Fan Failure

[bigal50]

I have an old Dell Optiplex 260 P4 2.8 CPU...that had a bad case fan. The fan is the type that is connected to the motherboard and also gets its power from the motherboard.  I replaced the fan with one that connects to the Molex connector from the power supply. But now whenever I have to start the computer I get a message that reads:

Alert !!  Previous fan failure. Strike the F1 key to continue. Strike F2 to run Set up utility.


Even though the new case fan works I think the BIOS is looking for the previous fan that was connected to the motherboard. When I hit the F1 key the computer the boots up into Windows XP. How do I get the computer to boot into windows without stopping at the "Alert !!" error message and go straight into Windows.

My computer has a BIOS version number A09 if that helps at all.

Thanks.
             

[quaxo]

Go into the BIOS and locate the settings for fan monitors. Disable the one that related to the old case fan. The BIOS thinks it's still there, but can't get a reading on it. This is why it thinks it failed.

[Salmon Trout]

A side note: the optiplex gx260 has a fan-less heatsink that relies on a plastic shroud and case fan to provide airflow over the processor heat sink.

Genuine Dell 9G180 Blower Fan for OptiPlex GX260, GX270, GX60, GX240 and Dimension 4500C, 4600C

$15.00

[bigal50]

quaxo,

I do not see anywhere in the BIOS where you can disable the fan ??

[computer 12]

check that the fan works first

[bigal50]

I went to the Goodwill Santa Ana, CA.  Computer Store. They specialize in hard to find computer parts as well as have great deals on used computer sytems. I purchased the fan I needed, installed it an am testing in right now. My computer starts right up with out going into that error message that I mentioned earlier. I will keep you posted. If you are ever in So. Cal looking for hard to find PC parts or a good used PC system you should try this place.

I will keep u posted !!!!!

A

[truenorth]

As was discussed on another post from a different member recently there are factors on fan connections that can cause this to happen depending on the wired connection configurations (3 versus 4) and also that there is NO standard for wire connector sequence. The result may be that unless you can find either the identical fan or one that is wired in the same manner you will NOT be able to resolve the warning. That said i too have the same message being generated from a fan replacement. I verified that there is no heat issue being caused from the replacement so i just live with the warning. In my case pressing F1 at the warning gets the computer beyond it. There was an entry in the BIOS to ignore the warning however it  did not alter anything. The next shutdown/start-up generated the same warning. As has been pointed out because the configuration of the wires is different the sensors are not doing their job right. My advice is to verify that your temps are within acceptable range and live with it.truenorth

[quaxo]

quaxo,

I do not see anywhere in the BIOS where you can disable the fan ??

Reread my post. You're not disabling the fan, you're telling the fan monitor to ignore alerts that come through for the fan.

Look for the part in the BIOS that shows temperatures and fan speeds. It's there.

[bigal50]

I'll keep loooking but still havent found the info you are telling me about.         However, I went to the Goodwill Santa Ana, CA.  Computer Store. They specialize in hard to find computer parts as well as have great deals on used computer sytems. I purchased the fan I needed, installed and my computer boots right into Windows with stopping at the error message. I have shut down the PC a few times and rebooted it at a later time and it appears to be working fine now! If you are ever in So. Cal looking for hard to find PC part(s) or a good used PC system you should try this place. Goodwill Computer Store, Santa Ana Calif.