Question : Problem: No power except power LED light on Mother board

The machine will not power on, there are no beeps, no power to the fan in the power supply or in the case when the power button is pressed.

I jumpered the power supply and the fan for the power supply came on, I'm guessing that the power supply is ok but to make sure I installed a new on and got the same results.  I'd like to eliminate the power button as a possibility but it looks like Dell uses a ribbon cable rather than the standard 2 wire switch.

I have 2 questins.

How can I test the power button to eliminate it as the source of the problem.
Is there a specific test I can perform to determine if it's the motherboard

Thanks for the help

Answer : Problem: No power except power LED light on Mother board

Pull out all the RAM and disconnect all devices besides the power supply and the power button.

(I've had several systems do this due to RAM that came loose)

Once this is done, try and boot it up. If you still don't even get warning beeps about no RAM, its either the power supply, the motherboard, or the button.

There is a simple power supply check you can get for about $20 at Comp USA to eliminate the power supply (or you can swap in another board, etc).

If you have a light on the MB though, the power supply is probably good. I've only ever known a power supply to work or not work. I've never really seen it somewhere inbetween.

A button on a case is just a simple switch. As a result it should be easy to simulate with two pieces of wire, and join the two wires together to trigger the "press".

However, I almost bet you $$ its your RAM, and taking it out you will hear beeps when turning the system on. You can then add a RAM chip at a time back and see if its a bad chip, or they were just slightly mis-seated.

I have a system now that every time I move the box I have to re-seat the RAM or it does exactly what you are talking about.