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computer troubleshooting.

ManfredVonRichthoffen

Mook
ManfredVonRichthoffen
Joined
Jul 31, 2001
Messages
3,504
Yesterday, my computer froze. I rebooted. Nothing happened.

My monitor's on LED blinks. It blinks when there is no incomming signal. If the computer is off, it blinks, turn it on and it goes solid. I tested the monitor with another box, and it works. When I turn on the main box, the monitor LED never stops blinking, and nothing ever shows up.

This leads me to believe that it is the video card. I took it out, and the fan doesn't spin the way I think it should maybe it overheated and fried something.

Is there any other problem, short of connections between my monitor and the vid card, which would prevent anything at all from displaying on the monitor?

All other noises sound alright.
 
Try taking the video card from the working machine and trying that in the other one from which the "broken" card came. That should solve the problem once and for all.

It's interesting though that there was no POST signal on account of the broken video card. Could it just be a dodgy socket ?
 
Are there any beep codes at boot up? Does the computer boot completely, even though you get no video output? (You should hear it go through the drive-thrashing startup sequence, or you can verify by pinging the system from another on your network, if possible)

Is there onboard video, in addition to the video card? You could try connecting the monitor to the onboard port, if so, t see what's going on.

Let's start there...
 
I don't have any video card that will fit the broken machine except the one in question.

There is no on board vid card.

Sounds like it is starting properly.

Don't know it's IP address. I'm also no networking guy, so I'm not sure how to figure it out, or if it boots all the way in XP without user input. It doesn't seem to, since it takes longer after you choose a user than it does before.

I'm not sure what a POST signal is.
 
POST is Power-on Self Test....it's the bootup sequence. If the computer detects "bad" or "no" video, you should get a series of beeps when you boot. The same with bad memory or a bad processor.

So we're left with three possibilities:

1. The video card is bad, and the system is booting anyway.

2. The video card is bad and it is preventing the system from booting. (Should hear beeps)

3. The system is not booting for some reason unrelated to video.

More questions:

1. What kind of video card is it?
2. Port? (AGP, I assume)
3. How old is the card?
4. Does the card have a supplemental power connector inside the computer case? (like the one that powers the hard drive)
5. Any other problems with the system or irregulaties in operation the last time you used the system?
 
You could also try "browsing" in Network Neighborhood to see if you can see the "bad" computer active on the network. If you know the computer name, you can just use Start/Run then put the name in the Run box as \\MyBoxName. If it's visible to the Windows network, you'll get a either a password login or an explorer window showing you any shared items.
 
1) Asus v9280/TD GForce4 ti4200 8X
2) AGP
3) 2 years(ish)
4) No
5) No. I had a bit of trouble rebooting a couple of weeks ago, but it wasn't like this. There would be text and a partial reboot. I may have rebooted in safe mode, but I don't think I ever actually did anything, it just ended up working after a couple of tries.

I found what appears to be an old video card in the current vid card box. Says tnt2, AGP1 near the connector, but doesn't look like it'll fit. Looks like the current vid card locks in with a connectionless board piece after the three connection pieces. The old card has the three connection pieces, then a large honk of board that looks like it would conflict with the locking mechanism on the motherboard. I'll give it a try though.
 
Getting the TNT2 in would tell us a lot -- if it is a "known good" card. Otherwise, you're just adding troubleshooting headaches. Try the network browsing trick if the TNT won't work. Knowing if the system is otherwise booting properly will tell us more -- like eliminating a partially-fried power supply, motherboard, processor, etc.

My psychic senses are getting hits on "video card" tho...FWIW ;)
 
The TNT card required a little bit of shaving to get it to fit on the board, but all seems to work now. Guess it is time to get another vid card. Damnit. Thanks for the help.
 
My pleasure. I'm quite unamazed that a 2yr-old graphics card would burn out --- particularyly one used in demanding gaming application. Heat takes its toll, for sure.

If you aren't in a hurry to keep up with the latest/greatest, now is a great time to get a deal on the ATI 9800 series. Newegg is always a good place to start :)

Good luck!
 
I normally get a card for gaming. Especially since Half Life 2 is out. I normally pick a price, then go to www.pricewatch.com and see what I can get for the price. It's a pretty good site. It's where I got most of the hardware for my machine.
 
pricewatch can get you some good deals, but there are quite a few shady operators advertising there -- buyer beware, as I'm sure you already know. I check pricewatch and resellerratings.com, and if I don't like what I see, I'll back the extra 3-4% and buy from Newegg --- they've never given me any trouble and are better-than-average on pricing.

HL2 is pretty demanding -- you might wanna empty the piggy bank and get one of the top $300-$400 cards, if you're hardcore ;)
 
If you have not already, before you buy new video card you may want to try putting the old one (Asus v9280/TD GForce4 ti4200 8X )back. Sometimes just reseating cards can fix the problem. Over time the cards can sometimes work themselves out. Its sort of like rebooting but for hardware, its worth a try and won't cost you anything but time.
 
1. Remove the hard drive from the computer.
2. Take the computer out to the driveway or other hard surface. Gently set it down.
3. Take a 10 lb. sledge hammer and wack the living bejeebus out of the computer. Do this until the case splits open and pieces are flying everywhere.
4. Buy a new computer. Show it the remains of the old one, it will understand that you have no tolerance shenanigans.
5. Install your old hard drive in the new computer, so that your data is not lost.
6. Your new computer will not give you any problems whatsoever, if it knows what's good for it.
 
I have bought video cards on ebay in the past, and you can get some fairly good deals.
 
WildCat said:
1. Remove the hard drive from the computer.
2. Take the computer out to the driveway or other hard surface. Gently set it down.
3. Take a 10 lb. sledge hammer and wack the living bejeebus out of the computer. Do this until the case splits open and pieces are flying everywhere.
4. Buy a new computer. Show it the remains of the old one, it will understand that you have no tolerance shenanigans.
5. Install your old hard drive in the new computer, so that your data is not lost.
6. Your new computer will not give you any problems whatsoever, if it knows what's good for it.
Click to expand...
:D :D :D
 
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