PC finally given up the ghost

[DavidEdwinAston]

Forgive me guys, it is simply that. Twelve years old Dell Inspiron. I've taken the side off and peered in. Fans running, six repeating beeps and that's it. Don't know where the beeps are coming from, no speakers attached.
I don't mind having a fiddle, if anything comes to mind?

 

[AudiOhm]

Dell Inspiron

Ohms

 

[Doodski]

Forgive me guys, it is simply that. Twelve years old Dell Inspiron. I've taken the side off and peered in. Fans running, six repeating beeps and that's it. Don't know where the beeps are coming from, no speakers attached.
I don't mind having a fiddle, if anything comes to mind?

There will be a small piezo speaker about 1" in diameter mounted on the motherboard usually. The 6 beeps are indicative of some sort of fault in the system.

Understanding Beep Codes on a Dell Desktops | Dell Canada

 

[PierreV]

On Dell's BIOS, six beeps mean, in theory, video card failure. If the model has a discrete video card, start by removing it. In some cases, this might be borderline fixable by replacing a dead fan, dedusting, by making sure power is OK. Then you could try replacing the video card, preferably with a somewhat contemporary model. Your PC might also have a separate, integrated video card in its chipset.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Thank you guys for your instant, very helpful comments.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

okay Guys. Side removed. Can anyone pinpoint specific bits that I should be first removing please?

 

[Blumlein 88]

View attachment 259496okay Guys. Side removed. Can anyone pinpoint specific bits that I should be first removing please?

The video card which I guess is the dusty looking board just above the red thing (heat sink I guess). Is that the video card? Looks it could use a clean up and maybe look for burned components. Sometimes just pulling it out and re-seating will do the trick.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

The video card which I guess is the dusty looking board just above the red thing (heat sink I guess). Is that the video card? Looks it could use a clean up and maybe look for burned components. Sometimes just pulling it out and re-seating will do the trick.

View attachment 259497

Bless you Blumlein. Will look into that when we get back from the shops!

 

[bloodshoteyed]

when taking it out, be carefull for a few things:

1) on the upper left side there's a metallic latch holding the fascia of the card in place - if not detached you won't be able to lift the card out
2) there's another plastic latch below the card, on the back side of the black conector that the card is seated in - if not detached you won't be able to pull the card out ofd the slot (it's just a sideways plastic ear, put a finger below the card and push it towards the upper/inner part of the case and hold it there while you get the card out)

edit:
btw, Dell had some reall good manuals (even repair) on their support site back in the day, you might want to go there and check by your Inspiron model number

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

when taking it out, be carefull for a few things:

1) on the upper left side there's a metallic latch holding the fascia of the card in place - if not detached you won't be able to lift the card out
2) there's another plastic latch below the card, on the back side of the black conector that the card is seated in - if not detached you won't be able to pull the card out ofd the slot (it's just a sideways plastic ear, put a finger below the card and push it towards the upper/inner part of the case and hold it there while you get the card out)

edit:
btw, Dell had some reall good manuals (even repair) on their support site back in the day, you might want to go there and check by your Inspiron model number

Thankyou for your comments, bloods. Flat car battery has given me half an hour to continue looking! Depth of my ignorance, just discovered there are three fans, not two. I had wondered if the glowing light in the attached picture indicated a faulty area, but perhaps, is just an powered on light. Must remember to unplug before poking about!

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

A couple of hours at it. Calls to Dell, and a "chat" on the website! The machine is nearly 15 years old, not too bad I guess. I did find a fourth fan under the red block you highlighted Blumlein! Freed that up and had a thorough dust. I am grateful for the tips you have all offered and will have to consider a replacement desktop soon.

 

[AnalogSteph]

You'll probably want to remove the CPU fan from the heatsink, or else you won't get it cleaned out properly.

Check whether the system has onboard graphics to try, that would help you determine whether it's just the graphics card that's at fault. (Note that in case it's a socket 1156 system, only some CPUs may have iGPU.)

I hope the harddrive we are seeing isn't the only mass storage - otherwise even an old system can be spruced up substantially by going for an SSD. Maybe a Crucial MX500 or Samsung 870 EVO if new (WD Blue is also good in smaller sizes like 250/500 gig)... avoid cacheless cheapies like the plague.

 

[Blumlein 88]

A couple of hours at it. Calls to Dell, and a "chat" on the website! The machine is nearly 15 years old, not too bad I guess. I did find a fourth fan under the red block you highlighted Blumlein! Freed that up and had a thorough dust. I am grateful for the tips you have all offered and will have to consider a replacement desktop soon.

I thought you would find a fan there. So was that fan stuck and you freed it up? If so that is likely the problem. Whether it will work now or not who knows. My guess is something would have been damaged by the heat so it is kaput. AnalogSteph's suggestions are good ones. See if you have an onboard video card you can use to see if it is just the video card. If a video card, you can put a new one in. Also, swapping a spinning drive for an SSD is like rejuvenating your PC. I'd second the suggestions given for Crucial or Samsung.

OTOH, you've gotten 15 years good use. Maybe time makes it worth an upgrade to something new(er). $80 for a drive and some money for a video card might just be money you can put toward a newer machine. I like to run my machines into the ground too, but it seems like when I finally give up on one, I end up wishing I had retired it soooner. I say typing on a machine from ten years ago.

 

[voodooless]

Check whether the system has onboard graphics to try, that would help you determine whether it's just the graphics card that's at fault. (Note that in case it's a socket 1156 system, only some CPUs may have iGPU.)

The board at least has a VGA output:

With any luck, there is an iGPU...

You can buy some rather fast older workstation desktops for little money nowadays. They usually have plenty of cores and RAM and can easily be upgraded with some SSD to bring them upto contemporary speeds. For about $200-$300 + SSD, you'll have a great PC that will last another 15 years.

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Thanks guys, I seem to be very close to getting the ATI Radeon graphics card out. The bit with the mystery fourth fan on it.
Apparently, dinner calls! Will be back to it

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

You'll probably want to remove the CPU fan from the heatsink, or else you won't get it cleaned out properly.

Check whether the system has onboard graphics to try, that would help you determine whether it's just the graphics card that's at fault. (Note that in case it's a socket 1156 system, only some CPUs may have iGPU.)

I hope the harddrive we are seeing isn't the only mass storage - otherwise even an old system can be spruced up substantially by going for an SSD. Maybe a Crucial MX500 or Samsung 870 EVO if new (WD Blue is also good in smaller sizes like 250/500 gig)... avoid cacheless cheapies like the plague.

I presume it's this fan you are referring to Steph?

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Just before I pack up tonight. I am being defeated by the Black lug which I hope my pictures will show, from removing the graphics card.

 

[voodooless]

There should be some lip that fits a finger to slide it out of the way.

 

[Blumlein 88]

On the other side of the card in your picture there should be a place to press against a tab and pull it out of the way. Similar to what is shown here.

Inspiron 5676 Service Manual | Dell US

This includes a 38 second video showing it.

Inspiron 3670 Graphics Card Removal | Dell US

 

[DavidEdwinAston]

Thanks as always guys. I appear to have removed the right hand panel. So presumably that is the the mother board behind the card, and therefore in the way of removal, at the mo'.
Will look at it again tomorrow.