no video on startup, boot ok?

[k4zau]

I have a 486/66 with 8mb ram and Win 95 which I want to turn into a Linux box. I hadn't used the computer in over a year until I turned it on yesterday. There was no video and the booting seemed to stop just where the BIOS (Award) would turn control over to Windows. I assumed the CMOS battery was dead and replaced it. I then tried a different monitor with this computer, but still no video. Fortunately, I have the installation guide that came with the motherboard and it has enough of a description of the BIOS setup program that I can tell what keys to press to go through the menus and make changes. I tried several things but there was no change in the boot process until I selected "Set CMOS setup defaults" or something like that.

Now the system boots, there is still no video, but the system seems to boot the OS (this was my main box for over 3 years and I still know what the HD sounds like as it boots... it sounds very similar to what I remember). I have seated and reseated the video card twice (the card is a Trident VGA) and it only has one chip in a socket, but it looks like it's seated fine.

The motherboard has one jumper near the CMOS battery that is not documented in the manual; is this the jumper used to erase the CMOS? How do I go about doing this? Will resetting the CMOS fix the problem?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Budfred]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

If you removed the battery and replaced it, you already reset the CMOS, although you may have changed settings again when you were messing with it. It doesn't seem likely that another reset will help.

It sounds like your video card is probably the problem, so I would try another if you can get one. Given that you are probably working with a PCI card, you should be able to find a decent one pretty cheap.

[k4zau]

I guess I should mention that I pulled the card completely out and booted the computer. The long-short-short beep sounded; this indicates that the computer couldn't find the video card... does that mean the card still works?

[Budfred]

It means that the computer was recognizing that there was a video card there when it was and that some sort of signal was happening to satisfy the BIOS. It doesn't necessarily mean that the card is good though. The only way to confirm that other than getting it to work here would be to try it in another system.

However, I just reread your first post and it looks like you tried the other monitor before you reset the BIOS. You might want to reinstall the card and try the other monitor. Or try this monitor on another computer to see if it works. I would blow the slot for the video card out with canned air first to make sure you don't have dust messing things up. Assuming it is a PCI card, you could try a couple of different slots too.

Again, if the monitor is good, your best bet would be to try another video card. A PCI video for that computer can probably be found for under $20.

[Sylvander]

You could use a copy of my Diagnostic Flowcharts.
Send me a personal message asking for them and giving an e-mail address to send them to.

Here’s what they say about this.

START UP
1. Is the PC dead? No.
2. Did POST appear to run? Yes [there was a single audible beep indicating successful completion?]
3. Is the monitor display correct? No.
4. You have a DISPLAY problem.

DISPLAY
1. What sort of display is shown? If there is no image, is the screen dark or lit up?
1a. If the screen is dark [dead monitor] is the mains lead ok? If it is the monitor is faulty. If not replace & re-test.
1b. The screen is lit up, but is the signal lead ok? If not replace & re-test. If it is ok, then either the video adaptor or the system board or both are faulty.

[k4zau]

thanks for the info. i did not try the monitor after i reset the CMOS. i will try that before doing anything drastic. i did try the card in a different slot and it still didn't work.

i did find some PCI vid cards on ebay for less than a dollar, but a local computer store quoted me at 40 bucks for one... that's too much! i'll probably look into that later.

[Budfred]

That is way to much for one for a 486 computer. You can buy a decent AGP card for less than that. Here are some:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=property&DEPA=1

and some more:

http://www.compgeeks.com/products.asp?cat=VCD#PCI Video Cards

And of course lots more in other vendors. If you decide to go with eBay, remember: "buyer beware"....