Users Guide

NOTE: To determine the device that is failing, see the light patterns .
Off – System is in hibernation or turned off.
The power status light blinks amber along with beep codes indicating failures.
For example, the power status light blinks amber two times followed by a pause, and then blinks white three times followed by a
pause. This 2,3 pattern continues until the computer is turned off indicating the Recovery image is not found.
The following table shows different light patterns and what they indicate:
Table 2. Diagnostic LED/Beep codes
LED # of Flashes Problem description Faults
2,1 Faulty system board Faulty system board
2,2 Faulty system board, power supply unit
(PSU), or cabling
Faulty system board, power supply unit (PSU), or
cabling
2,3 Faulty system board, CPU, or DIMMS Faulty system board, power supply unit (PSU), or
DIMMS
2,4 Faulty coin cell battery Faulty coin cell battery
2,5 BIOS Recovery AutoRecovery trigger, recovery image is not found or
is invalid
2,6 CPU CPU Error
2,7 Memory Memory SPD failure
3,3 Memory No memory detected
3,5 Memory Modules incompatible or invalid configuration
3,6 BIOS Recovery On-demand trigger, recovery image is not found
3,7 BIOS Recovery On-demand trigger, recovery image is invalid
The system may emit a series of beeps during start-up if the errors or problems cannot be displayed. The repetitive beep codes
help the user troubleshoot problems with the system.
Diagnostic error messages
Table 3. Diagnostic error messages
Error messages Description
AUXILIARY DEVICE FAILURE
The touchpad or external mouse may be faulty. For an
external mouse, check the cable connection. Enable the
Pointing Device option in the System Setup program.
BAD COMMAND OR FILE NAME
Ensure that you have spelled the command correctly, put
spaces in the proper place, and used the correct path name.
CACHE DISABLED DUE TO FAILURE
The primary cache internal to the microprocessor has failed.
Contact Dell
CD DRIVE CONTROLLER FAILURE
The optical drive does not respond to commands from the
computer.
DATA ERROR
The hard drive cannot read the data.
DECREASING AVAILABLE MEMORY
One or more memory modules may be faulty or improperly
seated. Reinstall the memory modules or, if necessary, replace
them.
DISK C: FAILED INITIALIZATION
The hard drive failed initialization. Run the hard drive tests in
Dell Diagnostics.
Troubleshooting 95