Dell XPS One 2710 No Boot - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / repair

author: 60Hurts
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 20, 2021, 03:44:57 pm
content: I have two of these really nice 27" AIO Dell computers with Intel i7, lots of RAM, etc. They came out of service with bad clusters on the hard drives (shitty seagate drives) and thought it would be simple enough to put in new SSDs, reinstall Windows and be on my way. They were having weird occasional boot failure/hangs and video oddities (bars and lines) which I thought might be the PSU. The first one I attempted to repair now won't boot at all. I get a bios STOP error 0xC000000E which means "A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed". I inspected the MB and reseated all the connectors, etc. to no effect but I found some kind of video converter board that looks like it has bad caps (slightly buldged but hard to tell in the pic, no leakage at the base). It is labeled IPIMB-PV/CONVETER BD Rev:1.03 (misspelling included) and ETON ET856 94V-0 1302.5 E213441 and can't find much info about what it does nor any replacement new or used. I did a search for 33uf 100v SMD and found caps that look similar to these and I am considering swapping these out to see if I can get it to boot. So I was hoping to get some advice from the forum on how to proceed and have some questions;1) Does anyone know what this board does and if there is a replacement somewhere?2) How difficult will it be to replace these caps? My soldering skills aren't great, mostly wires or non-SMD components. Is this doable for a rookie?3) The first line on the label of the caps is square [] with a line under it then a 2 then a delta then a E, not sure what that means4) If I buy replacement caps should I get the same or go to higher voltage for longer service life? What brand is good?5) Any meaning to that weird pattern on the grounding pad on the backside of the PCB (it sits on a conductive sticker to the metal frame of the PC).Thanks! and happy to answer any questions.

author: perieanuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2021, 06:04:03 am
content: first of all, if you suspect hw problems, check with different linux live usb sticks ot something like iodd/zalman boot-up device. or why not windowsreset your bios first and make sure compatibility mode is selected for hdd, or whatever they call it in your biosafter some digging, the misbehaving device will pop up for sureif you really can't boot like this, remove everybody beside processor+memo+video card( if this one is not in processor or mobo)try this and post the result,regards, pierre

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2021, 11:05:10 am
content: Unless mistakenI think this board is a backlight driverAnd some google search seems to indicate this ??https://www.amazon.ca/Dell-C5G33-Converter-Board-IPIMB-PV/dp/B01L7R4Q7Chttps://www.parts-people.com/index.php?action=item&id=22540this one as an huge phot, we can see the chip markings on ithttps://www.upperedgetech.com/dell-xps-one-2710-c5g33-converter-board-board/This part seems to bust frequently ??

author: perieanuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2021, 12:44:11 pm
content: btw, the caps are pretty inflated, change them if you can without thinking.or like i said, just remove that board, use the vga output. i doubt that chip is scanned at startupif the board is scanned by bios, gotta repair it. if it's someting else, we will follow

author: Rasz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 21, 2021, 04:08:46 pm
content: those caps look fine, besides if they were bad you wouldnt get backlight, not linesaccording to internets XPS One 2710 has HDMI input, why not use that for testing displays?>I get a bios STOP error 0xC000000E which means "A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed"plugged hdd in different connector? not plugged at all? hdd died?

author: perieanuo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2021, 08:23:09 am
content: if the pc doesn't boot/initialise hdmi, how do you propose he test the hdmi input?hdmi input will be forwarded to lcd IF the pc OS is up and running or maybe if bios passes startup test, with error on your lcd the chances are video input is not forwarded.the good way is the old school one, using vga/hdmi etcaetera OUTPUT, like in laptops with affected video chip, where the internal lcd was lines and rectangles, and the vga or hdmi output was fineanyway, the correct procedure is to eliminate hdd/sdd and any no-essential component and get the video from the 2'nd video output, if this one exists, usually you always have some 2'nd vga or hdmi output, eneryone long enough in pc/laptop hw diagnose will choose this path. keeping all possible gadgets when bios starts, it's non-productive. first you get mobo+memo+video output running (primary or secondary one), THEN you start adding stuff. you don't let inside bluetooth card+wifi+comm ports card+whatsoever card and try to identify the bad apple

author: Microdoser
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2021, 11:34:48 am
content: I just recently recovered a Dell XPS (but not AOI) from the trash and I discovered almost *everything* stops it from booting, including simply not plugging in a keyboard.If there is a single complaint, it will just refuse to boot. Half the time it didn't even turn the monitor on.I'm considering getting a 'new' motherboard for it, just so I can have more control over that, have a POST code display, be able to run headless etc.If you are getting "A required device isn't connected or can't be accessed", then double check that literally *everything* is connected before you turn it on. Mouse, keyboard, monitor, drives, DVDRom etc as AFAIK if *any* are not connected, it will just refuse to boot.

author: 60Hurts
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2021, 03:52:54 pm
content: Thanks for all the great replies and suggestions. I am tied up with work this week and hoping to try some of these ideas and do more troubleshooting this weekend. If that converter board is for back lighting then I don't think it is the primary problem. I am going try a linux boot test and will report back.

author: coromonadalix
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 22, 2021, 05:21:20 pm
content: in the bios you can find a : stop on all errors option, you can put it on disabled if this choice does show

author: 60Hurts
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 31, 2022, 08:40:18 pm
content: Late update but I finally had some time over the Holiday weekend to tackle some side projects that have been sitting around for a while. I threw in a new HDD and installed Zorin (linux) OS, both computers seem to be fine. Not sure what I am going to do with them but the good news is they both work great, apart from linux teething pains (e.g. brightness control does not work, sound issues, etc.). Thanks for all the help!