Suddenly get blank/dark W7 Pro screens only ?

trinaz said:

K3VL4R said:

Is your computer on a reboot loop when starting up or does it restart at random times ?

When diagnosing hardware issues we need to make sure your system is as simple as possible first. Take out all but one stick of ram (use first slot), unplug all but 1 video card or use onbaord video and hook up only one monitor. Also unplug all accessory items except keyboard and mouse.

If it still does not boot try another stick of ram on the first slot after that try that stick in another slot. I have seen issues like this before when it seems like a RAM issue at first because it will boot with one only stick. But after loading the OS then restarting it, it loads when putting the rest of them back in. This issue is usually related to a hardware change when it loads with all sticks of RAM after starting with one stick, but doing these steps will help eliminate a bad stick of RAM or a bad DIMM slot.

RAM is the culprit lots of the time, but you may want to try the hard drive in another system to make sure it is working as well. Usually if it is the hard drive it will post but give you an error that the OS was not found or something similar.

If it boots now you can start plugging items in until you find the culprit.

Thanks..have pretty much done most above but will redo in a systematic order and try again. Did put the drive in another system in the house and HD Diagnostics did say there were errors...but also said it repaired the errors ?

Best I can tell on the on-board video from the manual...that has to be enabled/disable through bios...which I can not get to upon power on...only black screen ?

However....what's confusing me is that when starting up without the drive in the problem box...I still get the same result....single beep followed thereafter by double beep and black screen.

Would the bios not still load the system (ie...normal 2 screen bios/system readout on the screen ) and then stop the problem was the HDD ?

My problem now is I can not even get to the 1st screen of the bios in order to hit delete to enter the bios...only get a blank/dark screen.

Will pickup a couple more sticks this morning and run thru everything again...and post back.

Thanks again....Tim

Dont go out and buy RAM to troubleshoot! Do what you can first....

Remove video card(s) and try plugging in a monitor to the on board video... see if you get different results.

[QUOTE=Darryl Licht;715201][QUOTE=trinaz;714894]

Dont go out and buy RAM to troubleshoot! Do what you can first....

Remove video card(s) and try plugging in a monitor to the on board video... see if you get different results.

Sure, I did not ask the OP if the system had more than one stick of RAM so they could try them one at a time in different slots to troubleshoot, but nowhere in there did I mention buying anything.

[QUOTE=K3VL4R;715950][QUOTE=Darryl Licht;715201]

trinaz said:

Sure, I did not ask the OP if the system had more than one stick of RAM so they could try them one at a time in different slots to troubleshoot, but nowhere in there did I mention buying anything.

Dont get your panties in a wad... OP said in that post (near end)...

Will pickup a couple more sticks this morning and run thru everything again...and post back.

I was suggesting he not.

trinaz said:

Thanks so much...I had thought about the onboard video but it's only accessible via bios and I couldn't get to bios screens...didn't consider it could have phantomly be switched. Attached one monitor to the onboard port and voila...system bios screens booted and Windows 7 started !!!

That's the good news...

Restarted the PC and entered bios to change the bios settings back to external PCIE video....left the bios screen at the onboard video screen to go down stairs to my XP machine with manual in PDF to be sure of which of the four options was for PCIE...when I went back upstairs...the system was off....tried to restart but now ONLY my fans (including power supply fan) start for about 3 seconds and then everything shuts down...don't even get a single post beep now ?

Checked and rechecked all power supply line connections...all are tight and secure...including the main MB 24 pin connection and ATX 12V connection.

Just tried a brand new power unit...but no change (same line checks as above).

The little green led on the board is on...but now only results of power-on is fan motions briefly.

Any ideas on what's now happening here ?

Tim

Well I was gonna say congratulation... but hmmm! Any unique smells in the room when you got back? Got ghosts? Gremlins?

All kidding aside, you did try a different PSU and no change?

Darryl Licht said:

Dont get your panties in a wad... OP said in that post (near end)...


I was suggesting he not.

There might be some torn ones around here, but none in wad.

Anyway, sorry for the confusion. Still not sure why I quoted you, maybe because I thought the OP was gonna buy RAM because of something in my post and was feeling bad about it. I got to start using smileys so people can understand me better.

:cheers: <--- BTW: We should have one of those smileys on this site for times like this.

trinaz said:

Restarted the PC and entered bios to change the bios settings back to external PCIE video....left the bios screen at the onboard video screen to go down stairs to my XP machine with manual in PDF to be sure of which of the four options was for PCIE...when I went back upstairs...the system was off....tried to restart but now ONLY my fans (including power supply fan) start for about 3 seconds and then everything shuts down...don't even get a single post beep now ?

Checked and rechecked all power supply line connections...all are tight and secure...including the main MB 24 pin connection and ATX 12V connection.

Just tried a brand new power unit...but no change (same line checks as above).

The little green led on the board is on...but now only results of power-on is fan motions briefly.

Any ideas on what's now happening here ?

Tim

Things just seem to be getting worse for you. What you should try now if you have not got it working yet is to start off fresh.

   Note

This will reset settings in your BIOS to default so make sure to get in, if you can, and write down your settings first
.
.

-shut down the computer
-turn off PSU switch (if there is one) and unplug the power cable from the PSU
-hold down the power button on your computer to drain any residual power from the computer (MB light will turn on then die out)
-Check this page here and follow the directions for resetting the CMOS via the jumpers and take out battery for about 10 mins or so (just to be sure)
-return jumper to original position and replace the battery.
-take out all RAM dimms but one (leave in first slot)
-you have on board video, so remove your video card(s) and plug in monitor to on board
-remove any other non essential item like pci(e) cards (sound cards etc) and usb devices.

This is basically the same as my other post except your doing a hard reset on the CMOS this time. As stated before if it gets working, install devices one by one and reboot between each to find out which one is the culprit.

trinaz said:

K3VL4R said:

trinaz said:

Restarted the PC and entered bios to change the bios settings back to external PCIE video....left the bios screen at the onboard video screen to go down stairs to my XP machine with manual in PDF to be sure of which of the four options was for PCIE...when I went back upstairs...the system was off....tried to restart but now ONLY my fans (including power supply fan) start for about 3 seconds and then everything shuts down...don't even get a single post beep now ?

Checked and rechecked all power supply line connections...all are tight and secure...including the main MB 24 pin connection and ATX 12V connection.

Just tried a brand new power unit...but no change (same line checks as above).

The little green led on the board is on...but now only results of power-on is fan motions briefly.

Any ideas on what's now happening here ?

Tim

Things just seem to be getting worse for you. What you should try now if you have not got it working yet is to start off fresh.

   Note

This will reset settings in your BIOS to default so make sure to get in, if you can, and write down your settings first
.
.

-shut down the computer
-turn off PSU switch (if there is one) and unplug the power cable from the PSU
-hold down the power button on your computer to drain any residual power from the computer (MB light will turn on then die out)
-Check this page here and follow the directions for resetting the CMOS via the jumpers and take out battery for about 10 mins or so (just to be sure)
-return jumper to original position and replace the battery.
-take out all RAM dimms but one (leave in first slot)
-you have on board video, so remove your video card(s) and plug in monitor to on board
-remove any other non essential item like pci(e) cards (sound cards etc) and usb devices.

This is basically the same as my other post except your doing a hard reset on the CMOS this time. As stated before if it gets working, install devices one by one and reboot between each to find out which one is the culprit.

OK..thanks again guys for all your efforts....did not smell anything at all and was only gone about a minute or so down stairs ??? Yes I did get a new power supply and same thing...fans start for a few seconds and then everything stops...little green light is on the whole time.

To get the fans only running for a second or too though....I have to turn off power supply via switch on back of PC and turn back on to get fan action however.

If I just try to start...fans start and stop..and then don't turn the switch on the back off and back on...nothing happens...no fans...no nothing,

That little annoying thing called work is going to slow me down today...will post back after following above suggestions...

Thanks, Tim

Just a thought... I had a system once that had a quirky PSU... it would do just as you describe. Until I unplugged the power cord for about 30 seconds... after that it would boot fine!

ALso chec the wires going to mobo for power and reset... perhaps one isnt making good contact?