[K_2]

Does anyone know if the power supply on a Dell Dimension B110, Windows XP, purchased Feb. 2006, is proprietary or not?

Background... shut computer down last Sunday night, wouldn't start back up Monday morning. You could smell the power supply, obvious it was burned. Had my tower down in my computer cubby hole.

Called local repair shop on Tuesday and asked if they had replacement, even told them what kind of computer I had... they gave me a Enlight ATX Power Tank 350W V 2.0.

Came home, hooked it up, computer worked as good as always. Used computer rest of afternoon/evening. Shut it off and went to bed. Got up Wednesday morning, wouldn't power on.

This power supply smells somewhat burned, but not as strong of smell as the first. Did not put computer back in cubby, left it out where plenty of air could get to it.

Dell phone CSR and supervisor says I have to buy from Dell. The online product advisor(the online chat thing), the first one I asked, said if my computer is not in warranty, I can buy one anywhere I want, any standard ATX.

The second online advisor says no, I have to buy from Dell or it could damage my system.

Dell has called me numerous times asking me if I am ready to order, I tell them no, I am calling somewhere local.

Their final statement was "call us back when the one you buy local doesn't work"

[bigbird213]

I don't know about the newer ones, but a year or two back when I used to work with them, Dell's did have proprietary power supplies, and yes, they could damage the powersupply and or the motherboard. From what I remember though, if you used a wrong one, it wouldn't power on, so that part has me a little confused...

[JBeaucaire]

My understanding of powersupplies is that they all supply the same amount of power to the various internal components, larger power supplies are simply able to supply MORE internal components than smaller ones.

When my proprietary Gateway slimline model toasted its internal power supply, I had the choice of ordering the $125 replacement that would fit in the nice small spot inside my slimline unit, or a generic $40 one locally bought that was too big for the case and had more power than I needed.

I bought the $40 one, set it loose on the desk behind my unit, ran the cables into the unit from the outside. That was 2 years ago and it's still working swimmingly.

==============

I've you've toasted two power supplies in short order, I would be looking for the external cause of THAT before I replaced any more power supplies, regardless of how the debate goes regarding where you buy it from.

[bigbird213]

JB,

Your understanding is correct, however the Dells I was referring to have propritary connectors on the motherboard which are not standard plugs for a generic power supply. However, if he was able to plug in the generic power supply, I imagine they stopped with the proprietary stuff.

[K_2]

Thank you all for your answers.

I took it to the computer repair shop. They call me an hour later and said "We tested your Dell and have came to the conclusion that your power supply is bad" Gee, you think? Isn't that what I just told you?

Anyhow, they put their test power supply in and it blew sparks and fried it as soon as they hooked it up.

They are telling me I need a new motherboad, CPU, RAM, and power supply.

I'm not sure I want to spend that much money getting it fixed.

Is changing the motherboard something that I could probably do on my own, if I bought a motherboard and CPU together?

How do I know which motherboard to buy, one that will work with my drives.

[bigbird213]

You might be getting beyond your means.

It's always a tough question to ask someone if they can do it themselves. That's like me asking you if I can change my fuel pump :)

First off, I find it VERY hard to believe that you need a new mobo, cpu and memory. Probably just one of the three (my guess would be motherboard, as the power supply could have blown it).

If the computer is old, at this point you might want to consider upgrading/buying a new one. If you are planning on buying a new motherboard, cpu and memory, you are probably looking at a "totaled" computer, unless it is almost brand new.

[K_2]

No, it isn't new. It is a little over 2 yrs old.

I am going to buy a new one, just thought sometime I might repair that one.

What I mean by asking if I could it myself was do you have to be a computer tech with extensive computer knowledge or is it something someone could read up on and likely learn how to do it. I have changed hard drives, cd roms, floppy drives, modems, power supply, and RAM.

When you buy a motherboard do you just screw it in and hook all the wires up or do I have to actually attach the plugs and stuff to the motherboard.

Thanks for your response.

One other question... Compaq, Dell, and some others sometimes "tattoo" their motherboards so you can't use your windows xp disk from your dell to install it on your compaq, etc is what I've been told. So my question is, I have a Compaq that has the same version of XP that my Dell had on it. Could I slave my hard drive out of my Dell to my Compaq to recover my files from my hard drive? I have most backed up, but have a few that I haven't.

[Scleros]

...Does anyone know if the power supply on a Dell Dimension B110, Windows XP, purchased Feb. 2006, is proprietary or not?

From the image at B110 Documentation it appears to be a common ATX format power supply. Proprietary supplies are usually found in small form factor computers. Even then, the actual format is simply a less common format of a non-proprietary power supply format specification (SFX comes to mind).

...do you have to be a computer tech with extensive computer knowledge or is it something someone could read up on and likely learn how to do it...

No, you don't have to be a computer tech. Yes, you can read and learn. However, the computer tech will have all the necessary tools, techniques, and experience to ensure that everything is assembled, configured, tested, and operates properly. Static electricity damage, in particular, can be subtle.

I have changed hard drives, cd roms, floppy drives, modems, power supply, and RAM. When you buy a motherboard do you just screw it in and hook all the wires up or do I have to actually attach the plugs and stuff to the motherboard.

You should be comfortable changing a board. The only things you have to plug into the board are RAM, processor, adapter cards, and cables. The actual cable connectors/headers are already soldered to the board. The biggest challenge is attaching the processor with proper thermal compound application without damaging it/board.

Compaq, Dell, and some others sometimes "tattoo" their motherboards so you can't use your windows xp disk from your dell to install it on your compaq, etc is what I've been told.

I don't see how they would do this with a genuine Microsoft disc. It's probably more the case of a custom Dell O/S or restore disc. If so, I haven't encountered this as doing so with OEM media is license-ly illegal.

Could I slave my hard drive out of my Dell to my Compaq to recover my files from my hard drive?

Generally yes, nowadays, although transferring drives for the long term from one controller to another without wiping and reformatting is something I try to avoid. If the drive has any sort of overlay on it, that can be problematic.

[K_2]

Thanks for your response. Very thorough.


I just wanted to slave the hard drive long enough to recover my data. I found a cable that allows you to attach your internal drive up through your USB port without opening your case up.

I was thinking about picking that up.

On the "tattoo" part, what I meant is if you have a disk that came with your Dell computer that installs Windows, you can't use it and the product key code that came with a Compaq to install Windows on the Compaq. This is something I read or was told, can't remember which. Because of hearing this, I wasn't sure if this would cause trouble slaving the hard drive from the Dell to the Compaq.

[Scleros]

I found a cable that allows you to attach your internal drive up through your USB port without opening your case up.

Those are great and you tend to get what you pay for.

...if you have a disk that came with your Dell computer...you can't use it and the product key code that came with a Compaq to install Windows...

The product keys may be vendor specific for particular media. However, the installation refusal would come when the product key was prompted for during installation and perhaps during reactivation if the drive was replacing the system boot drive.

wasn't sure if this would cause trouble slaving the hard drive from the Dell to the Compaq.

I never say never, but I have not encountered product key hardware dependencies in this scenario. You have nothing to lose by trying. You might have to fiddle with drive letter assignments in disk management to get all of them to show up though.

[=OTS=G-Man]

Most Dell power supply's are in fact Proprietary. They do not have the -5v, check the old power supply to see if it has the white wire on the main 20pin connector, if it does then you are OK but I know for a fact that the B110 is a non -5v(have one in my shop right now).
You can use a standard ATX power supply and cut the white wire (we have a test power supply with a switch to connect to disconnect the white wire). Only problem is I have never tried to use a power supply like this for extended times, we use it for about 10mins. Just to test if there power supply is bad.

[Scleros]

Most Dell power supply's are in fact Proprietary. They do not have the -5v

I'd argue some Dells are proprietary. Lack of -5V is not indicative of proprietary by itself without other voltages and/or wiring being in different locations in the connector. -5V was removed per section 1.2.1 in ATX12V Power Supply Design Guide v1.3 since ISA add-in cards had fallen by the wayside.

Dell's documentation doesn't have a pinout; if you still have one handy what are the locations and colors for the rest of the wiring in the connector?

[=OTS=G-Man]

Ok, maybe not proprietary in the terms of "it wont fit" the problem here is that Dell is the only PC manufacture, that I know of, that use this version of the ATX spec and most if no all power supplies you buy from places like newegg and Frys are going to have the -5v rail, so its bad in the fact that you can plug in a non 1.2.1 version power supply with no problems, just to blow your PS or motherboard. Thus making a worthwhile note to becarful when putting an off the shelf power supply into a Dell.

[Scleros]

I still don't see the problem if all the other pins are in the correct place. If the board doesn't need the -5V rail there shouldn't be anything connected to that pin in the connector, so plugging in a power supply that does supply the -5V shouldn't blow anything. Nevertheless, I agree looking before leaping is always prudent.

[=OTS=G-Man]

It Would seem that way, but we learned the hard way about it, and blew 2 brand new power supplies by putting them in a dell. Could be that because there was no load on the -5v that caused it.