Dell Inspiron 5160 - Wont start...?

[Johno]

Hey,

I have been using this laptop for a while now (Laptop name is in the title) but today for some reason, it is refusing to start up. It loads the bit where it says :

DELL F2 - Setup
F12 - Boot Menu


Then down at the bottom its the loading bar but when it reaches a specific place on this bar, it crashes. It does this EVERY time, I can leave it and wait yet it still does this.

Any ideas on what is up and how I can fix it?

I will try to post a picture but I can't seem to find my cable for my camera.

.:; Johno

EDIT:
http://uploadpicz.com/images/9NH7SCN.jpg (http://uploadpicz.com)

[Stephen!]

BIOS error. Nothing you can do really apart from clear the CMOS which can be tricky on laptops

[Johno]

Hey,

Oh perfect... sounds like fun :( lol

Any idea how I could do this on the laptop?

.:; Johno

[Robbie]

Take out the CMOS battery inside for a while then pop it back in. Maybe you could contact Dell, or press Boot Menu and choose hard drive?

[Johno]

Hey,

I have no clue where the CMOS battery is located, and I can't boot from HDD as it says "Preparing for one-time boot menu..." and it doesn't load the boot menu until this screen has fully loaded.

.:; Johno


Take out the CMOS battery inside for a while then pop it back in. Maybe you could contact Dell, or press Boot Menu and choose hard drive?

[Xeros]

I have that on my inspiron 1501

i jus press a button like " Left arrow, Right Arrow, ctrl" one of the <- and it loads after awhile

[Johno]

Hey,

Is this maybe it? Its the only other area on the back of the laptop I can get access too (Minus of course the memory bay)

@Xeros - Ill give that a try :)

http://uploadpicz.com/images/JZTINE5.jpg (http://uploadpicz.com)

.:; Johno

[Robbie]

Thats the RAM ports.

[Technologic]

You need to find the cmos pin on your mobo and pull it then put it in again i think?

Flying guess here, don't trust me until you've spoken to somebody who is much better with pcs than i am lol ;]

[Johno]

Hey,

Yeah, there seems to be a spare RAM port here but its not the main memory bay. I'm talking about the bit with the little tab on it.

.:; Johno

Here is a picture of the laptop (the bottom of it) :

http://uploadpicz.com/images/8I97H7C.jpg (http://uploadpicz.com)

[Robbie]

Thats not it. A CMOS battery looks like this

http://www.jkg.in/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/cmos_battery.jpg

I did it on my old laptop to reset the BIOS password.

[Johno]

Well, I am well and truly stumped - I don't really know where to go from here as I don't exactly want to go poking around inside...

To get access to this bit would require me to open the whole laptop wouldn't it?

.:; Johno

[Robbie]

You'd have to get to the MOBO, yes.

[Johno]

Hey,

I just tried to get access to the MOBO with no avail, I cant seem to get the full case off the laptop (The bottom piece)

It seems to be stuck on tightly... It seems like its where the connections are (like the VGA, USB's, Network ports are)

I will maybe try once more and if not I will have to phone someone else to come and have a look. Unless you can possibly give me some ideas on how to open this :)

.:; Johno

[Technologic]

Hey,

I just tried to get access to the MOBO with no avail, I cant seem to get the full case off the laptop (The bottom piece)

It seems to be stuck on tightly... It seems like its where the connections are (like the VGA, USB's, Network ports are)

I will maybe try once more and if not I will have to phone someone else to come and have a look. Unless you can possibly give me some ideas on how to open this :)

.:; Johno
Get a hammer and smash it to bits

[Recursion]

there should be a strip of plastic across the top of the keyboard, you need to unclip that (they make this easy so you can change the keyboard), then slide the keyboard off and it should be under there.

[Johno]

Hey!

Thanks Tawm, Never noticed that :) Thanks so much, Ill leave the thread open whilst I try this :) Just need to find a small enough Screwdriver :)

.:; Johno


there should be a strip of plastic across the top of the keyboard, you need to unclip that (they make this easy so you can change the keyboard), then slide the keyboard off and it should be under there.

[Johno]

Hey,

I cant see anything that looks remotely similar to what Robbie! posted, All there is, is one metal plate that is detachable (This is underneath the keyboard) and underneath the metal plate is nothing that looks similar.

Any help? I'm getting pretty desperate!

EDIT: I have now also found that supposedly the battery is soldered to the main board, oh god...

EDIT 2: I found this, It seems I have to remove EVERYTHING to get access to the MOBO: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins5160/en/SM/sysboard.htm#wp1084976

.:; Johno

Sorry for Double Post but this is important!

[Recursion]

It may well be soldered to be honest. I would just contact Dell.

[Johno]

The laptop is a few years old and no doubt out of warranty, to add insult to injury - The laptop isn't actually mine, it belongs to the school but I have lots of my crap on it as I have borrowed it for a while.

I don't really want to have to send it to Dell or something, I might have to phone a computer shop nearby and get charged £40 to get it fixed!

.:; Johno

[Recursion]

Your school will be able to (get it) fixed/fix it

[Johno]

Hey,

But I am not back for another week and the laptop has some things that need to be done on it. Oh this is perfect lol

Might have to just pay this £40 then get the cash back from the school :(

.:; Johno

[Johno]

Hey,

The symptoms have slightly changed now. It loads to ~75% and then it crashes, and restarts...

This is getting very confusing, but I seem to be having the exact same problem as this guy: http://www.techimo.com/forum/showthread.php?t=205084

I was just sitting using FireFox, the laptop froze and I had to do an improper shutdown. When I went to turn it back on, the above happened.

Any more help?

.:; Johno

Once again, My apologies for the double post but I need to get this fixed

[Robbie]

Calling Dell and asking if this is a known problem with a known solution couldn't hurt. Seems to be common problem, judging by Google.

[Johno]

Hey,

I am trying to use their online support at the moment however I can't seem to access it as it requires a service tag I can't seem to find on the bottom of the laptop. The sticker is very faded you see...

.:; Johno

[Monopoly]

Just phone them driectly.
I had alot of problems with my old Dell laptop and phonecalls where alot easier than using the online support.