No video, what to check?

Hi guys and gals, I just picked up a used computer and it has no video. What should I begin to check 1st?

The motherboard and processor are not the ones that originally came with it.

The unit powers on and all the fans spin, but I get nothing else.

If I unplug the monitor cable, I get the "No signal, check video cable" error message on the monitor.
Any suggestions?

 

Could be monitor, graphics card or cables.
Do you have the opportunity to try another monitor or try your monitor with another working machine?
Or swap the cables out?

 

Doesn't sound good. Does it have on-board video, or an add-on card?

In addition to xmeister's suggestions, I have one other thing you can check (I've done this myself :-o - took me a minute to realize my error). Is there more than one video port on the back of the unit? Often people will upgrade from on-board video to an add on AGP/PCI card. If you connected the monitor cable to the wrong port the problem you are describing is pretty much what would happen. The on-board video port is usually positioned vertically, up around the USB and other ports on the back of the unit. An add-on card's port - be it AGP or PCI - is located toward the bottom of the unit, and is positioned horizontally.

Good luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

Forgot to mention that if there is an add-on video card installed, most motherboards default to that card . . . so if you connected to the on-board video's port, that can cause the error you are having.

Conversely, if there is an add-on card installed that you did connect to and you are getting this error . . . then remove the add-on card and try the on-board video (if present), or try another add-on card if you can.

 

If there is an addon card in the computer, check to see if it is seated in the slot correctly. Just push it gently to make sure it is all the way in the slot.

By the way, the "No signal/check video cable" message is telling you that the monitor is unplugged, nothing more.

 

Do you get any beeps?
If you give it time, do you see hard drive activity?

 

xmeister , Monitor and cables are ok. I just unhooked them from another computer and then reconnected them back and that computer is fine.

Spad, has onboard video and add on card and neither of them give me a picture.

collinsl, removed and reseated that card and no difference.

thebigd, no beeps, but the hard drive seems to be spinning up.

 

Quick test might be unplug, remove the battery, remove the card. Put the battery back, connect to the onboard video and plugin and restart. See if you get anything like a BIOS screen.

 

sach2, I got nothing. What's the possibility of a bad board or processor?

Is there any way to test either?

 

If you are getting no beeps at all, the problem is eithe rlikely a dead / dying cpu. The motherboard cant send the beep to the speaker unless the cpu is working.

:yum

I'm assuming you have a pc speaker connected...

Do you have another cpu to try?

 

Ok, really lost now. I have a known good processor and mobo combination.

I swapped processors and no video. I also swapped mobos and still no video.

Put back together the known good set-up and all is well and good.

What am I missing here?:banghead

Could both be bad?

 

Anything else to try?

 

I believe that I need to put my own foot into my own behind!:cry

After several dozen tests and retests and checking every possible condition, I may have just tripped over the answer.

Somehow, the wrong processor got installed into the motherboard.

The motherboard is a socket 462 and the installed processor was a Sempron 2600, which requires a socket 754.

Oh, it fits alright, but doesn't work!

Anyway, I just purchased a replacement set-up and after that gets here, I just might try to prove out that theory.

And the knuckle-head award goes to: ME!!! :banghead

 

hehe, don't worry we've all done it.
Well not that exactly but we've all spent hours coming up with a solution to a problem only to find out in the end that the solutions didn't work because the problem was not the problem.