I can't help you, but I wanted to second that this very same thing just started happening to my 8500 a few days ago. I guess would that it was heat related--it boots up fine each morning, but then freezes within a few moments of the desktop appearing--but when it freezes, it's not particularly hot. I'm running Ubuntu Linux on it, which has run fine for years. And the same thing happens even if I boot from the Ubuntu "Live CD," so I don't think it's a hard drive issue. I have also swapped out both RAM chips that are in there with the ones the computer came with--no difference. I'm hopeful someone has an idea about this! I hate to junk what was a perfectly useful computer. :(

I have a similar problem. My 8500 behaves strange. Sometimes when I turn it on, it works absolutely fine. After using it I shut it down and if I try to start it again, it doesnt post. The 3 LEDs blink and I get white screen. I have to press the power button for say 5-6 seconds to turn it off. It may again work fine after 2-3 hours after few trials.

Is it the board/graphics card? Or is it heating problem?

Any help will be greatly appreciated

I've done other checks today and the problem is more serious than before. Laptop also freezes when Bios is checking the machine at boot. I could not enter into Bios menu (and the laptop is still cold...).

 

Hum, is there any link between bios and board processor? Is it a symptom of RAM crash? 

 

I've a P4m with 512mo RAM, 30Go HDD, 16''4 screen and no battery.

 

Any help will be appreciated! 

Hi, I've similar problem with my inspiron8500 since few times but not solution yet... I think that this a heat problem of board processor and more precisely fan or temperature sensor... I don't know. But, in comparison with listed problems in that thread, my laptop does no longer work...

 

This is the actual problem: After few seconds from boot, the display freezes :smileysad: and the only way is to reboot (hard reset!) the unit. After a reboot, either the laptop stays off; sometimes only one led is blinking and other time, three ones are blinking and the screen remains off. Or, the laptop can start after several trials but it freezes after few seconds. This problem appears even if the laptop is very cold and is working in a cold room (<15*c)...

One other thing I've noticed is that my fan does no longer turn (some ms) at boot. I've cleaned it but the problem is still present.

I hope that my case could hep you to prevent a crash of your laptop. You may take care of the temperature of your laptop especially if the problem is due to a defective sensor :smileyindifferent:

 

I keep confidence there may be a little likelihood to save my my laptop :smileyhappy:

Does anyone know the debug information behind the led sequence at boot?

Do you think that the graphics card can prevent the boot of the computer?

 

Thanks for any help!