Dell Inspiron 5100 dead

[Sam Goldwasser]

This laptop was apparently working and then wouldn't powerr up. When powered
on, "A" LED blinks 10 times over about 14 seconds. The fan spins
during this time and then everything shuts off. The disk drive never
spins up as far as I can tell and the display never comes on.

Swapping either RAM module into slot A has the same effect.

Any suggestions other than to put it out of its misery welcomed.

Thanks.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
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[Michael Ware]

This laptop was apparently working and then wouldn't powerr up. When powered
on, "A" LED blinks 10 times over about 14 seconds. The fan spins
during this time and then everything shuts off. The disk drive never
spins up as far as I can tell and the display never comes on.

Swapping either RAM module into slot A has the same effect.

Any suggestions other than to put it out of its misery welcomed.

Thanks.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

May be a dead hard drive controller, try swapping a different drive.

 

[Jim Land]

This laptop was apparently working and then wouldn't powerr up. When
powered on, "A" LED blinks 10 times over about 14 seconds. The fan
spins during this time and then everything shuts off. The disk drive
never spins up as far as I can tell and the display never comes on.

Swapping either RAM module into slot A has the same effect.

Any suggestions other than to put it out of its misery welcomed.

Hi Sam,

The Service Manual is on the Dell website:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/sm/index.htm

The Owner's Manual is here:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/i5100-om.pdf

The System Information Guide is here:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/SIG/EMF/P1521A00.p
df

Unfortunately, none of them tells you what ten blinks of the LED means!

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

May be a dead hard drive controller, try swapping a different drive.

Removing the hard drive makes no difference.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

 

[Sam Goldwasser]

Hi Sam,

The Service Manual is on the Dell website:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/sm/index.htm

The Owner's Manual is here:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/i5100-om.pdf

The System Information Guide is here:
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5100/en/SIG/EMF/P1521A00.p
df

Unfortunately, none of them tells you what ten blinks of the LED means!

Thanks for the links. I haven't really convinced myself whether the
10 blinks are and error code or simply they just fit in the 15 seconds
before power shuts off.

--- sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ: http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites: http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.