Computer Hope
Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: zzaio on August 16, 2006, 11:12:43 AM
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Fairly new computer, intel Motherboard, Pentium D 3.0 GHz, 2 GB RAM, Nvidia Quadro FX 540 video card, Dell 2005 FPW monitor. Computer working fine until now. Now, monitor will not light up, even upon startup. Monitor has a status button. When pressed, says monitor is in Power Saving Mode, press key or move mouse to wake (which does nothing) Monitor works fine when connected with my Apple PowerBook G4. Removing video cable puts monitor in Self-Check mode, so monitor at least recognizes that it is connected to video card. DVI-D or VGA cable, same problem. Dont think it is a windows problem, can't even see the BIOS screen on startup. I don't have another videocard to try to isolate the problem.
Thanks in advance for the help,
Daniel
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does another monitor do the same thing on this PC?
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Don't have another monitor to check with. I have apple laptops and an I-mac (ball model)
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Can you borrow one from somebody?
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Not easily. What are you thinking?
The monitor worked fine before, and also still works when connected to my laptop, so I think that rules out the monitor being the problem. Do you suspect the monitor is not working just with this computer?
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I'm thinking maybe that particular monitor may not be compatible with that particular computer. i just want to make sure that a known compatible monitor will work.
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The monitor has worked fine with this computer until now.
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Drivers were working fine 3 days ago. I shut down the computer. Now, 3 days later, when I try to start-up, nothing. The info on the computer is in the first post. Additionally, the mother board is an Intel D945Pvs, the computer sports one hard dreive (seagate, I think) and one DVD/CD burner/player.
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you'll just have to get a videocard from somewhere to try in your machine, then. let us know. :P 8-)
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Any other ideas? I'm thinking of going to buy a cheap video card, but it'll still cost me.
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Ok. I just installed a brand new video card, and I'm getting the same problem. I also just re-tested my monitor by plugging it into my MacBook and it works just fine.
I'm really stumped now. Should I now be replacing the motherboard, or can anyone think of anything else that would be causing this behavior? I really appreciate the help.
By the way, the fan on the videocard turns, so it is getting (at least some kind of) power.
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I think it's a motherboard problem. I'm using an intel desktop D945PVS with a 945P express chipset. If I try to boot without any video card in place, I should get a beep code. I get silence.
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Monitor OK.
Video card OK.
No POST.
No 'Power good" signal.
Swap the PSU.
BTW, I've read that hitting the reset can achieve a power good signal but I've never seen it 1st hand so you might want to try what Quatroking suggested.
Let us know what happens?
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It may be the slot that your video card is in (AGP or PCIe) that is not working properly. It could also be your chipset (BIOS) that gave up the ghost. No telling if you can't get any output. New mobo should fix it tho.
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If by reset, you mean the button next to the start button, did that to no avail.
Is there any chance the BIOS code could simply have gone bad (is it in flash memory?) and that I could fix the problem by reloading this (moving a jumper on the motherboard and booting with a CD containing the BIOS code) This procedure is described in the Intel documentation for the motherboard. However, I'm not clear on the symptoms of such a failure and whether this could be my problem. Any ideas on that?
I also like the idea that I might just have a power supply that has gone bad. I will get my voltmeter and check all the output voltages.
Thanks again for your help,
Daniel
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PSU voltages test to spec. It's a 4 mo old Antec True Power. Anybody have any idea regarding reloading the BIOS. Would a failed Bios result in no POST?
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Nope. Already tried that. What I was wondering was if anyone knows whether reloading the BIOS with a recovery disk could help. There is a procedure for this in the manual, but I don't have the file. I'm guessing I can probably download it from Intel. But I wonder if anyone has any experience doing this. Intel is slow getting back to me.
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Antec is a good brand but.... there's always a but...
Power Good Signal
When the power supply first starts up, it takes some time for the components to get "up to speed" and start generating the proper DC voltages that the computer needs to operate. Before this time, if the computer were allowed to try to boot up, strange results could occur since the power might not be at the right voltage. It can take a half-second or longer for the power to stabilize, and this is an eternity to a processor that can run half a billion instructions per second! To prevent the computer from starting up prematurely, the power supply puts out a signal to the motherboard called "Power Good" (or "PowerGood", or "Power OK", or "PWR OK" and so on) after it completes its internal tests and determines that the power is ready for use. Until this signal is sent, the motherboard will refuse to start up the computer.
Have a read.
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/power/sup/funcPowerGood-c.html
I'd still be looking to swap out the PSU as a test.
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Is there a way to test this, other than swapping the supply? The way this is going, I'm going to have a whole other computer pretty soon. I just bought a new video card, only to find mine was good. Now, I have to buy a PS, next I'll need to get a new motherboard to confirm I had a motherboard failure.
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I think you could probably fake the power good signal but you would have to research it thoroughly.
Did you read the link I left for you?
Google "power good signal" and see what you learn.
BTW, I have a 2nd computer that was built by swapping out parts to find a fault. >:(
(The fault finished up being the mobo which was naturally the last thing I changed)
Can you borrow a PSU to try?
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I think I read somewhere that I should get a beep code if I removed the video card. This didn't happen, which was leading me to think I had a bad MOBO. I tested this further and removed the memory. I get 3 beeps, consistent with this BIOS for missing memory. And now I can't find the source that I thought said a missing video card should give a beep code. So the computer is performing POST, and there appears to be no beep code to indicate a bad or missing video card. I'm assuming the computer would wait for a Good power signal from the supply before doing the POST, which now leads me to believe it isn't the Power Supply. Now I'm leaning towards a PCIE port failure. Does this make sense, or am I overlooking something, drawing an incorrect conclusion, etc.
Thanks for your help,
Daniel
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When you replaced the video card did you use a PCIE card?
Perhaps trying a poverty pack PCI video card could throw some more light on this.
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http://www.computerhope.com/yabbfiles/Smilies/2vrolijk_08.gif
Yeah!!!!
It's finally working.
I did a few more voltage checks, then I decided to put it all back together. Memory, power, video card (my original, expensive one) and the monitor. And it's working. Not very satisfying to not know what the cause was, but I'm hoping it was just a poorly connected power connector. If I have an inconsistent PCIE connector then I'm likely enought to get the problem again.
Thanks again to everyone.
Daniel http://www.computerhope.com/yabbfiles/Smilies/beer.gif
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I hate it when we don't find out what the problem was.
Anyway, I'm glad it's working for you. :)