# Dell Laptop not booting... 4 amber 1 white lights



## niko381 (Jan 31, 2007)

Hey guys, I'm taking a look at hopefully fixing a laptop for a friend, and I'm hoping someone here could help me out!

Anyway, the laptop is a Dell Inspiron N5010, and the problem is simply that it won't boot. If it's plugged in and has the battery installed, one of the lights on the front flashes (the rightmost of the three... the battery light, I think?) amber 4 times and white once. It just keeps doing that indefinitely, with nothing else going on in the computer.

Without either the battery or the chord, absolutely nothing at all happens when the power button is pressed.

Does anyone have any idea what this might be? After some research, I found that that blinking light code may refer to a failing battery, however it should at least still be able to boot without the battery, as long as it's plugged in. Since that doesn't work, however, I'm wary to tell my friend to just go and grab another battery, in case that's not the problem.

Anyway, thank you so much in advance for your help!


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

You could try a cold boot which is done by removing the battery and AC then hold the power button in for ~40secs then see if it will boot with just the AC plugged in.


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## niko381 (Jan 31, 2007)

Okay thanks, I'll try it!

Just to double check, you mean to hold the power button for ~40secs with nothing plugged in... and then to plug it in and try again, right?


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Yes - remove the battery and AC cord then hold the power button in, also any peripheral devices.

This drains any residual power from the laptop so when you restart it - it's afresh.


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## niko381 (Jan 31, 2007)

Alright, I tried that, held the button down for around 50 seconds, but... no luck, unfortunately... I didn't put the battery back in, just the charger, and nothing at all happened when I pressed the power button.

Any other ideas?


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

It's quite possible that the power jack where you plug the AC in has become broken so that it hasn't been charging the battery and that it has become completely drained or that the charger no longer has an output, resulting in the same - if you have a multimeter, then you can do a voltage check on its output.

If the battery has become completely drained then that could have damaged it, but there would have been a low battery alert in the system tray before that occurred - had your friend noticed anything like that ?

If the AC adapter has the correct output and the laptop is no longer under warranty and if you feel confident and are competent in soldering, then you could effect the replacement of the power jack yourself.

The replacement jack is easily found on a Google search and there may be a supplier closer to you than DC Power Jack Port Socket Dell Inspiron N5010 15R New | eBay

Dell Inspiron N5010/15R/P10F DC Power Jack Repair - YouTube


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## niko381 (Jan 31, 2007)

Thank you, it does make sense that the problem's most likely one of those two things, either the adapter or the power jack component on the laptop. I'll check the AC adapter first, but if it comes up clear, is there any way to verify that the power jack is indeed the issue, perhaps with the multimeter?

If it comes to soldering I should be fine, but I'm just thinking it'd be good to know for sure before I order that new component.


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

I think that if the power button was held in at the same time as doing a continuity test on the socket, a very high resistance or infinity would indicate a fault - but given the low cost of the power jack, it's something I would eliminate.

Reflowing the solder on the board could resolve a possible dry joint if you want to try that before ordering the jack, but I'm not sure how much of it you would have to reassemble to check its serviceability.


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## niko381 (Jan 31, 2007)

Well, unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) this is one of those Dell models that you have to basically take the entire thing apart, just to even get to the harddrive. So since I wanted to make sure the data was good, I've already basically got it in pieces, and may try reflowing the board.

I did a bit of research, and some people recommended putting the board into the oven at 385 degrees, for 8 minutes.. does that sound about right?


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

I've heard of some doing that but it isn't something that I would recommend.

Just start with re-soldering the power jack connections and re-test that.

Given the low cost of a replacement, I'd still go ahead and order one of those if this was my laptop.


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## niko381 (Jan 31, 2007)

Yeah, I probably will just end up ordering the part if the adapter doesn't test bad, since I would indeed feel a bit less comfortable just throwing this in the oven... as for finding the right part for this specific model computer, how would I go about doing that?


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

I've given a link for one supplier in my Post#6, but if that's too far away then Googling *power jack for dell inspiron n5010* from your location should produce other links or you could go to Dell Support but they may be more expensive.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Tom this is from the manual 

Using Your Inspiron Laptop
Status Lights and Indicators
Battery Status Light
Indicator light status
Computer state(s)
Battery charge level
AC adapter
solid white
on/standby/off/hibernate
<= 98%
off
on/standby/off/hibernate
> 98%
Battery
solid amber
on/standby
<= 10%
off
on/standby/off/hibernate
off/hibernate
>10%
<= 10%
NOTE: The battery is charging when the computer is powered using the AC adapter.
possibly a problem with the charging area of the motherboard http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...BmpbJKkF7-yatQTIZs2ZRNw&bvm=bv.50500085,d.ZGU


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Thanks Joe - for some reason I was unable to find the manual so just took Nico's word that his findings were from the manual.


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Edit - I'd found the service manual but didn't come across the User bit - having another look.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

The bit on the lights is in the one I posted not much else of use though


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

joeten said:


> The bit on the lights is in the one I posted not much else of use though


Which section is it under as I still haven't found it ?

....Found the set up guide on Dell support and see what you mean about not much info.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Service manual Manuals and Documents for Inspiron 15 (M5010) | Dell US


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Oops my bad it is here ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...aptop/inspiron-15-m5010_setup guide_en-us.pdf user guide


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

joeten said:


> Oops my bad it is here ftp://ftp.dell.com/Manuals/all-prod...aptop/inspiron-15-m5010_setup guide_en-us.pdf user guide


Just edited my last post - that was the latest one I'd found.


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## joeten (Dec 4, 2008)

Yup typical generalized stuff


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## Tomken15 (Dec 7, 2011)

Looks like the computer will need to be taken in for a proper assessment and to see if it will be a viable repair given the cost of motherboards if that needs to be changed - don't suppose it's still under warranty ?


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