.

The order of repair should be as follows (it's not a fixed plan due to the many combinations of problems but should save money over all):

1) Blinking light situation.
2) Examine computer for broken USB pins, or any external connectors due to these being used often anything can break.
3) Examine capacitors (Round can looking things for the fill in the blank types of people) for buldges or leaks. The reason they have that little "X" on the top is to allow expansion like a soda can. If you find a swollen capacitor then you can either fix it or lable the part toast. BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU OPEN A POWER SUPPLY! CAPACITORS STORE A LOT OF ENERGY AND CAN KILL YOU AT WORST!
4) If everything looks "normal" disconnect all components from the board except the main power supply cable. (There are ways to test the supply but if you didnt see a buldging capacitor chances are its ok).
5) Reconnect items one at a time (unplug power each time) until you run into the problem.
5a) If at this point (with all but the power supply and front panel heater hooked up) you still have a amber light, then you can either find the pins to bypass the front panel header and just power the computer on (Depends on machine) or spring for a power supply. Most places will accept a return on a supply.
6) If you still are stuck you can pretty much call your Mainboard toast. They do go bad but it's rare and almost always obvious as in seeing a buldging Capacitor or you were in the process of flashing the Bios. Even that can sometimes be recovered.

1) Error codes showing (Lights 1,2,3,4)
2) Generally they will point you to the problem as seen on Dell's web site.
3) If you try the obvious by reseating all boards and the sort, chances are you have a capacitor out.
4)If you don't spot a capacitor buldging remove all as mentioned above and start connecting again one by one.

Almost all the time the error is either a broken connector port, unseated component, or bad power supply.

If it's not listed here your board is toast. Dell uses their own custom boards on must units when they went to "BTX" style. You can fit a BTX board if you're good with a dremel tool. No one wants those boards anymore and they are as cheap as $10 for a Pentium 4 board new. If I need to explain how to put an aftermarket board in they you shouldn't be doing it.

LAST CASE SCENARIO -

Buy a motherboard and case (with power supply) that supports your processor and video card and move all your stuff into it.

Take the old dell case and board and properly dispose of it because it will contain contaminents for a landfill.

If you're a hick and dont care about mercury, led and the sort, you can perch the old system on a fence post and shoot it with any various weapons and film it for youtube for us all to see. If you're really constructive you can have it trampled by a bulldozer…. blown up… etc….

After reading these posts – I left the light flashing and disconnected all front usb connections – still dead.

The first usb I disconnected from the back was the speakers… and Boom the machine powered up and is running fine.

The only thing I can think of is that the speakers were shorting the USB.

Thanks to the posts on this site – you saved my life.