Bye Bye Laptop???

[Meredith9053]

I have a Dell Inspiron 5100, it died some time ago, and i replaced it, however I would like to get it running again for my son.  This is whats going on and what I have done to try and repair it.

Turn it on, you can hear it working, but nothing at all on the screen, no visual at all.  Can not get bios, nothing.

Thought ok, screen has gone.  No, plugged into second monitor, pressing "FN" and "F8" (to switch to second monitor source" nothing on either screen. - interesting.

Did Dell online diagnostic, comes up with beep codes 1 4 6.  This means HDD has previous errors.  My thing is I dont want to replace the hdd, then find, way more other things that have gone bung.  Not unless this all makes sense, that the hdd being faulty would loose the screen too.  I didnt think so, as bios should still be accessable, well I think so anyway.  on the subejct of hdd, happy to replace it, however my experience is with desktops, i have not seen this type of drive, it is a segate momentos,k but it has a weird tab thing at the bottom. - kinda looks like ide built into the bottom of the drive.....  I will go buy one, but any idea what the "type" of drive this is.  Also would want to upgrade froma 40gb to max, cant find the info for that anywhere, max ram is 1gb, found that but not hdd.  Is it limitless?  I didnt think so?

I have taken ram out and back in, as suggested on other forum, and taken battery out and in etc.  all the simple stuff.  Needless to say, no change.

I have checked the ribbon cable for the screen, all looks fine to me, no creases etc.

Runs Xp Home, if i remember right, cannot find any discs on it at all - so that just compounds my problems.....

Appreciate your time, thanks for reading my leangthly post, hey I am a chic - you didnt expect short and sweet did ya! 

[Helpmeh]

it died some time ago,

When you say that, what do you mean?
Thanks for reading my not-lengthy post lol...

[Meredith9053]

Sorry.  It presented with the current problem, and i put it in the cupboard because I was saulking...... lol.  just turned it on one day and, black screen , no response.

I did a bit more looking at the beep codes, i think i was wrong.

my beeps were 1 4 and 6 short beeps.  see below for tech support on beeps.

1 Short beep - System is operating normally.
1 Long beep - Memory refresh circuitry has failed which indicates a problem with the motherboard. Try reseating the memory DIMM or SIMM modules. Make sure if you have added memory that it is rated at the correct speed for the system.
1 Long 2 Short beeps - The video adapter has failed, or the video memory is having a read/write failure. Try reseating the video card. If the video card is a PCI video card, try moving it to another slot.
1 Long 3 Short beeps - The system does not detect a monitor. Verify that the monitor cable is properly attached to the video card or the onboard video and to the monitor (if the monitor has a detachable cable). If possible, try another monitor on the system to verify that the video adapter is operating properly.
2 or 3 beeps - There is a problem with the system’s memory. Reseat the memory DIMM or SIMM modules.
4 beeps - This indicates a non-functional timer. This indicates a problem with the motherboard.
5 beeps - This indicates a CPU (Central Processing Unit or processor) failure. Try reseating the processor.
6 beeps - This indicates a keyboard controller failure. Try reseating the keyboard connector.
7 beeps - Another indication of a processor problem. Reseat the processor.
8 beeps - This indicates a video memory read/write failure. Reseat the video card (if any) and memory DIMM or SIMM modules.
9 or 10 beeps - This indicates a ROM (Read-Only Memory) checksum error or shutdown register failure. This indicates a defective BIOS chip(s). Reseat the BIOS chips.
11 beeps - Indicates an error in the cache memory. If the system has a Pentium class processor, reseat the processor. If the system has a cache memory module, try reseating it. These beep codes will vary depending on the system.

[Helpmeh]

Sorry.  It presented with the current problem, and i put it in the cupboard because I was saulking...... lol.  just turned it on one day and, black screen , no response.

I did a bit more looking at the beep codes, i think i was wrong.

my beeps were 1 4 and 6 short beeps.  see below for tech support on beeps.

1 Short beep - System is operating normally.
1 Long beep - Memory refresh circuitry has failed which indicates a problem with the motherboard. Try reseating the memory DIMM or SIMM modules. Make sure if you have added memory that it is rated at the correct speed for the system.
1 Long 2 Short beeps - The video adapter has failed, or the video memory is having a read/write failure. Try reseating the video card. If the video card is a PCI video card, try moving it to another slot.
1 Long 3 Short beeps - The system does not detect a monitor. Verify that the monitor cable is properly attached to the video card or the onboard video and to the monitor (if the monitor has a detachable cable). If possible, try another monitor on the system to verify that the video adapter is operating properly.
2 or 3 beeps - There is a problem with the system’s memory. Reseat the memory DIMM or SIMM modules.
4 beeps - This indicates a non-functional timer. This indicates a problem with the motherboard.
5 beeps - This indicates a CPU (Central Processing Unit or processor) failure. Try reseating the processor.
6 beeps - This indicates a keyboard controller failure. Try reseating the keyboard connector.
7 beeps - Another indication of a processor problem. Reseat the processor.
8 beeps - This indicates a video memory read/write failure. Reseat the video card (if any) and memory DIMM or SIMM modules.
9 or 10 beeps - This indicates a ROM (Read-Only Memory) checksum error or shutdown register failure. This indicates a defective BIOS chip(s). Reseat the BIOS chips.
11 beeps - Indicates an error in the cache memory. If the system has a Pentium class processor, reseat the processor. If the system has a cache memory module, try reseating it. These beep codes will vary depending on the system.

So, you have a problem with your motherboard and keyboard controller. Please go to the hardware section (found here) for more help on your problem.

[Meredith9053]

thanks for you help, but the http dosnt work.... can i grab the address from you.  thanks.

[Helpmeh]

thanks for you help, but the http dosnt work.... can i grab the address from you.  thanks.

Sorry, that was my fault. Try the link again.

[Meredith9053]

still the same sorry! not getting the page to load.

[Helpmeh]

still the same sorry! not getting the page to load.

That was SMF's fault...it automatically parses links...anyway, the link should work NOW...lol;

[Meredith9053]

whooo hooo as homer would say.  got it.  thanks i will research a bit more.