No video in old PII pc

[yolagp]

I'm trying to fix an old PII system that worked fine until yesterday, when I tried to add a new hdd and more ram. After such addition, I have no video, but one long beep and 3 short ones. I tried to take it back to its original state, took new hdd and ram out, changed the jumpers to the former position but no way. When I power on the mobo (Ecs P6BX-A+) seems to work: the keyboard's lights go on and I get those beeps mentioned above, and the hdd and cd rom seem to work. Monitor is fine, works with other computer. I haven't tried the video card (S3 Trio 3D) in my other pc as I am afraid it's too ancient... Any ideas I might try?

[123456]

Try removing the added RAM. How much RAM did it have before you put the new stick in and how much does it have with the new RAM inserted?

[Sylvander]

"the keyboard's lights go on and I get those beeps mentioned above"
At least your POST is running.
Now you need to figure out why it's complaining with those beeps and halting.

See http://www.computerhope.com/beep.htm
1 long + 3 short for an IBM BIOS [which BIOS does this board have?] means a problem with "Video Display Circuitry".
Does that seem likely?

Are all the drives set to "Auto"?
Not a good idea to change the drive arrangement if you leave the old HDD parameter settings in place in the BIOS Setup.

[classicsoftware]

A great deal of time this happens when installing RAM and other devices. You may have jostled the video card.

Please remove and re-seat the video card and let us know what happens...

[yolagp]

Thank you for your replies. I posted last night, but then went to bed. Sorry, should have waited a little while.
It had 64 mbs of ram and added 64 more, same kind and same speed. I removed the new stick, took out and reinserted the old one. Right now I have only the old one.
I get one long beep and three short ones, which in an Award bios means a video issue: http://www.bioscentral.com/beepcodes/awardbeep.htm
I have removed and reseated the video card many times.
I had set the bios to autodetect the drives before the installation, but later I cleared the cmos so right now it's set to defaults.

[Sylvander]

is...
"Video BIOS Shadow : Enabled"? in the BIOS Setup I wonder.
[Do you know if that's a default setting? (It is on my older PC) Do you have your settings noted?]
Perhaps your RAM isn't functioning and because the video BIOS is being shadowed [and failing], then the error that comes up first that rather than a RAM error.
Try removing all RAM and see what error beeps result.
Then put back the RAM and remove the video card to see what beeps you get.

Or perhaps the video card is faulty.
Put a known good one in place.
Test the suspect one in another working system.

[yolagp]

I took out the ram and there's one long beep. No ram and no video card, one long beep. And with ram back in place and no video card, one long beep and 3 short ones.
What if I try my "good" card (ati radeon 9200 se) in this system? I mean, could it "break" something like the psu or the mobo?

[yolagp]

Another failure. This card won't fit in my newer mobo's agp slot, so I can't try it in my computer. I'm stuck.

[Sylvander]

"I took out the ram and there's one long beep"
Conclusion:
a. One long beep means RAM test failure.
b. The RAM test comes before the video test during the POST.

"No ram and no video card, one long beep"
Same as above. The BIOS POST stops at the RAM failure.

"with ram back in place and no video card, one long beep and 3 short ones"
a. RAM is testing as OK.
b. Same video failure whether video card is connected or not; hence connected video card is failing the test [treated as if not present].

"could it "break" something like the psu or the mobo?"
Why would it? Is it incompatible with the board?

"so I can't try it in my computer"
What about some other suitable PC?

[yolagp]

I went to town and found an identical (used) video card for 12€ so I bought it and guess what: the same beeps again. I'm afraid the agp slot or even the mobo is out. I guess the moment has come to take it to the shop and trust that guy. What do you think? I'm out of ideas.

[classicsoftware]

Try a PCI video card. Also take your ram to the shop and ask them to test it....

[yolagp]

That's a good idea...I took the machine to the shop. I took the ram too. I called them as soon as I read the post, but they don't have pci video cards. That's a pity. I'll tell you how it turns out. Thank you!

[yolagp]

Finally, the culprit was a dirty agp slot. I had cleaned it with a clean dry brush, but I should have done it with something stronger, as I read later in this thread: http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=42040
The guy at the shop did that for me and now it works fine.
Thank you all for your help.

[Sylvander]

Another problem bites the dust! :D :cool:

[saphalline]

What if I try my "good" card (ati radeon 9200 se) in this system? I mean, could it "break" something like the psu or the mobo?Just for the record, yes it could fry the vid card and/or mobo. In this case I don't think it would have been an issue because the i440BX chipset is AGP 1.0 and the 9200SE is probably AGP 2.0 and that probably would have worked. But in general, try to avoid mixing AGP stuff unless you know the specs and slots and vid cards are compatible.

Glad to hear everything worked out, though.

[classicsoftware]

I defer to Saphaline in these matters, but I used canned air and have never used alcohol on anything connected to the motherboard..... I have a datavac that can remove a motherboard from the case so most dirt usually bites the dust, no pun intended....

[saphalline]

Oh yeah, I agree. Most of the time canned air does the trick. But some of those old crusty systems that have never been cleaned get that industrial-strength dust (you know, the grey stuff) that clings to everything and leaves a thin coating of grime. On top of that, the grime acts as a catalyst to oxidation (foreign material presence and all that) to the point where some good scrubbing with isopropyl is needed.

I'm sure the shop in this case just used canned air. But if you ever crack open a system that's so dirty you can write your name in the grime on the mobo, then it's time to get a little more serious!

[classicsoftware]

I once got a call from an office. The PC was making a beeping sound on POST that indicated bad RAM. Opened the case to check the RAM and there was nothing green. Eevery single part of the RAM and motherboard were covered in dust as if it snowed dust in the PC. Five minutes with the datavac and I was $100.00 richer....

[saphalline]

Opened the case to check the RAM and there was nothing green.Wow! :eek: That's pretty bad! :p Funny how dust can cause problems, huh? :D Hahahaa! Good story!