Yesterday morning I plugged in my computer. I reached for the power button on my Dell Dimension 8400, but then noticed that the tower’s power light was flashing orange. In my Dell manual, I found the section about power light signals and read:
If the power light is blinking amber – The computer is receiving electrical power, but an internal power problem might exist.
Ensure that the voltage selection switch is set to match the AC power at your location (if applicable).
Ensure that the processor power cable is securely connected to the system board (see page 73).
Well, I was sure that the voltage selection switch was in the right place. And I found it highly unlikely that the processor power cable would suddenly unseat itself. Ugh.
Then I had an idea. I flipped off the surge protector and then flipped it back on.
Tada! No more orange lights. Weird.
The moral of the story: try the simple stuff first.
Many visitors have provided additional solution ideas in the comments section below.
Here are some Dell pages on the issue:
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/19245715/19384549.aspx
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/p/18835915/19102710.aspx#19102710
The Blinking Amber Light of Death is a documented problem. Here’s what Dell says about the Dimension 5150
Inside of Warranty
Contact Support 1-800-624-9896, and they will troubleshoot the blinking amber LED symptom and replace the defective part(s) per your warranty coverage. We will first replace the power supply and the Front I/O and Control Panel Assembly. If this fails to fix the blinking amber LED symptom, we will then send out a motherboard.
Parts needed in first service -
X8543 Front I/O and Control Panel Assembly
Power Supply (there are several part numbers. The technician can find this using your service tag number)
If the above parts do fix the Blinking Amber LED, we will then send a motherboard -
NH720 Motherboard Service Kit for Prescott CPUs
TJ946 Motherboard Service Kit for Cedar Mill, Smithfield, and Presler CPUs
==========
Outside of warranty
If you did not previously contact Dell-Jesse and get confirmation from him that you are on the list, you must pay Dell On Call 1-888-236-3355 to troubleshoot the blinking amber power LED. Once they ascertain what part(s) is defective, you may purchase the part(s) from Dell Spare Parts 1-800-357-3355. We are not giving the parts away. If this is happening, the technicians are going against Dell Policy.
X8543 Front I/O and Control Panel Assembly
Power Supply (there are several part numbers. The technician can find this using your service tag number)
NH720 Motherboard Service Kit for Prescott CPUs
TJ946 Motherboard Service Kit for Cedar Mill, Smithfield, and Presler CPUs
Message Edited by DELL-Chris_M on 04-21-2008 08:12 AM
I got this on my Dell Latitude D820 yesterday. I did a battery run-down test (ie, LCD and HDD on, but not doing anything). Lasted 4 hours 34 minutes. I know it doesn’t last as long as new, but 4+ hours is a dead battery? It pops up a little dialog box that says “Click here to buy a new battery”. Mine seems to charge just fine. I wedged a bit of foam under the bezel, and you’d never know that there’s an angry blinking orange LED under there now. 4.5 hours, this is thuggish pocket stuffing for Dell. Also, it spent 1 hour past the “critical” warning (ie, it was reading 2% for an hour, or almost 25% of the time!)
Anon,….i have nothing to say, coz you said every thing i was suppose to…..i too have the same problem with my Dell latitude D820, since few weeks.
Anon,….i have nothing to say, coz you said every thing i was suppose to…..i too have the same problem with my Dell latitude D820, since few weeks.
i am not using any external device, and all the USB ports are fine…
Could anyone tell me how to get rid of this problem?
Jerther the unplugging sort of worked. I unplugged all USB devices. Still didn’t work. Then I unplugged the Dell Keyboard (not USB) and it turned on like a charm.
daniel
Ok guys just scored a used Dell Inspiron 5150 Laptop. Worked fine for an couple of hours and then the y-y-y-y-g light started flashing and got a shut down(plugged in power) but the fan and harddrive is still running but black screen. So I can use the power button to shut down the laptop and then restart it which fires up right away, but only runs for a few minutes and then shuts down again still with the power light on and fan running but no screen?? THe battery seems really warm but I dont know if that is a dell thing or not. Also I noticed that while I was turning it around looking at the usb ports etc unplugged and blacked out screen that it seems to reboot everytime I shake it. Giving me the idea of bad battery connection. but it should not be an issue if i leave it on a desk. What can I look for since I already checked my usb ports
Thank you to all who have commented. I have a Dell Dimension 8400. Same, amber waves of death. Tried replacing the power supply, tweaking usb pins, blew every spec of dust, surge protector, everything. Just took out the 3v battery off the mobo dusted it off and replaced and she turned on, green light and all. Hope that helps someone.
well i think i found the problem, alll you have to do is remove the cable of the front control, and unplug it, then short pins 1 and 9 top row from right to left, having the little tab that makes it go one way in to the top… if computer turns on, the problem will be the board.
O.k. so I’ve read most of this site and as an 20 year PC tech I learned a few new tricks on here! Thanks everyone.
I just wanted to add my 2 cents worth. I have a Dell GX620 (stock) that I wanted to add a second SATA HDD. Well after many tests it just won’t work. When I plug the drive in I get the flashing amber light of death. So I just did a quick test of adding a second IDE HDD and like magic, no flashy amber light! My test was just to plug it in so now I get to really install it and see how it goes. It just boggles my mind that Dell has all the hook-up’s to easily install a second SATA drive but that it doesn’t work. I have found this phenomenon on 3 different Dell Models: Optiplex GX620, Optiplex 745 and Optiplex GX280. Fascinating. I guess if you don’t order it with a second HDD you don’t get to have one!!
Glad I found this site and will put it in my bookmarks for future reference!
I leave you with this reference to Dell’s site which has a chart for beep codes and lights.
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/opgx260/en/ug/solvprob.htm#1167139
Good Luck to you all!
My Dell Precision 350 won’t start up. It just has a SOLID amber light. The hard drive light would only blink once for a split second and then go off for good. I checked for loose connections and didn’t find any. I removed the RAM and there was no beep. I took the CPU out and put it back and now the HD light comes on and stays green, but the main power button light stays amber.
I looked at the USB ports, and they looked ok except for a little dust. I blew them out.
All the fans start right up, and nothing ever appears on a monitor. I just get a SOLID amber light.
The Only thing you need to do is change the BIOS battery located on the motherboard.It happens all dell computers in + or – 2 years .Don´t waste your money on another power supply, less than 5 USD will solve the blinking amber light problem!!!
Well I have the blinking orange light after trying to start my computer. It was shut down correctly. All started after I had to replace the “low battery” which gave me a floppy disk error & F1 or F2. Turned off the floppy disc in Bios and then started getting the flashing orange light that would not let me start my computer with a voice that said “press repeat to continue setup”..like where is the repeat button? Held in the button for 2 min but didn’t stop the orange flashing, pulled the surge protector & light kept on flashing. So kicked the chair and left the room wondering what I was going to do.
When I came back noticed the orange light was gone, so turned on the surge protector, pushed the button & there was the green light! I haven’t turned off my computer since because afraid the next time I won’t get it back up again.
Will check the pins on USB ports, unplug everything in back but as far as the inside goes..this girl is afraid to go there & start tinkering with all those funny looking boards.
I truly feel after reading all the posts that Dell is the blame & should have corrected this at their expense. I just went out & bought a new laptop & it isn’t a Dell. After using Dell for 8 yrs, I have seen their quality go down..I’m thru recommending them. As far as my Dell computer goes, I will hope these suggestions will work for me because I will have to shut it down sometime.
Thanks all you posters for the humor & help.
Hi, I have an dell inspiron 9300 and i recently had to replace the charger pack thing. Like I bought a brand new power cord thats exactly the same as the original. However, the power light for the batter is constantly blinking orange. It is highly annoying and I don’t think it is charging while it blinks. I just need some tips and tricks to stop the light. I don’t use my computer without the power cord so i don’t want to buy another battery because, even new, they don’t last long. I just really want this light to stop flashing. What does it mean?
Thank You so much,
Please Help.
My blinking light problem turned out being my video card
Blessings
I am having problem with my CPU,the orange light on my CPU starts to blink whenever I open my CPU, with the floppy drive light also blinking after 2 minutes.It goes on contiue without stopping & on my keyboard Number keys light,Caps light & Scroll lock light blinking at the same time.Pls show me how to solve this problem.I open my CPU also cleared all the dust inside checked all the cables connected well or not.But still I am facing the same problem again & again.
Pls tell me how to solve this problem i my CPU.above are the details I have given for sending me the mail for the solution for this problem.
My CPU Details are given below with BIOS Version
BIOS Version – VA84510A.86A.0030.P10
Processor Type – Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4.
Processor Speed – 2.8 Ghz
System Bus Speed – 533 Mhz
System Memory Speed – 333 Mhz
L2 Cache RAM – 512 MB
Total Memory – 255 MB
Memory Bank 0 – 256 MB – (DDR333)
Memory Bank 1 – Not Installed
Diskette Controller – Enable
Floppy – (1.44mb 3 1/2″)
Diskette written Proctect – Disable
1st BootDevice – 1st Floppy Drive
1st Floppy Drive
2nd – Boot Device PM-STSYOO15A
3rd Boot Device (SM-HL-DT-ST-RW/DVD GCC)
change the Boot Device – Details are given below
Before 2nd – Boot Device – STSY0015A
Change to 2nd – Boot Device – ST340015A
I am having problem with my CPU,the orange light on my CPU starts to blink whenever I open my CPU, with the floppy drive light also blinking after 2 minutes.It goes on contiue without stopping & on my keyboard Number keys light,Caps light & Scroll lock light blinking at the same time.Pls show me how to solve this problem.I open my CPU also cleared all the dust inside checked all the cables connected well or not.But still I am facing the same problem again & again.
Pls tell me how to solve this problem i my CPU.above are the details I have given for sending me the mail for the solution for this problem.
My CPU Details are given below with BIOS Version
BIOS Version – VA84510A.86A.0030.P10
Processor Type – Intel (R) Pentium (R) 4.
Processor Speed – 2.8 Ghz
System Bus Speed – 533 Mhz
System Memory Speed – 333 Mhz
L2 Cache RAM – 512 MB
Total Memory – 255 MB
Memory Bank 0 – 256 MB – (DDR333)
Memory Bank 1 – Not Installed
Diskette Controller – Enable
Floppy – (1.44mb 3 1/2?)
Diskette written Proctect – Disable
1st BootDevice – 1st Floppy Drive
1st Floppy Drive
2nd – Boot Device – ST340015A
3rd Boot Device (SM-HL-DT-ST-RW/DVD GCC)
Dell PC problems: FIX ACTIONS:
1) Power cycle – unplug the power to the PC- hold the power button down for 10 sec.
2) Capacitors – If the cross in the top of them is not flat or bubbled looking then you have a bad motherboard.
3) RAM – restart the PC with only 1 stick at a time and in diffferent slots. Ram can easily go bad.
4) Power supplies – Dell PCs are notorious for power supply failures but its = the users fault for not having them on a surge protector. Check the LED light on the board or LED # 1 2 3 4 which are indicators of errors with hardware. There is also built in diagnostic that can be run from the BIOS.
my motherbord led has a orange light wat does this mean?
i hva a dell dimension E521 and it wont start the power button its orange and im not able no see nothin on the scareen it runs on the orange power ligth but does nothin.
Hi there – have a Dell as well and am experiencing similar problems. Just moved to India where voltage is higher and after initially blowing up a power unit, now with the new power supply have been experiencing the flashing orange light phenomenon. Also, computer is making a steady high-pitch noise since the new fan was installed. Any suggestions???
hello i have a optiplex gx280 small desktop, and when i turn on the computers sometimes some fan inside start runnig faster and faster..i have to unplug the pc to stop it…sometimes just the famous orange light begin blinkin..
can you help me please??
azhar mohammed your first boot device is the floppy, change it to the drive.
Well, just to add my 2 cents to this freaking awesome thread, I tried everything all the way up to #comment-18387. Well nothing had worked so far so I was like heck, I’ll flip the orange switch in the back. Flipped it plugged it back in..
.
Still orange light, but the lock light turned on. Weird… o.O
Well no go there so i flipped it back and guess what!?! It worked!
Thanks all a ton for making this thread and darn you Dell for making something that requires a mile long thread to fix…
My orange light was caused by a damaged USB port, the pins were smashed and shorting the bus. Check all your ports.
Mine was a bent usb pin also. Much cheaper than a new power supply or MB. Thanks…..
I have an HP pavillion desktop a1473w (off warranty a couple months ago). The green steady light has recently turned amber/yellow and flickers, my fan shuts off and on, and at random I hear a chirp. I have not got my book anymore, and HP wants money to talk about it, and a technician wants money to look at it. Does anyone have any ideas? Homework deadlines do not care about computer issues, I hope it is not serious, tax returns are a long ways off yet. Write richtrailer@yahoo.com with ideas. Thanks!
I have a DELL dimension e521. I had the blinking light problem, computer wouldn’t start and nothing on the screen. I did everything… reinstalled RAM, reinstalled all cards, replaced a power supply, checked all USB ports but nothing works. Finally I had to replace a motherboard. Luckily hard drive wasn’t damaged… Now it’s working great!..
Sounds like a lot of people have dell amber flashing light problems. My computer is basically new, only one month out of the one year warranty. The last dell I had, had the same flashing light problem. It turned out to be the power supply. The new one now has the same thing. I’m going to try to do the suggestions given in this tread before I take it to the $300 just for asking computer diagnostic center. This is my last Dell. I think all the amber Flashing light Dell people should get together and file a class action suit against Dell. too many people are having this same problem. good-bye Dell. Hello Mr. Mac!
This a great thread and very informative.
The Dell I am working on for a customer is having the blinking light. However, what I get from most of these post is that yours would never power on until the issue is fixed. With this Dell, it will sometimes power on and run until I shut in down. It may or may not start up again next time, no matter if it is a few seconds or days later.
Put is spare PSU that I had, that wasn’t a fix. I will be checking all the other suggestions tonight, but wanted to get some opinions about the problem being on and off. (no pun intended)
thanks
I love Dell products, but over the past few years we have seen dozens of these issues. It has gotten to the point that we actually keep a few power supplies on hand at all of our clients that have a large deployment of Dell workstations.
For most home users, that is simply not practical and Dell really needs to do something to address these issues. We continue to reccomend Dell products but if these problems continue we simply cannot continue to do so in good faith.
Come on Dell, find us a solution!
thanks to this site and all the guys that posted their solutions. I did check on my usb port, and one of them got the pins all messed up. I did spread them and bingo, the amber light is gone.
I want to add my experience.
I used the chat feature and after I told the Dell tech initially my problem – that my battery was dead — that I was NOT going to replace it at this time and that I was happy to use AC for the time being and all I wanted was to have them help me stop the orange light from blinking — the tech told me I needed a new battery!!
Well, I already knew that! So, I sort of let her have it (because she kept repeating it and I kept telling her I did not want a new battery, I wanted to use AC and have every right to and still should be able to turn off the blinking orange/amber light), and then I asked for her supervisor.
The chat tech was very inept (but nice!! go figure!!)
The supervisor ended up just offering to send me a new battery, as my battery is out of warranty (even though I do still have the extended hardware warranty).
Ironically, I just had the motherboard replaced this same day (and prior to – did not have the blinking light issue — only after the battery initially went low and dead about a month or so ago) and this orange light flashing problem came back again.
So somehow, I attribute it to the new motherboard, as this was NOT occuring over the last month. When it did happen, however, I just taped a piece of black duct tape over that light, because it was really annoying.
Problem solved (for the time being).
I think ultimately it is a faulty communication system between the battery and the light — and when the battery goes low or dead — it will blink until you get a new battery.
Well – - that is just not right — because there needs to be a setting to turn the darn thing off!! And even I have my battery warning settings turned OFF, that doggone orange light still blinks.
So, my conclusion is — it is a design failure or malfunction of the way the battery is to communicate with the blinking light.
Once the battery is dead — it should no longer blink.
And Dell cannot expect people to live with an extreeeeemely annoying blinking light for the remaining life of the computer.
Hope this helps someone!!
I’m using a dell optiplex GX520, it blinks orange light and its cant start/power on.
What can I do?
I had a bent USB pin as well. Thanks!!!
Hi, I cant shut down my DELL Inspiron 5100 Laptop using safe boot. The start- shut down function is missing from the administrator profile.
When I used the guest profile, the laptop seems to have turn off but there is still a light in the LCD . I pressed the the power button to cold boot the laptop, the indicator lights turned orange.
I had to wait for the lights to turn off and when I tried to turn on the laptop, it wont boot up and I see orange blinking lights.
Can someone help me? Thank!
This is an oviously infuriating situation. I think it was stated earlier (At least on pc’s) the amber light blinking is not in itself any indication of what is wrong with the system. Only that somethign is wrong. Reading throguh all these post’s pretty much made my day. Any machine that has a failure to boot problem (With or without lights) goes through this kind of ‘tentative (repair/testing/observation) phase before we start replaceing hardware. It’s nice to see people doing it fo themselves. However for those that are spamming with ‘how do I know if my iusb pins are broken’ and ‘how do i fix’ You need to stop right there and seek proffesional aid.
Seriously.
I also had the blinking orange power button on my Optiplex GX520. Previous Dell experience had me thinking it was a bad power supply. Swapped out the power supply, but no change. Bought and installed a new motherboard from Dell ($212), but still no change. Found the comments here regarding bent USB pins. Sure enough, on the front panel of the GX520 there is a board with the power switch, audio jacks and two USB ports. Upon inspection I found one of the USB ports had been totally destroyed by a user. The plastic guide was completely missing and the four internal connector pins were twisted and shorted to each other and the port shell. I can’t recommend this to others, but I removed the board and carefully pried the broken USB port from the board. After reinstallation of the board, the computer booted right up. Obviously the proper solution is to replace the power/audio/usb board, but this worked pretty well for a field fix. I hope this helps!
I also have an E521 that just comes on with the fan blasting like a jet engine and no POST from the BIOS on the screen. No hardware changes in over a year and no idea what suddenly happened. I saw someone above who also had the power come on with nothing but a BLASTING JET FAN. Any ides?
i have the blinking amber light, i tried everything, replace the battery, i removed all the dust, checked the usb ports etc etc, what is the worst case scenario? replace the motheboard? replace the hard disk? help please
My Dell Inspiron B 120 (older laptop) does not run on a battery. I never replaced the old one but use the laptop with the power adapter plugged in. Just recently, my laptop began to shut itself off with a little buzzing sound at random times without warning! The amber light does blink at all times, even when the computer is off, as long as the adapter is plugged in.
Thanks for any help.
To summarize:
Orange blinking light on dell (dimension 9200): possible causes:
- short in a usb port
- broken videocard (this was my problem)
- broken fan (drawing to much current)
I short: any device that is broken, connected to the pc in some way (ata, usb, or directly to the power supply) can cause this error.
I have a dell optiples gx520, one day i turned it on and all i got was a amber light on the power botton blinking, i tried everything that was suggested but none of those worked and besides that i took the parts out from that dell including power supply and placed it in a similar dell and it works. but when i replace it in that shell it doen’t. this is annoying, i’m hoping someone can kindly assist me. thanks
Hello all!
I couldn’t help but notice how many people who call themselves 20 year techs are stumped with this problem. I also couldn’t help but notice that a temp fix for some was to change the cmos battery. When a cmos battery fails, your computer will not hold the correct date and time and will prompt you to go into setup. Blinky orange power light on the mother board or power button is the power supply. I have also been doing this for a very long time about 22 years and power issues are just that, power issues. If you get blinky orange light, the first thing to test is the power supply. Whether you put a voltmeter on it or just swap in a known good power supply, you will have your answer. The only reason I’m posting is some just handed me an optiplex gx150 and it was blinking orange. Tested it with good power supply and it came right up with no more blinky. Simple but logical things first. peace y’all.
I HAVE THIS LIGHT FROM THE POWER BOTTOM GOING OF AND ON AND A LIGHT INSIDE ORANGE STAY ON CAN SOME ONE NO WHAT IS????
Much like you guys, I too experienced the blinking amber light. With many postings on this topic it guided me to the ground floor of what to look at. I inspected the Optiplex GX620 and finally found an abnormality. The front USB ports were not identical. the port on the left was missing the black sliding wedge inside the port. All contact pins were pushed back, thus creating an elecrical short. I pulled the pins back out and straightened them, so that they no longer made contact with each other. Sure enough this resolved my problem. That one USB port is no longer usable but at least the PC is up and running.
This, by far, has been the best thread on this topic. I took apart my computer, replaced the CMOS battery and PSU, but no luck. I then removed all components included my CPU, and the computer started. Looks like I have to buy a new CPU.
THANKS! Found that the problem was exactly what had been mentioned in one of the posts — unplugged all USB devices and that took care of the problem. Tested each separately and found which one (switch for monitor) in about 3 minutes! Great tips -
ok…Check this out!
I’ve added an extra hardrive to my dell precision 390 ! If i put the side panel on the case to close it ,the computer won’t boot and the power led starts blinking BUT if i do not put the side panel on the case (case open) …the computer works perfectly !!!
It is driving me nuts and i can’t find an answer for this!
Thanks. pointed me on my way as well, 17″ Studio with a amber light “4 fast blinks”. Just needed to remove and reset the battery with the power unplugged. (while the laptop is off of course.)