Inspiron 600m - Won't turn on "lock" lights blink when power pushed. will turn on if I push hard sometimes

My Inspiron 600m Is not turning on when I press the power button. The scroll, caps, and numlock led lights blink rapidly then nothing happens. According to the dell guide this means a faulty system board.

However, sometimes when I push hard on the keyboard, it will boot anyway... Any ideas as to what I can do other than replacing the laptop?

thanks,
DHP

 

im not sure but perhaps you could try taking the keyboard off and making sure all the connections on the top of the board are seated well.

 

I'm actually having this EXACT same problem with one of the D600's that I support at work.

I'm waiting to receive a new PCB board which contains the Power/Volume Buttons and sits just above the keyboard.

I've taken it apart a couple times now to ensure that everything is plugged in properly and this is the last thing I can think to try. (I've even swapped out the main board so this is the only other PCB left).

 

I have the exact same problem with my Inspiron 600m, pleas let me know if you find a solution. Could it be the motherboard?

 

My 600m sometimes has the same problem which is why I am replacing it. If I keep trying so far I have always been able to get it on.

 

I ended up replacing pretty much everything......motherboard, ram, and processor. Seems to be ok now.

 

I had the same issue. Here is a bizarre solution that actually works. Press down F7 and F8 keys (real hard) with or just after pressing the power button. This is apparently a motherboard issue and not so uncommon with 2-3 year old 600Ms..

 

Has anyone confirmed the motherboard is the source of this problem by successfully replacing the board? Just wondering before I go out an buy one.

Thanks.

 

Me, too!! Mine is doing the same thing. After replacing the battery , RAM and hard drive I just discovered this yesterday by accident. It intermittently will just click when I try and turn it on. So, for some odd reason, after I completely disassembled/reassembled it, replaced all of the components I mentioned above, it worked for a while. Then, I shut it down and tried to re-start it - it just clicked. So, I pressed down on the keyboard and it started up. Go figure!

If I knew it was the motherboard I might replace it - you can find them on eBay for about $100. On the other hand, if mashing on the keyboard works I'll just keep doing that. I don't want to keep spending money on a 4 year old laptop.

I will definitely follow this thread to see what happens.

Robert

 

my laptop wouldn't get to a screen. the power light flicked on, there was a kind of clicky noise and then it turned off again. But frehmaulian's f7 f8 technique worked for me so thanks frehmaulian. you are my hero

 

I replaced the motherboard on my Ispiron 600m last November and now the power button is sticking so I want to remove the board that it is attached to
instead of replacing the entire motherboard again. Does anyone know how to remove just the board that contains the power and volume controls?

Thanks for any help!!

 

Thank you Frehmaulin, you are a god, F7 F8 while powering up saved me as well!

 

I found the problem. At least with mine anyway. I read where someone said that, if they pressed th F7 and F8 keys really hard it would sometimes work. I couldn't believe that the keyboard could be the trouble so I looked to see exactly what sits under those keys. It turns out there is a heat sink underneath those two keys and directly under that is the bios chip. I tried pressing down on that and hitting the power button and, sure enough, it started booting. I decided I needed something to keep the pressure there since I'm, sure as heck, not gonna try to go over those tiny solder connections. It had to be something metal since it's going between the heat sink and the chip. I tried folding up a small paper clip and putting it between the heat sink and chip and the screwing the heat sink back down to the board. I pressed the power button again and it worked! Now I'm just hoping it will still work when I get everything back together. LOL. I guess I will eventually be buying a new motherboard. Hope this helps.

 

This laptop has many issues with the mini-connectors used to interconnect electronics. Mine had the same issues as you folks. No LED, intermittent power, volume buttons out... Before you press, bend, replace parts - do this:
* Remove the plastic name panel (from right edge and work to left)
* Remove the two screws holding the mini-board down (keep track of which goes where as they are different lengths
* Pull the plastic tab on the right side of the board and carefully work it out
* Take a toothpick and gently brush the micro connectors while blowing so dirt and stuff is removed
* Reinstall the board and use the eraser end of a pencil to firmly apply pressure to the right side of the board, seating the mini-connector.

I assure you that this solves 90% of your problems. These boards rarely fail.

-- Ron

 

Very interesting. I've already purchased a new laptop, but still have the 600m. I'll give it a try. Thanks!

 

An update on cleaning the LED/Power mini-board. An excellent thing to do to enhance the connectors contacts is to apply a small amount of contact cleaner for electronic components on both connectors. Then plug in/out/in a few times to burnish and cleanse the contacts. This is best!

-- Ron

 

I have a 600m with the same condition. I can confirm that the problem is NOT in the connection between the smaller USB / S-Video daughter board and the main board. I've pulled the secondary board and the unit behaves the same with or without it attached: Lock lights blink rapidly with no boot, but a little pressure or torque in the corner and it posts fine.

I'll keep troubleshooting it and I'll report any changes, but I'm quitting for today and wanted to share what I'd found.

 

Well, I've spent the last two hours poking at and soldering various pins and components on the 600m's motherboard to no avail. I painstakingly retouched and added solder to every pin on the chip labeled "BI 0424 HS00-02560A" (presuming it to be the BIOS chip); I added to the five large rear posts of the ethernet jack; and touched up a few of the surface mount chips that looked thin on solder. I also replaced the DC jack which I found loose and damaged when I started this project a week ago. None of what I've done has made any difference to the previously described behavior.

I'm giving up trying to find the root cause. I hope the information I've provided will be of use to someone, somewhere.

 

Same notebook - Dell Inspiron 600m - same symptom, would flash the keyboard lights rapidly then stop without starting to boot up. All the lights flash on when I hit the power button, but only the power light stayed on while the keyboard lights were flashing.

Different 'fix.' When I found this thread, I tried pressing f7/f8 while trying to power the laptop on. Didn't change anything; neither did taking out & putting back in the (totally shot) battery. However, I was already having problems with the lcd and had removed it and hooked it back up (backlight's dead, still is - couldn't get the new one in). Didn't cause any other problems for a while but I decided to try removing it and powering on without the lcd. It worked.

So for some, pressing on the keyboard gets it to power on. For mine, it apparently had something to do with the connection to the lcd.

Now if only I could get the display to show up properly on my tv, I could maybe copy my files off that dying old Dell. (On the tv, I can get the image to show up, sort of, but it seems split and wavy and rolls across the screen. If there were more white, it'd look like 'snow.')