I bought an Optiplex 3080 SFF and bought upgrade parts for it but now it isn’t running and I don’t have enough troubleshooting skills to tell if the MOBO is dead or if the power button is dead. 😅
I can potentially shoot the ebay seller message to beg for product support.
I had it running with upgrade parts in for about 10 seconds and I held the power button to force it off. I assume I had it running once or twice before then, with the original configuration, too. It ran immediately after the “releasing extra power” trick where you unplug it and take out the CMOS battery and then hold the power button for ~15 seconds. Then put it back the way it was and close the case.
- Using non-original power cord
- PSU seems to pass BIST (no button, the light turns green for a few seconds and turns off when the power cord is plugged in)
- Have original parts and upgrade parts, can take out or swap out RAM, storage.
CMOS battery replacement? I have never done motherboard troubleshooting.
UPDATE: Edit: Yes it was simply the CMOS Battery. Popped a new 3V 2032 in there and the thing is running just fine with the original hardware.
Second Update: I contacted the eBay seller and they had notes for me about how to troubleshoot it that were identical to that of this community. The seller was insanely helpful, as were the comments I received here!
What parts did you upgrade? I’d start swapping them with the original parts one at a time with testing after swapping a part in.
Also - for these SFF Dells, they should have the standard Dell power button trouble flashes. I don’t have the link right now but there is a guide on Dell’s website to diagnose issues just off how the power button blinks.
The power button does not flash. The PSU flashes. Thats why I think there is a problem is with the power button itself.
Those small form factor Dells have notoriously bad power supplies.
System as it was originally, and with the Optical Drive removed along with the big metal bay that it sits in. No SATA data or poeer is plugged in. I reseated the battery and the power button cable.
Edit: installed the cage again as it has structural purpose.
PSU light turns green for a few seconds, goes blank. Power button at the front has no reponse at all when I press it.
If that passes, it’s the power button (unlikely, it’s just a button) or the motherboard or some component. If the power button contacts are exposed, and assuming it’s a regular momentary contact switch, you should be able to bridge them to complete the power button circuit, eliminating the button itself.
It is a buttonless. So I plug in the cord, and the PSU will light up green for ~3 seconds and then turn off. It does not light up again. Does this mean it passed or failed the test?
No idea. Continue to the next bit.
. If the PSU fan does not spin correctly, consider the built-in self-test as failed even if the LED lights up.
If the BIST LED does not turn on or the PSU fan does not spin correctly, the power supply is not delivering power
It sounds like the PSU fan is supposed to spin up in response to a buttonless self-test, which it is not and that would mean it is the most likely answer - a PSU issue.
