Dell Laptop - no boot or post.
Dell Laptop - no boot or post.
Hi guys,
A friend has a Dell Inspiron P143G laptop that won’t start properly. It powers on, the fan spins, but then it keeps looping and restarting repeatedly without reaching a stop. There are no beeps or the Dell logo appears. I initially assumed the problem was with the RAM, so I swapped it, but the issue persists. Now I’m removing all the RAM to see if that helps, though the fan still runs and it doesn’t loop like before. I suspect a BIOS problem, but there’s no way to fix or update it. Pressing the F keys doesn’t make any difference. I’ve tried resetting the CMOS battery and removed the M2 SSD just in case. Any suggestions?
Thanks very much in advance.
Where did he purchase it? Was it offered for sale in a working condition? Have you linked to an external screen to check for any displays? Without memory, it won't start, that's certain.
It was bought three years ago and still won’t start properly. The external screen looks identical, nothing changed. I understand it won’t boot without RAM, but it’s unusual not to freeze when there’s no memory at all.
Not as far as I remember.
What I can share is that she contacted me and requested assistance because it failed to load yesterday morning, and it wouldn’t start (her explanation).
I mentioned I considered a possible faulty memory module, but I swapped in a new stick and everything worked perfectly.
It powers on, the fan spins for five seconds, then repeats this cycle continuously.
There’s no post or logo displayed.
Without any RAM installed, it boots up and keeps spinning the fan, though there’s clearly no boot process since RAM isn’t present.
I’m assuming the issue lies with the board itself.
Hopefully someone else might have a different perspective.
Thanks.