Dell xps m1530 black screen will not start

robswells

Honorable
Jun 23, 2012
3
0
10,510
I have a Dell XPS 1530 laptop computer that shows a black screen on start up. I get a momentary power light on the start button and I hear some start up activity such as the disc drive activation and then nothing. There is a power on light on the front side of the computer which stays on and the ac power light next to it blinks about every 8 seconds. I changed power supplies and no help. I have good voltage into and out of both power supplies. It recognizes that I am plugged in. My first question is simple. Will this run without the batter pack in place? If so, it will not at this time. Secondly, the screen remains black throughout what I think is the startup sequence. There are no logos, carets, etc. displayed. I inserted a disc which it accepted but I cannot eject it. It is running on Windows 7 Ultimate which I had to purchase at substantial extra cost when my Vista Ultimate failed. Neither Dell or Windows would give me any break on this after it failed in its second year. After having purchased additional hardware and software warranties( which are not expired) I have now exceeded its original cost. I went on Dells Trouble Shooting which finally directed me to uninstalling and reinstalling internal components. I have not tried this. I would like to know if anyone has had this trouble with any kind of success doing the reseating of the components or any other method.
 
Solution
It is starting to sound like a hardware issue, graphics card perhaps? I'm thinking getting into the works of the machine is going to be your best option - scary as it may sound. There should be videos available on youtube that show disassembly for your model. Ask questions if you're not sure of something. After the first time or two inside, you'll probably feel like an old pro.
Have you tried it on an external monitor/TV? Does that work?
Here's what your manual has to say for diagnostics.
"Press and hold <Fn> key while powering computer on."
Hopefully that'll get you somewhere.
Usually there is a sequence of flashing LED's if you do not have a picture at all - or is the one light blinking every 8 seconds the only one that comes on other than the momentary start light?

Optical drive - try manually ejecting the disk while the computer is off
 

robswells

Honorable
Jun 23, 2012
3
0
10,510


Thanks for responding. Tried external monitor I use on desktop. Monitor power button shows green when on and connected to computer. It shows yellow when hooked to the computer but receiving no signal. Shows yellow when hooked to laptop when laptop is turned on, indicating no signal. Could not check batter voltage. Removed battery and plugged to ac and computer does not start. Other laptop starts up without battery when ac hooked to it. Therefore I think the battery is ok. FN button will brighten a normally operating screen when pressed on startup. FN button does nothing when I start it. I get no blinking lights across top. I hear the startup operate the disc drive and the fan comes on. Nothing happens after that. Tried to type in password blindly after waiting some time after startup and no response. Dell manual suggests that I follow instructions to disconnect and reconnect internal components to "reset" components. I hesitate to do this because of its chances of really screwing things up, but it may be my last resort. Cannot manually remove disk. It has no tray or other manual release function. Any other ideas?
 
It is starting to sound like a hardware issue, graphics card perhaps? I'm thinking getting into the works of the machine is going to be your best option - scary as it may sound. There should be videos available on youtube that show disassembly for your model. Ask questions if you're not sure of something. After the first time or two inside, you'll probably feel like an old pro.
 
Solution