Dell Dimension XPS R Series User manual

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____________________
Information in this document is subject to change without notice.
© 1998 Dell Computer Corporation. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of Dell Computer Corporation is strictly forbidden.
Trademarks used in this text:
Dell , the DELL logo, and Dell Dimension are registered trademarks of Dell Computer Corporation; Intel and Pentium are
registered trademarks and
MMX is a trademark of Intel Corporation; Microsoft , Windows , and MS-DOS are registered trademarks of Microsoft
Corporation;
IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation; VESA is a registered trademark of Video Electronics
Standards Association.
Other trademarks and trade names may be used in this document to refer to either the entities claiming the marks and names or their products. Dell
Computer Corporation disclaims any proprietary interest in trademarks and trade names other than its own.
March 1998 P/N 24920

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&KDSWHU 6\VWHP2YHUYLHZ  
System Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-2
Advanced Expansion Subsystem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
EIDE Subsystem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Hard-Disk Drive Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Computer Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-6
Power Supply. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
DC Power Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
DC Power Connector Pin Assignments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Main Memory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-13
System Board Jumper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Interrupt Assignments. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
DMA Channel Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
Technical Specifications. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
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Initial User Contact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-1
External Visual Inspection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-2
Observing the Boot Routine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-3
Internal Visual Inspection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-4
Eliminating Resource Conflicts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Running the Dell Diagnostics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-6
Getting Help. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2-7
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POST Beep Codes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
System Messages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
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Recommended Tools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1
Precautionary Measures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-1

vi
Computer Cover . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Bezel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Drives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Removing and Replacing a Front-Panel Insert. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Removing a 3.5-Inch Insert . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Drive Cage. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
5.25-Inch Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Upper 3.5-Inch Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Lower 3.5-Inch Drive (Mini Tower Computer Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
3.5-Inch Diskette Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Primary Hard-Disk Drive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
Secondary Hard-Disk Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Power Supply . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Chassis Cooling Fan Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
Card Guide Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Control Panel Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
System Board Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-18
Expansion Cards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
DIMMs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
SEC Cartridge and Heat Sink Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
Replacing the Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-23
System Board . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24
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System Setup Screens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Main Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Advanced Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Peripheral Configuration Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
IDE Configuration Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
Primary IDE Master Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Diskette Options Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
DMI Event Logging Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9
Video Configuration Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Resource Configuration Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11
Security Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12
Power Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13
Boot Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14
Hard Drive Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
Removable Devices Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
Exit Screen. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
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vii
)LJXUHV Figure 1-1. Computer Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-3
Figure 1-2. Internal View of Desktop Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-4
Figure 1-3. Internal View of Mini Tower Computer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Figure 1-4. Back-Panel Features (Typical) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-5
Figure 1-5. DC Power Cables . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-8
Figure 1-6. DC Power Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-9
Figure 1-7. DC Power Connector P1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-10
Figure 1-8. DC Power Connectors P2, P3, P4, P5, and P6 . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Figure 1-9. DC Power Connector P7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-11
Figure 1-10. System Board Features. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-12
Figure 1-11. System Board Jumper (J8A1) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-14
Figure 4-1. Computer Cover Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-2
Figure 4-2. Bezel Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-3
Figure 4-3. 3.5-Inch Insert Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-4
Figure 4-4. Drive Cage Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Figure 4-5. 5.25-Inch Insert Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-6
Figure 4-6. 5.25-Inch Drive Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-7
Figure 4-7. Upper 3.5-Inch Drive Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-8
Figure 4-8. Lower 3.5-Inch Drive Removal
(Mini Tower Computer Only). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-9
Figure 4-9. 3.5-Inch Diskette Drive Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-10
Figure 4-10. Primary Hard-Disk Drive Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-11
Figure 4-11. Secondary Hard-Disk Drive Assembly Removal . . . . . . . . . 4-12
Figure 4-12. Secondary Hard-Disk Drive Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-13
Figure 4-13. Power Supply Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-14
Figure 4-14. Chassis Cooling Fan Assembly Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-15
Figure 4-15. Card-Guide Assembly Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-16
Figure 4-16. Control-Panel Board Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-17
Figure 4-17. System Board Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-18
Figure 4-18. Expansion Card Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
Figure 4-19. DIMM Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-19
Figure 4-20. DIMM Replacement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-20
Figure 4-21. SEC Cartridge and Heat Sink Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-21
Figure 4-22. Battery Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-23
Figure 4-23. System Board Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-24
Figure 4-24. Guide-Bracket Assembly Removal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-25
Figure 4-25. Mounting Screw and Bracket . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-26
Figure 4-26. System Board Mountings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-26
Figure 4-27. Bracket Removal. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4-27
Figure A-1. Main Screen Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Figure A-2. Advanced Screen Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Figure A-3. Peripheral Configuration Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4

viii
Figure A-4. IDE Configuration Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
Figure A-5. Primary IDE Master Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Figure A-6. Diskette Options Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
Figure A-7. DMI Event Logging Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9
Figure A-8. Video Configuration Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Figure A-9. Resource Configuration Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11
Figure A-10. Security Screen Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12
Figure A-11. Power Screen Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13
Figure A-12. Boot Screen Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14
Figure A-13. Hard Drive Submenu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
Figure A-14. Removable Devices Submenu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
Figure A-15. Exit Screen Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
7DEOHV Table 1-1. DC Voltage Ranges. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-7
Table 1-2. System Board Jumper Descriptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-15
Table 1-3. Interrupt Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-16
Table 1-4. DMA Channel Assignments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-17
Table 1-5. Technical Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1-18
Table 3-1. POST Beep Codes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-1
Table 3-2. System Messages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3-2
Table A-1. Main Screen Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Table A-2. Advanced Screen Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Table A-3. Peripheral Configuration Submenu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-4
Table A-4. IDE Configuration Submenu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6
Table A-5. Primary IDE Master Submenu Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Table A-6. Diskette Options Submenu Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
Table A-7. DMI Event Logging Submenu Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9
Table A-8. Video Configuration Submenu Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Table A-9. Resource Configuration Submenu Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11
Table A-10. Security Screen Menu Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12
Table A-11. Power Screen Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-13
Table A-12. Boot Screen Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14
Table A-13. Hard Drive Submenu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
Table A-14. Removable Devices Submenu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
Table A-15. Exit Screen Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-18

ix

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A prerequisite for using thismanual to service Dell computer systems is a basic
knowledge of IBM®-compatible PCs and prior training in IBM-compatible PC
troubleshooting techniques. In addition to information provided in this manual
and the
User’s Guide
that came with the system, Dell provides the
Diagnostics
and Troubleshooting Guide
for troubleshooting procedures and instructions on
using the Dell Diagnostics to test the computer system.
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as follows:
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NOTE: A NOTE provides helpful information about using the computer system.

System Overview 1-1
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The Dell Dimension®XPS R
xxx
systems are high-speed computer systems
that use an Intel®Pentium®II microprocessor with MMX™technology. These
Dell®systems combine Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) design with
an accelerated graphics port (AGP) and Industry Standard Architecture (ISA)
design that allows a wide range of initial configurations and upgrade
possibilities.
The Dell Dimension XPS R
xxx
systems are available in either a desktop or a
mini tower configuration. Both configurations use the same system board and
base chassis. The only difference, other than physical mounting, is the number
of externally accessible 3.5-inch drive bays.
The front of the computer has two 5.25-inch drive bays and one 3.5-inch
diskette-drive bay. In addition, the mini tower systems have two 3.5-inch drive
bays and the desktop system has one 3.5-inch drive bay. The 5.25- and 3.5-inch
drive bays can hold diskette drives, tape drives, or CD-ROM drives.
The Pentium II microprocessor contains a built-in clock multiplier circuit that
increases the internal operating frequency to a multiple of the system clock
frequency, which is 100 MHz.
The microprocessors for each of these computers and their operating frequen-
cies are as follows:
Dell Dimension XPS R350 systems — 350-MHz Pentium II microprocessor
with MMX technology
Dell Dimension XPS R400 systems — 400-MHz Pentium II microprocessor
with MMX technology
A single-edge contact (SEC) cartridge connected to the system board contains
the system’s microprocessor and cache circuitry.
Main memory consists of up to three DIMMs. The base configuration for main
memory is one 64-MB DIMM. Main memory can be expanded up to 384 MB
by using 32-, 64-, or 128-MB DIMMs.

1-2 Dell Dimension XPS R xxx Systems Service Manual
6\VWHP)HDWXUHV
In addition to the standard features found in a traditional personal computer,
the Dell Dimension XPS R
xxx systems include the following:
An Intel Pentium II microprocessor with MMX technology, that is specifi-
cally designed to handle complex multimedia and communications
software.
An L1 cache of 32 KB of SRAM residing in the processor core.
An L2 cache of 512 KB of pipelined-burst SRAM on a separate chip on the
processor card.
Main memory consisting of 32 to 384 MB of SDRAM DIMMs.
ECC support built into the system board that corrects single-bit errors and
detects all multiple-bit errors when ECC DIMMs are installed.
Three full-length 32-bit PCI expansion slots for connecting high-speed PCI
peripherals to the PCI bus—greatly increasing their I/O speeds over the
speeds attainable using the ISA bus.
One full-length 16-bit ISA expansion slot.
One shared full-length PCI expansion slot containing both a PCI and an ISA
expansion-card connector, only one of which can be used at any given
time.
One full-length accelerated graphics port (AGP) expansion slot.
Both PCI and ISA Plug and Play support.
An integrated diskette drive interface that supports a single diskette drive
without the need for a controller card.
Two EIDE interfaces on the PCI bus that support up to two EIDE devices
each. Supported devices include ATA-33 Ultra DMA hard-disk drives,
CD-ROM drives, tape drives, and other removable media.
Support for SCSI hard-disk drives and CD-ROM drives when a SCSI control-
ler card is installed in an expansion-card slot.
A 66-MHz AGP video card with its own dedicated graphics bus that greatly
enhances 3D graphics performance.
These systems are available with and without integrated sound. For sys-
tems with integrated sound, a PCI/ISA advanced audio controller with 3D
positioning and Direct Sound acceleration provides audio functions com-
patible with a Sound Blaster Pro sound card, and a MIDI/game port
provides a connection for a joystick, MIDI keyboard, game pad, or other
game input device.
An integrated high-performance serial port and a bidirectional parallel port.
Two USB connectors, which can simplify connecting peripheral devices.
A PS/2-style keyboard port and a PS/2-compatible mouse port.
Most of these features are briefly described in this chapter. For a complete list
of system features, see “Technical Specifications” found later in this chapter.