Comments on: The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 1 http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/ Technology and more from the perspective of a Catholic teenager Thu, 20 Nov 2008 16:25:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Patrick Edwards http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-11445 Patrick Edwards Wed, 11 Jul 2007 02:51:51 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-11445 Thanks, John, for posting this. I was having this problem for the last few days and had remembered that the last time it happened, I had to call in Dell with a motherboard. But with the warranty no more, I was hoping I could find a solution. Therefore, know that no one is feeling more joy than I am (had to revert to the old laptop to even get on here--took me a while to realize that my Comcast internet doesn't only work on the home computer :). I went in and pulled up the two memory cards (I think that's what they were) and pushed them back in firmly, adn then I unplugged something else that was plugged into the motherboard and replugged it, and when I plugged in the hard drive, the green light popped on! At first I was confused because once I connected everything back into the hard drive--including the monitor--the monitor continued to be orange. But I just rebooted and the hard drive kicked into the monitor and all is well. Thanks again. Sincerely. Thanks, John, for posting this.

I was having this problem for the last few days and had remembered that the last time it happened, I had to call in Dell with a motherboard. But with the warranty no more, I was hoping I could find a solution.

Therefore, know that no one is feeling more joy than I am (had to revert to the old laptop to even get on here–took me a while to realize that my Comcast internet doesn’t only work on the home computer :).

I went in and pulled up the two memory cards (I think that’s what they were) and pushed them back in firmly, adn then I unplugged something else that was plugged into the motherboard and replugged it, and when I plugged in the hard drive, the green light popped on!

At first I was confused because once I connected everything back into the hard drive–including the monitor–the monitor continued to be orange. But I just rebooted and the hard drive kicked into the monitor and all is well.

Thanks again. Sincerely.

]]> By: John Lamansky http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-2427 John Lamansky Mon, 20 Nov 2006 18:10:29 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-2427 Thanks for this advice Owen. Now I'm wondering if my orange light problem could've been fixed just by reseating the CPU instead of replacing my computer's entire motherboard... Thanks for this advice Owen. Now I’m wondering if my orange light problem could’ve been fixed just by reseating the CPU instead of replacing my computer’s entire motherboard…

]]> By: Owen Godwin http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-2425 Owen Godwin Mon, 20 Nov 2006 17:22:14 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-2425 The IT company I work for uses Dell machines internally, and over the course of time I've encountered a couple of these "orange power light" failures. Each time, the problem was that the CPU needed to be reseated. Upon removing the heatsink/fan, I discovered that the CPU was only about halfway into the socket, loosely sitting there. Putting it in the rest of the way and making sure the heatsink is firmly in place afterward took care of it in a pinch. After reading most of this entraordinarily descriptive blog, I began to wonder if Dell has any idea that this happens... it is after all a pretty unlikely scenario, despite having seen it 3 times in 6 months on several GXxxx models. Perhaps the easy-to-remove (like everything else inside a Dell) heatsinks shift a bit after heating up to operating temperature and cooling down over and over again. On a generic (non-branded) PC that isn't built with parts designed for speedy removal, this isn't a problem... that heatsink won't go anywhere unless you pry it off with a screwdriver, instead of simply flipping a level to release. Yet another reason to build one's own PC. Take care, Owen The IT company I work for uses Dell machines internally, and over the course of time I’ve encountered a couple of these “orange power light” failures. Each time, the problem was that the CPU needed to be reseated. Upon removing the heatsink/fan, I discovered that the CPU was only about halfway into the socket, loosely sitting there. Putting it in the rest of the way and making sure the heatsink is firmly in place afterward took care of it in a pinch.

After reading most of this entraordinarily descriptive blog, I began to wonder if Dell has any idea that this happens… it is after all a pretty unlikely scenario, despite having seen it 3 times in 6 months on several GXxxx models. Perhaps the easy-to-remove (like everything else inside a Dell) heatsinks shift a bit after heating up to operating temperature and cooling down over and over again. On a generic (non-branded) PC that isn’t built with parts designed for speedy removal, this isn’t a problem… that heatsink won’t go anywhere unless you pry it off with a screwdriver, instead of simply flipping a level to release.

Yet another reason to build one’s own PC.

Take care,
Owen

]]> By: John Lamansky » Blog Archive » The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 3 http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-495 John Lamansky » Blog Archive » The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 3 Thu, 27 Jul 2006 13:11:00 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-495 [...] [Note: This recollection of events is part 3 of a series, so to get the complete story, you’ll probably want to read part 1 and part 2 first.] [...] [...] [Note: This recollection of events is part 3 of a series, so to get the complete story, you’ll probably want to read part 1 and part 2 first.] [...]

]]> By: John Lamansky » Blog Archive » The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 2 http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-494 John Lamansky » Blog Archive » The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 2 Thu, 27 Jul 2006 12:58:11 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-494 [...] [Note: This recollection of events is part 2 of a series, so to get the complete story, you’ll probably want to read part 1 first.] [...] [...] [Note: This recollection of events is part 2 of a series, so to get the complete story, you’ll probably want to read part 1 first.] [...]

]]> By: John Lamansky » Blog Archive » The Top 5 Posts http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-469 John Lamansky » Blog Archive » The Top 5 Posts Mon, 24 Jul 2006 12:55:31 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-469 [...] The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 1(posted October 26th, 2005) [...] [...] The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 1(posted October 26th, 2005) [...]

]]> By: face http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-192 face Sat, 15 Apr 2006 22:30:52 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-192 Your video card for your monitor had a malfunvtioning compnent or a malfunctioning fan Your video card for your monitor had a malfunvtioning compnent or a malfunctioning fan

]]> By: John Lamansky http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-111 John Lamansky Wed, 22 Feb 2006 21:03:22 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-111 Mike, Of course I want to help people who have the same problem. I also wanted to write this post in a story format so that people who didn't have the problem could enjoy reading the post also, since the number of people with this problem is likely to be very small. Because this "story" is so long, I had to break it up into several different posts, which I would hope would have been implied by the fact that the post title is suffixed by the phrase "Part 1" and by the fact that the post has a concluding sentence reading "To be continued." In the post, I invited people to guess the answer while I worked on parts 2 and 3, which have since been completed. I did not have the intention of not telling anyone the answer. If you want to read the rest, please refer to <a href="http://www.johnlamansky.com/index.php?s=the+mystery+of+the+orange+light" rel="nofollow">Parts 2 and 3</a>. Thanks for your feedback. Mike,

Of course I want to help people who have the same problem. I also wanted to write this post in a story format so that people who didn’t have the problem could enjoy reading the post also, since the number of people with this problem is likely to be very small.

Because this “story” is so long, I had to break it up into several different posts, which I would hope would have been implied by the fact that the post title is suffixed by the phrase “Part 1″ and by the fact that the post has a concluding sentence reading “To be continued.”

In the post, I invited people to guess the answer while I worked on parts 2 and 3, which have since been completed. I did not have the intention of not telling anyone the answer.

If you want to read the rest, please refer to Parts 2 and 3.

Thanks for your feedback.

]]> By: Mike http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-110 Mike Wed, 22 Feb 2006 20:42:09 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-110 Don't you want to help anyone, what is the answer? Do you just want attention? THank about it. Don’t you want to help anyone, what is the answer? Do you just want attention? THank about it.

]]> By: John Lamansky http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-62 John Lamansky Fri, 11 Nov 2005 23:07:13 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-62 Alrighty, I've just posted Part 2. Alrighty, I’ve just posted Part 2.

]]> By: Nory http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-61 Nory Fri, 11 Nov 2005 18:06:30 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-61 I would really like to know the answer. My sister just had the same dang thing happen to her Dell. I would really like to know the answer. My sister just had the same dang thing happen to her Dell.

]]> By: Paul http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-53 Paul Mon, 31 Oct 2005 23:02:24 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-53 *eye twitch* I made a GRAMMATICAL error. Excuse me. It is time for a period of self-punishment and purification. *eye twitch*

I made a GRAMMATICAL error.

Excuse me. It is time for a period of self-punishment and purification.

]]> By: John Lamansky http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-52 John Lamansky Mon, 31 Oct 2005 20:06:35 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-52 The reason for your insertion of the Microsoft phrase is obvious to me also. You "through"? ;-) The reason for your insertion of the Microsoft phrase is obvious to me also.

You “through”? ;-)

]]> By: Paul http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-51 Paul Mon, 31 Oct 2005 19:57:57 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-51 ^^ Obviously. I merely through the Microsoft bit in for good measure. Clever, no? ^^ Obviously. I merely through the Microsoft bit in for good measure.

Clever, no?

]]> By: John Lamansky http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-49 John Lamansky Mon, 31 Oct 2005 17:24:04 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-49 Yes, the problem is now fixed. :-) Although it could have had to do with the fact that the computer was a Dell, it is very obvious (to me, at least ;-)) that Windows was not the cause of the failure. Yes, the problem is now fixed. :-)

Although it could have had to do with the fact that the computer was a Dell, it is very obvious (to me, at least ;-)) that Windows was not the cause of the failure.

]]> By: Paul http://www.johnlamansky.com/blog/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light-part-1/#comment-48 Paul Mon, 31 Oct 2005 16:52:54 +0000 http://www.johnlamansky.com/2005/10/25/the-mystery-of-the-orange-light/#comment-48 Of course I can tell you what the problem is! The computer is a DELL! Running WINDOWS!! That's what the problem is!! Seriously, this sounds like a difficult problem. You have obviously fixed your computer (as you are posting [unless you're posting from another computer {which is unlikely [can I fit any more brackets into this sentence??]}]), which is good, but as to what the problem actually is... I'll think about it. :-) Of course I can tell you what the problem is!

The computer is a DELL! Running WINDOWS!! That’s what the problem is!!

Seriously, this sounds like a difficult problem. You have obviously fixed your computer (as you are posting [unless you're posting from another computer {which is unlikely [can I fit any more brackets into this sentence??]}]), which is good, but as to what the problem actually is… I’ll think about it. :-)

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