Dell Inspiron 17r is making a clicking noise and won't boot.

Question

Dell Inspiron Series

Repair guides for Dell Inspiron laptops. A line of mid-level Dell laptop computers.

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Tom Stephenson @tomstephenson

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Maw 4, 2023

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Dell Inspiron 17r is making a clicking noise and won't boot.

I've found a solution to this problem and figure I'd post here so it may help others. A client handed me a Dell Inspiron 17r which was not booting properly. When the power button was pushed, it started a strange "clicking/beeping" noise, about every 2 seconds. This noise was not from the hard drive, but rather was coming out of the speakers. After multiple attempts the laptop would boot, but the problem continued next time the machine was shut down and restarted.

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Tom Stephenson @tomstephenson

crwdns2934065:0crwdne2934065:0: 475

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Maw 4, 2023

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I rebooted into the Dell Diagnostics and did a full scan of the machine. All tests passed. An Internet search, and search on the Dell site didn't reveal any solution. I went on the Dell support site and found that there was a BIOS update for the machine. It was running A08 I think, and the update was A16. I downloaded and tried to install, but the install failed multiple times as the BIOS update requires a reboot of the machine to install, and it was suffering the boot/clicking problem so the BIOS update was failing. I'm stubborn and persevered, and attempted the BIOS update maybe 20 times or so, then finally once, the machine booted properly and the BIOS update installed. Problem gone after that. I truly believe Dell has a known issue with these and similar model laptops but have not admitted it. There is no "quick" repair to update the BIOS if the machine won't boot properly to install the BIOS update. You just have to be persistent and stubborn and keep trying; hopefully you can get it to boot once properly and get the update installed

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Thanks for that info I will try to update Bios

crwdns2934271:0Maw 7, 2024crwdnd2934271:0 Cheryl Howard crwdne2934271:0

@cherylhoward did you fix it and how to turn it that 20 times to try my pc will turn olny after 3hours of attemps or less or more

crwdns2934271:0Ndz 2, 2024crwdnd2934271:0 wassim ll crwdne2934271:0

So, you are saying that you just kept trying to boot the laptop, and out of the blue, it successfully booted? That's not very believable because the fault would be there no matter how many attempts are made. It's not working for me.

crwdns2934271:0Huk 4, 2024crwdnd2934271:0 DC Rogers (Baldeagleveterans) crwdne2934271:0

Thanks Tom, I have exactly the same symptoms -- usually clicking, but with the very occasional random successful boot. One early "tell" is that if it will be a good boot, the screen backlight comes on, but if it will fail, the screen stays completely dead.

Anyway, I'm running Ubuntu, so the BIOS update is not the common path, and I'm still trying to figure it out. It's tied into UEFI somehow.

Edit: I have an Inspiron 17R-5737.

crwdns2934271:0tiawara ta 22 agoNdz 13, 2025crwdnd2934271:0 Eugene Debs crwdne2934271:0

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@cherylhoward did you fix it and how to turn it that 20 times to try my pc will turn olny after 3hours of attemps or less or more — wassim ll
So, you are saying that you just kept trying to boot the laptop, and out of the blue, it successfully booted? That's not very believable because the fault would be there no matter how many attempts are made. It's not working for me. — DC Rogers (Baldeagleveterans)
Thanks Tom, I have exactly the same symptoms -- usually clicking, but with the very occasional random successful boot. One early "tell" is that if it will be a good boot, the screen backlight comes on, but if it will fail, the screen stays completely dead.

Anyway, I'm running Ubuntu, so the BIOS update is not the common path, and I'm still trying to figure it out. It's tied into UEFI somehow.

Edit: I have an Inspiron 17R-5737. — Eugene Debs

wassim ll @wassimll crwdns2934065:0crwdne2934065:0: 1 · Answer 1 · 2024-09-02T08:38:09-07:00

wassim ll @wassimll

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crwdns2931729:0crwdne2931729:0: Ndz 2, 2024

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@cheryl howard did you fix it and how to turn it that 20 times to try my pc will turn olny after 3hours of attemps or less or more

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Dell Inspiron Series

Dell Inspiron 17r is making a clicking noise and won't boot.

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