An ALL NEW PC Video problem

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 6 Oct 2012 7:55 am

All of a sudden , my monitor has a message, "no analog signal"
On re boot, all look well until ... the message show again.. I tried 2 other monitors with the same results.. I picked up a tested, working, used video card from a local tech that fit into the 8x AGP slot installed it with the same results..

FYI the PC is an EMachine, T 3092 with an integrated video card NVidia GForce 4MX
The only modification is I installed 2G B ram

Did i miss something ? like unstalling the old card?

What else would cause this??

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 6 Oct 2012 2:52 pm

Hey Bo,
The video input may be dirty, cable could be bad, driver might need updating.

Bryan Garvey · Post by **Bryan Garvey** » 6 Oct 2012 9:39 pm

Hi Bo

We need to back track a bit. You were using the on-board video card. You have then installed extra ram. When you turn your computer on, you said everything looked well until the message came up again. So when you turn the computer on, you get a display e.g. text on your screen and then as it boots into windows, you loose your display with the message coming up. Is that correct? If so, remove the AGP card and remove the extra memory for the time being. Use the on-board video again. Does it boot now with a display? If not, turn the computer off. When you turn it back on, keep tapping the F8 key until a menu comes up which will allow you to use your arrow keys to select "Safe Mode" hit enter. Does your computer now boot into Windows in safe mode?
If it does, I would un-install the video driver as it me have corrupted or the refresh rate in the driver may have changed and was set to high for your monitor.

I hope this helps. If it doesn't, please let me know the results and I will try and help you further.

Cheers
Bryan

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 8 Oct 2012 5:25 pm

thanks for the tips ... Cal, I used a air can and dusted the input jack.. tried 3 different monitors and cables.. no change..

Bryan , the RAM upgrade was made months ago and shouldn't be the cause..but i will try that ..

I attempted to boot it today and it will not even boot.. as if it is stuck in the process somewhere.. so
i can't even get to try a safe mode or restore...

any suggestions to get it to boot at all?

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 8 Oct 2012 5:30 pm

Sounds like the problem is more than a video issue. You can try tapping the F8 key while booting, into safe mode.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 8 Oct 2012 6:10 pm

yep thats what i have been trying to do ,, but it won't even let me get that far..

Bryan Garvey · Post by **Bryan Garvey** » 8 Oct 2012 6:40 pm

Hi Bo

How far are you actually getting? What do you see on your screen when it gets stuck?
When you first turn on your computer, it checks the Bios, Ram and hard drives. If all is good it then tries booting into windows. If all is not good, it might just sit there or beep at you. If it gets past that stage, it then tries to load windows. In doing this it will load some things into memory.
It is important to know how far it is getting from your perspective as this might give me a better idea as to what is going on. It would also be good to know what the operating system is on the computer (XP, Vista or Win 7).

Cheers
Bryan

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 8 Oct 2012 6:46 pm

Bryan
Right now nothing is happening. i power on, monitor on too... and nothing but a no analog signal message , going to power save mode and then the monitor powers down

Cal Sharp · Post by **Cal Sharp** » 8 Oct 2012 6:58 pm

Is the computer coming on? Do you hear the fan? If not, it might be the power supply.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 8 Oct 2012 7:11 pm

It is powering up , fan runs, hard drive light , cdr and dvd lights blink.. there are no beeps.. and the monitor goes to power save .. I cant get to take the F8 key

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 8 Oct 2012 7:59 pm

It is possible that after you installed the AGP video card, you failed to enter the BIOS and change the video output from the internal chipset to the add-on card.

Do this: Plug the monitor into the onboard video output jack. Power on the machine and see if you have normal video output. Also, make sure you can boot into Windows.

If the above conditions are true, reboot into your BIOS (press the designated key to enter "Setup." Once inside the BIOS setup screens, use the arrow and tab keys to navigate to the screen that deals with onboard peripherals, specifically the onboard or add-on video. If it is already selected for the onboard, use the designated key to open the options for the highlighted video source key. Use the arrow keys to highlight the other card and press Enter to choose it. Now, find the key to press to Save and Exit.

As you exit the BIOS your PC will reboot. Press the PAUSE key after a couple of seconds. Go to the back and move the video cable from the onboard jack to the add-on AGP card jack. Press any key to resume booting. Hopefully, if all else is fine, you will see the video signal on the monitor.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 9 Oct 2012 3:08 am

thanks Wiz.. I did not change the bios when i added the new agp card.. I will try that a little later today .. if i can get the machine that far...
The problem started prior to that install

Bryan Garvey · Post by **Bryan Garvey** » 9 Oct 2012 4:59 am

Hi Bo

Wiz and Cal have given you some good advice above. If you cannot get a display with either option as Wiz has suggested, please remove your memory modules and reseat them.
If you have multiple modules, just try one at a time and turn your computer on. Your computer should beep if it is a memory or video card issue, but sometimes computers do not do what they are supposed to do

Cheers
Bryan

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 9 Oct 2012 5:52 am

If it's not the video card or chipset, or power supply, it may be a bad, or mismatched, or incompatible RAM module or modules.

Also, with the side cover off, shine a flashlight onto the motherboard and see if any of the electrolytic capacitors are bulging and/or leaking.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 9 Oct 2012 5:49 pm

I removed the new video card and rebooted...same problem
I removed one of the 1gb chips, reboot , no change.
I removed the other chip, it beeped but still no change in the monitor signal.

i took this picture... would these be leaking electrolytic capacitors

so it doesn't appear to be the chip set.. since they were installed months ago and worked fine.
it doesn't appear to be the video card since i tried both the integrated and outboard cards.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 10 Oct 2012 12:13 pm

You definitely have leaking capacitors. Your computer's motherboard is probably toasted by the leaked acid. You might try to buy a replacement motherboard from the computer's manufacturer, or on eBay. If you find one you'll need to remove the CPU and heatsink from the old one and install it onto the new board, using white or silver silicon thermal compound.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 29 Oct 2012 2:50 pm

Well here's the deal...instead of trying to find a replacement motherboard I got a different used CPU from a friend, an HP Compaq with Intel Pentium 4 and Windows XP pro. It already had a 1GB memory sticks installed. Aside from some hardware differences ( a second cd drive and card reader it's way better than the one i had.
, I took the hard drive out and replaced it with my HD .. IT seems to work fine.. but it is asking me to verify or validate my Windows program..
Is this a big deal.. I had Winders XP in my old one.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 29 Oct 2012 3:29 pm

Bo Borland wrote:Well here's the deal...instead of trying to find a replacement motherboard I got a different used CPU from a friend, an HP Compaq with Intel Pentium 4 and Windows XP pro. It already had a 1GB memory sticks installed. Aside from some hardware differences ( a second cd drive and card reader it's way better than the one i had.
, I took the hard drive out and replaced it with my HD .. IT seems to work fine.. but it is asking me to verify or validate my Windows program..
Is this a big deal.. I had Winders XP in my old one.

You are going to have to call Microsoft on the phone, using the numbers shown on the Activation screen. Explain what has occurred and that you hold a valid product key for the previous installation. Be prepared to write down a 52(?) character long code to input one group at a time into the activation input field.

If you fail to re-validate Windows, you will be locked out until you do activate it, or install a newer OS.

You should take notice that all support for Windows XP is ending on the first Tuesday in April, 2014.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 29 Oct 2012 5:58 pm

if only i could get a live person on the line.. i might be able to get this done.

Ray Anderson · Post by **Ray Anderson** » 29 Oct 2012 6:58 pm

I did not know this about XP, thanks for the heads up. What does this mean for users of XP? Will we have to purchase another OS or will there be an upgrade to change to.

Wiz Feinberg · Post by **Wiz Feinberg** » 29 Oct 2012 8:11 pm

Ray Anderson wrote:I did not know this about XP, thanks for the heads up. What does this mean for users of XP? Will we have to purchase another OS or will there be an upgrade to change to. :cry:

When support ends in April, 2014, you will no longer receive any Windows Updates or hotfixes. Most software companies will cease making their programs compatible with XP. Cybercriminals will have a field-day exploiting the millions of un-patched Windows XP computers, turning them into zombies in their Botnets, stealing your bank account funds and logins to various social websites.

There is already an upgrade path: Buy a copy of Windows 7 Home Premium and install it onto the same computer. Make sure you backup all of your saved data files, documents, downloads, music, videos, etc, to an external drive first, as well as all emails containing receipts, product keys and serial numbers. Then copy everything back.

There is commercial software which will migrate everything from XP to Windows 7, on the same PC.

You can also take your PC to a local computer store, or Best Buy, and pay them to transfer your stuff professionally.

Bo Borland · Post by **Bo Borland** » 30 Oct 2012 2:09 pm

well i finally got the code but the resolution bad and themonitor only showed 4bit color.. somehow i managed to disable the vga...

dumba@@ me.. now i can't get the monitor to work once i get past the Windows log in screen.... any suggestions?