Troubleshooting Your System 169
Troubleshooting Your System

Safety First—For You and Your System

CAUTION: Many repairs may only be done by a certified service technician.
Youshould only perform troubleshooting and simple repairs as authorized in
yourproduct documentation, or as directed by the online or telephone service
andsupport team. Damage due to servicing that is not authorized by Dell is not
covered by your warranty. Read and follow the safety instructions that came
withthe product.

Troubleshooting System Startup Failure

If your system halts during startup prior to video imaging or LCD messaging,
especially after installing an operating system or reconfiguring your system’s
hardware, check for the following conditions.
• If you boot the system to the BIOS boot mode after installing an operating
system from the UEFI Boot Manager, the system will hang. The reverse is
also true. You must boot to the same boot mode in which you installed the
operating system. See "Using the System Setup Program and
UEFI Boot Manager" on page 61.
• Invalid memory configurations could cause the system to halt at startup
without any video output. See "Expansion Cards and Expansion-Card
Risers" on page 122.
For all other startup issues, note the LCD panel messages and any system
messages that appear onscreen. See "LCD Status Messages (Optional)" on
page29 and "System Messages" on page 42 for more information.

Troubleshooting External Connections

Ensure that all external cables are securely attached to the external
connectors on your system before troubleshooting any external devices.
See Figure1-1 and Figure 1-5 for the front- and back-panel connectors
on your system.
book.book Page 169 Friday, November 20, 2009 2:56 PM