How do I bring a dell C600 to life?

bbutler247

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I have been building desktops for ages, but now I have 2 Dell C600 laptops apart in front of me that I am building for my Grandchildren. I have purchased all of the parts/assemblies online (all guaranteed to work, for what thats worth). Each has a mobo with video card, a 750Mhz CPU installed, 512 MB of PC100 RAM installed. They have a complete LCD screen assy, but not installed, rather I have a desktop LCD that I attach to the rear of the units as I work on them. I have a good charged battery and an AC Adapter that works. I figure I'm at the point of assembly that I can at least boot to the BIOS with them. Problem is.......BOTH are giving me the same error codes and NEITHER will POST!! Am I doing something wrong? Have I missed a step in putting everything together? Do I need to have everything assembled to check the BIOS? The indications I'm receiving are: KEYLOCK LEDs - off-on-on(from L to R) and the PWR LED- ON - all for about 5 seconds, then all off. Screen says "NO SIGNAL".

Anyone out there have any suggestions? All replies appreciated. Thanks, Butch.
 
Solution
The minimum amount of parts for the computer to turn on should be:
Power supply
Motherboard
CPU

The minimum amount for the machine to post is:
Power supply
Motherboard
CPU
1 stick of memory

You may get lucky with a stick of PC133, but in my experience, they were just as temperamental as PC100 memory.

frozenlead

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Start removing parts one by one until you find the part causing the problem - I suggest you start with memory, just because that's what it sounds like. Did you use 2 sticks of RAM?

PC100 memory is rather finicky - even if you have a part that works in one computer, another motherboard might reject it.
 

bbutler247

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Thanks for the reply........That's just the problem - I don't know what the bare minimum of parts is to make it post!! Since PC100 is finiky, can I use PC133? Will it even work? And to answer your question - yes, I used two sticks of RAM, took one at a time out, then swapped each one to each slot....no joy.........still stuck :(
 

frozenlead

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The minimum amount of parts for the computer to turn on should be:
Power supply
Motherboard
CPU

The minimum amount for the machine to post is:
Power supply
Motherboard
CPU
1 stick of memory

You may get lucky with a stick of PC133, but in my experience, they were just as temperamental as PC100 memory.
 
Solution

bbutler247

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I hate to be a pest, but I value your suggestions............Ok, I swapped out the pc100 mem sticks for pc133 - nothing. I'm down to the motherboard, video board, cpu and pwr supply. I hate to keep buying parts on the off-hand chance that I guessed right. I know the possibility exists that any or all of these parts could be bad. Is there a logical (read that economical) way to eliminate the culprit? Thanks!
 

bbutler247

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No beeps........not a whisper.
 

bbutler247

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I have a total of 3 motherboards, 4 CPUs (2 750s & 2 850s), 2 video cards (Rage Mobility 128s) and 4 sticks of memory (2 PC100 & 2 PC133). I have tried them in every combination of parts I can think of..........All (and I mean ALL) combinations give me the same indication & result. the 3 little LEDs at the top by the PWR button read OFF-ON-ON for about 3-5 seconds, then all off...the 2 LEDs by the battery charge LED both come on for the same time period. The monitor reads NO SIGNAL. There are no beeps from the BIOS.

I can't shake the feeling that I'm not connecting something that should be connected, since they all give the same indication.????

There is no CPU Fan connected to one of the mobos. Speakers are attached and dangling on either side (boards are not mounted in base) Both boards will charge a battery if attached. There are no HDs or PCMCIA cards. no floppy or CDROM inserted. One board has no CMOS battery. I have an LCD monitor attached to whichever unit I happen to be "working" on.
 

bbutler247

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In answer to your last post - the LEDs are not flashing, they just illuminate for a couple of seconds and go off.

OK.....Lets get back to basics:

I just received a Dell-refurbished mobo in the mail. It has a video card, CMOS battery and speakers installed. Theoretically, I should be able to attach an LCD, CPU and a memory stick and it should boot to BIOS - right?
I did all that and it didn't......grrrrr!!
I had none of these problems with the last one I built.....I'm lost.
 

bbutler247

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Problem solved........4 sticks of bad memory later, it works!........Thanks for everything!