DELL System diagnostic lights
Battery-status light
Indicates the power and battery-charge status.
Solid white — Power adapter is connected and the battery has more than 5 percent
charge.
Amber — Computer is running on battery and the battery has less than 5 percent
charge.
Off
Power adapter is connected and the battery is fully charged.
Computer is running on battery and the battery has more than 5 percent charge.
Computer is in sleep state, hibernation, or turned off.
The power and battery-status light blinks amber along with beep codes indicating
failures.
For example, the power and battery-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 no memory or RAM is detected.
The following table shows different power and battery-status light patterns and
associated problems.
Blinking
Problem description Suggested resolution
Pattern
1 1 TPM detection failure Replace the system board.
Unrecoverable SPI flash
1 2 Replace the system board.
failure
1 5 EC unable to program i-Fuse Replace the system board.
Generic catch-all for Disconnect all power source (AC, battery,
1 6 ungraceful EC code flow coin cell) and drain flea power by pressing
errors & holding down power button.
Run the Intel CPU diagnostics tools. If
2 1 CPU failure
problem persists, replace the system board.
System Board failure
Flash latest BIOS version. If problem
2 2 (included BIOS corruption or
persists, replace the system board.
ROM error)
Confirm that the memory module is
2 3 No Memory / RAM detected installed properly. If problem persists,
replace the memory module.
Reset and swap memory modules amongst
2 4 Memory / RAM failure the slots. If problem persists, replace the
memory module.
2 5 Invalid memory installed Reset and swap memory modules amongst
Blinking
Problem description Suggested resolution
Pattern
the slots. If problem persists, replace the
memory module.
2 6 System board / Chipset Error Replace the system board.
LCD failure (SBIOS
2 7 Replace the LCD module.
message)
LCD failure (EC detection of
2 8 Replace the system board.
power rail failure)
Reset the CMOS battery connection. If
3 1 CMOS battery failure
problem persists, replace the RTC battery.
PCI or Video card/chip
3 2 Replace the system board.
failure
BIOS recovery image not Flash latest BIOS version. If problem
3 3
found persists, replace the system board.
BIOS recovery image found Flash latest BIOS version. If problem
3 4
but invalid persists, replace the system board.
3 5 Power rail failure Replace the system board.
Flash corruption detected by
3 6 Replace the system board.
SBIOS.
Timeout waiting on ME to
3 7 Replace the system board.
reply to HECI message.
