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Diagnostics
Dell™ Vostro™ 320 Service Manual
Power Button Light
Beep Codes
System Messages
Dell Diagnostics
Starting Dell Diagnostics
Using Dell Diagnostics
Power Button Light
The power light blinks or remains solid to indicate five different states:
•No light — The computer is in the off state; Hibernate mode; or is not receiving power
•Solid Amber — The system board cannot start initialization. There may be a problem with either the system board or power supply.
•Blinking Amber — The computer has detected an error during POST. The light will flash along with the three BIOS beep codes to indicate the error.
•Blinking White — The computer is in sleep state. Press a key on the keyboard, move the mouse, or press the power button to resume to normal operation.
•Solid White — The computer is fully functional and is in S0 (ON) state
Beep Codes
Your computer may emit a series of beeps during
| System Beep Codes |
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Beep Code | Description |
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one beep | possible motherboard failure - BIOS ROM checksum failure |
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two beeps | no RAM detected |
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three beeps | possible motherboard failure - Chipset error |
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four beeps | RAM read/write failure |
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five beeps | real time clock failure |
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six beeps | video card or chip failure |
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seven beeps | processor failure |
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eight beeps | display failure |
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System Messages
If your computer has a problem, it may display a system message that will help you identify the cause and action needed to resolve the issue.
NOTE: If the message received is not listed in the following examples, see the documentation for either the operating system or for the program that was running when the message appeared.
System Messages |
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System Message | Description | ||
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Alert! Previous attempts at booting this system have failed at checkpoint [nnnn]. | The computer failed to complete the boot routine three consecutive | ||
For help in resolving this problem, please note this checkpoint and contact Dell | |||
times for the same error | |||
Technical Support | |||
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CMOS checksum error | Possible system board failure or RTC battery low | ||
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CPU fan failure | Possible CPU fan failure | ||
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Possible hard drive failure during POST | |||
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Possible hard drive failure during hard drive boot test | |||
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Keyboard failure | Keyboard failure or loose cable. If reseating the cable does not solve | ||
the problem, replace the keyboard | |||
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| No bootable partition on hard drive, the hard drive cable is loose, or | ||
| no bootable device exists. | ||
| • | If the hard drive is your boot device, ensure that the cables are | |
No boot device available |
| connected and that the drive is installed properly and | |
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| partitioned as a boot device | |
| • | Enter system setup and ensure that the boot • sequence | |
