No display - not posting?

Hi all,

I have just moved house and my PC which was working fine when i packed it into it's box doesn't work since I set it up in my new house. It powers up (power lights come on, fans spin etc) but there is no output to the monitor. I have tried two monitors (both working) with no success. I also noticed the absence of the single beep to say it has POSTed ok, but am not getting any other beep codes for errors. Also pressing the power button again with the PC on does not make it shut down however long I leave it, I have to hold the power button in to switch off without shutting down.

I am guessing that the PC may have been banged during the move, and either the graphics card or motherboard could be damaged. I have removed and reseated the graphics card and RAM, and checked all the cables to hard disks, DVD drives etc. and am currently trying to beg a PCI-E graphics card from a friend to test in my PC.

Is there anything else I have missed or could check before I start spending money? Is my assumption that the graphics card or mobo are at fault correct or could it be something else?

SYSTEM:
AMD S939 3200+
Gigabyte K8N ultra 9 mobo
2GB PC3200 Corsair value select ram
XFX Geforce 6800 GS (PCI-E)
Hitachi Deskstar 250GB hard disk
Seasonic 500w power supply
Zalman CNPS9500 cooler

 

What happens when you just "Power-UP" the monitor without the computer turned on or connected?? You should get the "Not Connected" type message from your monitor, that will eliminate the monitor being the problem. Have you tried taking ALL the PSU power cables off and reconnecting?? Then as Tim said try either the PSU or your idea of PCI-E swap though that should have nothing to do with the Shut down problem. Post back Tigger01 and let us know And Welcome to Major Geeks

 

Hi, thanks for your replies.

I have checked the cables, and tried 2 different monitors (and they both say PC not connected on the screen). I only have one graphics card but was able to borrow a brand new PCI slot graphics card last night, which unfortunately gave the same result, no output to the monitor at all. I have therefore ruled out my graphics card and the PCI-Express slot on my motherboard. I then swapped in my old power supply, it's only a 20 pin, not 24, but has the 4 pin 12 volt supply that my mobo needs. The PC won't switch on with that one however, the fans spin for a second then stop again, so I put my seasonic power supply back in. I admit I'm clueless as to what that indicates?
I have unplugged both dvd drives, 2 hard disks and all the PCI cards, leaving just one hard disk with windows on it and a floppy drive connected (and a graphics card). The PC still seems not to POST however as there is no beep after powering on.

I suspect that the weight of my zalman cooler may have damaged either the CPU or motherboard during the move, although I was very carefull, but I don't have access to a spare one of either to swap out and test.

Can anyone suggest what I can do next? Anything I've missed, or do i give up and take it to a computer repair shop?

 

Only other thing is maybe take the cpu out & reseat it. I also have a zalman fan & with the weight of those things it could have unseated the cpu.

Hope it did not fall off during the move.

 

Funny thing is that, my gf's brother's PC is doing the same thing, though I don't understand much of the posts up top.

He has had problems with his PC going really slow but I upgraded it to a new RAM so he may be able to use it. When booting up though [tryed with 3 diffrent monitors], there is no output to the monitor. I hear it running and the fans are on, but nothing on the monitor. The PC had been unhooked [not used] for a few months now and for some reason, it doesn't work now.

Please help ONCE AGAIN GEEKS! :]

 

Nevermind, I accidentally didn't make sure the DDR Ram we baught was hooked on firmly. I checked it and clipped it in and now it's working fine. :]

 

@Tigger01: Does it POST with the video card removed?

 

I have now stripped and rebuilt the whole PC. I did find that the processor was slightly unseated, lifted a little along one edge, but when I removed it there was no evidence of bent pins or scorching to the CPU or socket. I then reinstalled it, attached the HSF with new arctic silver 5, and reassembled the rest thinking that I had solved the problem. Unfortunately, I am not gettting any further. I can now hear the hard drives spin up over the noise of the fans, which I now realise I couldn't before (I just thought the fans were too noisy to hear the hard disks). Despite this however, the other symptoms are still the same. I have no display, and still no POST or error beeps. The HSF does get warm though even after just 30 secs of power, so I know the processor is doing something even if its just generating heat!

I am considering removing all but the essentials one more time, just to verify that nothing else is causing the problem, but I don't expect anything to change. Can anyone tell me what is the absolute minimum you can get away with? Does it need a hard disk to POST? Can you get away with just a mobo, processor, ram module and a graphics card?

Yargwel, surely it needs a graphics card to POST, there is no onboard graphics. Or will it beep even with no display adapter?

Thanks again for all your help.

 

Ok...

I have just unplugged both power and data cables to all my hard disks and dvd drives, removed one ram module (leaving one), removed all PCI cards, removed the graphics card and unplugged all case fans. I'm left with a power supply, mobo, processor and HSF and one ram module.

No POST beep.

Swapped ram modules, and put the other one in a different slot.

No POST beep.

Unplugged the CPU fan from the mobo, and connected it to a PSU lead.

No POST beep.

Plugged in my old 400W 20 pin PSU, which this time (presumably because the processor is now seated properly) will power up the PC (lights come on and stay on, CPU fan spins)

No POST beep.

After all this, it still powers up but does nothing, and I still have to hold in the power button for 5 seconds to make it switch off.

Any more advice or thoughts before I tear the rest of my hair out?

Also, is it worth RMAing my 3 month old mobo (assuming that is the problem) and trying to get a replacement under warrenty? (yes I know it's probably my fault but I really can't afford a new one)

 

Is the beeper working lol sorry
have u got your keyboard plugged in? if so can u turn num lock on and off just curious.

 

The beeper was working last time the PC was working, but I haven't proved it still sounds.

Num lock and caps lock both seem not to work. Does that tell you anything about the problem?

 

THE POST TEST

Each time the computer boots up the computer must past the POST. Below is the common procedure of the POST:

1. The first step of POST is the testing of the Power Supply to ensure that it is turned on and that it releases its reset signal.
2. CPU must exit the reset status mode and thereafter be able to execute instructions.
3. BIOS must be readable.
4. BIOS checksum must be valid, meaning that it must be readable.
5. CMOS be accessible for reading.
6. CMOS checksum must be valid, meaning that it must be readable.
7. CPU must be able to read all forms of memory such as the memory controller, memory bus, and memory module.
8. The first 64KB of memory must be operational and have the capability to be read and written to and from, and capable of containing the POST code.
9. I/O bus / controller must be accessible.
10. I/O bus must be able to write / read from the video subsystem and be able to read all video RAM..

If the computer does not pass any of the above tests, your computer will receive an irregular POST. An irregular POST is a beep code which is different from the standard, which can be either no beeps at all or a combination of different beeps indicating what is causing the computer not to past the POST.

have ya tried erasing your cmos memory it might be corrupt.
To me it looks like a motherboard failure.
the fact u can still use your soft off button to turn it off is puzzling it means the bios is to a certain extent working.

ive had mine mobo fail and fans all come on but the soft off button never worked.

i doubt ive helped u much lol

 

No it doesn't need the graphics card to POST. In fact as your original symptoms sounded like a failed graphics card the thing to do is to remove the card and then see if it POSTs - if does it will beep a number of times indicating that it was the graphics card that had failed. So I would still try reconnecting everything but leave out the graphics card.

 

Good point MANICMINER I'm suprised no one has suggested resetting the cmos jumper yet,you can locate it on your motherboard diagram in the manual or remove the cmos battery for 10 secs then replace,the small round battery on the motherboard similar to a coin

 

I have just had the CPU tested by a shop and they have found the same thing as I did, their PC would not post with my processor. I haven't had the motherboard tested yet though, so do I risk buying a new CPU and trying it in my motherboard? Is it likely that the motherboard will fry a new processor if I try it? Or do I spend some more and have the motherboard tested as well?