If you screen does not turn on, you may be tempted to this the LCD is dead or a cable has been cut.  However, usually the problem is with something on the motherboard and often you can fix it yourself.

Below is a list of Dell flash codes that you can see on your computer, usually on or near the power button that will help you diagnose the issues.


White Flash Count Amber Flash Count Failing Component Failure Description
1 2 CPU CPU failure
1 3 RTC power failure CMOS battery failure
2 2 BIOS ROM failure System board failure (included BIOS corruption or ROM error)
2 3 PCI/video PCI or video card / chip failure
3 2 Memory No memory/RAM detected
3 3 BIOS recovery 1 Recovery image not found
4 2 Memory Memory/RAM failure
4 3 BIOS recovery 2 Recovery image found but invalid
5 2 Memory Invalid memory installed
5 3 Power Power sequencing Failure
6 2 Chipset System board / chipset error
6 3 BIOS Flash corruption detected by SBIOS
7 2 LCD LCD failure
7 3 Board Time out waiting on ME to reply to HECI message

dell flash codes explained

In my case I had a Dell Latitude 5300 2-in-1 with a flashing LED located at the very front of the laptop (just under the mouse track pad).  It was flashing 4 white then a pause then 2 yellow in a rhythmic fashion over and over again.  That code is a “4 and 2” or a “2 and 4” depending on how you look at it and that told me the memory was bad.  I unscrewed the back of the laptop, pulled the back off, pulled the RAM and moved it to an open memory slot.  This took about 4 minutes and all is well.  In my case, I likely could just have used the same slot and simply reseated the RAM but it cost nothing to move it, so I did.


10 Comments

Frederick · January 30, 2024 at 1:29 am

Dell model: F5321 DW5560, won’t turn on caps lock LED blinks 1 short blink after +\- 13 seconds

Randy Stalnaker · October 6, 2023 at 7:21 am

On my P71G the keyboard light comes on but no screen. After about a min the keyboard light goes off and the two power lights light up just once and it shuts down.

Facundo · March 4, 2023 at 10:54 am

I get 2 white blinks and the last is also white and it shoots up the R10 but nothing on the monitor displays

Ronald BAGUMA · February 9, 2023 at 2:52 am

I’m having “2” and “7” on a Dell Vostro 3670, What could be the issue

    Ian Matthews · February 11, 2023 at 6:22 pm

    Hi Ronald;

    Are you seeing 2 which flashes and then 7 yellow/amber or is it flashing twice, stopping and then flashing 7 more times?

    Ian Matthews · February 11, 2023 at 6:27 pm

    On the Dell Vostro line, 2 flashes mean the CPU has a problem and 7 flashes means ME error

Methadras · December 5, 2022 at 10:11 am

I’m getting 2 amber, 5 white, invalid memory installed. I’ve actually installed 10 separate sets of known good memory that the dell precision 7750 laptop actually uses and every time i get 2 amber, 5 white no matter what i do.

Greg · October 10, 2022 at 7:49 am

My daughter’s machine is flashing a 4-1 and I’m digging for what that means.

    Ian Matthews · October 10, 2022 at 6:36 pm

    Hi Greg;

    That is one I don’t know. If it is a laptop I would pull the back/bottom off and disconnect the main battery and popout the CMOS battery for 5 minutes, then put it all back together to see what happens.

      Paul · September 9, 2023 at 9:36 am

      I’ve got 4 amber and 1 white which is not in the list above on my Dell vostro and it will not start

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