Subscribe[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.]
Finally, the technician was here! We recognized the technician from before, when he had come to replace a dead hard drive in the same computer.
Right away, he asked me what the problem was. After I told him, he said he was sure it was the power supply. It just couldn’t be the motherboard. When I told him about how the fans were still running, he said the fans could run even with a bad power supply. I was half amused, half upset, that the problem was the power supply.
After I completed my normal routine of unplugging everything from the back of the computer for the technician, the technician opened the computer and began to rip the parts out of the motherboard at amazing speed. I was in shock, considering how I had spent nearly half an hour about a week ago trying to delicately take a RAM module out of the socket.
As he was replacing the motherboard, my mom asked him whether he advised buying a warranty extension, since the expiration date for this computer’s warranty was days away. Much to our surprise, the technician answered that even he bought extended Dell warranties.
This seemed rather strange. If something went wrong with the technician’s computers, he would be the one repairing them anyway! It turns out he gets a warranty for the parts, not the service. Dell has some proprietary parts in their computers (I, personally, wouldn’t be surprised if they do that on purpose) that are almost impossible to get from anyone but Dell.
I also mentioned that the service representative with whom I had chatted previously had said that the lack of POST beeps must be caused by a loose connection. But the technician disputed that hypothesis by pointing out that the internal speaker was built directly into the motherboard.
After the technician finished installing the new motherboard, he closed the computer and turned it upright. Clang! We heard something fall. The technician put the computer on its side again, opened it up, found the fallen screw, and rescrewed that screw.
He turned on the computer, and the orange light was gone! The computer booted up! (Oh, so it wasn’t the power supply…) Still no POST beeps. Oh well.
The technician entered BIOS setup, set the time, and changed other settings based on my computer’s hardware configuration. He then inserted a CD into the drive and restarted the computer. The CD gave him access to a command prompt, which he used to access a program on the CD. Using the program he then typed in the Service Tag for my Dell computer. And then the program actually changed the stored Service Tag in the motherboard’s memory. Oooohhh…
Then… it was all done! Or so we thought. After a restart, instead of the computer booting into Windows, we were met with a “Blue Screen of Death.” Of course, in the Windows XP-era, a blue screen either means a bad driver, or it means something is seriously wrong… unlike older Windows version where blue screens happen quite frequently.
And then something else surprising happened: the technician had to call Dell technical support to find the answer to the problem.
It turned out that the blue screen was caused by an incorrect hard drive setting in the BIOS. The technician changed that and — whala! — Windows XP booted up just fine. The mystery of the orange light was solved!
Or, again, so we thought. The technician packed up his things and went out the door. I sat down at my computer, clicked on my user account, and began to type in my password. Nothing happened.
I ran out the door after the technician. He came back in and tried to use the keyboard. Nothing. The technician then restarted the computer. And tada! it worked. And this time the technician was able to actually leave.
A few days later…
Okay, I was panicking. I had a BIOS error that said there had been a fan failure! I quickly turned off the computer. I went online and all Dell Chat representatives were busy. Okay, so I called instead. This time I was determined that I would not let them call me “ma’am.” When the representative asked for my name, I said very slowly and with diction, “John Lamansky.”
The representative stammered something like, “Is it… alright if I call you by that name?” I was taken aback by this question, and stammered in return something similar to, “Yes… it’s fine… I mean, please do… call me… that.”
While we continued our conversation, the representative actually seemed to be soothing me by repeatedly saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll send a technician to take a look at it.” And he actually said, much to my amusement, and with much soothingness, “Don’t think about it anymore.” (”Now remember you Dell technicians in India, those Americans are really attached to their computers”)
The last part of our conversation seemed to take forever, because the representative would not stop repeating how everything was going to turn out okay. I was growing very impatient. (”I’ll be okay if you let me hang up!!”)
The same technician came back again. He just couldn’t believe that he had to come back to service the same computer. He guessed that the fan wasn’t spinning up quickly enough at boot-up, which is why I received the error. He did a few tweaks and left. That must’ve done it, because thankfully I haven’t received the fan error again.
Chuck Crawford responded on 13 Mar 2006 at 10:27 am #
I have a 2400 Dell and the same thing happened I ordered a mother board from Dell on 2/11/06 for $79 after installing it everything was fine until 3/17/06 and it did it again I have not even paid for it if they don’t make it good they will not get anything from me and I won’t be buying another computer from them.
I have a ten year old Dell 266 XPSD and have never had a problem with it apparently they are using inferior part these days.
John Lamansky responded on 18 Mar 2006 at 10:33 am #
Yes, I’m also going to be a little more reluctant about purchasing Dell computers next time.
John Lamansky » Blog Archive » The Mystery of the Orange Light, Part 1 responded on 27 Jul 2006 at 7:54 am #
[...] The Mystery of the Orange Light: Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 [...]
bizkid responded on 16 Dec 2006 at 6:21 pm #
i have this problem currently. thanks john for leading me down the path to enlightenment.
Ted responded on 30 Jan 2007 at 8:00 pm #
A friend of mine is having the same problem with his emachines 410. I have brought it to see if something can be done.
dan kelly responded on 05 Feb 2007 at 4:58 pm #
ok john i have this problem as well, but slightly different, try this one, its very intermittent, my computer will run fine, for days sometimes, but sometimes a few times a day, ok my screen will freeze, no mouse movement, nothing, like time itself froze in my computer, i will hold the power button, it will shut down, i will turn it back on, and one of 2 things will happen, the “orange light of death” will come on, and the other “thinking” light will come on and it will sound like my hard drive is going through the normal booting, but nothing from the screen, same power saving deal you had, and the fans will run at normal speed. Or the “orange light of death” will come on, and the “thinking” light will not be lit at all, when this happens, the fan runs at a very high speed and say i move the computer or like tap it sometimes the lights will both change to green and it will boot normally, i have replaced the power supply, cleaned the boards, removed and reinstalled the cards, and also bought a 1 gb ram kit from pny, as this problem always corrects after powering down and up a few times, yet the problem persists, i think after reading your posts i need a motherboard, but do you think this could be caused my the video card? if it cant be the video card then it has to be the mobo, any help would be great thanks, oh and i never got the blue screen or anything
dan kelly responded on 02 Mar 2007 at 5:45 pm #
dell installed new mobo, all is well
moe responded on 14 Apr 2007 at 2:11 pm #
the same exact thing SAME EXACT thing happend in my life they even callled me mam
butt my computer didnt make it =(
Dante responded on 06 May 2007 at 1:10 am #
first and foremost, you guys are *********. what do you know of computers? the technicians are smart for not fixing the computer. of course their not going to fix it, then nobody would need to come back. its a lose lose situation for the customer. unless you educate yourself. all software problems can be fixed very easily, if you set up your computer the right way. 1st thing you do is go out and buy a copy of windows xp pro. 2nd. reformat your computer to get rid of unnecessary things that the company gives you. 3rd. split your hard drive into two sections. 4th. burn all your programs on cd’s and dont lose them. 5th. install all your programs and windows on C and all files(pics,music,videos, etc.) and anything else of importance on D. And if you happen to get a virus, it will be on C(because thats where windows is installed) and you just reformat that part of your hard drive. And don’t ever use virus protection, it only slows your computer down.
Dante responded on 06 May 2007 at 1:12 am #
and another thing, if you completely screw up your bios, turn your comp off and open it and take the battery out and put it back in and your bios is reset.
Tom responded on 01 Jun 2007 at 10:48 am #
Hiya John
Thank yuo for informing me. I was recently given an eMachines 410 with the same problem. As a computing student and hopeful systems engineer I recognised that the PSU was a problem and replaced that.
I might add that it took me three days to get a PSU that fit right. Modern computers have been universalised to a s-ata bus when this computer was IDE. In the end, aria.co.uk came through for me :))
After installing that, the fans started working which was good. So I thought huzzah! And plugged in the monitor and peripherals. To no avail. Nothing responded except an erratic amber light and the graphics card fan. After weeping to myself for a while, I thought ‘well, at least I was right about the PSU.’ After thinking that, I felt better and came to look on the net. Now that I have found this blog, my problems are all solved and the pc will be usable, HOPEFULLY by next week
Once again, thank you
Tom responded on 01 Jun 2007 at 10:52 am #
Could I also add to Dante if he ever returns that his rant was useless to everyone involved. The problem was hardware not software.
dan kelly responded on 05 Jun 2007 at 10:08 am #
yes, its tru, your response was of no help and was insulting, my motherboard had a physical connection problem in the circuitry and when it got hot, it would lose contact and my computer would lock up, i had a new one installed, and my problem is solved, but its ok you dont know much anyways, thanks to this site i got my problem fixed, thanks everyone except dante
Cheyennemtnman responded on 02 Jul 2007 at 9:36 pm #
I had the same problem and it turned out to be a bad CPU .. .the plastic clip holder for the Heat Sink had broken and thus only three corners of the heat sink were secured… One corner did not have a good seal on the CPU .. thus it overheated in that area and fried the CPU… this I believe causes the Orange light… It was interesting because I check it with a new graphics card and it kept showing the orange light… I even unplugged the PC and plugged the monitor into the graphics card and it turned from green to orange within three seconds… without power to the motherboard…
dan kelly responded on 03 Jul 2007 at 6:36 am #
hello, just checkin in my email said someone responded to this blog, and very nice, we have a few ppl with very odd but tru problems with hardware here, my aim screen name in dankhimself, if you have any other problems im not a pro but i always mess with computers so i probably messed something up and fixed it in the past so you can ask me about it, and im still using that same pc i had then, plus i built my own with a asus striker and core 2 processor, plus a myraid of other pricey components, and im open to help or search for solutions since this was such an informative blog, and for the record, dante seems like just another young goober who thinks he has all the answers, thanks Mr. Lamanski yuour blog is of big help to ppl with very frustrating problems
sifter responded on 15 Jul 2007 at 7:36 pm #
Actually Dante is correct about everything. you guys that play on your computers and dont know what you are doing is sad. you could always try and figure it out for yourselves. i have been building and repairing computers for more than 10 years and im not saying i know everything but i used to have a dell when i started the computer thing and I had the same problem. i figured out that if i changed the cmos jumper and turned the battery over and then back i could get into windows in just enough time to save all my stuff and reformat. the dell/intel bios is horrible. look everyone if you want a good computer do not buy it from dell or alienware or any other company you can find that is popular. your best bet would be the guy that you work with that says he builds computers and you blow him off because he works with you at mcdonalds. most of the people that complete collage with bachelor degrees under their belts dont know jack about computers because they dont have experience. **** if you want a computer built and i mean a good one then e-mail me and we will work something out. i am a gamer and i believe everyone should have a good computer that they dont have to worry about. instead of buying a piece of **** from wal-mart. thecomputerguy69@hotmail.com
dan k responded on 16 Jul 2007 at 12:08 am #
sifter, it wasnt a software problem, it was physical, the extremely small electrical connections through these motherboards become frail after time due to the fact that they arent top end parts and the fact that they arent intended for intense use so they run hot and most dont come with any temperature monitoring software, or big cases with lots of air, so eventually, even sometimes if you change parts, the motherboard will flex and these connections break, and when the computer warms up the metal in them expands and can loose connection, which was the problem in my dell at the time, since then ive built my own computer, and yes you are right if you spend 2400 bucks you can have a really good computer, its my first build but i couldnt be happier, but honestly, this blog cleared my headache and john knows the one im talking about, all the software checking procedures didnt solve anything, random moments and the a b c and d lights on the back of the board would turn off, sometimes only a couple, which doesnt happen normally on those boards, and since i still had warranty i had the dell guy come to my house and fix it for free, it wasnt because i didnt know what the problem was, i spent hours on the phone with dells crap phone service and tech chat, and finally they realized it was an intermittent electrical open in the board, so that was it, and yea wall mart has dell now wooooot maybe i can buy printer cartriges now without ordering them, one more time WOOOOOOT, and sifter, im not here to argue, what kind of puter u got? i got that striker wit e6700 conroe(prob shoulda got 6600), a 8800 640mb gts, mushkin pc26400 2 gb kit, some other **** and it runs fast, i havent oc’ed yet and it runs my games without a stitch, walmart wooooooo, wait….. wal mart is like 30 minutes away awwwwwwwwww, **** new jersey
John Lamansky responded on 16 Jul 2007 at 8:17 am #
Watch the language please!
Michael Lerch responded on 31 Aug 2007 at 4:09 pm #
I just had a Dell system come in today, having the same ‘Mysterious Orange Light’ going on. I called Dell to check the warranty on the system, luckly it was still under warrant and we should be receiving the new motherboard soon!
I’m glad that I found this site, I wasn’t too sure about Dell’s orange light… it’s kinda of like Xbox 360’s red ring of death.
You sir, are surely bookmarked here at the office and my house. =]
God Bless brotha!
Michael
nertz responded on 19 Oct 2007 at 6:00 pm #
What mobo was used as the replacement?
Bernard J. Kennedy IV responded on 15 Jan 2008 at 12:44 am #
I have had a Dell Dimension 8400 for over 3 years now. I have had some problems with it, but nothing like this Orange Light. After returning from college break before this past Christmas i re-hooked up my PC and these problems kept happening. I called a friend over to look at my PC and see what was the issue. Well we concluded it was either A) the MotherBoard B) The Memory or C the Power Supply. I would go and turn it on and the orange light would turn on and the fan would start to go really fast like a jetplane.
Well after some tinkering my friend took out the memory sticks and replaced them back in and the computer worked fine for over a week.
Now, it’s back to it’s old habits
I am thinking it’s either I need new memory or a new MB
Any Help?
Bernie
ili responded on 30 Jan 2008 at 7:08 pm #
i got a orange light too but because i like experimenting with electronics. it was my first time cleaning my computer and after taking the mb out i also took the CPU out of the motherboard. i didnt know that it would be so difficult to put it back on. at that time i didnt know that i could separate the CPU from it’s aluminium cooler so the only solution that came in my mind was to remove the CPU lock to the motherboard. And thats what i did. than i put the CPU back on the mb and locked the cooler. when i tried to turn on my pc i got the orange light. i was because the CPU pins weren’t making contact with the motherboard. because i can fix everything i fixed the problem in a way you wouldn’t believe it. i’m still using the computer and this was a year ago. my pc is still without a CPU lock. of course it wasn’t everything so easy, i waisted at least 6 hours on this problem but i learned a lot from it so if you got a similar problem with CPUs just send me an e-mail, we’ll see what we can do. the orange light is just an essential hardware failure or disconection of an essential part of the pc so don’t look for problems on your external hardware or secondary hardware and devices. it dosnt even have to do with RAM. a pc dosn’t show an orange light if you remove the RAM. It has to do with either the CPU,Power Supply, Bios or any other motherboard part connecting those.
Chirs responded on 03 Feb 2008 at 12:37 am #
Want to thank everyone who posted useful info here. After searching this page and many others trying to fix the “amber light of death” on my Dell I’ve come to this conclusion.
It’s a hardware problem with the possibility of infinite causes. If you get the “amber light of death” you should start with the simplest solutions then work towards the harder solutions.
plug you PC directly into a different outlet than it’s current outlet.
flip the orange switch located on the back of the PC near where the power plug attaches.
examine all your USB ports (front & back) for pins that are bent or pushed in and fix any that are bent.
open up your PC and remove and reconnect any plugs & devices you feel comfortable removing. (ie. ram, video/network cards, power cords to cd drives & hard drives)
Swap the power supply in from another PC. (Dell claims the power supply is the #1 solution to this problem.)
Replace the 3v battery on the motherboard.
If the problem isn’t fixed after trying these, chances are some bit of hardware on the motherboard are loose or touching something it shouldn’t; and this could be a bitch to figure out where the problem is. (ie. heatsink, PCU, BIOS, CPU/Processor) Not sure if it would be worth having a tech look at your PC at this point since it is not guaranteed that the tech would find a solution.
And lastly it could be your Motherboard that needs to be replaced.
In the end, my “amber light of death” was caused by a dead power supply. Again, Dell says this the the most common solution to the problem. Please copy the list above and add to it or rearrange it since I am no expert and just trying to give my opinion on how to fix this damned problem.