Monitor doesn't display anyting

[Rayman]

Hey all.

Around a week ago, while using my Dell Dimension 9200, the screen would go black for a couple of seconds and then come back, displaying an error in the bottom right of the screen about my graphics card (NVIDIA 7900).

A couple of days ago it did the same thing, but instead of coming back on it stayed black. I turned the power off, left it for a short while, and when I turned it back on everything was returned to normal.

However, today the screen isn't returning. I've unplugged everything, restarted over and over -- nothing. The screen is just displaying black. The PC is starting up fine (in that I can hear it), but there's no output on the screen.

Pressing a couple of buttons on the screen displays the following message:
2: Digital Input
In Power Save Mode
Press computer button
or any key on keyboard or move mouse

The screen itself is working perfectly fine on the Analog Input as I also use it to run my Wii, and I've absoloutely no problems with that.

Please could someone help me!

Thank you.

 

[Night Hawk]

Sounds like the video card may be toast on you! The warning about the card was the hardware failure detection Dell apparently has inplace and why you were seeing that appear. On custom builds in most cases a long beep followed by two short depending on bios is what you typically hear at post time when a card fails.

The one way to find out if this is the case would be using another card. Since everything else seems to be running normal this is what to look at there. If the picture returns with the substitute or replacement card you've found the problem. If still under warranty you would need to bring it back or send it in to be covered.

 

[Rayman]

I too assumed it was the graphics card. Sadly, I do not have a suitable replacement card to test out and my PC is out of warrenty.

What are my options? Buy a new graphics card? If I do this, how do I know that everything will co-oporate with the PC as it is at the moment? Would buying a new PC be more cost effective?

Thanks.

 

[Rayman]

As an aside, I opened the computer up and the graphics card fan-thing is spinning. I assume this doesn't mean it is or isn't woring though?

 

[Night Hawk]

The card could be lifted up in the slot. That was one other thing to consider I didn't mention before.

The fan is totally separate from the vpu chip on the card itself. That will continue to run even on a bad card especially with a separate power connector since it's not going through the card itself.

The last thing before assuming the card is toast would be powering everything down and removing the card to then reinsert down again fully to make sure it's reseated properly. Generally if a card is toast an audio alert is generally heard while a card lifted up just a bit will break the connection just enough to see the card missing warning.

As you mentioned restarting suddenly saw the card working again which is one last thing to check. Make sure to use a can of air cleaner as well to blast any debris out.

 

[Rayman]

I turned on my computer this morning and oddly it worked, although I'm sure not for long... it's a bit odd that it has suddenly started working again, so whatever it is can't be completely dead. If When it next happens I will try reseating the card like you suggest. I did take a look and notice that the card is very dusty - I will also attempt to get rid of this.

Thanks, I'll be no doubt updating here soon!

 

[Night Hawk]

I'm sure the card is lifted up as well as the buildup of crud causing an intermittency where you have to get in there and blast the contacts in the slot as well as the dust on the card. At least you know the card isn't completely toast at seeing this quite yet anyways.

With the system here I have to kept up with the house cleaning as far as getting in there and wiping down the fan blades on the case and cpu fans as well as going over the board and other hardwares. That's one thing you don't want to neglect for sure. In fact I cleaned up one case for someone who never did any cleaning and ended up peeling a wool blanket off of the board! yikes!

 

[Frostmourne]

I'm sure the card is lifted up as well as the buildup of crud causing an intermittency where you have to get in there and blast the contacts in the slot as well as the dust on the card. At least you know the card isn't completely toast at seeing this quite yet anyways.

With the system here I have to kept up with the house cleaning as far as getting in there and wiping down the fan blades on the case and cpu fans as well as going over the board and other hardwares. That's one thing you don't want to neglect for sure. In fact I cleaned up one case for someone who never did any cleaning and ended up peeling a wool blanket off of the board! yikes!

In addition, dust traps heat and that is something you definitely don't want to happen to your PC or its components.

 

[Wishmaster]

Agreed on dust.
Its def. worth keeping a can of compressed air around, and blowing everything out every other month or so .. depending how dusty it is in the area the PC is in, or how much it draws in.

Walmart carries em for like $4 and is good for 4-5 clean outs.

 

[Night Hawk]

Another thing besides simply blasting compressed air to clean(which reminds me of someone using a portable air tank used for filling car tires to blast a case out with an 80lb.psi air hose!) is knowing what become the worst dust magnet inside.

Surprizingly the fan blades for case and cpu fans often have to be manually wiped down. Antistatic wipes in plastic containers are generally found at office supply stores that will tend to that. For the PCIe slot there a small thin tube is included with a can of air cleaner you use to clean that out with.

 

[neo101]

Another thing besides simply blasting compressed air to clean(which reminds me of someone using a portable air tank used for filling car tires to blast a case out with an 80lb.psi air hose!) is knowing what become the worst dust magnet inside.

Surprizingly the fan blades for case and cpu fans often have to be manually wiped down. Antistatic wipes in plastic containers are generally found at office supply stores that will tend to that. For the PCIe slot there a small thin tube is included with a can of air cleaner you use to clean that out with.

I've been building my own PC's since around 1990!

I use a 'regular' 1/2 inch household (wall/door) painting brush to clean fans/motherboard/ram/chipsets/cards.
Never killed anything yet!

Have you got a loose power connection? Is your power cord pushed tight into power supply/wall socket?

Starting your PC up and it gets hot/then cold causes chip/wire socket creep.
Make sure bios chip is pushed all the way in, go around each socket where wires connect inc main motherboard 20pin, wiggle them and push all the wires in to ensure proper connection!

Power supply could be giving out if you get the weird (non)start up's then fail or a leaking capacitor on your motherboard.
Use magnifying glass to check no capacitors on M/B have burst/are bursting their caps/tops.

 

[Rayman]

Thanks all! It hasn't happened again, but I'm going to be spraying air inside the PC to get rid of the dust regardless, and I'll make it routinely.

 

[Rik55]

Check the PCI-e cable going into the card. Did the 7900 come with the DELL or did you upgrade. A PSU not supplying enough power will also put the monitor into standby and display a warning on the taskbar. The PSU supplied with Dells with the 7900 is 375W. Seems a bit low, although the min is a 350W for a 7900. If it is the PSU, Dell use BTX non standard PSUs, so you can't just go out and fit a standard one.

I've seen this a few times with older Dells. Monitor goes into standby or Boots keeping the monitor on standby. In my case it was the PSU.

 

[computersplus]

first thing you should do when buying any OEM machine is take the power supply out and throw it away

 

[Night Hawk]

Thanks all! It hasn't happened again, but I'm going to be spraying air inside the PC to get rid of the dust regardless, and I'll make it routinely.

That's good news for you!

Too often people never realize just how fast dust and dirt will be drawn in and accumilate inside any system. The build up can eventually cause problems like this as well as result in warmer temps by trapping heat.

For a card to fail generally depending on the bios you would hear one long and two short audio beeps from the board's own speaker. Lately someone was asking about not seeing anything onscreen and finally mentioned hearing two short beeps. ut oh! The failing card there also pulled down a weak 450w generic supply apparently enough when suddenly nothing worked!

For prebuilds typically the supply is matched for the hardwares like video card the system comes with. If you decide to upgrade hardwares on your own at some point remember the need for a better supply at that time.

 

[Rayman]

Hey all!
Some quick things:
* I've never replaced anything inside my PC.
* I didn't hear any beeps.

I sprayed out the PC today, and it seemed to be going fine when I plugged it all back in. However, around 10 minutes later the screen went blank...! I opened the PC up, and noticed that some black and white cables weren't plugged into the graphics card, so I plugged it in and then made sure the graphics card was tightly secured. I left the PC for a bit, came back and now it's working...

Any idea what just happened?!

 

[Night Hawk]

If your card requires the additional 12v feed having a large vpu like a high end model that would explain the pulldown where you simply did not have enough power provided by the slot itself. You seemed to have solved the problem which is even better for you now!

The 7900s were a higher end explaining that one. If it continues to work now without further problems you can rule out any hardware faults.

 

[neo101]

Hey all!
Some quick things:
* I've never replaced anything inside my PC.
* I didn't hear any beeps.

I sprayed out the PC today, and it seemed to be going fine when I plugged it all back in. However, around 10 minutes later the screen went blank...! I opened the PC up, and noticed that some black and white cables weren't plugged into the graphics card, so I plugged it in and then made sure the graphics card was tightly secured. I left the PC for a bit, came back and now it's working...

Any idea what just happened?!

Loose wire connection = classic for weird start/fail power problem.

Your graphic card connector/wire had worked loose and was dropping out - intermittent/loose electrical connection, causing PC power glitches/failure!

I told you 2 weeks ago to check all your wire connections LOL

 

[Night Hawk]

Apparently when advising a good cleaning a reseat of the card he ended having to check all connections. But at least now things are working as they should. The same goes for other hardwares as well.

When a drive suddenly became a phantom and then started disappearing totally or prompts for formatting appeared the inspection revealed the sata cable was lifted up slightly in the port. The cable apparently was bumped while doing a monthly case cleaning without realizing it until everything was checked.

 

[Rayman]

Hey folks - me again.

Since my last posting in this thread it has all been fine. However, in the last couple of days it started happening again.

For example, when I was playing Team Fortress 2 the monitor kept dropping in and out, basically making the game unplayable. However, whenever it went off it usually came back a few seconds later.

But just now (like last time) the monitor wont display the PC at all anymore. I've turned all power off, waited and then turned the PC back on, but still nothing. Not hearing any failure beeps.

You guys mentioned overheating - could this be to do with the high summer temperatures throughout the UK at the moment? Is the PC suffering a heat stroke?!