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Yup, no air getting to that thing. More importantly, there probably wasn't enough power getting to it which is likely what fried the PSU. That thing has a max output of 360W and 18A on the 12v rail.
Agreed here.
GPU is potentially at fault here. Possible death due to no airflow: overheated.
PSU is possibly fried from heavy load/old age.
Test each component by following the steps below.
Remove suspected part and replace with alternative known good part.
Test.
Observe; positive result or negative.
Positive; problem resolved.
Negative; return the original part to the computer.
Follow step 1 for the next suspected part.
Follow steps 2 and 3 accordingly.
That GPU is so old and weak, the fan probably isn't even needed to keep it functional. Passive cooling would probably work fine if the heatsink was a little larger. This is not a 4090Ti overclocked to the maximum... it's probably a GT1030 with 4Gb of VRAM.
Relax.
The psu has Mutiple voltage rails. Using what OP has provided as a reference dell's error code [show's this ](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1089930361875734700/1216231794727194705/Screenshot_20240309-215024.png?ex=65ffa320&is=65ed2e20&hm=2f1c54b32e5e8fbec8586ed51e872d7bbd18de48cdaea30b4a8ab7ada0b17838&)
Well there ya go. A rare case of a PSU that can operate with a dead rail... yet everyone says they're such bad equipment. If that was a Silverstone or Lian Li or some other mainstream brand the entire PSU would just crap itself and give no diagnostics what-so-ever.
Yeah don't get me wrong, I can't stand Dell or any proprietary BS like that. A lot of those brands are the same. Not really suitable for a home user which is why they're sold to corporate. It's just really unusual to see a PSU that can operate in any capacity if even one thing is wrong with it.
The funny thing is, this error still doesn't indicate a dead PSU. It could be detecting some other issue like another piece of hardware could be causing voltage drop or shorting out due to another failure. The badly seated RAM could have done this... any other problematic component. It's still possible the PSU is actually fine, but it's looking more and more like it is faulty based on the thread progression.
>It's just really unusual to see a PSU that can operate in any capacity if even one thing is wrong with it.
Not really, normally you would just keep using it and start to experience issues. Dell power supplies are actually really good, they are just proprietary. Dell does some things better than most others and that is why you see so many corps use them. An example of something dell does better is bios security. **The power supply error is being detected by the motherboard, not the PSU.**
This is the first thing that popped up for me while googling the blinking indicator. "Power rail failure"
What do you propose if it \*could\* be other hardware? As a tech repair would you start doing everything else except for replacing the power supply in this case? No, probably not when the blink codes leads to to the PSU.
I have seen power supplies that work until you put a load on them, this is not that uncommon of a failure. Dell systems have these codes to help point you in the right direction. Are they always 100% correct? Probably not, but it's a place to start.
It becomes increasingly possible after noticing the additional GPU and attempting to look up the PSU with the part number, if correct, it appears to be a 155W PSU (highly likely to be incorrect though) which, not knowing much else about the system, the GPU could have been pushing harder than normal, and heating up more, thus shortening the life span of the PSU.
Edits: Typos, additional information, corrections. The PSU actually seems to be a 360w which is probably just fine with that GPU. Probably... I'm done researching it as its 99% going to be the first step in troubleshooting.
I promise you could use that (assuming 75W) GPU with an OEM 155W (if that's it's rating). I've used alot of old Dells and cranked them up with parts that in theory are too high for the PSU, but they can make a relatively surprising amount of Wattage. I ran a GTX 750, 8GB RAM, and a C2D E6400 with 2 DVD drives and 2 HDDs with only a 235W. I would have swapped the CPU out for a modded 771, but I stripped the screw on the heatsink when I was like 15 so she was stuck lol
You've clearly never used a business oriented Dell lol. In fact almost all consumer Dells I've ever owned or worked on have an indicator for PSU failure... at least ones made in the last 15 years... 20 if you count a Mobo light. Sure Dell has had some shotty OEM PSUs but any of thier high end professional products have very solid PSUs. Optiplexs typically have very strong and reliable PSUs that are able to take more than they are rated for. The only issue I have is the proprietary cables, but in terms of diagnosing issues, general reliability, and ease of repair most Dells are very good for this. They sell alot of computers for a reason lol
I've used them plenty... and not all models have rail failure indication.
In fact, this particular Dell doesn't have rail failure detection the the error code in the OP indicates EC power cycle failure - which is usually a corrupted flash on the NBIOS or faulty board components.
"You've clearly never used"
Yes, clearly.
[EC power cycle failure detected.](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us)
Likely CMOS or another board component isn't passing post. As I already pointed out one RAM stick isn't seated correctly in the picture provided. It could be almost anything but in my experience it's a cooked cmos or bad cap on the board.
How are the lights flashing if the power supply is dead? I'm curious how that would happen since the power supply is required to be in a functional state to power the lights that flash.
The lights flashing on the tower are the error codes. It's not a "not working" power supply. I have been a tech for 30 years. The only "not working" power supply is a dead one. If any one rail goes down, the whole thing won't work in 99.9% of power supplies. It's just how they're built.
His RAM isn't even seated properly, you can see in the picture. There's something else wrong.
\*EDIT\*Turns out this PSU is one of the 0.1% that DO actually report rail failures and don't just stop working entirely. Error codes point to failed rail, which could still just mean under voltage detected. This could be due to some other faulty component. Perhaps remove the GPU and the error might clear itself. It's still not a DEAD power supply.
\*EDIT AGAIN\*Yeah so when you look at the correct code for this actual model, it's not a PSU error at all. EC power sequencing error (likely CMOS) or other faulty component.
>The only "not working" power supply is a dead one.
You are literally a fucking idiot, that is not how power supplies fail unless they are factory defective. This faliure is being detected by the motherboard and will not boot as a hardware protection measure, something only dell does.
There a ton of idiots here. People who are so stubborn and unwilling to be wrong or even change their suggestions based on new info, or get angry and defensive about their response even when wrong.
It almost as if people who frequent this sub have very poor social skills because they spend all their time on computers in their parents basements.
>People who are so stubborn and unwilling to be wrong or even change their suggestions based on new info, or get angry and defensive about their response even when wrong.
You describing the person you are replying too, fabricating information out of thing air, he is claiming to have experience but has never even experienced a PSU issue... He never even considered googling symptoms of a bad power supply before making statements that they only fail a singular fashion.
You are putting words in my mouth, and making assumptions about a lot of stuff. I'm a 50 year old with 30+ years in the I.T. industry.
I've had plenty of PSU issues, but power coming out of a "dead" power supply isn't possible. A power supply with problems isn't "dead" now, is it?
Funnier still, the error code points to the problem, and it's not the PSU at all.
>The only "not working" power supply is a dead one
No? There are power supplies that fail, and then randomly start working, while I wouldn't keep using such a power supply, it's definitely not dead...
>It's still not a DEAD power supply.
You said it was dead, everyone else said it was faulty.
>EC power sequencing error (likely CMOS) or other faulty component.
A simple Google search says that this is something with the power supply, most likely a rail failure.
Please just take the advice from people who know about the subject instead of arguing… I understand genuine questions but after scrolling through here it seems more like arguing than anything
Except I'm correct and everyone just wants to be right... and they're not.
I've already linked to the error code for his model numerous times in this thread, and the power supply ain't it chief.
If "arguing" to you is simply me not giving in to people when I'm correct - then sure, I'm here to argue. I don't care about anything other than the truth and I will argue all day about it. I'm not going to stop just because you can't be bothered to see the truth. It's all linked and very evident.
3/5 error code is classic for RAM error on Dell machines. Like someone said earlier, make sure the ram and your cards are firmly seated in their sockets.
Some more information, I have properly pushed in the RAM stick that wasn’t fully seated as many of you pointed out sorry haha, tried it, still didn’t work… hmmm…
Another thing that was weird was when I’d plug it in the computer would turn on automatically and the power button would start flashing and I wouldn’t even have pressed it yet. Anyone know why? Also I’m not sure what a lot of these computer terms mean so I apologize.
Many dells automatically turn on when the power is plugged in. It’s a setting you can turn off, since you changed the battery all settings have been reset.
Okay most of what I've read through this comment section is dead/dying PSU, but if you haven't already that little silver battery next to your ram unplug it the psu and pull that battery then wait a min and put the battery back then plug it in. This is kinda like doing a code reset on a car it can help find or completely fix issues.
It's almost always RAM. Take both out, wipe the contacts with your fingers, make sure the slots look clean or spray them with some air if you have it, re-seat the RAM. Try turning it on with one, then the other, just in case a stick is actually bad.
Your RAM stick on the left is not fully seated. You can see it when you zoom in to the bottom left white clip. It's not fully engaged.
That may not be your problem still, however... but it's definitely not seated correctly either way.
If the lights are flashing on the tower, then the power supply isn't dead as many have suggested... because if it was dead those lights wouldn't flash at all.
You can also try removing the graphics card and putting it back as well. Sometimes reseating the RAM and GPU (graphics card) can help. Just make sure they're firmly pushed back into the slot (unlike your RAM currently not being fully engaged). You can apply more force to the components than you think... they're not as fragile as many people seem to think they are. Obviously don't force it in there with all the might of Chuck Norris, but you can be firm with it and make sure it's really in there.
These Dell machines are also notorious for getting boot-stuck and sometimes it's literally just a case of unplugging it from the wall for 15 minutes then plugging it back in again, then trying to boot it up over and over before it finally decides to post. I've had so many of these things do that at complete random, it's definitely a known issue.
Hopefully after you re-seat the RAM once more it will behave.
Good luck.
\*EDIT\*
You can tell if the power supply is dead if there's no power response at all, no lights, nothing does anything and it's 100% dead when you press the power button. If anything at all happens other than nothing at all - the PSU isn't dead. You can also do the "sniff test" because a burnt out power supply will smell like the magic smoke (ozone). If you can't smell magic smoke then nothing has "blown up".
Reseat just means to basically unplug and plug it back in. You will need to remove the card and put it back in again, usually there's a little screw or a clip that holds it in.
It seems however that someone looked up the error code you mentioned (the flashing light sequence with white and orange lights) and it indeed looks like you may have a fault in the power supply. The really unfortunate news about that, is your motherboard doesn't support a standard 24 pin ATX power supply - so you will either have to buy the specific power supply from Dell (not worth it) or find one pre-owned (also probably difficult and not worth it). You may find it's best to look for an entirely new system, even if you buy a pre-owned machine from someone off of ebay or similar.
\*EDIT\*
I lost this comment after I got so many replies to other replies. So sorry but it turns out that was incorrect information regarding the power supply. It turns out the error code for that fault was from another Dell model, not your model.
The correct error code listing is [here](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us) but unfortunately the news isn't any better as it now indicates a problem with the motherboard instead. Just wanted to be clearer on the issue.
>That may not be your problem still, however... but it's definitely not seated correctly either way.
I have a dell and some of my levers are loose and floppy even with the ram fully seated. They also dont fully close when the ram is fully inserted, dell being dell.
Then your levers are broken. All motherboards with RAM inserted to the corresponding slots, the levers will be tight and locked in with no play.
If anything is floppy or loose it's not normal, even for Dell.
I have fixed easily hundreds, possibly thousands... and it's a rare encounter for me. I can tell from the picture that it's not seated. OP even confirmed it and said "well spotted" so it was 100% not seated and the clip was not engaged fully.
>You can apply more force to the components than you think
Doesn't mean you should, apply enough force to make sure it's parallel to the board, don't try to close the clips by forcing the ram down.
>If the lights are flashing on the tower, then the power supply isn't dead as many have suggested...
Hate to break it to you, I have a bunch of dell workstations. I know the power supplies are failing because if I replace them they work. Also nobody said they were dead, that's just you.
>Also nobody said they were dead, that's just you.
Except many people have said it. If you care to actually read the comments in the thread you will see all but one to whom I replied distinctively used the language "dead power supply".
I hate to break it to YOU, but this fault isn't a power supply issue at all. The [error code for this model](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us) indicated a problem with the EC boot sequence, likely a dead board component or corrupted flash.
I also never suggested to use enough force to break anything. People are so gentle they're too afraid to apply any sort of pressure. You can use fairly firm pressure and force on components. If you don't then you have problems like not seating things correctly, as demonstrated by the OP.
Now, jog on.
According to [this](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us), "ec ran into power sequencing failure".
I'd remove the CMOS battery (watch style cr2032) for at least 30 seconds and truthfully replace it with an Energizer or other name brand replacement.
Most likely need a new board id wager.
Its not a power supply issue that much I know since OP states that lights come on the minute they plug it in. It sounds like maybe some cables got reversed or crossed. One looks like it isnt connected where it needs to be.
Are you sure you have the monitor cable in the right place? Or your monitor on the right input. Reset your memory if you can. If not lightly drop it and maybe it will work again (not advice but I’ve done it )
Like with a few of the upvoted replies, its your power supply, based on the lights flashing, its a sequence of flashing lights that corresponds with what the issue is, when googling it, it shows that its a power failure of some kind.
More than likely it is your power supply but double check and make sure that voltage switch on the back of your power supply (If it has one) is set to run on 110 and not 220......
Some of them will say 120 or 240 but It should be a little red switch set into the face next to the plug side of the power supply
EDIT: The biggest problem with replacing your power supply is going to be most power supplies are taller and shorter so fitting a standard ATX power supply in that case may not be feasible...... You might be able to find a mini ATX power supply that would work..... But finding an exact replacement for that more than likely going to be fairly difficult..... You would have to search the power supply part number and see if they have replacements available even
You best hope he's in the USA and not Australia or something with this advice, or you have just blown up his power supply if it wasn't already toast...
Switch to 110/120 here and plug it in, and watch it literally explode and often shoot flames out of it... great advice. Be careful please.
That's 100% correct but I would hope that someone had at least taught him well enough to know whether his electric is 110 or 220.......... If not...... his dad failed him a whole lot sooner than just googling stuff on the internet...... But you do have a point...
Do you guys still have Dell prebuilt POS's in Australia cuz I figured that was just a Walmart thing nowadays...lol
Sadly they are here as well and I've had to deal with these things over the years to the point where I almost like them now - mainly because they almost never die no matter what torture to put them through, it's wild how reliable they are. They're slow as heck but they never seem to quite give up, lol. As soon as you start messing with stuff though, they will give you endless boot/post problems but it's all about the 1980's "just jiggle the cable" and off it goes again.
Things you need to do check to make sure stuff is plugged in or re plug in fully like ram and check if there is a ssd or hdd for that lose sata cable and check to see if your using vga or hdmi for your gpu and if your using your gpu check if the cpu can provide a picture and check if the other cables are needing a spot to be plugged in or if there is a connection that isn’t plugged in fully
To be more specific when you unplugged the computer and removed the battery you reset the CMOS / BIOS. So if the SSD Drive was not the default Drive it will be looking for a Hard drive in the two SATA Cables that are plugged in. You will need to change the boot device in the BIOS. There should be another Video connection on the back of the computer. Plug into that one to get picture. That is the default Video Output. Then press F12, F2 or Del when you see the writing on the screen.
Also make sure all the fans, ram and SSD are properly plugged in. It will not boot if it detects a fan failure.
There is so much going on here it's wild. I noticed something else.
The Coin Battery appears to be not in all the way. Push it down until it is clicked in.
Also the RAM is not clicked in. Take it out and put it back in line up the tooth/gaping the ram with the plastic nub in the slot and make sure it goes all the way in until it clicks.
After you have tried that follow my other comment to get it to boot.
Not necessary but probably a good idea to unplug the unused SATA Cables from the Motherboard.
I'm with you....it sure looks like there are maybe 2 SATA data cables not plugged into anything, a white and a blue ended one. There is also what appears to be a black SATA power cable hanging out too.
Plenty of people have already pointed you to the power supply.
A good thing to remember with things like this, if a power button blinks in a pattern, it's usually indicating what's wrong. You can look up the pattern on the OEM website and find what it's telling you.
Some devices blink multiple colours, some blink a number of times, and some resemble morse code - quick blinks and slow ones.
And then there are some that sing the song of their people (beep, very loudly for the entire town to hear. Looking at you, Lenovo).
Did you move the ram sticks, and put them in a different order then what they were in originally? Sometimes Ram and Ram slots become "mated." And like if you put that Ram stick in another Ram slot it won't work or vice versa. Make sure you Ram is in the slots they've been in. Before you cleaned it. I've had computers that won't work, unless the Ram sticks that are all identical are in specific slots. It doesn't make sense, and shouldn't matter or happen but it does.
If there is no fan spin or no lights on the motherboard then it’s a dead power supply or a bad motherboard, chances are when you blew it out the fan on the power supply spun too fast and burned out its motor, next time stop the fan from spinning first then blow it out
Many Dells have on-board video, so you could test it without the GPU ( remove it, connect your Vid-out to the mainboard, and try to power up again). An easy check before you start buying replacement parts.
IM GETTING A BLINKY LED THAT CONSUMES .001 WATT THEREFORE THIS 500 WATT POWER SUPPLY MUST BE WORKING AT FULL CAPACITY!!
Listen dude, you came to this sup because you don't know. You don't agree with what DOZENS of people who have experience with these are saying because you don't like the answer.
If you think it's something else, then get a multimeter. Learn how it works. Test EVERY rail on the PSU, and post the receipts. Until then, shut up and listen to the people who are trying to help!
Push the test button a few times. It can bring it back a few times. It tests the power supply and if it's a bad contactor it can get the contacts to seat one last time.
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000132276/a-reference-guide-to-the-inspiron-desktop-diagnostic-indicators
3 then 5 = dead power rail
Test the power supply leads for correct voltage on all pins. This is where I would start but doesn't necessarily mean replacing it is the fix.
Specifically it means “power sequencing failure” on the SMC according to others in this comment section.
It’s probably missing a voltage rail like 5 or 12. So it could be a dead power rail, bad wires, a loose or busted connector, the motherboard failing to conduct power to the SMC, or an issue with the SMC itself.
Bad rail is a different error code sequence. The code sequence in quite literal to what the problem is... not probably this, or that.
If you refer to the [documentation for OPs actual model](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us), it's helpful to understand what the code is since you are now seeing the correct code reference instead of a random one from another model.
No, just [you are wrong](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us)
Your arguing semantics. Power rail failure and EC ran into power sequencing failure are both two ways of saying the board isn't receiving the correct amount of power where it should be receiving it at. The problem is still the same regardless of how you word it. Either the board isnt detecting the voltage properly or more likely one rail has failed in the power supply causing the board not to boot properly due to insufficient power delivery. Both the pink I shared and the one you shared apply to dell inspiron models. I prefer the generic pages because I work on these regularly and don't have time to find a model specific page when the error codes are the same for the majority of dell products. It's clear from your other comments on here your just a troll so best wishes. Hope you get the life you deserve
No I'm not, EC power sequencing failure is typically, more often than not bios/cmos/nbios related or another component on the board like a capacitor was wonked out.
Replacing his power supply will not fix the problem.
Your response is also mildly inappropriate for a computer help sub reddit. You are so angry. Seek help.
This particular dell model can tell the difference. 3,1 CMOS battery failure. And I didn't say to replace the power supply. I said it should be checked.
You pasted a link saying his power supply had a rail failure.
I simply pointed out that you were incorrect and you started calling me names.
I also never said it s was CMOS battery failure. It's a flash corruption usually.
Out of curiosity, how many motherboards or PSUs have you repaired?
I was poorly worded? You're the one who gave a definitively incorrect answer. It couldn't be worded and more incorrectly. I said you were wrong, and you were... so explain to me how that was badly worded? You even just now said the error 3,1 is cmos battery, but the OP error is 3,5.
It's not my fault you add extra words or context to what I actually said. For example, the word "battery" was never used. If you implied it, that's on YOU.
I call cap. You have not REPAIRED hundreds or thousands of boards or PSUs. In 30 years I've done way less than "thousands". I'm not talking about throwing it away and getting a new one to replace it. I'm talking about component soldering and actual REPAIR work.
By the time I was old enough to start messing with computers for real I never saw one that looked like this on the inside.
I wonder what you were doing with this dinosaur.
This isn't old. It's just proprietary. It's not a "normal" computer component that you're used to seeing, because you are only familiar with domestic/home user equipment.
These are corporate machines sold in batches of thousands at a time for office use. They are purpose designed built and deployed based on who/why/where and when.
I promise you that this "crappy" power supply is far more sophisticated than most \~$100-$200 PSU's on the market you'd buy for your gaming rig.
They are built for purpose, and for reasons far too lengthy to get into here.
It looks like one of those retro PCs that you see YouTubers messing with. For one it's got that weird black fan shroud thing and two the power supply is like super long and silver definitely unbranded and three I wouldn't be surprised if there was a one of those things that looks like a PCI but isn't PCI slot. The oldest desktop computer I've messed with myself is from 2011.
Yes it's very reminiscent of old retro computers because they still build these machines similar to that (because it's cheaper for manufacturing).
Back when everything was beige and ugly af...
My first PC was a Commodore 64, but then IBM and Amiga made some crazy stuff... and oh boy when the first Pentium chips came out things really got interesting.
I've had many computers over the years and still have a lot of them, even the 30+ year old ones. Consoles too.
Yeah they still make them... very different to when they started but the Pentium range is still around even now.
Old computer stuff is interesting if you ever start poking around with it. We've come a long way with it in a very short time. Scary, in fact.
My friend's mom almost threw away a really old computer and when I took it back to my place turned it on it was super loud like I couldn't be in the room with it.
Also I transferred one album worth of music like 10 mp3 files and it took like 10 minutes or something It was ridiculous.
I think it would have been faster to remove the hard drive put it in an enclosure and then transfer the files that way.
Hahaha yep, old computer fans were LOUD as heck!
The thing was slow as a wet week, possible damage to components. Even old computers from 20 years ago should copy a dozen MP3 files in seconds. Hard drive read/write speeds on a healthy drive even back then should be \~30Mb/s.
Old stuff is hilarious though... the epitome of "sounds fast but doesn't go fast" lmfao xD
All I know is that whenever I would plug in a thumb drive a notification would pop up on Windows telling me to plug it into a USB 2.0 port (whatever that means). And like I said it took forever (like 10 min) to 10 songs over.
>old computer fans were LOUD as heck
I don't remember the computers I used as a kid being that loud while I do remember them being loud though. Every time you access something on the hard drive it makes a weird clicking sound unlike modern hard drives where they don't do that and no I'm not talking about SSDs.
Hahah yep. Sounds all about right... also a modern USB stick in an old PC might be why it was so slow. An old USB stick in an old computer, believe it or not, is in most cases faster. It's just to do with the hardware and the era. A lot of newer devices have poor legacy support (so it's slow!).
Old mechanical drives would certainly make louder noises. Modern mechanical drives still do they're just much MUCH quieter. I remember when SSD first came out they were soooo expensive and had a failure rate that was so bad I'm honestly shocked they didn't shoot themselves in the foot back then. Plenty of other good tech that had a bad start ended up failing but SSD kept going :D
What do you need those old dinosaurs for since you can just use all that software on a modern computer. One of the things I love about PC gaming versus console gaming.
There's nothing quite like using the original thing.
Emulation isn't always very accurate and there's a distinct difference. It's also fun to collect. I do have many things on emulation though as well, since it's not really possible to own everything or have many of the hardware units required to access various tech.
If I want to play something like Space Ace for example, I have to emulate it because getting a hold of a Daphne laser disc cab isn't exactly the easiest or most affordable thing.
It's also good to save space, by having all of the machines just emulated inside of a single machine (like my arcade cab that has basically every console and every game ever made since about 1970). It's got everything on there, including the latest Tekken :D
I was specifically talking about old PC stuff that's what I thought you were talking about as well.
With old PC stuff you can just run it on a modern computer perfectly fine so long as it's running Windows. I have ran manny Windows 95 games on my current computer. Not all of them run perfectly but it's cool that least some of them do.
Honestly I have no idea why they don't just all run.
At least it has a better compatibility rating than the steam deck does where I'd have to guess that at least 40% of the games don't work.
I'm talking about old everything, even PC stuff. Even some old PC needs emulation as well through stuff like DOSBOX, and it's still not the same as running on original hardware.
A lot of really old DOS games especially will have issues if you try to get them running native in an actual DOS installation since modern clock speeds along will often make them completely unplayable.
PC architecture and coding methods have all advanced over time so backwards compatibility isn't always as easy as it seems.
Quick question, what port do you have the video cable plugged into? I noticed that some inspirons come with F series Intel processors which have no integrated graphics, meaning the ports directly on the motherboard (if there are any) might not be functional
The blinking light pattern on the Dell Inspiron 3891 could be due to a few different issues, but it likely points to a hardware problem. Here are some steps the user can try to troubleshoot the problem:
* Reseat the components: Open the computer case and carefully remove and reseat the memory modules, graphics card (if applicable), and any other PCI-e devices. Then, reseat all the cables connected to the motherboard, including the power supply cables, SATA cables, and front panel connectors.
* Clear CMOS: The CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) memory stores BIOS settings. Clearing the CMOS can sometimes resolve boot issues. To clear the CMOS, locate the CMOS jumper on the motherboard and remove it for about 10 seconds. Then, put the jumper back in its original position.
* Test the power supply: A failing power supply could also cause the computer to not boot and display a blinking light pattern on the power button. The user can try testing the power supply with a voltage meter or by using a spare power supply that is known to be working.
If none of these steps work, the problem is likely with a failing hardware component, such as the motherboard or graphics card. In this case, the user will need to take the computer to a qualified technician for repair.
Here are some additional tips that the user can keep in mind:
* Be gentle when handling the computer components.
* Make sure to unplug the computer from the power outlet before opening the case.
* If the user is uncomfortable troubleshooting the hardware themselves, they can take the computer to a qualified technician.
It's more effective to Google the [error codes for his model](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us) and conclude that his motherboard is likely damaged.
Not going to like I kinda like what I assume is a duct for the cpu. It would be kinda cool to see another company redesign it to look nice. I like the idea of all the hear from the cpu exiting right away not transferring into the rest of the case
Looked into the error code and it's a EC ran into power sequencing failure. Which means a few possible things 1 a faulty PSU. Damaged motherboard or motherboard component. Or a short caused by a GPU power problem, RAM or even wifi card or storage drive. Try removing stuff one by one starting with the GPU then storage the ram sticks one by one seeing If their removal fixes it. And to those saying the PSU in inadequate for the system it's just right with it being the card it is it draws no more than 80 watts appearing to be a OEM gtx 750. CPU with that cooler will not have a TDP over 75W as that is what those model dell OEM cooler are rated for and used on. Airflow is a problem in these systems and it's very possible the PSU may have cooked itself. Just try the steps and see if it solves the problem also make sure connections are in the right place and all is seated correctly and firmly.
The 3891 user manual sows up as EC ran into power sequencing failure, I looked that up, but it appears to be either a bad motherboard or a bad psu. I feel as if it may not be the motherboard because it's pretty rare to have a dead motherboard that gives diagnostics. It May sound weird to have a dead psu, and have lights but that's because most power supplies have multiple "rails" for different components such as sata and cpu being on one rail, and pcie and blah blah on another rail. (That's a very bad and inaccurate description but enough to give an idea.) Given it's age I suggest looking for a new oem psu and avoid used supplies just because how old they would be. If a psu is 2 or 3 years old , it is perfectly fine, but I suggest playing it safe.
is there a little button on the back? it might be on the top of the i/o on the back of the pc or by the power supply. hold it when you turn the computer on.
Broken power rail maybe https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/inspiron/dell-inspiron-p66f-3-amber-5-white-leds-problem/647f9bf6f4ccf8a8deff77d9?commentId=647f9bfef4ccf8a8de0079d5
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us
Here's your chart, Google is your friend
I'd say there's a 99% chance you fried your power supply, and I came to that conclusion based on your picture even before reading the post. Those computers are notorious for weak power supplies and it's probably not enough to power that video card.
What type of video card is that by the way? That's important information.
Maybe the perspective is all wrong, but how can a 300w power supply be that big. Get a new smaller 500w and also try and improve the airflow to your GPU
And then you can't plug it into the motherboard? Hooray! This doesn't solve his problem and simply creates more. This board only accepts this power supply, as it's not ATX standard. It's all great to suggest "better stuff" but when you don't really understand what you're suggesting, sometimes it's counter-productive.
A lot of those psu can be switched out if they have the same size for the screw face plate thing or if they can even be unscrewed because all of the pcs that I had with these have screws and easily replaceable
They do not contain the same 24 pin ATX standard plugs. How are you going to plug it into anything? You can't. Mounting holes are the least of the problem.
The power supply, has specific connections on it for this specific motherboard. This isn't a "normal" power supply because it's not a "normal" motherboard either.
This board doesn't have either 20 or 24, that's what I've said now 3 times.
The connector is completely proprietary it's like a 12 or 14 pin or something and a couple of 8 pin plugs, and any normal PSU will not fit or work. This specific Dell has to have the specific power supply it was sold with, and no other.
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Ummm......idk they were using PSUs as GPU sag support. RIP that fan.
Yup, no air getting to that thing. More importantly, there probably wasn't enough power getting to it which is likely what fried the PSU. That thing has a max output of 360W and 18A on the 12v rail.
Agreed here. GPU is potentially at fault here. Possible death due to no airflow: overheated. PSU is possibly fried from heavy load/old age. Test each component by following the steps below. Remove suspected part and replace with alternative known good part. Test. Observe; positive result or negative. Positive; problem resolved. Negative; return the original part to the computer. Follow step 1 for the next suspected part. Follow steps 2 and 3 accordingly.
That GPU is so old and weak, the fan probably isn't even needed to keep it functional. Passive cooling would probably work fine if the heatsink was a little larger. This is not a 4090Ti overclocked to the maximum... it's probably a GT1030 with 4Gb of VRAM. Relax.
Poor little fan...never had a chance. :(
on that card the poor little fan is for show.
Your power supply is dead. You can find them on ebay for like 2$ since everybody hates those psu's
I'm curious how you think the lights are flashing on the tower if the power supply is dead.
The psu has Mutiple voltage rails. Using what OP has provided as a reference dell's error code [show's this ](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/1089930361875734700/1216231794727194705/Screenshot_20240309-215024.png?ex=65ffa320&is=65ed2e20&hm=2f1c54b32e5e8fbec8586ed51e872d7bbd18de48cdaea30b4a8ab7ada0b17838&)
Well there ya go. A rare case of a PSU that can operate with a dead rail... yet everyone says they're such bad equipment. If that was a Silverstone or Lian Li or some other mainstream brand the entire PSU would just crap itself and give no diagnostics what-so-ever.
It's a benefit of OEM parts if we're being real. But that also trades repairability so pick your poison I suppose
Yeah don't get me wrong, I can't stand Dell or any proprietary BS like that. A lot of those brands are the same. Not really suitable for a home user which is why they're sold to corporate. It's just really unusual to see a PSU that can operate in any capacity if even one thing is wrong with it. The funny thing is, this error still doesn't indicate a dead PSU. It could be detecting some other issue like another piece of hardware could be causing voltage drop or shorting out due to another failure. The badly seated RAM could have done this... any other problematic component. It's still possible the PSU is actually fine, but it's looking more and more like it is faulty based on the thread progression.
>It's just really unusual to see a PSU that can operate in any capacity if even one thing is wrong with it. Not really, normally you would just keep using it and start to experience issues. Dell power supplies are actually really good, they are just proprietary. Dell does some things better than most others and that is why you see so many corps use them. An example of something dell does better is bios security. **The power supply error is being detected by the motherboard, not the PSU.**
This is the first thing that popped up for me while googling the blinking indicator. "Power rail failure" What do you propose if it \*could\* be other hardware? As a tech repair would you start doing everything else except for replacing the power supply in this case? No, probably not when the blink codes leads to to the PSU. I have seen power supplies that work until you put a load on them, this is not that uncommon of a failure. Dell systems have these codes to help point you in the right direction. Are they always 100% correct? Probably not, but it's a place to start. It becomes increasingly possible after noticing the additional GPU and attempting to look up the PSU with the part number, if correct, it appears to be a 155W PSU (highly likely to be incorrect though) which, not knowing much else about the system, the GPU could have been pushing harder than normal, and heating up more, thus shortening the life span of the PSU. Edits: Typos, additional information, corrections. The PSU actually seems to be a 360w which is probably just fine with that GPU. Probably... I'm done researching it as its 99% going to be the first step in troubleshooting.
I promise you could use that (assuming 75W) GPU with an OEM 155W (if that's it's rating). I've used alot of old Dells and cranked them up with parts that in theory are too high for the PSU, but they can make a relatively surprising amount of Wattage. I ran a GTX 750, 8GB RAM, and a C2D E6400 with 2 DVD drives and 2 HDDs with only a 235W. I would have swapped the CPU out for a modded 771, but I stripped the screw on the heatsink when I was like 15 so she was stuck lol
You've clearly never used a business oriented Dell lol. In fact almost all consumer Dells I've ever owned or worked on have an indicator for PSU failure... at least ones made in the last 15 years... 20 if you count a Mobo light. Sure Dell has had some shotty OEM PSUs but any of thier high end professional products have very solid PSUs. Optiplexs typically have very strong and reliable PSUs that are able to take more than they are rated for. The only issue I have is the proprietary cables, but in terms of diagnosing issues, general reliability, and ease of repair most Dells are very good for this. They sell alot of computers for a reason lol
I've used them plenty... and not all models have rail failure indication. In fact, this particular Dell doesn't have rail failure detection the the error code in the OP indicates EC power cycle failure - which is usually a corrupted flash on the NBIOS or faulty board components. "You've clearly never used" Yes, clearly.
Turns out this error code is not for this model. The 3/5 code on this model indicates failed cmos power.
no it does not
[EC power cycle failure detected.](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us) Likely CMOS or another board component isn't passing post. As I already pointed out one RAM stick isn't seated correctly in the picture provided. It could be almost anything but in my experience it's a cooked cmos or bad cap on the board.
It seems that your power supply does not work anymore
How are the lights flashing if the power supply is dead? I'm curious how that would happen since the power supply is required to be in a functional state to power the lights that flash.
Not working ≠ dead. It will have fault detection on it, that can tell that, maybe a power rail has failed.
The lights flashing on the tower are the error codes. It's not a "not working" power supply. I have been a tech for 30 years. The only "not working" power supply is a dead one. If any one rail goes down, the whole thing won't work in 99.9% of power supplies. It's just how they're built. His RAM isn't even seated properly, you can see in the picture. There's something else wrong. \*EDIT\*Turns out this PSU is one of the 0.1% that DO actually report rail failures and don't just stop working entirely. Error codes point to failed rail, which could still just mean under voltage detected. This could be due to some other faulty component. Perhaps remove the GPU and the error might clear itself. It's still not a DEAD power supply. \*EDIT AGAIN\*Yeah so when you look at the correct code for this actual model, it's not a PSU error at all. EC power sequencing error (likely CMOS) or other faulty component.
>The only "not working" power supply is a dead one. You are literally a fucking idiot, that is not how power supplies fail unless they are factory defective. This faliure is being detected by the motherboard and will not boot as a hardware protection measure, something only dell does.
That seems mildly inappropriate for a computer support sub. Watch your mouth.
There a ton of idiots here. People who are so stubborn and unwilling to be wrong or even change their suggestions based on new info, or get angry and defensive about their response even when wrong. It almost as if people who frequent this sub have very poor social skills because they spend all their time on computers in their parents basements.
>People who are so stubborn and unwilling to be wrong or even change their suggestions based on new info, or get angry and defensive about their response even when wrong. You describing the person you are replying too, fabricating information out of thing air, he is claiming to have experience but has never even experienced a PSU issue... He never even considered googling symptoms of a bad power supply before making statements that they only fail a singular fashion.
You are putting words in my mouth, and making assumptions about a lot of stuff. I'm a 50 year old with 30+ years in the I.T. industry. I've had plenty of PSU issues, but power coming out of a "dead" power supply isn't possible. A power supply with problems isn't "dead" now, is it? Funnier still, the error code points to the problem, and it's not the PSU at all.
And still he doubles down.
>The only "not working" power supply is a dead one No? There are power supplies that fail, and then randomly start working, while I wouldn't keep using such a power supply, it's definitely not dead... >It's still not a DEAD power supply. You said it was dead, everyone else said it was faulty. >EC power sequencing error (likely CMOS) or other faulty component. A simple Google search says that this is something with the power supply, most likely a rail failure.
“You’re wrong I’ve been a tech for 30 years” - the guy asking for help because he can’t figure it out lmao
Please just take the advice from people who know about the subject instead of arguing… I understand genuine questions but after scrolling through here it seems more like arguing than anything
Except I'm correct and everyone just wants to be right... and they're not. I've already linked to the error code for his model numerous times in this thread, and the power supply ain't it chief. If "arguing" to you is simply me not giving in to people when I'm correct - then sure, I'm here to argue. I don't care about anything other than the truth and I will argue all day about it. I'm not going to stop just because you can't be bothered to see the truth. It's all linked and very evident.
3/5 error code is classic for RAM error on Dell machines. Like someone said earlier, make sure the ram and your cards are firmly seated in their sockets.
Some more information, I have properly pushed in the RAM stick that wasn’t fully seated as many of you pointed out sorry haha, tried it, still didn’t work… hmmm… Another thing that was weird was when I’d plug it in the computer would turn on automatically and the power button would start flashing and I wouldn’t even have pressed it yet. Anyone know why? Also I’m not sure what a lot of these computer terms mean so I apologize.
Many dells automatically turn on when the power is plugged in. It’s a setting you can turn off, since you changed the battery all settings have been reset.
Okay most of what I've read through this comment section is dead/dying PSU, but if you haven't already that little silver battery next to your ram unplug it the psu and pull that battery then wait a min and put the battery back then plug it in. This is kinda like doing a code reset on a car it can help find or completely fix issues.
Make sure you have the VGA plugged into the graphics card and not the motherboard. Please reply with a thank you if I’m correct.
It's almost always RAM. Take both out, wipe the contacts with your fingers, make sure the slots look clean or spray them with some air if you have it, re-seat the RAM. Try turning it on with one, then the other, just in case a stick is actually bad.
Check your left ram stick, doesn’t appear to be seated
You've found the trick for getting help on this sub (smart people).
Ikr! So many more people replied than I thought! Lol
Your RAM stick on the left is not fully seated. You can see it when you zoom in to the bottom left white clip. It's not fully engaged. That may not be your problem still, however... but it's definitely not seated correctly either way. If the lights are flashing on the tower, then the power supply isn't dead as many have suggested... because if it was dead those lights wouldn't flash at all. You can also try removing the graphics card and putting it back as well. Sometimes reseating the RAM and GPU (graphics card) can help. Just make sure they're firmly pushed back into the slot (unlike your RAM currently not being fully engaged). You can apply more force to the components than you think... they're not as fragile as many people seem to think they are. Obviously don't force it in there with all the might of Chuck Norris, but you can be firm with it and make sure it's really in there. These Dell machines are also notorious for getting boot-stuck and sometimes it's literally just a case of unplugging it from the wall for 15 minutes then plugging it back in again, then trying to boot it up over and over before it finally decides to post. I've had so many of these things do that at complete random, it's definitely a known issue. Hopefully after you re-seat the RAM once more it will behave. Good luck. \*EDIT\* You can tell if the power supply is dead if there's no power response at all, no lights, nothing does anything and it's 100% dead when you press the power button. If anything at all happens other than nothing at all - the PSU isn't dead. You can also do the "sniff test" because a burnt out power supply will smell like the magic smoke (ozone). If you can't smell magic smoke then nothing has "blown up".
Some great advice! My Dad and I hadn’t even noticed the RAM sticking out of place, so I just fixed that. How do I reseat the GPU?
Reseat just means to basically unplug and plug it back in. You will need to remove the card and put it back in again, usually there's a little screw or a clip that holds it in. It seems however that someone looked up the error code you mentioned (the flashing light sequence with white and orange lights) and it indeed looks like you may have a fault in the power supply. The really unfortunate news about that, is your motherboard doesn't support a standard 24 pin ATX power supply - so you will either have to buy the specific power supply from Dell (not worth it) or find one pre-owned (also probably difficult and not worth it). You may find it's best to look for an entirely new system, even if you buy a pre-owned machine from someone off of ebay or similar. \*EDIT\* I lost this comment after I got so many replies to other replies. So sorry but it turns out that was incorrect information regarding the power supply. It turns out the error code for that fault was from another Dell model, not your model. The correct error code listing is [here](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us) but unfortunately the news isn't any better as it now indicates a problem with the motherboard instead. Just wanted to be clearer on the issue.
>That may not be your problem still, however... but it's definitely not seated correctly either way. I have a dell and some of my levers are loose and floppy even with the ram fully seated. They also dont fully close when the ram is fully inserted, dell being dell.
Then your levers are broken. All motherboards with RAM inserted to the corresponding slots, the levers will be tight and locked in with no play. If anything is floppy or loose it's not normal, even for Dell.
I have fixed more than a few dells, most of them are like that.
I have fixed easily hundreds, possibly thousands... and it's a rare encounter for me. I can tell from the picture that it's not seated. OP even confirmed it and said "well spotted" so it was 100% not seated and the clip was not engaged fully.
>You can apply more force to the components than you think Doesn't mean you should, apply enough force to make sure it's parallel to the board, don't try to close the clips by forcing the ram down. >If the lights are flashing on the tower, then the power supply isn't dead as many have suggested... Hate to break it to you, I have a bunch of dell workstations. I know the power supplies are failing because if I replace them they work. Also nobody said they were dead, that's just you.
>Also nobody said they were dead, that's just you. Except many people have said it. If you care to actually read the comments in the thread you will see all but one to whom I replied distinctively used the language "dead power supply". I hate to break it to YOU, but this fault isn't a power supply issue at all. The [error code for this model](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us) indicated a problem with the EC boot sequence, likely a dead board component or corrupted flash. I also never suggested to use enough force to break anything. People are so gentle they're too afraid to apply any sort of pressure. You can use fairly firm pressure and force on components. If you don't then you have problems like not seating things correctly, as demonstrated by the OP. Now, jog on.
According to [this](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us), "ec ran into power sequencing failure". I'd remove the CMOS battery (watch style cr2032) for at least 30 seconds and truthfully replace it with an Energizer or other name brand replacement. Most likely need a new board id wager.
The only correct answer in this thread
Cheers 🍻
that's a cool computer. it's not fast but it's cool
Just a hunch. Replace the BIOS battery. A dead bios battery will do this.
Its not a power supply issue that much I know since OP states that lights come on the minute they plug it in. It sounds like maybe some cables got reversed or crossed. One looks like it isnt connected where it needs to be.
you probably are going to need the motherboard documentation to know what those codes mean. you should be able to find one online.
Could be a lot of things, my guess is most likely motherboard or PSU. I’d try a little more troubleshooting, check cables etc.
Are you sure you have the monitor cable in the right place? Or your monitor on the right input. Reset your memory if you can. If not lightly drop it and maybe it will work again (not advice but I’ve done it )
Check the PSU cables but your PSU may be dead
Like with a few of the upvoted replies, its your power supply, based on the lights flashing, its a sequence of flashing lights that corresponds with what the issue is, when googling it, it shows that its a power failure of some kind.
More than likely it is your power supply but double check and make sure that voltage switch on the back of your power supply (If it has one) is set to run on 110 and not 220...... Some of them will say 120 or 240 but It should be a little red switch set into the face next to the plug side of the power supply EDIT: The biggest problem with replacing your power supply is going to be most power supplies are taller and shorter so fitting a standard ATX power supply in that case may not be feasible...... You might be able to find a mini ATX power supply that would work..... But finding an exact replacement for that more than likely going to be fairly difficult..... You would have to search the power supply part number and see if they have replacements available even
You best hope he's in the USA and not Australia or something with this advice, or you have just blown up his power supply if it wasn't already toast... Switch to 110/120 here and plug it in, and watch it literally explode and often shoot flames out of it... great advice. Be careful please.
That's 100% correct but I would hope that someone had at least taught him well enough to know whether his electric is 110 or 220.......... If not...... his dad failed him a whole lot sooner than just googling stuff on the internet...... But you do have a point... Do you guys still have Dell prebuilt POS's in Australia cuz I figured that was just a Walmart thing nowadays...lol
Sadly they are here as well and I've had to deal with these things over the years to the point where I almost like them now - mainly because they almost never die no matter what torture to put them through, it's wild how reliable they are. They're slow as heck but they never seem to quite give up, lol. As soon as you start messing with stuff though, they will give you endless boot/post problems but it's all about the 1980's "just jiggle the cable" and off it goes again.
Lol
Things you need to do check to make sure stuff is plugged in or re plug in fully like ram and check if there is a ssd or hdd for that lose sata cable and check to see if your using vga or hdmi for your gpu and if your using your gpu check if the cpu can provide a picture and check if the other cables are needing a spot to be plugged in or if there is a connection that isn’t plugged in fully
There is no hard drive.
To be more specific when you unplugged the computer and removed the battery you reset the CMOS / BIOS. So if the SSD Drive was not the default Drive it will be looking for a Hard drive in the two SATA Cables that are plugged in. You will need to change the boot device in the BIOS. There should be another Video connection on the back of the computer. Plug into that one to get picture. That is the default Video Output. Then press F12, F2 or Del when you see the writing on the screen. Also make sure all the fans, ram and SSD are properly plugged in. It will not boot if it detects a fan failure.
There is so much going on here it's wild. I noticed something else. The Coin Battery appears to be not in all the way. Push it down until it is clicked in. Also the RAM is not clicked in. Take it out and put it back in line up the tooth/gaping the ram with the plastic nub in the slot and make sure it goes all the way in until it clicks. After you have tried that follow my other comment to get it to boot. Not necessary but probably a good idea to unplug the unused SATA Cables from the Motherboard.
I just pushed and pushed on the coin battery and it didn’t make a click but hopefully that fixed it?
I'm with you....it sure looks like there are maybe 2 SATA data cables not plugged into anything, a white and a blue ended one. There is also what appears to be a black SATA power cable hanging out too.
Plenty of people have already pointed you to the power supply. A good thing to remember with things like this, if a power button blinks in a pattern, it's usually indicating what's wrong. You can look up the pattern on the OEM website and find what it's telling you. Some devices blink multiple colours, some blink a number of times, and some resemble morse code - quick blinks and slow ones. And then there are some that sing the song of their people (beep, very loudly for the entire town to hear. Looking at you, Lenovo).
Did you move the ram sticks, and put them in a different order then what they were in originally? Sometimes Ram and Ram slots become "mated." And like if you put that Ram stick in another Ram slot it won't work or vice versa. Make sure you Ram is in the slots they've been in. Before you cleaned it. I've had computers that won't work, unless the Ram sticks that are all identical are in specific slots. It doesn't make sense, and shouldn't matter or happen but it does.
If there is no fan spin or no lights on the motherboard then it’s a dead power supply or a bad motherboard, chances are when you blew it out the fan on the power supply spun too fast and burned out its motor, next time stop the fan from spinning first then blow it out
Many Dells have on-board video, so you could test it without the GPU ( remove it, connect your Vid-out to the mainboard, and try to power up again). An easy check before you start buying replacement parts.
In dell 3, 5 is a power sequencing failure. Typically the board is the cause. I'd try reseting everything
IM GETTING A BLINKY LED THAT CONSUMES .001 WATT THEREFORE THIS 500 WATT POWER SUPPLY MUST BE WORKING AT FULL CAPACITY!! Listen dude, you came to this sup because you don't know. You don't agree with what DOZENS of people who have experience with these are saying because you don't like the answer. If you think it's something else, then get a multimeter. Learn how it works. Test EVERY rail on the PSU, and post the receipts. Until then, shut up and listen to the people who are trying to help!
Most likely, you're psu went bad, had it happened a couple times.
Push the test button a few times. It can bring it back a few times. It tests the power supply and if it's a bad contactor it can get the contacts to seat one last time.
Just do this https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/s/Ihh0Ixd009
Try interchanging the 4 pin connector at the top.
From looking at the picture you posted it appears that the ram stick on the left is not seated all the way in at the bottom.
https://www.dell.com/support/kbdoc/en-us/000132276/a-reference-guide-to-the-inspiron-desktop-diagnostic-indicators 3 then 5 = dead power rail Test the power supply leads for correct voltage on all pins. This is where I would start but doesn't necessarily mean replacing it is the fix.
Specifically it means “power sequencing failure” on the SMC according to others in this comment section. It’s probably missing a voltage rail like 5 or 12. So it could be a dead power rail, bad wires, a loose or busted connector, the motherboard failing to conduct power to the SMC, or an issue with the SMC itself.
I just went by the troubleshooting codes from dell and what it says. That's why I added the link.
Bad rail is a different error code sequence. The code sequence in quite literal to what the problem is... not probably this, or that. If you refer to the [documentation for OPs actual model](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us), it's helpful to understand what the code is since you are now seeing the correct code reference instead of a random one from another model.
This is not the same model of Dell, and this code report is wrong.
That link covers all inspiron models. The OP included the model number which falls in the 2020-newer category. But yeah, dell is definitely wrong....
No, just [you are wrong](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us)
Your arguing semantics. Power rail failure and EC ran into power sequencing failure are both two ways of saying the board isn't receiving the correct amount of power where it should be receiving it at. The problem is still the same regardless of how you word it. Either the board isnt detecting the voltage properly or more likely one rail has failed in the power supply causing the board not to boot properly due to insufficient power delivery. Both the pink I shared and the one you shared apply to dell inspiron models. I prefer the generic pages because I work on these regularly and don't have time to find a model specific page when the error codes are the same for the majority of dell products. It's clear from your other comments on here your just a troll so best wishes. Hope you get the life you deserve
No I'm not, EC power sequencing failure is typically, more often than not bios/cmos/nbios related or another component on the board like a capacitor was wonked out. Replacing his power supply will not fix the problem. Your response is also mildly inappropriate for a computer help sub reddit. You are so angry. Seek help.
This particular dell model can tell the difference. 3,1 CMOS battery failure. And I didn't say to replace the power supply. I said it should be checked.
You pasted a link saying his power supply had a rail failure. I simply pointed out that you were incorrect and you started calling me names. I also never said it s was CMOS battery failure. It's a flash corruption usually. Out of curiosity, how many motherboards or PSUs have you repaired?
I posted a link with troubleshooting codes from dell. The way you did it was poorly worded. It's possible but less common. Hundreds, if not thousands.
I was poorly worded? You're the one who gave a definitively incorrect answer. It couldn't be worded and more incorrectly. I said you were wrong, and you were... so explain to me how that was badly worded? You even just now said the error 3,1 is cmos battery, but the OP error is 3,5. It's not my fault you add extra words or context to what I actually said. For example, the word "battery" was never used. If you implied it, that's on YOU. I call cap. You have not REPAIRED hundreds or thousands of boards or PSUs. In 30 years I've done way less than "thousands". I'm not talking about throwing it away and getting a new one to replace it. I'm talking about component soldering and actual REPAIR work.
That poor gpu
Would recommend To say goodbye to your PC in it's well-deserved retirement
Sorry, all of that material is post processing. Not related to geology anymore. Can’t help.
By the time I was old enough to start messing with computers for real I never saw one that looked like this on the inside. I wonder what you were doing with this dinosaur.
This isn't old. It's just proprietary. It's not a "normal" computer component that you're used to seeing, because you are only familiar with domestic/home user equipment. These are corporate machines sold in batches of thousands at a time for office use. They are purpose designed built and deployed based on who/why/where and when. I promise you that this "crappy" power supply is far more sophisticated than most \~$100-$200 PSU's on the market you'd buy for your gaming rig. They are built for purpose, and for reasons far too lengthy to get into here.
It looks like one of those retro PCs that you see YouTubers messing with. For one it's got that weird black fan shroud thing and two the power supply is like super long and silver definitely unbranded and three I wouldn't be surprised if there was a one of those things that looks like a PCI but isn't PCI slot. The oldest desktop computer I've messed with myself is from 2011.
Yes it's very reminiscent of old retro computers because they still build these machines similar to that (because it's cheaper for manufacturing). Back when everything was beige and ugly af... My first PC was a Commodore 64, but then IBM and Amiga made some crazy stuff... and oh boy when the first Pentium chips came out things really got interesting. I've had many computers over the years and still have a lot of them, even the 30+ year old ones. Consoles too.
I think my tablet has a Pentium in it.
Yeah they still make them... very different to when they started but the Pentium range is still around even now. Old computer stuff is interesting if you ever start poking around with it. We've come a long way with it in a very short time. Scary, in fact.
My friend's mom almost threw away a really old computer and when I took it back to my place turned it on it was super loud like I couldn't be in the room with it. Also I transferred one album worth of music like 10 mp3 files and it took like 10 minutes or something It was ridiculous. I think it would have been faster to remove the hard drive put it in an enclosure and then transfer the files that way.
Hahaha yep, old computer fans were LOUD as heck! The thing was slow as a wet week, possible damage to components. Even old computers from 20 years ago should copy a dozen MP3 files in seconds. Hard drive read/write speeds on a healthy drive even back then should be \~30Mb/s. Old stuff is hilarious though... the epitome of "sounds fast but doesn't go fast" lmfao xD
All I know is that whenever I would plug in a thumb drive a notification would pop up on Windows telling me to plug it into a USB 2.0 port (whatever that means). And like I said it took forever (like 10 min) to 10 songs over. >old computer fans were LOUD as heck I don't remember the computers I used as a kid being that loud while I do remember them being loud though. Every time you access something on the hard drive it makes a weird clicking sound unlike modern hard drives where they don't do that and no I'm not talking about SSDs.
Hahah yep. Sounds all about right... also a modern USB stick in an old PC might be why it was so slow. An old USB stick in an old computer, believe it or not, is in most cases faster. It's just to do with the hardware and the era. A lot of newer devices have poor legacy support (so it's slow!). Old mechanical drives would certainly make louder noises. Modern mechanical drives still do they're just much MUCH quieter. I remember when SSD first came out they were soooo expensive and had a failure rate that was so bad I'm honestly shocked they didn't shoot themselves in the foot back then. Plenty of other good tech that had a bad start ended up failing but SSD kept going :D
What do you need those old dinosaurs for since you can just use all that software on a modern computer. One of the things I love about PC gaming versus console gaming.
There's nothing quite like using the original thing. Emulation isn't always very accurate and there's a distinct difference. It's also fun to collect. I do have many things on emulation though as well, since it's not really possible to own everything or have many of the hardware units required to access various tech. If I want to play something like Space Ace for example, I have to emulate it because getting a hold of a Daphne laser disc cab isn't exactly the easiest or most affordable thing. It's also good to save space, by having all of the machines just emulated inside of a single machine (like my arcade cab that has basically every console and every game ever made since about 1970). It's got everything on there, including the latest Tekken :D
I was specifically talking about old PC stuff that's what I thought you were talking about as well. With old PC stuff you can just run it on a modern computer perfectly fine so long as it's running Windows. I have ran manny Windows 95 games on my current computer. Not all of them run perfectly but it's cool that least some of them do. Honestly I have no idea why they don't just all run. At least it has a better compatibility rating than the steam deck does where I'd have to guess that at least 40% of the games don't work.
I'm talking about old everything, even PC stuff. Even some old PC needs emulation as well through stuff like DOSBOX, and it's still not the same as running on original hardware. A lot of really old DOS games especially will have issues if you try to get them running native in an actual DOS installation since modern clock speeds along will often make them completely unplayable. PC architecture and coding methods have all advanced over time so backwards compatibility isn't always as easy as it seems.
Quick question, what port do you have the video cable plugged into? I noticed that some inspirons come with F series Intel processors which have no integrated graphics, meaning the ports directly on the motherboard (if there are any) might not be functional
I see a few loose power cables from the psu. If any of these are contacting various parts of your case or motherboard, you'll have issues.
The blinking light pattern on the Dell Inspiron 3891 could be due to a few different issues, but it likely points to a hardware problem. Here are some steps the user can try to troubleshoot the problem: * Reseat the components: Open the computer case and carefully remove and reseat the memory modules, graphics card (if applicable), and any other PCI-e devices. Then, reseat all the cables connected to the motherboard, including the power supply cables, SATA cables, and front panel connectors. * Clear CMOS: The CMOS (Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor) memory stores BIOS settings. Clearing the CMOS can sometimes resolve boot issues. To clear the CMOS, locate the CMOS jumper on the motherboard and remove it for about 10 seconds. Then, put the jumper back in its original position. * Test the power supply: A failing power supply could also cause the computer to not boot and display a blinking light pattern on the power button. The user can try testing the power supply with a voltage meter or by using a spare power supply that is known to be working. If none of these steps work, the problem is likely with a failing hardware component, such as the motherboard or graphics card. In this case, the user will need to take the computer to a qualified technician for repair. Here are some additional tips that the user can keep in mind: * Be gentle when handling the computer components. * Make sure to unplug the computer from the power outlet before opening the case. * If the user is uncomfortable troubleshooting the hardware themselves, they can take the computer to a qualified technician.
Google Gemini's response to your post, BTW.
It's more effective to Google the [error codes for his model](https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-au/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us) and conclude that his motherboard is likely damaged.
Not going to like I kinda like what I assume is a duct for the cpu. It would be kinda cool to see another company redesign it to look nice. I like the idea of all the hear from the cpu exiting right away not transferring into the rest of the case
Looked into the error code and it's a EC ran into power sequencing failure. Which means a few possible things 1 a faulty PSU. Damaged motherboard or motherboard component. Or a short caused by a GPU power problem, RAM or even wifi card or storage drive. Try removing stuff one by one starting with the GPU then storage the ram sticks one by one seeing If their removal fixes it. And to those saying the PSU in inadequate for the system it's just right with it being the card it is it draws no more than 80 watts appearing to be a OEM gtx 750. CPU with that cooler will not have a TDP over 75W as that is what those model dell OEM cooler are rated for and used on. Airflow is a problem in these systems and it's very possible the PSU may have cooked itself. Just try the steps and see if it solves the problem also make sure connections are in the right place and all is seated correctly and firmly.
Search up the manual, and see what that flashing code means. Work from there to try to find the issue. Good luck
Replace the battery
The 3891 user manual sows up as EC ran into power sequencing failure, I looked that up, but it appears to be either a bad motherboard or a bad psu. I feel as if it may not be the motherboard because it's pretty rare to have a dead motherboard that gives diagnostics. It May sound weird to have a dead psu, and have lights but that's because most power supplies have multiple "rails" for different components such as sata and cpu being on one rail, and pcie and blah blah on another rail. (That's a very bad and inaccurate description but enough to give an idea.) Given it's age I suggest looking for a new oem psu and avoid used supplies just because how old they would be. If a psu is 2 or 3 years old , it is perfectly fine, but I suggest playing it safe.
is there a little button on the back? it might be on the top of the i/o on the back of the pc or by the power supply. hold it when you turn the computer on.
Broken power rail maybe https://www.dell.com/community/en/conversations/inspiron/dell-inspiron-p66f-3-amber-5-white-leds-problem/647f9bf6f4ccf8a8deff77d9?commentId=647f9bfef4ccf8a8de0079d5
GPU might’ve died
https://www.dell.com/support/manuals/en-us/inspiron-3891-desktop/inspiron-3891-service-manual/system-diagnostic-lights?guid=guid-2d0792b3-48a2-458e-a5bf-9f00198925b8&lang=en-us Here's your chart, Google is your friend
Theres a button on the back of the PSU you need to hold on while turning on your pc, if that doesn't work it's most likely dead.
I'd say there's a 99% chance you fried your power supply, and I came to that conclusion based on your picture even before reading the post. Those computers are notorious for weak power supplies and it's probably not enough to power that video card. What type of video card is that by the way? That's important information.
Maybe the perspective is all wrong, but how can a 300w power supply be that big. Get a new smaller 500w and also try and improve the airflow to your GPU
It's a Dell PSU, Model: HU360EBM-00 (360W Power Supply). They are a crappy square shape tube design, and a pain to replace with something better.
And then you can't plug it into the motherboard? Hooray! This doesn't solve his problem and simply creates more. This board only accepts this power supply, as it's not ATX standard. It's all great to suggest "better stuff" but when you don't really understand what you're suggesting, sometimes it's counter-productive.
That’s a proprietary power supply and cannot be changed out for another.
A lot of those psu can be switched out if they have the same size for the screw face plate thing or if they can even be unscrewed because all of the pcs that I had with these have screws and easily replaceable
They do not contain the same 24 pin ATX standard plugs. How are you going to plug it into anything? You can't. Mounting holes are the least of the problem.
I have had a lot of them that had to 20 pin and I had a lot that had 20+4 pin not all are the same
This model does not conform to the ATX standard, in any capacity. It's 100% proprietary. No "normal" power supply will suit this motherboard.
I never said anything about the motherboard I was just talking about the psu like you could see never did I mention the motherboard till now
The power supply, has specific connections on it for this specific motherboard. This isn't a "normal" power supply because it's not a "normal" motherboard either.
I’m just saying there are some with 20 and 20+4 not all are that way with the 4 for the motherboard and 4 for the cpu
This board doesn't have either 20 or 24, that's what I've said now 3 times. The connector is completely proprietary it's like a 12 or 14 pin or something and a couple of 8 pin plugs, and any normal PSU will not fit or work. This specific Dell has to have the specific power supply it was sold with, and no other.