wiring up alternate desktop power switch Dell XPS 420?

The supply looks generic, so replacing it shouldn't be a big deal.

RL

Correct me if I'm wrong but it sounds like you fixed the problem and there's no need to replace the front panel power switch.

I'm unclear, however, whether the power switch is, by design, a momentary contact switch - only on while depressed, or a toggle switch - on when depressed and remains on until pushed again when in turns off.

And what happens if both greens are permanently connected to ground? Does the fan start w/o pressing the front panel switch?

Response to power-on is in bios - check coin cell battery on mobo.

RL

Ahhh, good point. Something I hadn't thought of because my system auto syncs to the correct time everyday once I connect to the Internet. In the BIOS however, just checked the date and time. Date is fine (today) but time is slow by 8 hours. Time to do a battery swap I think.

No fresh batteries on hand, so ordered one today. Once installed, will rewire as normal, see what happens, and report back. I'm also going to save this thread for future reference because I have another desktop that refused to boot up one day that I'm wondering whether or not had the same problem. Going to check it out later this week.

Fresh battery installed and still no boot up, so went back to the modified configuration. Any more ideas welcome.

If your cmos content is clobbered, a new battery will not magically restore them. Can you boot into bios mode? If so, look for messed up cmos content, reset to defaults if it's scrambled. Then you may have a chance to set the correct values. That 8 hr time error is a clue, it looks as if the timezone offset has gone to "0", GMT zone.

I took screen photos with my digital camera for each and every current setting before switching out the battery. Then it was just a matter of going back through the images and copying those settings in BIOS after battery replacement. Everything is as it was before swapping out the battery. Unless you are saying that a setting was somehow off before the battery switch in which case I would have no idea which one and would appreciate some clues. Yes, BIOS is easily accessible.

refer to the user manual.

RL

A previous to battery change error is exactly what I suspected, given the time zone problem. So putting back the settings you found may be suspect still...most likely you will have to "discover" what is correct for the installed disks, etc. Do you have any way to find the specs on your disk drive, so as to confirm what the bios thinks is correct is actually correct? Or something else to plug the disk into to see if has a valid boot sector?

One think I think I should also mention is that this is a dual boot system: either Linux or Win, selected at start up. Info I came across suggests that the incorrect hours are normal when operating in this configuration.

Are you suggesting that maybe the start up sequence is wrong in the BIOS? By the way, I've owned the PC since it came out in 2008 and never changed the battery until yesterday. I was amazed that it lasted as long as it did and voltage testing yesterday revealed that it was still

Unfortunately, not much help. It refers to beep codes and light combinations on the top LCD screen. I have had no codes or light indications that anything was wrong. > RL

System Setup page 179.

RL

RL

Already had the manual and went through the set up after changing out the battery. Since I took screenshots of settings before the changeout, anything that had changed was set back to how it was before the battery changeout.

I don't see anything in the BIOS that explains the current behavior. Even if the boot sequence was set incorrectly, which I've had happen in the past on laptops, I'd still get full power when starting.

I'm really starting to think that it is a motherboard or switch fault. When power on was working correctly, I would depress the front power button for a second and the power supply fan would start whirling. Then, the light would come on a solid blue and the PC would boot into the OS as normal. Now I have to flip the toggle switch I added to ground (which grounds the green wire of the power supply to ground) before the power supply fan starts, then I press the front button, blue light comes on, and boot up as normal. So whatever handled the permanent green to ground path upon starting became defunct.

Load factory defaults is a safe option.

I'd avoid 'Intell Quick Resume' or any other quick start options, until the issue is resolved. .

Nezt suspect is the power supply, not motherboard. Though momentary press switches ARE known to fail intermittent, I've never seen one do so in that position.

Power supplies have internal components/features that can affect the power good signal unpredictably, as they age.

RL