Dell PC not booting, black screen

Dell PC not booting, black screen No Bios screen showing up.

#31 cap2587

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Posted 18 November 2009 - 07:34 PM

I agree as I have extended this a while. I am going to go with the Newegg RAM and order two 512 MB Modules. The specs of this RAM are the same as what was in the machine. I think I can't go wrong with the RAM specs that was installed by Dell. Thanks for the help.

#32 techextreme

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Posted 19 November 2009 - 08:14 AM

Your Samsung ram that was originally installed comes back to: M393T6453FG0CCCDS 240P-DDR2-512MB-PC3200 ECC Registered Memory

From what I can find on the Kingston ram you purchased, it should be ok in your Dell Workstation.

Sorry for the late response.

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#33 cap2587

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Posted 19 November 2009 - 08:12 PM

Thanks Techextreme,

This is what I ended up going with for RAM. I hope it is going to work. I couldn't go against the Crucial Info and also your link to Amazon RAM specs.

Kingston 512MB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM ECC Registered DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Server Memory Model KVR667D2S8P5/512 - Retail

I will let you know what happens when the RAM comes in. Appreciate the effort on your part during this post.

#34 cap2587

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Posted 24 November 2009 - 06:58 AM

The RAM i bought did not work. I tried it in the 1st 2 slots and the machine did it's 6 beep tantrum. My last resort is buying the exact same module as the original Module that is working in slot # 1. When I put just one module in with the one that is working it said in the Bios that it wasn't ECC and I know it was. I will let you know when the new RAM arrives. Thanks. Craig

#35 techextreme

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Posted 24 November 2009 - 07:35 AM

Have you tried to update the bios in this system?

I've run into this once or twice before where a bios update "did the trick".

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#36 cap2587

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Posted 24 November 2009 - 07:49 AM

Ho Do I do that? Thanks

#37 techextreme

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Posted 24 November 2009 - 08:39 AM

Here is the link for your BIOS upgrade for your Dell Precision Workstation 470.

Download the file to the desktop of the Dell that you want to update. If you cannot do that, you can use this to make a bootable floppy to update the system with.

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#38 cap2587

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Posted 24 November 2009 - 08:28 PM

Do I just copy the Executable file onto the floppy and boot from it. Is there anything else I must do? Thanks

#39 techextreme

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Posted 25 November 2009 - 12:00 AM

You have to run the executable on the Dell computer or run it on another machine to create a boot floppy from it.

Your best bet, if you can, is to run it from within Windows XP on that machine.

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#40 cap2587

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Posted 25 November 2009 - 12:51 AM

Isn't it to big a file to put onto a floppy. My floppy is only 2 MB. What about onto a CD or USB drive. If this will work, how do I make it bootable and is there a special way to put the file onto it. I won't be able to update the bios in windows as I don't make it into that. What shall I do. Thanks.

#41 techextreme

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Posted 25 November 2009 - 07:35 AM

If you run the file that you downloaded on the Computer that we're trying to update the bios on, it will do the upgrade from within Windows.

If you run it on another machine, it will ask you if you want to make a bootable floppy disk for updating the bios on your computer.

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#42 cap2587

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Posted 25 November 2009 - 07:41 AM

Will it fit on a floppy. How big is it in MB? Does it know that it is not suppose to update the bios on another machine that is not a DEll Precision 470. Is there any risk on damaging the motherboard if things go wrong. Is there any trick to updating the bios. Should I wait and try the 512 MB Ram Module that is the same as the one that works in the machine ( 2 days away from coming). Could updating the bios make the 2 RAM modules with PC 5300 work? Thanks.

#43 techextreme

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Posted 25 November 2009 - 08:15 AM

The file itself that you downloaded is 536KB which is less than half the size of a 1.44mb floppy disk. Yes, it will fit on a floppy.

It seems that Dell has changed their bios update files so that they only run on a Dell machine. You will not be able to create a floppy from this 536kb file on another machine unless it is a Dell and even then it will probably fail as it may need to be an Exact duplicate machine.

Are there any tricks to updating a BIOS. Don't let the power go out.

Waiting for an identical stick of ram as what was in the machine is also an option. And yes, updating the bios could make it possible for the 2 sticks you already purchased to work in this machine but without flashing the bios you will not know.

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#44 cap2587

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Posted 25 November 2009 - 09:54 AM

That info really helps. I am not going to be able to flash the bios unless I can do it on any Dell Machine as I don't know anyone else who has the precision 470. This is my plan. Wait for the identical RAM module to come in. Try this. If it doesn't work I need to go ahead and update the bios and try all the RAM modules after that. If all this fails then I think I am done fixing this damn computer. Who in their right mind buys a server machine to use in a home setting. Appreciate you staying with me on this topic.

How will I know if my other Dell machine will be able to put the Bios update file on the floppy? I can't do any harm to the Dell Optiplex machine that I will be using to transfer onto a floppy and make work. Do I just click the executable file and then it will ask me what to put it on?

#45 techextreme

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Posted 25 November 2009 - 10:13 AM

The last one I did gave me 3 options if I remember correctly.

Flash bios now, Create boot floppy, and I can't remember the third.

It should not automatically start flashing your bios until you tell it what you want to do. On the other hand it may just stop and give you sn SMBIOS error saying that file is not for the machine you are currently running the file on.

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