Monitor Trouble

[mrbig_cjones]

My monitor won't turn on when I power up my system. Any suggestions?

[mjc]

Is it plugged in?

Cables connected?

A little more system info would be very helpful...

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[mrbig_cjones]

I'm using a Trinity 400 board by Tyan. My Video card is Matrox brand (Not sure what model) PCI. I've checked the cords and connections and they are all correct.

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"Most people have a full measure of life and most people just watch it slowly drip away. But if you can summon it all up at one time, in one place, you can accomplish something glorious."

[mjc]

The next step is to try the monitor on another machine...if it works on another machine then you need to try another monitor on the non-working machine.

Are there any aother indications that the machine is actually receiving power?

Does the hard drive sound like it is going through a normal bootup?


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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[mrbig_cjones]

The Monitor is not the problem because it works on other computers and I've tried another monitor and it doesn't seem to work either. There is power going to the board because the LED's on the front are lighting up. The HD isn't making any sounds and the Floppy drive doesn't do anything either.

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"Most people have a full measure of life and most people just watch it slowly drip away. But if you can summon it all up at one time, in one place, you can accomplish something glorious."

[pentachris]

Do you hear a single beep a few seconds after powering up? A series of beeps? If not, make sure the speaker is hooked up properly. The BIOS should detect a video card almost immediately after power-up. If it doesn't, it should let you know about it with a beep sequence. Does the jack the monitor plugs into on the video card feel loose and wiggly?

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Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

[mrbig_cjones]

No beeps and the speaker wire is plugged in correctly. The jack doesn't wiggle either. I'm beginning to suspect the motherboard is bad.

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"Most people have a full measure of life and most people just watch it slowly drip away. But if you can summon it all up at one time, in one place, you can accomplish something glorious."

[pentachris]

Bad mainboard sounds likely to me, mrbig. If a corrupted BIOS could also corrupt the POST, that's another possibility. One more thing to do would be to unhook all the drives from the power supply and see if powering up gives you a different result. I know it won't boot, but if the drives were draining a bad or weak power supply so that the mainboard weren't getting the voltage to complete the POST, unhooking those drives should allow the POST to run and you'd get beeps telling you no drive is attached.

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Some mistakes are too much fun to make only once.

[mrbig_cjones]

I tried it and there is no change. I tried another Video Card - no change. I'm returning the board to Best Buy (Evil, evil people) and getting a replacement. Luckily they'll take it back. You guys have been a great help. If I encounter anymore problems I'm coming here. Thanks again.

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"Most people have a full measure of life and most people just watch it slowly drip away. But if you can summon it all up at one time, in one place, you can accomplish something glorious."

[Sylvander]

Hello Mr Jones

I'm using diagnostic flow charts.
1. The PC is not dead because you have lights etc.
2. I assume it appears that POST did not run and that there were no audible beeps. This is, therefore, a POST problem.
3. I will assume that the power supply voltages are correct.[test if possible]
4. Disconnect all peripherals and system adapter cards except the keyboard and monitor.[After switching off and disconnecting from the power source naturally]
5. Boot the PC and if POST still does not run you have a faulty system board.(So says the chart but I wonder about the video card)[This is only if your power supply is good]
6. If it does run; re-connect the floppy and run advanced diagnostics if you can and test the system board. If the system board fails the tests then it is faulty. If it passes the tests then:
7. Switch off, re-connect one peripheral or adapter card and reboot. If post does not run then this last item is faulty. If it does boot test this last item with the diagnostics software. If it fails the test it is faulty.
8. Repeat step 7 until all items are reconnected and tested then re-test the whole system.
If it still does not function send me an Email.