Hard Light Productions Forums
Off-Topic Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: Knight Templar on June 24, 2006, 03:30:24 pm
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The story: I'm putting together a computer. For the most part, everything is go. I plug in my new monitor - no signal.
I am using one of http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1929943&Tab=0&NoMapp=0 those.
And one of http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-detailsinactive.asp?EdpNo=1428168&Tab=0&NoMapp= these.
I know the monitor isn't to blame. I connected it to my current PC and it works perfectly. Oh, and I know everything is getting power, because my 550 watt power supply is happily suppling the mobo with power, the HDD fans are spinning, the CPU fan is spinning, the Vid Card fan is spinning. The Vid card just isn't... working.
So that's my story. Do your magic.
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Did you remember to connect the extra power line to the video card? Newer ones can't draw enough just from the slot.
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Yup. Connected to both power lines.
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Hmm. Are you using an SLI mainboard, and if so is the card in the #1 slot? Also, if the card has 2 output ports, are you using the correct one?
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SLI Mainboard: Yes. Though I'm using a single card.
Slot #1: Yes. The blue one.
Two Output Ports: Yes.
Correct one: Unsure. I'm pretty sure I tried both last night, but I'll try the... other one, right now.
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That's a negative on both outputs.
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Well... I'm out of any immediate ideas then.
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try closing the case, and applying a concussive force to the case using your fist...
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Oh! One more idea. Is your screen set up to accept VGA or DVI input? If you're using one and it's displaying the other, there's your problem. I actually got rather freaked out once when I hit the toggle for those on my screen by accident and didn't know what had happened at first :p
[Edit] DVI, not HDMI. Stupid me.
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I have no idea. I'm using the monitor straight out of the box.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1962523&CatId=170
I'd asume it's VGA-ready. If not, I'm pretty sure the monitor on my current PC is, which I tried to connect to the new Vid Card, and got the same result.
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Guess that's not it, that monitor seems to support only VGA input so you couldn't have it set in the wrong mode. It's just that many monitors these days can display either and if it's toggled to the wrong one, you get a blank screen or an error message.
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lol. I wish I got an error message. Something. Anything.
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Wow, haven't seen you in a long time.
The video card may well be defective. There are widespread problems on the current batches of 7900 cards related to bad memory and the stock core voltage being too low. Several card manufacturers have acknowledged it and you should be able to get a replacement easily.
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Given all of the other posts...sounds like its RMA material.
Just try one thing. Take it out of the case, unplug it, check everything out, make sure nothing looks amiss and then reseat the board back into the slot and give it another try. Just to be sure.
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RMA?
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Plug in the "auxillary power" cable from the power supply to your motherboard. The plug is square with four holes.
I had the same exact problem as you until i noticed that i hadn't plugged the auxillary in.
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RMA?
Meaning that it needs to be sent back to the people who made it.
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Plug in the "auxillary power" cable from the power supply to your motherboard. The plug is square with four holes.
I had the same exact problem as you until i noticed that i hadn't plugged the auxillary in.
If he hadn't plugged that ATX12V connector in, it wouldn't even POST.
hmm, on second thought, it looks like he never did actually say it POSTs. If it's not even getting that far, the problem could be this or any of several other things.
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Do you have electricity in the house?
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Is the monitor plugged in and turned on? :p
But seriously, do you know that the monitor works? If it does, I'd say that pretty much points the smoking gun at the vid card. You could also try taking the card out and booting up with the onboard BIOS + VGA port, if the mobo has one.
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Plug in the "auxillary power" cable from the power supply to your motherboard. The plug is square with four holes.
I had the same exact problem as you until i noticed that i hadn't plugged the auxillary in.
Aux. is and has been plugged in.
Is the monitor plugged in and turned on? :p
But seriously, do you know that the monitor works? If it does, I'd say that pretty much points the smoking gun at the vid card. You could also try taking the card out and booting up with the onboard BIOS + VGA port, if the mobo has one.
OMFG I JUST CRASHED MY ROFLCOPTOR!!!
And yes, I know the monitor works. And I'd love to start with the onboard BIOS, except that the mobo is sans VGA slots, making it a bit difficult to configure anything.
Plug in the "auxillary power" cable from the power supply to your motherboard. The plug is square with four holes.
I had the same exact problem as you until i noticed that i hadn't plugged the auxillary in.
If he hadn't plugged that ATX12V connector in, it wouldn't even POST.
hmm, on second thought, it looks like he never did actually say it POSTs. If it's not even getting that far, the problem could be this or any of several other things.
Yeah, it POSTs.
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since i already know you'd have been intelligent enough to try(or not to, whichever) to navigate the quagmire or tech support pages or endure tech support over the phone.
i could just straight out just ask if you have another DVI-capable card to test, or you have a friend's you can try it on.
and if you've got an old monitor lurking about, you can use a DVI-> VGA adaptor on it to at least dig through the bios options.
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RMA?
Sorry...worked in a store for a while with these things...RMA is a return to manufacturer or supplier. Usually there is a return policy to cover things like DOA boards (dead on arrival) and whatnot. If you can't get it to work and you've covered all the other possibilities it may be a dead board. It happens.
Still...that it posts is interesting but it may still be a dead board.
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:Update:
I plugged the card in my buddy's Dell XPS 400. Worked wonderfully. So now it's not the card, I think. Which is good, because the card costs $500. It's bad, because I think that pretty much leaves the Mobo. I've run out of ideas though as to what the hell is wrong now though.
So I'm pretty much completely lost.
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Try using the hard drive from your other computer. If it sounds like Windows is loading up (just from the HD activity), it has to be a motherboard or power supply problem. Otherwise it could just as well be related to the processor or the memory, in which case you should try running it with only one memory stick. Also, make sure you've connected the extra molex plug on the motherboard, although I would expect it to at least boot up without that.
What memory and power supply are you using?
If the motherboard turns out to be defective, try to get a replacement from the retailer, as Asus can take over a month to do RMAs. (it would have actually been better if the video card was bad, since BFG does them relatively quickly)
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Power Supply: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1273350&sku=ULT31851
Thought I got it for a lot cheaper.
Memory: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1717669&Sku=C13-5104%20PT
Thought what I actually have is not this, but it's comparable. The actually Memory is "DDRM Master." Same speed and size though. Picked it up from a computer shop when I discovered that my mobo couldn't run DDR2.
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That power supply is somewhat weak but it should still work. As for the memory, if it's something generic (unbranded), that's a potential source of the problem. I've never had a good experience with generic memory. Try a single stick as I suggested, or see the memory from your other computer works (if it's DDR).
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As I never tire of telling my clients: Never, never, never, never, NEVER skimp on the core components of your computer. 'Unbranded' is usually synonymous with 'crap'. Memory in particular. Power supplies... basically, the wattage rating is a load of BS. Look at the maximum current ratings for the 12V rails. A total of less than 20A these days is not enough. A 550W supply should have at least 35A to play with, which yours does, so there's no problem there.
The weaker PSUs tend to pile on the 5V and 3.3V rails; don't worry about their maximum current since they're rarely weak for the wattage rating.
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The actual brand is the most important factor with power supplies. The current ratings are often measured at peak, non-sustainable loads or simply made up on crappy PSUs, and with dual rails it's hard to tell what the combined amperage is (you can't just add them up). It's best to just stick with PSUs that are known to work well. The X-connects are known to exhibit voltage fluctuations and shutdowns near their max rated loads, although I doubt that has anything to do with KT's problem here.
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The Memory: Well, I'd ordered Corsair originally, but it was DDR2. This was before I found out DDR2 is not compatible with DDR. The current sticks I got form a computer shop my friend works at, so while they are generic, I trust them for the most part. If they turn out to be the problem (he's going to look at the whole rig tomorrow night) then I'm sure he'll help me out.
I'll try some alternate DDR when I can find some.
The Power Supply: Well, this whole time I've counted the power supply out for the list of blame. However, I have had a seperate problem where the PC, after POSTing, when I try to turn it on using the button, decides to turn itself on and off at random. Well, not so much random. I'm pretty sure the wiring from the power button to the Mobo is twitchy because it'll turn on in when I nudge the cord plug on the mobo, but I suppose the Power Supply could be responsible for that some how, though I'm sort of reluctant on that.
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This sounds like something Fury would be pretty good at sorting out........... :nod:
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Well, if he has any other ideas, I'd be glad to hear them.
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well, since it's not the vidcard, and if it's not the Display, then it must be the mobo
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Yup.
Pretty sure it is now. For several reasons. For one though, it's never beeped the entire time.
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Yeah, it POSTs.
For one though, it's never beeped the entire time.
I can't quite reconcile those two statements... which is it? If it doesn't POST it could be any number of things, and you'd do best to try removing components one by one and see if you can eventually get it to POST - Then whatever you removed last was likel the cuprit.
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It powers up when the power is turned on... the fans spin, it lights up... then shuts down.
No beeping.
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Then it isn't POSTing. That's definitely some kind of critical failure, and I doubt it has anything to do with memory or off-board peripherals. Power supply problems usually cause some kind of beep, as does any problem on the PCI bus. CPU problems are often indicated on modern boards by a sound played on the audio output (assuming the board has onboard audio). Memory errors are detected during POST and are indicated by a beep code (3 beeps on AMIBIOS, if I recall).
Therefore, it's a mainboard problem.
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God forbid, but did you screw the mobo directly to the case? :confused:
A long time ago I was building my own PC and did that, I had similar problems to the one you are having now i.e. everything appeared to power up but it wouldn't POST.
I know it was a stupid thing to do but I was new to it at that time. If you didn't know, the mobo should be attached to the case but the are insulating washers between the case and the mobo.
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just a thought, but try unplugging all IDE devices, then try and start it up, if you get nothing, then it's the mobo, if it beeps a ***** about there being no devices hooked in, then you may have accidentally put the IDE cable in the wrong way, a simple mistake, but one so easy to make.
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God forbid, but did you screw the mobo directly to the case? :confused:
:lol:
When you did that, did it screw any of your other hardware?
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As others have said, try to turn it on with everything non-critical (drives, expansion cards etc.) unplugged, make sure the on board speaker is connected (unless it's on the mobo itself), and see if it complains. If it does POST when doing this, connect stuff one item at a time until it stops working. Remove that item, keep connecting other items until everything is either connected or found to cause problems.
Finally double and triple check these problem items to make sure they aren't visibly damaged (scratches, bent/missing capacitors and what have you), then try them again while making very sure they're properly connected. If they still cause failure, send them back for replacements.
And if it won't POST even with nothing connected, it can really only be two things, the mobo or the PSU. In this case triple check to make sure the correct power connections are connected in the right places (check with both the PSU and mobo manual, don't just assume it's correct because it fits... some will fit in several places). If that still doesn't do it, try the mobo with a different PSU if you have one, and you should know what to return for replacement.
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God forbid, but did you screw the mobo directly to the case? :confused:
:lol:
When you did that, did it screw any of your other hardware?
Nah, I was lucky! Someone pointed out the error of my ways, I re-attached the mobo using the washers and everything worked, could've fried everything though! Whew!
Actually thinking about your problem, it could be a memory problem! I tried a few sticks of memory in my comp last night for a friend, It wouldn't POST! the memory I assume was fried as I tried others, (I have about 10 sticks around the house ranging from 32mb :( to 256mb :D) all worked but my friends (Korean) memory. Like I said check your memory! Could be from a bad batch