Dell Studio 540 won't turn on

[r32]

I have a very basic, stock Dell 540 Studio.
Running Windows 7
About 1.75 yrs old
Motherboard: IPIEl-RN2

I went to bed and the 540 was working as normal. I've never had any problems with it. I woke up in the morning and it was turned off. I tried turning it back on and I am getting absolutely no power. The button on the front panel is giving me no indication lights and I can hear no noises of the hard drive starting up or anything.

I don' t know what to do next.

I opened up the tower.
Disconnected the hard drive and DVD drive from the mb
Disconnected all the usb cables from the mb.
Removed TV tuner card.
Removed all but one bank of ram.

I removed the power cable, then held down the front panel button for a few minutes to discharge any remaining electricity on the board. Green light on the back of the power supply then turned off. Then I plugged in the power cable again and green light on the power supply turned on and is solid bright green.

Then I tried reconnecting just the P1 and P2 cables and the front-panel power switch to the mb, but I still got nothing. I did the paperclip test on the P2 cord by completing the circuit between the green and any of the black wires. When I did this, the hard drive starts booting up as normal.

So then I ordered a new motherboard. I plugged in the new motherboard and I still have nothing. Same results. Nothing happens and there are no indication lights as all for the front panel power button (no amber or green).

I don't know what to do next? Should I order a new power supply to test that? I have trouble believing my CPU would have gone bad. I've never had that happen to me before, but I'm pretty frustrated at this point.

I do have another Dell system but it is about 6yrs older, so I doubt I could use it as a testing station for the parts and components within my newer 540 Studio.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[T_T]

The "paperclip test" only proves that your PSU is converting AC to DC. The reason why this is an ineffective test is because you are given false positives. You believe that because a device powers up, the PSU may not be the problem. This mentality leads the not-so-informed to continue looking for other problems.

I would grab the old PSU, hoping that it isn't bad, too, and test it in your 540. If you choose to do this, remove everything except for your CPU/HSF, this reduces as much load as possible. If the old PSU powers up your CPU/HSF, then that's a good indicator that your 540 PSU is failing.

 

[Guest]

Hello,
I have the same exact problem. Only, i thought at first it was the power supply. So i just bought a new one and i have the same exact problem. My next replacement should be a motherboard.. Perhaps we can swap.. lol. I know you have a new motherboards. If you have not replaced the power supply yet, i would like to swap if your interested. If you have already fixed your computer, it would be greatly appreciated if you let me know what the solution was. Hope to hear from you soon..

Be Well,
Morris S.

 

[Frank_frank]

Did you figure out the problem? Same boat.

I have a very basic, stock Dell 540 Studio.
Running Windows 7
About 1.75 yrs old
Motherboard: IPIEl-RN2

I went to bed and the 540 was working as normal. I've never had any problems with it. I woke up in the morning and it was turned off. I tried turning it back on and I am getting absolutely no power. The button on the front panel is giving me no indication lights and I can hear no noises of the hard drive starting up or anything.

I don' t know what to do next.

I opened up the tower.
Disconnected the hard drive and DVD drive from the mb
Disconnected all the usb cables from the mb.
Removed TV tuner card.
Removed all but one bank of ram.

I removed the power cable, then held down the front panel button for a few minutes to discharge any remaining electricity on the board. Green light on the back of the power supply then turned off. Then I plugged in the power cable again and green light on the power supply turned on and is solid bright green.

Then I tried reconnecting just the P1 and P2 cables and the front-panel power switch to the mb, but I still got nothing. I did the paperclip test on the P2 cord by completing the circuit between the green and any of the black wires. When I did this, the hard drive starts booting up as normal.

So then I ordered a new motherboard. I plugged in the new motherboard and I still have nothing. Same results. Nothing happens and there are no indication lights as all for the front panel power button (no amber or green).

I don't know what to do next? Should I order a new power supply to test that? I have trouble believing my CPU would have gone bad. I've never had that happen to me before, but I'm pretty frustrated at this point.

I do have another Dell system but it is about 6yrs older, so I doubt I could use it as a testing station for the parts and components within my newer 540 Studio.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[loftusfamily3]

Did you ever figure out what the issue was with your dell studio 540. I'm having the same problem and could use some help.

I have a very basic, stock Dell 540 Studio.
Running Windows 7
About 1.75 yrs old
Motherboard: IPIEl-RN2

I went to bed and the 540 was working as normal. I've never had any problems with it. I woke up in the morning and it was turned off. I tried turning it back on and I am getting absolutely no power. The button on the front panel is giving me no indication lights and I can hear no noises of the hard drive starting up or anything.

I don' t know what to do next.

I opened up the tower.
Disconnected the hard drive and DVD drive from the mb
Disconnected all the usb cables from the mb.
Removed TV tuner card.
Removed all but one bank of ram.

I removed the power cable, then held down the front panel button for a few minutes to discharge any remaining electricity on the board. Green light on the back of the power supply then turned off. Then I plugged in the power cable again and green light on the power supply turned on and is solid bright green.

Then I tried reconnecting just the P1 and P2 cables and the front-panel power switch to the mb, but I still got nothing. I did the paperclip test on the P2 cord by completing the circuit between the green and any of the black wires. When I did this, the hard drive starts booting up as normal.

So then I ordered a new motherboard. I plugged in the new motherboard and I still have nothing. Same results. Nothing happens and there are no indication lights as all for the front panel power button (no amber or green).

I don't know what to do next? Should I order a new power supply to test that? I have trouble believing my CPU would have gone bad. I've never had that happen to me before, but I'm pretty frustrated at this point.

I do have another Dell system but it is about 6yrs older, so I doubt I could use it as a testing station for the parts and components within my newer 540 Studio.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[loftusfamily3]

Did you ever figure out what your problem was with the dell studion 540. I'm having the same problem and could use some help.

Hello,
I have the same exact problem. Only, i thought at first it was the power supply. So i just bought a new one and i have the same exact problem. My next replacement should be a motherboard.. Perhaps we can swap.. lol. I know you have a new motherboards. If you have not replaced the power supply yet, i would like to swap if your interested. If you have already fixed your computer, it would be greatly appreciated if you let me know what the solution was. Hope to hear from you soon..

Be Well,
Morris S.