Old pc not turning on

[mikeymaiden]

So i have a old dell dimension 4550 pc with ribbon cables and other old stuff.The pc will not turn on i have tried just about everything and i need help.Is there any way that i could get some help/suggestions from you guys thanks.

[NoRomanBatmansAllowed]

Why do you need it on? If you're trying to get an info from HDD, just get an adapter for that, it's a lot more simple and usable.

 

If you just want to get your computer on for the sake of it, try any one of the following (one at a time)

• Boot from CD/floppy <--- TRY THIS FIRST
• Replacing PSU
• Replacing Mobo
• Replacing CPU
• ...yeah. You're gonna have to spend some money to get it working. If you wanna stay cheap, just get yourself an adapter, or better yet just another (slightly) newer system.

[mikeymaiden]

well all im trying to do is get it to turn on so my dad could use it for writing letters i have replaced the battery on the mother board but when i put power to it all i see is a green light on the board but it will do nothing else

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

1 minute ago, mikeymaiden said:

well all im trying to do is get it to turn on so my dad could use it for writing letters i have replaced the battery on the mother board but when i put power to it all i see is a green light on the board but it will do nothing else

If you see a bright green light, that's a good sign as that means the board does have standby power. If you're having problems just turning the system on, look for the front panel headers and try to trace the one that goes to the power button. Because Dell uses these proprietary connectors for the front panel and don't release documents on the pin outs, you'll have to do trial and error. Once you've narrowed down which the two pins for the power button, short the two pins with a screw driver and see if that'll bring the system to life.

 

Since you've replaced the battery, the CMOS should've already been cleared. But, doesn't hurt to clear it again by shorting the two CLR_CMOS pins.  

[mikeymaiden]

umm i idk if i really can because i have ribbon cables so i would not know how

[aisle9]

2 minutes ago, mikeymaiden said:

umm i idk if i really can because i have ribbon cables so i would not know how

Have you ever worked with IDE before? Could be a master/slave jumper thing, but that wouldn't normally block the PC from turning on at all.

[mikeymaiden]

no i havent

[mikeymaiden]

Also just saying it has no f-usb1 or f-panel on the mother board it is ALL ribbon cables