No Display On Power-Up

[sunman_13]

I apologize in advance for the lengthy post!
   I recently purchased a refurbished desktop without a pre-installed operating system from a fairly reputable online dealer.  Upon the initial powering up/ windows XP installation attempt (XP CD from an older computer that is no longer used), I received an error message informing me that the operating system could not be installed because no hard drive was found.  After I powered down and powered up again, the display disappeared.  Next, I looked at the hard drive and found that the power cable was unplugged.  After fixing that problem, the display would still not turn on.  A strange thing occurred when I unplugged the display cable from the computer - the monitor turned on.  When I reinserted the cable, the monitor would turn off.
   I installed a GeForce 8600GT PCI-express card (which connects directly to the motherboard, with no secondary power supply) and this did nothing to better the situation (same blank screen with connected cable, monitor flickers on with a "no signal" message after removing cable)
   Could this be a driver problem?  If so, is there a way to load display/motherboard drivers without having access to the computer's display?  Or does this sound more like a motherboard problem?  If it is the latter, what can I do to remedy the situation?
Here are my system specs:
   AMD Athlon x64 3500+
   1 GB RAM

I appreciate any advice!

[patio]

Actually it sounds as if it is a monitor cable problem...i hope you didn't dis-connect it with either the computer or monitor powered up.

[sunman_13]

I did, and from reading various posts I now know that that's a big no-no.  The monitor cable's fine- it works with my laptop.  Is there any way to tell if the motherboard's fried?

[dahlarbear]

1.  Refurbished Desktop.  Can you provide more info on the desktop hardware?  Make and Model Number, if "brand name" computer; otherwise "Make" and "Model Number" of motherboard?

2.  Power On Self Test (POST).  Any error indication(s) during POST?  Does the computer "beep" during startup?

[Adizzle28]

Actually it sounds as if it is a monitor cable problem...i hope you didn't dis-connect it with either the computer or monitor powered up.

That is...crap because i've done that a few times with my monitor perhaps in my monitor?

[dahlarbear]

Actually it sounds as if it is a monitor cable problem...i hope you didn't dis-connect it with either the computer or monitor powered up.

That is...crap because i've done that a few times with my monitor perhaps in my monitor?

I don't understand.  Are you voting "for" or "against" disconnecting video cables while power is on?

Are you simply asking a question?  Or are you trying to "hijack" this thread?   Because if you are, I vote we dig up our "guns" and join you!

[Adizzle28]

Actually it sounds as if it is a monitor cable problem...i hope you didn't dis-connect it with either the computer or monitor powered up.

That is...crap because i've done that a few times with my monitor perhaps in my monitor?

I don't understand.  Are you voting "for" or "against" disconnecting video cables while power is on?

Are you simply asking a question?  Or are you trying to "hijack" this thread?   Because if you are, I vote we dig up our "guns" and join you!

i'm sorry that post was more of a thinking out loud post, I was thinking about the issue with mycomputer (which is I'm not able to boot and nothing appears on the screen) I thought that unplugging my monitor from my pc while it's on didn't matter but now that I read that post it is bad.

[sunman_13]

Sure- here's some more information.

HP debranded
model # TS-0001RS-AMD901
Motherboard: HP NAGAMI2L-GL8E S.939 2000FSB MBOARD, 5188-5473
Motherboard details:
http://www.ascendtech.us/itemdesc.asp?ic=MB64HPNAGAMI2L&eq=&Tp=


No POST beeps- everything seems exactly the same as before the problem, with one exception- the power button on the front of the computer no longer turns off the machine.

Any potential for this to be a CMOS issue?

[sunman_13]

Allow me to partially amend the last post.  The keyboard, which should light up during power-up, does not. 

[sunman_13]

PROBLEM SOLVED!!!

After fiddling for hours and resetting the CMOS, I started unplugging and re-plugging the power connectors in desperation.  The computer screen suddenly blinked on and I promptly installed XP.  Apparently plugging in my hard drive overloaded the power supply so that the display portion of the motherboard did not have power.  Fiddling with the power connectors solved the problem for some reason. 

Thanks for the help!

[dahlarbear]

Thanks for sharing your problem resolution (although I'm still scratching my head a bit).

[patio]

Head scratched as well...but i'd be shopping for a new PSU.
Do yourself a favor and don't buy a 20 dollar special...