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  • Dell Latitude E6420 laptop bricked after installing Solus Plasma

Rolts I just left the pc off for 16 hours without cmos, battery and ac, and it still gets stuck. Also formatted the drive. I guess i'll try the windows 10 method now, and yeah the laptop worked with like 5 other distros before.

I'm starting to think that @[deleted] is right, that the fact that the computer stopped booting between Solus installation and Solus first boot is coincidental, and the boot process is failing before the computer attempts to access drives. In that case, you've got a hardware issue, probably MOBO-related. Good luck with the Windows installation, but I'm not optimistic.

      Rolts You could try I think its hold function key and turn on laptop then let off function
      key and see if it goes into diagnostic mode (I think that is right sequence not 100% sure been awhile)

          • [deleted]

          • Post #24

          Rolts Try removing the hard drive altogether and see if it gets to the "Insert boot media and press enter" kind of screen.

              Axios It showed entering diagnostic mode, but still stuck on logo.

                Rolts You might take a look at this Dell Latitude E6420 thread -- not the same model, but similar in age and specifications -- and try the various options listed. I noticed one difference between your CMOS method and the method mentioned in the thread, which is to push and hold the power button while the CMOS is out of the computer. The solution doesn't mention it, but it might be good idea to clean the connectors on RAM and the HHD with alcohol if you elect to remove and reinsert.

                You might also take a look at the "Diagnostics" section of the E9420 Service Manual (see pages 141-143) and see if you are getting any of the light codes mentioned.

                    One computer tech online I was reading said take main battery out and short those terminals together
                    just going by what I read (TERMINALS ON THE LAPTOP ONLY!!!)
                    Might check voltage on cmos batt 3.3-2.5 just to see if its ok

                    This seems to be a problem with dells I pulled up lots info on it but no real fix.
                    And the dell help I read the dell tech said replace mobo.
                    About all I got leaving town later

                      • [deleted]

                      • Post #30
                      • Edited

                      tomscharbach Sorry for confusing you with the E9420, I posted the pic just to illustrate the screen with the loading bar ^^

                      Axios

                      This seems to be a problem with dells I pulled up lots info on it but no real fix.

                      Yeah, if one searches for "Latitude E6* stuck on boot logo" there are plenty of unresolved results.

                            [deleted] Sorry for confusing you with the E9420 ...

                            Whoops. Brain dead, me.

                            For @Rolts, this is the Dell Support page for the E6420 and this is the E6420 Service Manual. The diagnostic lights are on pages 141-143.

                            In general, the two models (E6420 and E9420) seem very similar in terms of construction and servicing, although components are somewhat different. I checked the diagnostic light sections of the two manuals (E6420 and E9420) and they are identical between the two models.

                            You might want to check and see if you get any error codes from the lights. That might help you identify a hardware issue, if one exists.

                              After driving 4 hours and thinking lol
                              call me crazy but I think I would rethermal
                              paste it