Back from the dead...with a computer issue.

[Knight]

Hey everyone,

You'll be seeing more of me on the forums, but I lost my Halo CD and Key, so I can't really play...yet.  But the real issue is that my desktop does not show a display when I boot up.  It began when I was playing a game and it froze up on me so I manually shut it down, holding the power button.  When I went to reboot the computer, my monitor just stayed asleep.  I tried to reset the BIOS (by removing the pins, or whatever its called) and I popped the RAM in and out.  A little progress...before I did this to the computer, to turn it off I would just have to tap the power button.  Now to turn it off, I actually have to hold it down for a few seconds, just like when my computer was working.  I'm not sure what could be wrong at the moment. Thanks for your time.

[BFM_Kiwi]

I would say your graphics card has died.  That's happened to me.  What I did was remove the graphics card and restart.  The motherboard had on-board graphics (terrible for gaming, but worked). 

You may also have to swap the monitor cable from a connector on the graphics card to another similar socket elsewhere on the back of the computer.  If that makes sense.

[MrMxyzptlk]

Um, yeeaaah....

Now that you've reset the BIOS you won't be able to figure out what's going on at all, I'm afraid.

So you'll have to debug it from scratch now.

I suggest that you COMPLETELY DISCONNECT your HDD at this point, since you might's well debug this w/o doing (any more) harm to your Windows installation.

If your computer's mobo has a speaker on it (they're all SUPPOSED TO, but some builders don't bother to install them) and you're NOT hearing any beeps when it starts up, it likely THINKS that it's "seeing" a graphics card, but you should progress on the belief that it is NOT until you can boot it up into the BIOS screen.

At this point then you should REMOVE the graphics device, boot it and see if it beeps (or does anything else that's DIFFERENT then how it behaves with the GA in place.) While the card's out carefully clean it's gold "fingers" with a dry Q-tip swap, and check that there's no crud in the slot it was plugged into.  After cleaning & checking replug it and see if it boots to the BIOS screen now.

If not, and you have no "beeps" then its time to either take it to a professional repair person, or take a stab at the board being dead and trying the "boot to BIOS" test with a different/brand new graphics card.

Once you get the BIOS screen up on the cleaned/reseated or new graphics device post here and we can discuss reconnecting the HDD and how to proceed thereafter (depending on how you got your computer "working" again.)

[Knight]

My knowledge of reseting BIOS might be a bit fuzzy...so maybe I can give it another shot at resetting the BIOS.  Any links or easy-to-follow steps?  Just to make sure I've done it correctly before I move on.   Also, would it be possible that the motherboard itself has no monitor plug?  It has the small blue area to plug something in, but it has pins rather than being something that I plug something into it.  Know what I mean?  It's not like the plug on the video card.  I think it might be the video card after all (maybe some overheating) so I just want to try reseting the BIOS (correctly) and then try to boot it up with the on-board graphics.  Thanks so far for the help


UPDATE: I just removed the video card and booted up with no monitor, just to see how it sounded, and it sounded identically as when I had the video card plugged in.  And the noise/beeps it currently makes are the beeps that its made since I had this rig, so I figure thats nothing out of the ordinary.

[BFM_Kiwi]

Well if the motherboard has on-board graphics, and you could use the computer without a graphic card, then it would have to have some sort of connector.

Best to follow Mxy's advice and I'll just watch

[Knight]

Heres a photo of the the back of my mobo:

[MrMxyzptlk]

GAH!

If you have NOT reset the BIOS yet, DON'T!

Also: Your image is flipped!:



...And if you have an "external" graphics card it would connect to a board in one of the slots along the back (most of which are plain-metal covered.)

If it's a purchased machine, pls post its make and model info then, pls. (Unless you want to take and post pix of every part of it. IF you're going to take a pic of any part of it, take one of the area WHERE YOU CONNECT THE MONITOR.)

[Knight]

Photo Booth mirrors the pictures yeah.  I built this machine so I know exactly how to take things in and out.

The video card is right under it...Here's that picture:


What's the next course of action?

[MrMxyzptlk]

(FFR: You're missing all your slot covers and stuff, and that machine will get full of dustballs pretty quickly...)

Okay.  The dual DVI connectors can be easily seen in that photo, so you have an external (modern) dbl-slot(wide) graphics card, not integrated graphics. (But having the make & model # info would confirm this absolutely....)

So the "noises that its always made" is just a single "beep," right?

If not, that is it telling you that something's WRONG and needs attention.

So was is a series of beeps, how many, and were they all the same "duration" or some short, some long?

In either event, pls describe the beeps (and supply make/model info, too, pls.)

[Knight]

Yeah, its just one beep followed by all the different parts turning themselves on.  But it has done that noise since day one, so I don't think its a problem.

Here's the list of my hardware:

LITE-ON 20X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe Black SATA Model LH-20A1L-06 LightScribe Support - Retail
   
Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive


OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply - Retail


ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

   
EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail


AMD Athlon 64 FX-62 Windsor 2.8GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADAFX62CSBOX - Retail

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4

[MrMxyzptlk]

Yes, if it just makes the single beep that's okay.

So... you built this system yourself?

K, the ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe mobo does NOT have built-in graphics, so that leaves just the "EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card."

You've DISCONNECTED the HDD by now, right?

If not, do so and try to boot to the BIOS screen. (Hold down <Del> key when beeps.)

If that doesn't work, then check BOTH DVI PORTS for an image. (Have you checked that the MONITOR is working properly on another computer?  Do you see it flash at all?)

If still no luck, then pick up my previous post at the part about cleaning the board edge, etc.

GL!

[Knight]

I just took it to the Geek Squad for a $70 diagnostic and they'll be able to tell me what the problem is.  Figure I'd save myself the stress and time.  They'll let me know what's wrong by tonight...I'll keep you updated.

[Knight]

Geek Squad said it was a video card problem.  Still under the 2 year warranty so I sent it back to eVGA today.