Dell Inspiron 3521

[MarkBob]

On startup ticking noise (shorting ) and then gives a no media found .Have checked the hdd is fine .In the bios i get no hdd ,no dvd drive . Has anyone come across this before

 

[bertus]

Hello,

Is the noise with or without the power adapter?
It looks like the HDD is broken.

Bertus

 

[MarkBob]

Bertus I have tested the hdd in another pc and it works fine thatwhy i seem to think that somewhere i have faulty component as both the hdd and dvd draw lights flicker for split second and then get the no hdd and no dvd in bios /no media found on black screen when not in bios

 

[bertus]

Hello,

Perhaps a strange question, but are the fan and heatsink clean?
Dust can give a lot of trouble in laptops.

Bertus

 

[MarkBob]

All clean first thing i checked when opening the pc to see if i could see any physical component damage Bertus

 

[bertus]

Hello,

You are talking about a PC, but the Dell Inspirion 3521 is a laptop:
https://downloads.dell.com/manuals/...top/inspiron-15-3521_owner's manual_en-us.pdf

Bertus

 

[Harald Kapp]

Have you checked the support information?
Maybe changing the BIOS battery helps.

 

[Harald Kapp]

You are talking about a PC, but the Dell Inspirion 3521 is a laptop:

One could argue that a laptop is also a PC. Only it's not a desktop.

 

[MarkBob]

Tried that already Harald Kapp ,new thermal paste too, bios is up to date

 

[Martaine2005]

Disconnect the HDD and DVD drive.
Boot the PC. (Laptop).
See if the ‘ticking’ is still there.
I’d try booting with the case off, it maybe easier to locate the noise.
Make sure the fan spins on POST.

Martin

 

[Harald Kapp]

You tried the HDD in another PC. Have you tried another HDD in this laptop?
Does the laptop perhaps have a second SATA port you could try?
If there's no valuable data on the HDD, you could try formatting it on the other pc where it works. Maybe a small error on the HDD which is ignored by the other pc but bothers the Dell?
Have you tried booting the Dell from the optical drive (if there is one)?

 

[MarkBob]

Thanks Martin i shall go that way

 

[MarkBob]

Martin the pc gives no hdd no optical drive /no media

 

[MarkBob]

I wwill strip it down again

 

[Harald Kapp]

Martin the pc gives no hdd no optical drive /no media

Remove the optical drive o ensure it doesn't block the HDD.