amber light on mainboard

[DartBoy]

Hello, A pal of mine has an old Dell Dimesion XPS T600 (Yes there are still some about). Recently it has developed a problem whereby the hard drive on Primary Master and a CD Writer on Primary Slave are not detected in the bios, which have both been weorking fine. All cables are secure, but one thing I have noticed is an amber led alight in the centre of the mainboard. Is this detecting an error or problem ? Is is a hard drive problem or has the cumputer just died ??

Simon Everitt, Lockwell Lectrics Ltd
System Administrator

 

[Blujacket]

Could be showing a problem. Have seen amber with the power switched off. The boards with lights can be damaged when changing memory or add-in cards if the power cable is not first removed and wait til the light goes out.

 

[packdragon]

Was this amber light previously unlit? I have a newer Dell Dimension and it also has an amber light on the motherboard. It goes out when the power cord is unplugged (stays on when power is plugged in, even when computer is off). I'm not sure what this light means either. But I thought I'd mention it anyway. This computer is still working fine. Maybe it's just indicating that the motherboard has power?

- Zoe, that's ZOH-EEE, get it right please
- Just a little ol' MCP at Solien Technology
-

http://www.solien.com

 

[Xemus]

The light is just a test to verify that the board is getting power (ie, the PSU is working). Usually it's a green LED, but amber sometimes as well.
Most new motherboards have this feature.

http://www.closedsocket.com

 

[micker377]

I had one mobo that had a red light that indicated the 5 volt source was available for standby and hibernate.

 

[DartBoy]

Thanks all. Cheers for the help. Hopefully I'll be able to return in the future!!!

Simon Everitt, Lockwell Lectrics Ltd
System Administrator

 

[Walter349]

NEVER EVER change anything on a system board without disconnecting it from the mains supply.
The PSU outputs two voltages,+5VDC(AUX)directly and +3.3VDC(AUX) either directly or indirectly depending the chipset involved.

Sometimes, but not always, the presence of these voltages are indicated by LED telltales on the system board. Therefore if you replace anything without disconnecting the mains supply. It is likely that it will get really upset.

 

[GOLCPL]

Is there anything on the Secondary Controller because maybe the Primary controller went out try moving the cable from primary to secondary and see if that works

 

[DartBoy]

No. It's ok problem solved. The hard-drive was playing up about three weeks ago I've recently found out. I hadn't changed anything with the power on, but had the poc booted with the case off and saw the led. It seems to be a new hard-disk job !!!!

Thanks again for all your replies....

Simon Everitt, Lockwell Lectrics Ltd
System Administrator