I feel for you Rim. Maybe we should start up a cash collection for you! I know there's people like me who can't afford to have to piss around like this and are waiting to see the out come of your trails and contributions. Obviously, Dell cheaped out some where in there design or manufacturing and we're stuck whipping a dead horse. Microsoft did it with the Xbox 360 but at least they had the balls to admit it in a round about way.

You go Rimtuck!

Okay, I installed....
- Reburbished motherboard from Dell (through eBay seller - sealed)
- Used video card from video card seller from eBay

No go.

I have no idea what's wrong, but I have a feeling it's the eBay video card. It's not a tested card, but I think they "assumed" it works. I bet they pulled it from a dead m2010 and thought the motherboard was bad, and probably stripped and sell the other parts.

Don't know what else to do. Afraid more trials would lead to errors.

Well, I did pulled each part out and turned it on and this is what I noticed: (take note that only ONE part is removed when turning on, but left every other part installed)

- All RAM memory removed = different error lights
- Processor removed = automatically turned off after about 3 seconds
- Video card removed = fan blows for a few seconds
- Hard drive removed (this one only has one hard drive) = Same error lights as if it was still installed

It is possible that the hard drive is bad since there was no differences in error LED lighting.
I'm going to put that hard drive in a laptop that uses SATA drive also, and see if it boots up and vice versa...

Never mind, the hard drive boots fine in my laptop.

I still think it's the video card....

Ok Rimtuck, my friend also bought a card off of e-bay. Could take awhile to get here but i'll let you know how we make out.

Who is the seller on eBay he is buying from?

I bought from "aquamoon" and I asked him if the video cards were tested, and this was his response: "They are refurbished, but we have no way to test them"

That makes absolutely no sense. Refurbish electronics means used parts that still work. Since the seller didn't test it, how does he know it works? And how can he say they are refurbished?

I think aquamoon just pulls parts from computers/laptops and assume they work without testing them.

Well i received the new video card this afternoon and i popped it in quickly before i went to work and it started right up. So i'll put it back together tomorrow or Friday and run a couple test. If you don't hear anything else form me, i guess it worked! Thanks to this Forum
The video card was from someone in Hong Kong. It was listed as new but it didn't look all that new to me. It did the trick though.

That's great news! Too bad it's a hit or miss thing since all the cards are used. We don't even know if they are tested or not.

Anyways, I listed the m2010 on ebay. I don't want to mess with this stuff again in the future if it happens again:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...m=220378863411

Not out of the woods yet. Just a quick question. Are the heatsink fans temperature controlled or what? They don't seem to be kicking in. It ran for about 5 minutes before i turned it off, still no fans. Is this the source of the problems? Is there a way to solder or splice into another power source for the fans? i know they work. Anybody

You mean: Molex 4-pin CPU Fan Adapter
Yes they exist


Note this is just one from a quick Google search

Thanks Kimsland, but that's not quite what i meant. Is there a spot on the motherboard where i can draw power from with a jumper wire? I did it on a Xbox 360 so the fans would run full blast ... (didn't help though). Anyways, the web site showed me where to solder a jumper wire to. So now i'm wondering if there is a spot on this particular laptop where i can get the right power output for these fans. Should a person just probe around with a multimeter, can i splice into the wires that charge the battery. HELP.... before i really screw things up.
Is this why people are going through video cards because they keep heating up? You can probably tell from all the question marks, that i'm not a techi but i do like to solve a problem on a fixed budget. Any further help and patients would be appreciated.




Ok, they are temperature controlled. I waited a little longer and put the casing loosely closed. I took a peek after awhile and both fans were running. Thanks again!

i have the same problem on two XPS' one is still under warranty so a techie should be here soon to fix it.
after the online chat and phone call dell decided it was the motherboard so theyre sending a new one,now im afraid it might just be the video card or both.
il try and post back after the tech has had a look at it.

well the tech just came and swapped out the motherboard and we still couldnt reboot so we decided to just send it to the repair depot.
good thing is it should come back fixed bad thing is i wont know what the problem was,and i really want to know because my friend is having the same problem and i want to know how to fix it.

Thank you to all contributors to this thread. I am having the exact same problem and this is a great help to me! New VC on the way - fingers crossed!

Where did you get the new video card from? I went to all places, and they only sell refurb. Even Dell sells refurb.

Apologies - it's not new, it's used. I got it from eBay. Will send it straight back if it doesn't work..
Just wondering, do you think this problem is caused by a 2nd HD? I only recently installed one..?

I don't think the 2nd hd has anything to do with it because mine didn't have a 2nd hd. Mine didn't have the hd over the video card. Only on the left side.

Well I have a solution for you guys all if ur dell xps wont boot....Just to make sure we are all talking about the same problem:
Symtoms:
- Powers on, but does not boot.
- Blank screen.
- Power LED stays on.
- HDD LED blinks at the beginning and stops.
- Bluetooth LED blinks every few seconds.
- Keyboard LEDs flash once after powering on.
- CD/DVD tray won't open, but spins for a second after powering on..

Well the answer is....and will be if first you believe in Jesus Christ.

The fault is form the video card... just loosen it and the main problem is from the silver screws named A,B,C and D...loosen that screw and refix then and keep loseen and tighting the screws till the screen appears....Well for mem I loosen the video card...prayed nover it and fixed it bk and Lo and Behold...IT God fixxed I know is a miracle cos there was no where for me to get that video card cos I live in Ghana...as Im chatting you now Im writting with my Dell xps

So bascially, what you are saying is that the video card is seated bad? If that's the case, that means the connector might be worn, or possible some solder points are broken. I had tried this before selling the whole system, but it didn't work for me. I tried it loose, tight, and even with the screws off, but still no go. Maybe your video card is starting to go out, and moving it around is kind of keeping it alive. But who knows. Dell really should have a recall on this BS.

yea the video card is seated badly......first this what I did losen the card both the ABCD bolts or srews and the 1234 srews too....and on the VIDEO card IC u will see the card warmer is melted on the Video card IC which is in the color of a sea blue.....clean and whipe them off with a spirit or a dirt desolver the seperate the parts and put em down for bvout 30- 1hr to dry up and now b4 u refix it pray over it cos I believe in Jesus Miracle.....as rescrewed just on the pc...and if it doenst turn on....leave in still turned on and be playing with the srews or bolts ABCD as tightening themm and LO and BEHOLD it will come cos this how i did it and now ma pc is bk into health.....well.....see if ur fan vents r working cos the resume why the vidoe card not turning is becauyse the cooler on the IC LED or the reader is melted on the IC so wipe em off with a spirit or dirt desolver

and if u have a warranty let dell send u a new video card and lossen ur hard drive the processer and clean em all and refix em but the main problem is the video card trust me....cos firts i took it to a tech as soon as the tech opend and screw that place bk the comouter came bk to live... and when i got home on it for bout 1hr is went off again.....but i didnt botehr to send it bk but i made my computer rested for 3 days wihout not touching it...and i opened it my self loosen the video card side re fix it on my comp and it didnt work....so as i saw bolt B loosen i touch that screw, screwd it and i saw the comp on since em no porblem... hey I remember putting a small square cuttered paper or sheet ont the IC which si also square in replacement on on the melted cooler which is sea blue and also the paper will make it hard for heat to attack the video IC

for troubleshooting i opened the case. i applied power.all blue lights came on. i noticed that the fans would come on about 30sec later or not at all. i removed power. i removed the video card. i re-applied power to the computer. again all the blue lights came on, but this time both fans came on within 6sec. i turned off the computer reinstalled the video card. blue lights but no fans. i will try loosing the four screws on the video card. your logic sounds good. i will also pray as you did. i will let you know the out come. thanks for your help

Well as far as I can tell is that,the fan wudnt work or turn on unless a heat tries to catch it that works through the fan vents...screw out bolt ABCD and u will see the blue cooler melted on the IC of the video card and apply my rules and when the computer turns on for now...please prevent overtiming usages on your computer