Dell XPS 400 Card Cage Fan Failure

Dell xps 400 pentium d once i turn it on, it beeps and says "card cage fan failure" everytime i press f-1 to continue it shuts off and boot up again it does it everytime how can i fix this CARD CAGE FAN FAILURE??

I have the same pc, the card cage fan is in the lower left corner, if you lay it down on the side after opening it,
there is a small cable to the right of it, if it is loose, reseat it, if not you may need a new fan or a new motherboard,
the im looking for a new motherboard
if thats the case the part number X8582

Hi,
Many PC motherboards (most) monitor important internal parameters, such as temperature, power supply voltages and fan speeds. This is typically monitored through the system BIOS.

If any of these parameters fall outside of their predetermined limits, the system BIOS will issue a warning message and take evasive action to protect your computer from permanent damage:

1) Slow down the CPU
2) Put the CPU to Sleep
3) Refuse to boot
...
...
Etc...

In your case one of the system critical cooling fans has failed,
and the system BIOS is telling you to fix !!!

There are several cooling fans in a modern computer, every computer is different, but common locations for fans include:
0) Power supply
1) CPU chip
2) Video Chips
3) Some MB chip-sets
4) Device cages, such as the Hard-Drive/ CD/DVD cage
5) Power supply
6) Rear chassis
7) Side cover

etc....

Some of these fans plug into dedicated connectors in the mother board, others connect to the main power supply harness. Some are monitored by the mother-board, others are not.

On three wire fans, the mother-board can monitor the fan's RPM by monitoring a built-in tachometer, either voltage or frequency.

On two wire fans the mother-board can monitor the fan current,
or the fan noise frequency.

In your case, there is a malfunctioning fan within the I/O card container cage, which could be the result of:

1) Bad or loose fan connector
2) Defective fan = burned out or mechanically seized
3) Defective mother-board circuit.

To fix the problem, open the case and check if all the fans are spinning. If not, give them a spin by hand to see if they CAN move. Wiggle all connectors. Replace defective fans.

Note that some of the fans may be regulated by temperature, and spin only when the machine gets hot. This is done to reduce noise and save power. Most fans are quite junky, and burn out in a year or so. This is not uncommon.

Hope this hepls

Martin