12-29-2008, 08:33 AM
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Platinium Techie
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Quantico, VA
Posts: 908
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No video on boot
I finally got settled in after moving all around the country for training, and I got my old Computer out and brought it to the barracks to use for movies and what not. After a good 30 minutes of me doing things such as resetting J51, and finally removing the CMOS Battery (which I deduce is uh.. in need of replacement) It fired up. Drives spun fans kicked on, CCLs, everything.
The thing worked fine when I shut it down in march, and I'm pretty sure I kicked it on in June with no problems, but now I'm getting some wierd stuff on the monitor that looks alot like what you'd see if you tried to play a blank VHS tape; thick dark lines slowly scrolling upward.
Now, I was forced to swap out the monitor for an EMachine LCD, which freakin tiny, but my CRT was much too large to tote 500 miles, and it was ready to go anyway. SO, upon settin the thing up in the barracks I discovered that this new (old) monitor doesn't use a conventional power cable! lucky for me I had a 12.2 DC adapter that fit it perfectly and seemed by all standards to work effectively, and may actually be the power cable for the monitor (but I don't know).
The system is running an NF7 MoBo, which gives the "OK" POST beep, and also the tell-tale "you are entering CMOS" beep when I hit the delete key, but as i said, I can't see a damn thing I'm doing. Of Course, the fact that I can hear the beep would lead me to believe everything else is functioning as normal. I've got the monitor plugged into VGA1 on my 9600xt all-in-ancient-wonder, although I tried VGA2 with precisely the same results. the wierd VHS-looking lines, and then standby mode for the monitor, as though there was no signal.
The monitor works perfectly fine to my knowledge, although I haven't used it in sometime, It was from a computer set up for my mother, an Emachine (!!!!), which we put a larger monitor on. So the one I brought down is basically in out-of-the-box condition, albeit a year or two old. I thouroghly inspected the video card, re-seated etc, and it seems just fine, no bent pins, nothing. Moreover I never really messed with my hardware much, as all I have really used it for in years was watching The Office and listening to music.
I'm about 90% that it is one of a few things:
The video card somehow went bad, and POST hasn't picked up on it because the card is still powering up. OR
The monitor is a POS (moore than a normal Emachine Monitor) or I did in fact use the wrong power source for it. OR
The unit itself simply has nothing to display, and for whatever reason, POST isn't picking up on any hardware issues.
Anyway, that's my story. Any help would be much appreciated.
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12-29-2008, 02:08 PM
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TWL Owner
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Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: Orlando
Posts: 1,216
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make sure the bios is set to use the add in cideo card and not onboard. Reset the CMOS and try again. make sure the monitor is set to use the right connection you have plugged in. Check both ends of the cable and the pins on the cable not just the card. Swap out the card and try another as a last resort.
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12-29-2008, 02:53 PM
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Platinium Techie
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Quantico, VA
Posts: 908
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So your pretty sure its the card then? Cuz I'll just end up buying a new one. which needed to be done...
as for the other stuff, there is um.. no display. I only know its loads CMOS because my MoBo lets out an additional beep when it recognizes "del" at the initial load screen. there is no onboard video. already checked all the pins and stuff.
Just looking for an opinion on whether its the card, the monitor, or something else. I have limited resources for swaps on base, unfortunately. So it comes down to purchases. and I want to have the issue pinpointed before droppin cash.
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Last edited by Dragon : 12-29-2008 at 02:54 PM.
Reason: add-on
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12-29-2008, 03:26 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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I would first try and make absolutely certain that there's nothing wrong with the monitor. I'm presuming you checked the input voltage for the monitor and it matches the DC brick you found. Just cause the input connector fits, doesn't mean it won't blow the whole thing up. Also, after that's ruled out, visually inspect the capacitors on both the motherboard and the video card to see if any are bulging or leaky. Bad capacitors are pretty much the number 1 cause of failure in old hardware. If everything looks fine and the monitor is confirmed working, then it's probably the video card.
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There's always a workaround........
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01-01-2009, 07:52 PM
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Platinium Techie
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Quantico, VA
Posts: 908
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Thanks fellas. It was indeed the monitor. I'm pickin up a westinghouse l240nm tomorrow. Its got HDMI and all the inputs I want. 8ms, but I can get one at the Base exchange for $350. unless anyone has anything negative to say about it?
Also, I'm just gonna build a new computer, lmao.
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01-01-2009, 10:04 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dragon
Thanks fellas. It was indeed the monitor. I'm pickin up a westinghouse l240nm tomorrow. Its got HDMI and all the inputs I want. 8ms, but I can get one at the Base exchange for $350. unless anyone has anything negative to say about it?
Also, I'm just gonna build a new computer, lmao.
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I'm glad you got it working. Figures the part that gives out was from an emachine, I hate those damned things. I have a bit of a vendetta against emachine, bad computer repair stories........
I don't really know anything about the westinghouse displays. I do know that samsung has some really good panels. I've been rocking two syncmaster 220WM's for a while now with no problems. They're 22", but I would imagine the 24" aren't much different if that's what you're in the market for.
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There's always a workaround........
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01-02-2009, 08:17 PM
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Platinium Techie
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Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Quantico, VA
Posts: 908
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Well, I agree the samsungs are excellent, especially the snycmasters. I'mlooking more into functionality. I dont plan on buying a tv for the barracks, so this one fits, not only that but Its not an uber new product so its cheap.
I do need some advice on a cheap HDMI video card that'll run fallout 3 / COD5 with decent results though, if anyone knows of anything.
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01-04-2009, 05:54 PM
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Administrator
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Join Date: Aug 2008
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Depending how cheap you want to go, the Palit 4870 that I reviewed ( http://www.techwarelabs.com/reviews/...on/index.shtml) will handle all of that fine and it has HDMI. The price is probably cheaper than it was when I reviewed it too. Otherwise just sift through some of our video card review till you find something that looks appealing.
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There's always a workaround........
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