Hello. I just got a Dimension 8100 computer from my brother, and after taking it apart to clean it, I plugged everything back in, and turned the power on. The computer seemed to start okay, and it appeared that it booted the cd drive, but nothing happened after that. There was no action from the hard drive, and nothing came up on the monitor. I tried to put in a newer graphics card, thinking that it was the issue, but the same thing happened with the newer card. Opening up the computer, i noticed a steady amber light coming from the motherboard that I do not believe was there before when the computer was working. I looked at other troubleshooting sites and checked the diagnostic lights in the back of the machine, they showed all green. I had also read that a steady amber light on the computer power switch indicated a power supply problem, but my light is still green. What could possibly be my problem? Any help is greatly appreciated.

What exactly do you mean by " booted the cdom drive".
Are you saying that the bios boot screen only shows the cd rom drive ?
Did you double check power connectors ,IDE cables and card seating? I have loosened a connector or two during my spring cleaning.
Do you have the diagnostic disks that come with Dell's ? They are pretty informative and they are bootable.
P.S. Welcome to Techspot!
I would also try the Dell recovery disk.
Also if you cannot boot to the O/S how are you able to install drivers for the new card and uninstall old drivers + switch to standard VGA? Which is the correct way to switch Vid cards.

Just a thought if you took out the ram try putting it in another slot as sometimes when you take out the ram dust and debris can fall into the slot.


Regards Howard :grinthumb :grinthumb

Liquidlen, i just switched the video cards to see if there was any change in behavior from the computer. There was no such change. I did double check all cables and wires and everything seems to be connected. When i turned the power on, the light on the cd-rom drive flashed, indicating that the computer recognized the cd drive. There appears to be no signal coming to the monitor from the computer whatsoever. The monitor stays blank and instead of a normal green light, a yellow light is on. If i can't see anything on the monitor, then i can't run the computer to see what the problem is. This appears to be a hardware related problem.

howard_hopkinso, I did not remove the ram. I merely took the cover off and dusted with airspray.

Thanks for your input so far.

I am having the exact same problem with an 8100. Did you happen to fix this issue? Thanks

I am having the same problem with my 8100: When I turn on the machine, the on light turns on, the fans run, the CD light blinks, and then nothing. The monitor shows the no input message. It will not boot from floppy -- it does not even check it (no click or tick-tick read sound) -- and it will not boot from CD.

I have no idea what to try next. Any ideas?

Thanks.

My Solution

Me again -- I took out and reseated my memory, and the machine booted. Don't know if that's your problem, but it's worth a shot.

One more thing...

fyi, the 8100 will not boot if a memory slot is empty. It requires a pair of blank memory cards for the pair of unused slots.

Thanks for the reply JAR. I should have posted how I fixed the one I was working on but forget the name of this site and just now recieved an email since you replied. I reseated the memory just like you did like 20 times and it finally came back up and hasn't had a problem since except for a crashed hard drive . I used the diagnostics lights on the back of the case to determine it was a memory problem and then went from there.

DELL Dimension 8100 will not boot HELPPP

Ok, I have read everything, I have tried I think everything. Well I was cleaning my PC and I disconected everything, when I conected everything I powered up the PC and nothing came on, I hear the fan funning the CD wanting to bood the hard drive boot but then it stops. I checked the Diagnostic Codes and the A-B stay yellow and C-D stay green, it says is a Memory failed to be sized or enabled, now i added 4 RAMs cause I thought it would be the module, but still I get the same error, when I took the RAM out and I heard peeps, it was the following: 5-2-2-1 Unsupported RIMM device count/technology, I am not sure what is going on, the monitor stays black and with a yellow light and I get nothing. I NEED SOME ASSITENCE Please HELP someone....

If you received the beep code error with the Ram removed (which how your description reads) then re-install the new Ram and continue to Troubleshoot.
If you received that error with the Ram installed , then I would suspect either ;
You purchased the wrong ram (Dell uses proprietary components) Double check their recommended parts list.
Or there is some smudging or blockage or something interfering with the proper seating of the Ram moduals.
As I read the solutions above. there is obviously some sensitivety concerning these items.

I had the same problem for the 8100. I first listened to the beeps of the system and matched the Diagnostic Codes (A-D) with the dell website. Using the dimension 8100 website.

http://docs.us.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/dsleest/codemess.htm

Then I just removed all the memory, and replaced each memory intill the slots clicked, by pushing down on the EDGES of the memory!! Use the detailed instructions on the dell websites for all troubleshooting issues.

I had the same problem but what i had forgotten is that i removed the two dummy memory chips from the slots and forgot to put them back in. THANK YOU JAR for reminding me about the memory! Oh God!

i am having the very same problem.. just picked up the 8100 from a friend.. and the lights on the back indicate that the a problem with the RAM.. well one of the slots is very loose kinda broken because of a stupid person that tried to do stuff with the pc.. so i tried to bend the pins inwards a lil bit because i figured that they weren't making a connection.. well it's still doing tha same thing and i'm getting very frustrated...any suggestions?