No Connection, Check Signal Cable

When I turn on the PC I get the above message sometimes, in my previous XP PC also. It's showing as a floating box on a black screen. It's happening more often lately. Don't know what the problem would be. I have to turn off the machine and check the ISP modem connection and the cable that runs from the monitor to the PC. But have no clue what the problem could be. Most often after I unplug the plugs and put them in again it works again and get a screen to start Windows normally.

Don't know whether it's the modem plug or the other one. Can someone pinpoint me what causes this and how it can be corrected? I've attached 2 pics to show what message I get in Administrative Tools to clarify what happens. TIA

 

I get a message like that if I turn on the monitor before the PC, or when I turn on both at the same time by having both plugged into the same power strip. On my PC the monitor is looking for a signal well before the PC can give it one, hence the message on screen. Then mine says in disgust "going to sleep" and then it does until the PC catches up to it.

With your PC off, try turning on your monitor and seeing if you see the message you described. If you do, it's normal. Perhaps your PC sometimes boots faster than at others is why you see it only occasionally. Since you're seeing it more frequently, that means your boot time may be slowing down.

I'm not sure that the 'event' you provided a pic of is related to the message you see, but perhaps I'm missing something.

Did you use the same monitor on the XP system you mentioned? If the message is identical on both OSs, then, yeah, the message is from the monitor, not the PC.

 

Great kipfeet. Now I will from now on turn on the Desktop first instead of the monitor and see if that helps. It doesn't happen every day but quite often lately.

With XP (which is in storage) I never got a window with the suggestion to start in normal mode as I get now in Win 7. Now in Win 7 it shows as a black screen with white letters with a bunch of other phrases.

Yes, using the same Samsung SynncMaster 191TPlus monitor as in XP, purchased in 2004 but still working perfectly. I was thinking it could be either the modem since the purchased ISP modem is about 8 years old, or the monitor. Don't want to spend the $$ if not necessary. If the problem could be pinpointed to just one, I'd spend the money.

If it happens again when I turn on the PC first, I'll post back. Thanks!

BTW: I called my ISP several times regarding this in the past (XP) and they see that I have connection and they suggested to unplug the plug from the modem, wait a bit and then plug it in again.

 

You're welcome, but I'm not certain that your problem is the same as I described when I turn my monitor on before the PC. The way for you to find out is just turn your monitor on by itself and see if it's the same message you describe. If it is identical, then you know it's the monitor sending it. If not, then it's not the monitor, particularly if the message you describe appears to be an official Windows OS message.

Give it a try. Turn on just your monitor by itself and see. You'll know right away.

 

Hi oma and kipfeet, just to further clarify the message is coming from you monitor (its built in software) so concentrate on that connection and leave the modem connection alone the next time it happens to verify that it is not involved.

Basically, what is happening is the monitor is not getting a signal from your graphics card/chip. So, if the monitor cable is making a good connection then you could have either a bad cable or a problem with the graphics card/chip. If this is happening much more frequently on the new computer than the old one it could be the new computer. I don't think it is the monitor itself because you are getting the "no signal" message displaying which basically says the monitor is working.

When you have the problem what do you have to do to the cables to get things working? Connect/disconnect them? Give them a shake? Have you tried just restarting without touching the cables to see if a second boot corrects the problem without physically touching the cables?

On the Start Normally message that may be related to improper shutdown. You get no signal on the monitor and then before you adjust the cables--Are you hitting the power button to shut down Windows? If so that "improper" shutdown may be the reason for the Start Normally message.

 

Thanks sach2. In order to make the connection work again, I turn off the tower (cold), disconnect the modem plug, put it back in and boot up again. That sometimes doesn't work. So then I wiggle and adjust/tighten the white pin cable plug thingy that connects the monitor to the back of the computer. Could be the cable running from the monitor and the back of the computer then? If so, can it be replaced or do I need to get a new monitor? Don't even know if a new cable is possible with this old monitor. I'm a complete hardware noob. :-o Love this monitor because I don't like wide screen. Odd that same thing happened in XP.

PS: The IT tech didn't install the monitor software. Believe it's just to enable the monitor to pivot it and some other unnecessary stuff.

Oh, I will try to adjust the monitor cable by itself next time it happens to see if that will work.

 

Yes, try to make sure the monitor cable is firmly connected to both back of PC and to the monitor. I'm just looking at this review where the third picture down shows you have two types of cables. You are using the DVI white cable. If this is your monitor then the cable is replaceable.

Tighten up the two thumb screws at the white cable connections on both the computer and the monitor. Next time it happens instead of disconnecting just give the cable a shake and then reboot and see if you get the signal.

It can be a little tricky troubleshooting monitors. It could be a bad monitor, a bad connector at the monitor, a bad connector at the PC or a bad cable. Then connections at the PC and monitor are the trickiest because even if the connection is screwed in tightly, the connector itself could be loose where it is soldered to a circuit board.

Do you still have the blue cable that came with the monitor? A possible test later on would be to use that connection and see if you still lose the signal occasionally.

 

Yes, I always tighten the screws of the white plug on the back of the computer and just now checked the one on the back of the monitor. When I purchased this new PC Desktop I was asked if I my monitor had a white pin plug. So that's what is plugged in.

I still have the blue one, so can I use that one to try it out since I see on the back of the tower a blue connection? The blue plug is attached to the back of the monitor but not plugged into the tower. What is the difference between the white and blue plugs? :-o

When this problem happens, it occurs virtually always on a cold boot, not during the day unless I have to turn off the computer and boot it up later. Don't like to have the PC on when not at home or during the night due to possible power failures which occur sometimes here.

Oh, if using the blue cable, do I have to disconnect the white one?

 

If the message happens only on a cold boot, then I think it's likely a timing problem between turning on the monitor and turning on the PC and that turning on the PC and waiting a bit before turning on the monitor will solve it. I'd try that first and only suspect cables, connections, etc., if it did not solve it.

If the message happens anytime after the PC is already up and running, it's likely a connection problem (cable or cable connections) as sach2 describes. Yes, it could possibly be a connection problem on boot, too, due to temperature changes after it gets cold and things moving around a little, but I think that the timing problem described above is more likely.

Did you ever try just turning on the monitor with the PC off to confirm that the message you see is the one you always see when you have the problem?

Since the same problem happened with the other PC, I doubt that it is the graphics card itself, though it could be the monitor's connector to it.

Always something, isn't it?

 

Yes I did and the same floating message box came on the monitor with the tower turned off. Sorry, I forgot to answer that previously. I'll wait for a bit to turn on the monitor after booting up and see what happens. The problem doesn't happen every day but couple of times per week lately so it may be a bit before I will know the result and will take it from there. At least it's narrowed down a bit. Thanks kipfeet! I will let you all know of the outcome.

 

I was thinking about this and had ignored the fact that it happened on the old PC. I'm not sure what that means except it is less likely that the graphics card is the problem as kipfeet helpfully pointed out. Try kipfeet's suggestion on waiting to turn on the monitor. (Mine doesn't like that for some reason but prefers to be on before powering on the PC.)

The White cable is DVI with a digital signal. The Blue cable is VGA with an analog signal. If you switch to the VGA cable, you may have to adjust a setting on the monitor to tell it to look for an analog signal. ( I have a newer model Samsung and have to tell it which signal, digital or analog, it will be receiving by a button on the front. Yours is marked Exit/Source) One thought is next time it happens instead of adjusting cables just hit the Exit/Source button and see if the monitor is set for Digital.

The other thought I had was that I'm not certain a reboot is necessary when adjusting connecting the cable. I've never worried about turning the PC off when connecting a monitor cable. I think power is always given to the video connection so say if you had a second monitor available you could just unhook the one monitor cable from the back of the PC and plug in the cable to the other monitor and the change should be recognized. Or in your case you should be able to have both DVI and VGA cables connected at the same time and then hit a button on the monitor to tell it which signal to display. So with both cables connected, if you got the "no signal" then you could hit the button on the monitor to switch types to see if you still get "no signal".

 

Thanks sach2. I'll try kipfeets suggestion first. If that fails, I will give your last suggestion a try by connecting the VGA (analog) as well and then see if that helps. It's set on digital and it tells me that. Forgot all about the settings on the monitor, so that is of great help as well. Yeah, I've got only this one monitor which did cost me about $1000.00 in 2004. I'll post in this thread again if any further questions and/or if successful.

 

As said, I followed kipfeet's advice on waiting with turning on the monitor after cold booting up the PC tower. So far, excellent and no *no connection, check signal cable* issues anymore for the past 3 weeks. *knock wood* Thanks kipfeet!! :cool