# Having a problem turning Inspiron 9300 on



## ntran1234 (Dec 11, 2007)

I was in Windows XP working with Excel spread sheets when it happened.
My machine shutdown without warning, when I press power button again, all little green lights turn on for about 5 seconds and then it just turns off even with or without power. Battery is tested and good.


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

only just seen this, if you press F12 as you switch on the laptop you should get to the diagnostic partition. Running all the diagnostics will take time, you may want to start with the hard drive test. If that passes, it may be worth running all the others. If you don't have the diagnostic partition on your laptop, did you get a disk from Dell when it was new?


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## ntran1234 (Dec 11, 2007)

I don't have chance to do anything...when I press power button, all little green lights turn on for about 5 seconds and then it just turns off. Basically, screen never come up.
BTW, I replaced a motherboard and no change. I think might be memory or processor.


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

if you haven't done this already try: removing power lead, battery, memory, hard drive, cd/dvd drive; then reseat all these items (don't leave the battery out for too long as this would clear the cmos). Is the memory DDR (2 banks), if so you could try taking one out and switch on, if this does not work put it back and remove the other strip and switch on.


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## ntran1234 (Dec 11, 2007)

Tried all that and still no good.


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## Pugsleysr (Dec 14, 2007)

I may have an answer to your problem, I have a 9300 that a friend asked to look at, and it was having the same symptoms as you have expressed, after toying with the unit for a while I happen to bop it on my knee and the darn thing started up. This has led me to believe the possibility that there is some thing not making a good connection, most likely the CPU Chip, so today I opened the unit, and proceeded to remove and reseat the CPU chip and one other chip that was mounted to a board that is plugged into the mother board, both of which have a means to draw heat off and cool the chips with air being blown across the seat sink fins. So if you are game here is how to do it. 

First off try to stay with the unit through the whole process, but should you have to get up and do something else be sure to touch something grounded before returning to the work to eliminate any possible static charge. Now remove all the screws on the bottom (13 of them), there is no need to remove the covers over the memory or the WIFI/Modem, and you could remove the HD, but you really don't need to. However I do recommend taking the battery out, and removing the ac power supply. After removing the bottom screws, flip the unit over, open the screen all the way back. You will now have to remove the top cover panel (it snaps out), Look on the right side you will see a spot where you can slip a small flat screw driver in to start popping the panel off. It seats real good so go slow in removing it as you pop the panel loose from right to left. Now that the panel is loose you will see why I said put the screen all the way back, after removing that panel you will see 2 screws at the top of the Keyboard remove the screws and lift the keyboard up and out, and unplug it from the mother board. Now you will see under the keyboard there are more screws to remove, but before you do that remove the 4 screws that hold the screen pivots, and take the wire coming from the left side of the screen out of it's trough, and unplug it, the wire on the right side you will not be able to unplug, but will have enough wire to now set the screen back and away from the base. Now note just to the left of center you will see a round disk battery, try to avoid unplugging it by removing it from it's slot,( fear not if you do unplug it you will have to reset the time & date), once you have the battery out, proceed to remove the rest of the screws. Now that the screws are out you can lift that cover off the base (be sure to unplug the wire that goes to the front buttons and any others you encounter), to reveal the motherboard and the CPU chips. Though not certain but I believe the heat sink to the left is the main CPU chip. Now unscrew the 4 screws numbered 1-4 and lift off the heat sink, just to the left of this chip is a screw slot that locks & unlocks the chip, turn the screw to the unlock position (1/4 turn), you should now be able to lift the chip up and out of the socket, once you lift it up, put it right back, and turn the lock screw to the lock position, (it will offer some resistance, this is ok). Replace the heat sink, by first just starting the screws, and then tighten in the sequence 1,2,3,4. Next remove the 4 outer screws on the right heat sink, the 4 inner screws (#8 Torx), remove the heat sink and then remove the board with chip and then reseat the board and put the heat sink in the same fashion as the other heat sink. Once you have done this you can now put the unit back together in the reverse order you opened it, making sure you have reseated all the plugs removed. Hope this solves your problem, if you can please let me know if it worked.


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## ntran1234 (Dec 11, 2007)

I tried it over the weekend but still not working. I believed that I had power issue but don't know what...
Thank you for your help.


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## Explodatron (Mar 23, 2008)

Well it worked for me. I was having the same problem and despairing of finding an answer. Your step-by-step instructions were a lifesaver.

Thanks!


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## ki_kisses (Dec 1, 2010)

I have an Acer Netbook, but was given a Dell Inspiron 9300 recently to use for other work. I was online one day and the Laptop frozen up. After powering it back on all I see is a black screen with a blinking cursor. I have tried pressing F8 to get into safe mode but the F8 key doesn't seem to work. In fact after pressing it five or six times it begins making this loud beeping noise. I have tried taking out the battery but it doesn't seem to help anything. I can hear the fan when the Laptop is running. Is there anyone that can help, I know this is an Old Laptop but I still need to get it working properly, Im a college student.


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

hi, so you switch on and at that point all you see is a black screen? or do you see the bios screen and then it goes to black? Have you tried pressing the F2 key as you boot to see if you can get in to BIOS? Can you try this (I would advise you to download the manual from the dell site): unplug the power supply, and remove the battery. Then remove the memory, dvd drive and hard drive. Then replace these items. Removing and reseating things can in some cases get you going again but I make no promises. If still no good, then I would recommend getting an external usb caddy and putting the hard drive in that to see if you can read the hard drive when it is plugged in via usb to another computer. I see that you cannot get a response from F8, can you post back and say whether you can get a response from pressing the F12 key up and down as you boot. On my inspiron this gives a diagnostic partition.


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## jminshal (Dec 23, 2010)

I am having a similar problem, was anyone able to help you? My problem goes like this:
When I push the power button on the Inspiron 9300 the lights come on briefly but then the system shuts off (doesn't POST) and the AC adapter is left in shorted condition (green light goes out). I have tried: a different AC adapter, booting without the battery, reseating the memory modules, and I have even purchased a new motherboard, but no luck. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? The laptop belongs to my wheelchair bound brother and I'd really like to get it fixed for him (he can't afford to buy a new one). Thanks, Jminshal


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