dbenton2003
asked on
A strange situation.. help PLEASE
Ok, heres the scenario, my good friend sold me his old computer (havent payed for it yet), its a AMD Athlon 900mhz, so i boot it up, and it has Win ME on it, so i shut it down and plan on doing a complete wipe and putting XP Pro on it. As XP Pro is formatting the hard drive, i lose video, and have yet to get the video to work again, i know the RAM im using is fine, and i even tried a PCI video card and it works no where on the board, but yet the cpu fan still runs and the cd roms and all will boot up, i just dont get a video signal, ive tried just running the motherboard with the basics, but still nothing - any ideas?
Silly question perhaps but are you sure that the problem is NOT your DISPLAY?
Hi!
I agree with jhance, as I told another one with this problem.
Check all cables to the monitor.
If monitor power comes from computer, try with a powercord directly to a wall socket instead.
If you have another computer try that on the monitor.
Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg
I agree with jhance, as I told another one with this problem.
Check all cables to the monitor.
If monitor power comes from computer, try with a powercord directly to a wall socket instead.
If you have another computer try that on the monitor.
Regards
/Hans - Erik Skyttberg
ASKER
already tried this, even with 3 other video cards... still nothing, also tried on diff. monitors
ASKER
already tried this, even with 3 other video cards... still nothing, also tried on diff. monitors
Does it happen to have integrated video? Have you tried a BIOS reset?
ASKER
it does not have on-board video, and im not sure how to reset the BIOS, though i dont know how that would change anything due tot the fact i wasnt tinkering with it
are you getting any bios beeps when you boot up the computer?
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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P. S. If your monitor is VESA and EnergyStar compatible it will automatically turn to sleeping mode when video is off (power led will change a color or start to blink). When you turn on PC power and video card is not dead it will initialize itself and a monitor will go from sleeping (look for power led).
P. P. S. Sorry for my ugly English if my previous comment could not be properly understood. Of course, CPU mught be inserted back before turning PC on and DIMM, PCI and AGP uses slots, nor sockets. Sorry.
When it boots can you get into the BIOS? Do you see anything at all. It is possible that the video card or something else is just not seated properly. Have you taken everything out and put it back in to make sure of this?
Now back it down to just a minimum system. Only leave in a single memory stick, video, CPU, and floppy. Does it boot now? If no, swap the video out with ine you know is good. Swap the memory next. If neither of these will allow you to see a video signal you do have problems. Did you use proper anti static procedures when working on the system? You could have static-zapped the motherboard or CPU. All it takes is 30 volts and one static discharge can carry 1000 times that.
Now back it down to just a minimum system. Only leave in a single memory stick, video, CPU, and floppy. Does it boot now? If no, swap the video out with ine you know is good. Swap the memory next. If neither of these will allow you to see a video signal you do have problems. Did you use proper anti static procedures when working on the system? You could have static-zapped the motherboard or CPU. All it takes is 30 volts and one static discharge can carry 1000 times that.
db,,,
You said you lost video during formatting. Best bet here is to remove everything from the motherboard with the exception of video card, memory, and cpu. Remove floppy and IDE cables from the motherboard, as well as power connectors from the CDROM, HDD, and Floppy. Now, all you should have is the power connector to the motherboard, the vidoe card, memory, and CPU. I would rcommend resetting the CMOS (there should be a jumper near the Battery--a Nickle sized cylinder on the board) If you cant find the jumper, remove tha battery for about 10 seconds and replace. Now, the next time you try to boot, it should go to default settings. If your system boots up (POST), try connecting components one at a time until you get a failed boot. Last item installed is the offender. If it does not boot, try replacing the memory, then the CPU. If it is still dead,,,then MoBo has gone bad.
You said you lost video during formatting. Best bet here is to remove everything from the motherboard with the exception of video card, memory, and cpu. Remove floppy and IDE cables from the motherboard, as well as power connectors from the CDROM, HDD, and Floppy. Now, all you should have is the power connector to the motherboard, the vidoe card, memory, and CPU. I would rcommend resetting the CMOS (there should be a jumper near the Battery--a Nickle sized cylinder on the board) If you cant find the jumper, remove tha battery for about 10 seconds and replace. Now, the next time you try to boot, it should go to default settings. If your system boots up (POST), try connecting components one at a time until you get a failed boot. Last item installed is the offender. If it does not boot, try replacing the memory, then the CPU. If it is still dead,,,then MoBo has gone bad.
Almost an hour and a half later ... BAD DOG!!!!!
Oh well, I guess you added a bit to my suggestion.
Oh well, I guess you added a bit to my suggestion.
slink9,
You are right, I only added a bit to your suggestion. Are you getting paid for this suggestion? Did I just take a chunk from your paycheck? Who is keeping score? Did it really bother you that much? Get a grip,,,,
Dog
You are right, I only added a bit to your suggestion. Are you getting paid for this suggestion? Did I just take a chunk from your paycheck? Who is keeping score? Did it really bother you that much? Get a grip,,,,
Dog
Man, are you misinformed. I get paid for this stuff. Six figures, actually. The only problem is that they are all zeroes.
slink,,,
Is that anything like that zero-fill utility? Lots of zeros,,,no data (duckets in this case)!!! No bad blood. It is late night, early morning,,,normally I reiterate any previous mention of the troubleshooting process, just missed it this time.
Is that anything like that zero-fill utility? Lots of zeros,,,no data (duckets in this case)!!! No bad blood. It is late night, early morning,,,normally I reiterate any previous mention of the troubleshooting process, just missed it this time.
Hello,
If you boot to a boot disk, do you see any text?
-Steve G
If you boot to a boot disk, do you see any text?
-Steve G
if you were formating the hard disk with xp pro did you format in fat 32 or ntfs??????
is the hard drive a fujitsu????
as i have come across these hard drives causing big probs with xp try booting the computer without any thing connected except the essentials remove the hard drive and the floppy and cdroms if you get a result then add each component in turn to find the bad one.
tip of the day SUSPECT EVERYTHING.
is the hard drive a fujitsu????
as i have come across these hard drives causing big probs with xp try booting the computer without any thing connected except the essentials remove the hard drive and the floppy and cdroms if you get a result then add each component in turn to find the bad one.
tip of the day SUSPECT EVERYTHING.
Some old ISE controllers blocked the system if HDD drives was misconfigured. Your system soesn't seem to be old, but who knows...
ASKER
nope - no boot disk or anything works, i have tried unplugging everything and still get nothing, i cant decide whether its the MB or Processor, im just about to save some money and buy a new mobo and proc. Is there any way to test the processor or motherboard? i dont readily have access to another processor..
Yep. The best solution is to replace both. If you put this processor on a good mobo to test it you run the risk or ruining the mobo that you are plugging it into. The same goes to plugging a good processor into this mobo.
Try just resetting the "BIOS Jumper/Battery" / "CMOS Jumper/Battery" anyway .... then just replace the jumper back to noraml as pre the instuctions in the moterboard manual if you don't have a manual don't worry they are preety easy to find online. After it boots up with no values set it should come up fine then go one by one setting all the values you are sure of then restart saving the new settings of course. If it still does the same thing after that then one of the settings were incorrect. It after resetting the jumper the system still does not boot, you have another concern (basically its not the BIOS) try removing everything but the bare needs
you need a motherboard
processor fan video card floppy keyboard mouse
turn it on with just these devices and a boot floppy
after that if it works boot up the machine after installing each device one at a time and rebooting after each successful attempt if at any time you have a problem then that device or the settings for that device are the problem. Good Luck
you need a motherboard
processor fan video card floppy keyboard mouse
turn it on with just these devices and a boot floppy
after that if it works boot up the machine after installing each device one at a time and rebooting after each successful attempt if at any time you have a problem then that device or the settings for that device are the problem. Good Luck
Yo draza, that would be what I suggested. I would hope that it was tried, but in the Experts Exchange model of discussion you can never be sure what was done.
ASKER
i found out that it was the motherboard, now i have an extra 900mhz amd athlon processor lying around =P thanks though